FOOTBALL!

[Tommy BOO]

Not Euro 2004 related news, but still quite interesting...

Wimbledon FC does not exist anymore... because they've changed their name to Milton Keynes Dons FC !!!
What... the... fuck?
OK, they've moved to Milton Keynes now, but it's just stupid to change the name of a traditional football club. If Barnsley FC moved elsewhere and changed their name to Penistone FC, I would probably stop watching football.
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"Tommy Boo has played a pivotal role in my life. I've looked up to him since I was a kid and he has inspired every note of music I have ever written. The man is a fucking genius" -BC

[Hew]

ROONEY ROONEY ROONEY ROONEY ROONEY ROONEY ROONEY ROONEY ROONEY ROONEY ROONEY ROONEY ROONEY ROONEY.
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Martin O'Neill's Claret And Blue Army

[bravecaptain]

see, this is why international footy is cack. i get people on my board chanting names of toffees. boooooooo. x

[Kris]

[Setareh Juventina]

I don't know if Brits see it, but that kind of looks that he has, ONLY exists in the British isles. Uncanny. L&P
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Man is the only animal clever enough to build The Empire State Building and stupid enough to jump from it.

[Dave w.]

[Setareh Juventina]

Go Gryyyyynet!



Love and Peace
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Man is the only animal clever enough to build The Empire State Building and stupid enough to jump from it.

[Tommy BOO]

Setareh, who is she? Grynet? I have no idea who she is...


FULL TIME:

DEN M ARK 2 - 2 SW ED EN
1-0 Tomasson - 28 min.
1-1 Larsson - 47 min (pen)
2-1 Tomasson - 66 min.
2-2 Jonson - 89 min.


Half time thoughts:
Not the best match (so far) in the tournament, but definitely not the worst either. The conditions are quite difficult - it's pouring rain in Portugal. Both teams have had two or three good chances to score, but only Denmark have managed to put the ball in the net. And what a great goal it was... Jon Dahl Tomasson got the ball from Ebbe Sand in the edge of the penalty area, he saw the Swedish keeper Isaksson out of the goal line and chipped the ball to the up right corner of the goal. That goal goes to my top 5 goals of the tournament. Sweden had two shots soon after that from very close range, just like Italy did in the match against Denmark, but Jan Sorensen made two good saves. Sweden also got a very dangerous chance near the end of the second half - Källström gave a good corner kick and the header after that hit the post.
Should be a good second half.
---------------------------
Sweden got a penalty kick just after the kick off, Larsson was brought down in the area by Sorensen... 1-1. (shouldn't have been a penalty in my opinion!)
Jon Dahl Tomasson got a lucky rebound in front of the Sweden goal and scored 2-1 on 66th minute.
A minute before the full time, Wilhelmsson ran with the ball past a Danish defender on the left wing and crossed the ball - Jan Sorensen tried to save it but fumbled the ball and Mattias Jonson shot the ball in the goal...
After the late equaliser both teams definitely knew that Italy would be out if the score remains the same... Sweden took the ball to their defense area and just passed the ball around, waiting for the final whistle, and Danish players did nothing ! That wasn't nice to watch and they both lost 1 sympathy point from me, but I suppose that the rules don't say anything about that. And that's why the last matches in the group stage are played at the same time...
Now it's time for some conspiracy theories though. I don't believe those, but I'm sure that many people do, especially Italians, who had brought some extra cameras to the match so that they could prove it if Denmark and Sweden together deliberately play Italy out of the tournament. Well, that did happen, and I'm sure that this will be the hottest topic in the footballing world for a couple of days at least.
People have been talking about the 2-2 draw ever since the second first stage matches of Group C. So was it just a coincidence? Did Sorensen deliberately drop the ball near the end so that both Scandinavian teams go through?
Well, I must make clear that I don't think so , but there will be a lot of conspiracy theories flying around during the next couple of days surely. Now Denmark have to play against strong Czech Republic, and I'm sure they didn't want that.
Anyway, both Swedes and Danes can be happy tonight, and tears dropped in Italy tonight would be enough to keep a poor African village alive for a month.


IT A LY 2 - 1 BU LGAR IA
0-1 Petrov - 45 min. (pen)
1-1 Perrotta - 48 min.
2-1 Cassano - 90 + 4 min.

Ciao Italia! Bye Bulgaria! Better luck next time...
Cassano's late goal wasn't enough for Italy, but if Sweden hadn't got that equaliser, Italy would have snatched the second place. So close! I wonder if Cassano and Italians knew the score of Denmark Vs Sweden...


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"Tommy Boo has played a pivotal role in my life. I've looked up to him since I was a kid and he has inspired every note of music I have ever written. The man is a fucking genius" -BC

[Kris]

Two Draws and a Win and Italy are out.

Was horrible to watch them score the winner on 93 minutes, then realise it wasn't enough. Hard to believe the team that played like they did in the first half against Sweden have gone out in the first round.

Hopefully they will learn that sitting back is not a good idea now.

Kinks xxx
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"fashioned by the blade of a world that doesn't care,
feeling so removed, drifting thru stealing air then...
pause and think about it, try to move and shift the pain, but it's there you feel it kicking and you scream and feel alive."

[Setareh Juventina]

They will learn if there's another coach who won't pick players like Materazzi, Oddo, Corradi...basically someone who stops going through Interscum/Lazio junkyards.

Anyway...there was no Nordic conspiracy, there is a world conspiracy against meee...all teams I want through miss out and vice versa...wtf! Okay, in all fairness, the Czech republic are through and I like them but bleeeeeh.

I don't want to go to work tomorrow...people are sure gonna be 'haha, Italy deserved that'...thing is, Italy weren't any worse than Sweden or Denmark aside from a tiny goal difference.

Now if the Czech's lose to Denmark then I will be sure there is a conspiracy.

Love and Peace
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Man is the only animal clever enough to build The Empire State Building and stupid enough to jump from it.

[Tommy BOO]

I've updated the match report above...

... well, if anyone really cares and actually reads them!!
_________________
"Tommy Boo has played a pivotal role in my life. I've looked up to him since I was a kid and he has inspired every note of music I have ever written. The man is a fucking genius" -BC

[Tommy BOO]

HO LLA ND 3-0 LA TV IA
1-0 Van Nistelrooy - 27 min. (pen)
2-0 Van Nistelrooy - 35 min.
3-0 Makaay - 84 min.

Holland gets the other ticket to the quarter finals.
Latvians get a flight ticket back to home... Goodbye, better luck next time!


GE RMA NY 1 - 2 CZEC H REP UBLIC
1-0 Ballack - 21 min.
1-1 Heinz - 30 min.
1-2 Baros - 77 min.

Can't be bothered to write a match report or anything tonight. Sorry. :erg:
Great goals by Ballack and Heinz, especially Heinz's free kick was stunning.

German fans must be disappointed today, not a very good tournament for them! Here's some useless trivia for anyone who's interested...
Germany lost a European Championship match for only the second time ever having taken the lead. The first was against Holland in 1988. The Germans have now not won any of their last six European Championship matches since beating the Czech Republic in the 1996 final.

I'm very impressed with Czech Republic at the moment. I've now seen all the teams play at least twice, and I must say that the Czechs are definitely the best so far. They never stop fighting, their attackive play is nice to watch, they have players with lots of skill and pace but also big and strong tacklers and a solid defense. Also their goalkeeper was excellent today!
I hope that they win the whole tournament... It's a shame they're playing against my other favourite (in this tournament) Denmark in the quarter finals.
Auf Wiedersehen, Deutschland!
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"Tommy Boo has played a pivotal role in my life. I've looked up to him since I was a kid and he has inspired every note of music I have ever written. The man is a fucking genius" -BC

[Tommy BOO]

QUARTER FINAL MATCH

FULL TIME:
POR TU GAL 2 - 2 EN GLA ND
0-1 Owen - 3 min.
1-1 Postiga - 83 min.
2-1 Rui Costa - 110 min.
2-2 Lampard - 115 min.
Portugal win 6-5 on penalties!

Half time thoughts:
Quite a good match so far. Costinha who has been absolutely awful today screwed up badly in the beginning - England played a long ball from the defense, Costinha tried to head it back for Ricardo (goalkeeper) but didn't see Michael Owen behind him, who turned with the ball and shot the ball neatly into the back of the net. Owen's first goal of the tournament.
Portugal and England both managed to get some good chances after that, but Portugal got the control when Wayne Rooney hurt his foot and he had to be substituted. Darius Vassell on for Rooney on the 27th minute of the game.
Although Portugal were controlling the game after that, England still managed to create three decent chances. Two of them were awful defensive lapses by Portugal again and Owen could have scored from the first one, but Ricardo tipped the ball wide. Soon after that Owen got another good chance, he was almost through on goal, with only a Portuguese defender just behind him. Owen saw Ricardo out of the goal line and decided to lob the ball over him, but his shot went above and onto the roof of the goal.
Sol Campbell also headed the ball just over the bar from David Beckham's corner.
Portugal's chances were more dangerous though. Cristiano Ronaldo has been excellent again, and he nearly scored just after England's goal when he got the ball inside the box and managed to shoot twice, but both shots were denied by England defenders.
Maniche had an excellent long range shot after that but David James saved it. Costinha has had two decent chances but the poor guy just doesn't seem to know how to keep his headers low enough!
Nuno Gomes also nearly scored when his backheel shot went only inches past the post.
Portugal has had three free kicks from excellent places (Neville and Gerrard shown yellow cards) but Luis Figo's and Deco's shots have been horrible...

Second half thoughts:

Great battle by Portugal again! Not many goalscoring chances created on this half, but Portugal truly deserved their equaliser. On the 83th minute, Helder Postiga, who was subbed on for Luis Figo only eight minutes earlier got a great cross from the left wing and scored with a good header, while John Terry who was supposed to mark him, could only watch him score. Nice goal.
On the 91th minute England got a free kick from the left, a header inside the box hit the bar and Sol Campbell got to the rebound first with another header and put the ball into the net. However, the referee Urs Meier (who has been excellent!) had to disallow it, because John Terry pushed Ricardo (Portuguese goalkeeper) out... I think that Campbell would have scored even without Terry's foul, so Terry could be the anti-hero of England today if they lose.


Extra time and penalty shootout...
What a match and such a dramatic ending! England's relatively defensive tactics cost them dearly again, and in my opinion the better team won tonight. Portugal were the better team throughout the extra time, and they created many dangerous chances. They also had a goal 'disallowed' just before their 2-1 goal... I'm not sure if the header by some Portuguese player crossed the goal line, but it definitely looked like it. However, just a minute after that, Rui Costa shot a real screamer from outside the box, it hit the bar but went in anyway. A great goal.
Portugal didn't change their tactics even after the goal, they just kept attacking and it was really nice to watch. Helder Postiga almost scored another goal, when he got a great through pass inside the box, but his shot went just inches wide of the right post.
England scored from a corner kick (not directly of course) five minutes before the end of the 2nd half of extra time. Beckham's corner found John Terry's head in the box, Frank Lampard jr. got the ball, turned around quickly and shot the ball past Ricardo who couldn't do anything to save it.
Not much happened after that and before the penalty shoot out.

David Beckham stepped up on the penalty spot first... He had missed two penalties in row before that, so it was quite a strange decision from Eriksson to choose him. And he missed again, his left foot slipped and the shot went high over the goal, just like Roberto Baggio's penalty in World Cup '94 final.
Deco and the other Portuguese players took their goals well, until Rui Costa's penalty went just above the bar. England's next two penalties were not good (low in the middle) but they went in anyway... History repeated itself again, and England's bad luck in the penalty shootouts seems to be still there, as the 7th kicker's of England, Darius Vassell's shot was saved by Ricardo. Ricardo himself shot Portugal's 7th penalty - a powerful and accurate shot to the goal, and he had just made himself a double-hero of Portugal!

Dry your eyes Becks...
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"Tommy Boo has played a pivotal role in my life. I've looked up to him since I was a kid and he has inspired every note of music I have ever written. The man is a fucking genius" -BC

[John Mc]

I know most people who post on here don't like England but I was gutted when we got knock out last night and am still sulking about it 24 hours later in a very childish manner.

Here are a few random points:

- why can't England teams hold a lead? in every tournament since 1996 we've gone out by losing games we've been winning at some point. Phil Neville has only been in 3 of those teams so it can't all be his fault.

- blaming the penalty spot for the defeat is an innovative excuse but I'm not convinced. the players trained on the pitch the day before and took penalties there. They knew the ground was slippy and so perhaps Beckham could have worked out that slamming his standing foot down to take the kick was not a good idea

- Beckham was awful all tournment. His big attributes are his passing and his ability to run around a lot. But this time passing was shit and he was a bit tired due to having played a long season (unlike the rest of the players in the tournament who have spent the past 12 months sleeping and doing light aerobics once a week).

- England have decent midfielders, why did they all insist on spending most of the 120 minutes hoofing the ball forward in the air for two of the worlds smallest strikers to try to win?

- Lets get rid of Sven and bring in Tommy Boo as boss with his novel way of exploiting the new interpretation of the offside law.

Now I've got that out of my system I feel better. Plus the Premiership will be back soon, its sunny, I finished the temp job I hated today, the new BC single is out on Monday and all is well with the world.

[Tommy BOO]

Well said John!

Today's match report...
FULL TIME:
FR AN CE 0 - 1 GR EE CE
0-1 Charisteas - 65 min.

Half time thoughts...
Well, there's not much to write about yet. In the beginning I thought that Greece and France both have changed their tactics to something more attacking* and entertaining, but most of the first half was boring long balls and running in the midfield.
France haven't lost for 16 matches now, and Greece have qualified from the group stage for the first time ever, so this should be an interesting match.
The referee Anders Frisk (Sweden) has shown two yellow cards in the match, but I think there wasn't any too bad tackles that would have deserved a yellow card. The booked players are Karagounis (GRE) and Zidane (FRA) who both are marking each other!
The best goalscoring chance of the first half was created by Greece - Karagounis' free kick found Katsouranis inside the penalty area, but it goes a little bit too forward and Katsouranis has to slide for the ball... However, he manages to turn it into a shot and Greece are only centimeters away from taking the lead as Barthez saves it on the goal line. Greeks are already celebrating the goal but the referee says it's no goal.
Fyssas of Greece also had a relatively good volley shot from outside the area (that probably would have gone over though) and Barthez had to tip the ball over the goal for a corner kick.
France haven't really created any dangerous chances, so I can see Greece making a big surprise here. Well, I hope so. They aren't the most entertaining team to watch, but France have been a big disappointment - they just can't play together as a team. Considering that many of their players are from Arsenal and they all know each other very well, it's quite surprising actually.
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Second half:
Not the best match in this tournament, but I'm still amazed. Greece were wonderful today, and although I was a bit annoyed when they were faking injuries (probably) sometimes, I was really happy to see them win.
Greece's winning goal was quite beautiful - Zagorakis got the ball on the right wing, neatly chipped it above Lizarazu and crossed the ball in the middle... Angelos Charisteas who was left unmarked jumped to the ball and headed it into the back of the net! Great goal and the Greeks went absolutely mad!
France took the control of the game after that, but today Greece showed some great defending and a real battling display.
French players showed some great personal skill every now and then, Lizarazu, Henry and Gallas especially, they even created some clear shots for themselves but they were all very weak and Nikopolidis on the goal had no trouble catching those. France really had enough chances to win tonight, but I don't know what went wrong - they've had the same problem throughout the tournament!
Greece don't have any big stars, but they are a great TEAM. France woke up much too late and although they dominated the game in the end, Greece seemed to be more passionate to win tonight.
5 minutes before the final whistle Thierry Henry got a great cross from the right wing, but his header went just inches wide.
Greece defended very well and deserved the win in my opinion.
All credit for France though, they weren't very good this time, but all their players and the manager were real professionals in this tournament - no dirty tackles and fouls, no arrogance, well behaved fans. I almost wanted them to win tonight, but I almost always like to see the smaller (weaker) teams winning. Santini (the French manager) seemed to be calm all the time, and he even went to congratulate Otto Rehhagel (sp?) after the match. I hope to see France again in World Cup 2006.
Today we've witnessed one of the biggest surprises in the history of European Championships... or was it a surprise after all?

Adieu France!



* edit: attacking , not attackive... (thanks discoRdance)
_________________
"Tommy Boo has played a pivotal role in my life. I've looked up to him since I was a kid and he has inspired every note of music I have ever written. The man is a fucking genius" -BC