FOOTBALL!

[Tommy Tynans Lovechild]

We have decent midfielders but we are short of a decent holding/defensive midfielder, the performances against france and portugal showed that. I think Sven is well overated (even when we appointed him) but i wouldn't know who could replace him.... so, yeah, count this as another vote for Tommy Boo.

Oh and the Greece France game TOP RESULT!!!, why no mention of the Finnish (FC Jokit????) flags Tommy? Seeing what sides are on the flags is more exciting than watching the game!!! (most of the time).

Call me 'orrible but should King have gone home for the birth of his child? I don't blame him but if it was that important I don't think he should have gone to Portugal in the first place. There's plenty of people who miss the birth of their child due to work etc, not nice but sometimes its the price you pay for accepting a certain kind of living.

[Tommy BOO]

[Guest]

Tommy, how did you write so much about such a boring game?!
well done, anyway... I'm reading all your match reports

(although, without wanting to appear pedantic - even if it helps show I have read the stuff! - I think the word you want is 'attacking' rather than 'attackive'? (or maybe it is attackive, I've just never seen that word before!) Oh and, you have 1-0 for the Denmark v Sweden result!)



*discoRdance... still can't be bothered to log in*

[Tommy BOO]

Haha! I think you're right there - it is 'attacking' indeed, not 'attackive'...
I just wonder how often I make up my own words without knowing it!
I don't think that the game was so boring actually, it was quite exciting to watch the Greeks defend their lead. Sven-Göran Eriksson and England players should take notes and try to learn something, because Greece were absolutely brilliant tonight.
_________________
"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]

Its good to see the underdog win but I'd have liked France to go through cos I love watching Zidane. And I know he's won lots of medals and scores loads of goals but Henry doesn't seem to be able to perform in the really big games (the last World Cup, this tournament, the Champions League games against Chelsea, the cup semi final against Man U). The Thierry Henry backlash starts here.

Ledley King should definitely have gone home to witness his child being born. That could be a once in a lifetime experience whereas England being knocked out of a tournament happens every couple of years.

[Guest]

[Setareh Juventina]

If France had woken up it would've been better for the tournament but they didn't so their exit may not be a loss.

Oh, and his name is Sven-Göran, not Sven. L&P
_________________
Man is the only animal clever enough to build The Empire State Building and stupid enough to jump from it.

[Ledley King]

i'd have scored my penalty

[Tommy BOO]

SW ED EN 0 - 0 HO LLA ND
Holland win 4-5 on penalties!


Short half time summary:
I missed the first seven minutes of the game, so I probably missed something important in the beginning. However, I saw 38 minutes of relatively boring football, Sweden and Holland both created one dangerous chance but there was nothing else.
I came back home just in time to see Arjen Robben's (HOL) good shot on goal. He dribbles past Mikael Nilsson and unleashes a powerful strike from the edge of the area - Sweden's goalkeeper Isaksson dives and tips the ball wide for a corner.
Frank De Boer injured himself slightly in a dangerous tackle on Ljungberg - De Boer gets a yellow card for that, and even though he is able to continue playing for a while, Dick Advocaat decides to replace him with Wilfred Bouma.
Ruud van Nistelrooy would have deserved a yellow card for diving inside Sweden's penalty area. He was waiting for a cross and the Swedish defender hardly even touched him! The referee just decided to warn him...
Sweden's chance on ~40th minute of the game was the most dangerous so far. Jonsson runs down the right flank and takes the ball past a Dutch defender, he delivers a low cross in the middle where Svensson is waiting for the pass. He shoots the ball towards the down-right corner of the goal, but it's blocked by Wilfred Bouma. A very dangerous chance for Sweden.
---------------------

Second half:
I took notes for the first time in this tournament. I think this makes the match report more easy to read but more boring as well...

48' Van Der Mayde booked.

55' Henrik Larsson gets a high cross from the right wing and heads it into the goal area. Jaap Stam tries to clear the ball but mis-kicks. Ibrahimovich gets to the loose ball first and shoots, but Wilfred Bouma clears the ball from the goal line and saves Holland again.

57' Ibrahimovich gets a yellow card for diving inside the penalty box. Luckily all the old yellow cards in this tournament have been cleared before the quarter finals, so if Sweden wins today, Ibrahimovich will still play in Sweden's next match.

60' Heitinga on for Davids.

61' Clarence Seedorf finds Ruud Van Nistelrooy in the penalty area with a great high pass, he chests the ball and shoots, but Isaksson makes a great save. The loose ball bounces off and hits Van Nistelrooy's chest and the ball almost rolls in the goal. Sweden get a good counter-attack and has two shots on goal. The game is getting more exciting.

64' Wilhelmsson on for Jonsson.

65' Jaap Stam gets the ball in the midfield, dribbles past two opponents (!) and shoots a powerful low shot. The ball goes only less than one meter wide.

74' Ljungberg gets the ball inside the penalty area but is surrounded by defenders - he makes a quick turn with the ball and shoots. The shot goes just wide because Ljungberg falls when shooting.

80' Källströn on for Svensson. Källströn has a dangerous shot on goal just a minute after that, but it's blocked by Dutch defenders.

86' Great counter-attack by Sweden - Wilhelmsson is one-on-one with Van Der Sar but he saves it.

87' Van Der Meyde subbed for Roy Makaay.

88' Östlund gets a yellow card and Holland have a good free kick, but it's saved by Isaksson.

90' +1 ' Ruud Van Nistelrooy gets a good cross ball from the left wing, but his header goes well over the bar.

EXTRA TIME & PENALTY SHOOTOUT
I decided that taking notes is much too boring (and too much work) and it's not nearly as fun to write either...
Both halves of the extra time were very exciting. Just a couple of minutes after the start of the 1st extra time, Robben shot from the edge of the area. The shot wasn't that strong but Isaksson fumbled it and the ball hit the post and went out for a corner.
Soon after that Holland got another chance. Clarence Seedorf sent a real screamer towards the goal from outside the box but Isaksson saved it. Van Nistelrooy got to the rebound first and he tried to shoot but his volley went wide.
Just a minute before the final whistle of the first half of the extra time, Källström got the ball inside the penalty area when Heitinga's defensive header was a bit too weak... He took a few steps forward with the ball and shot but it went just wide and hit the side-netting.

No silver goal then, and the second half of the extra time was just as exciting. Tobias Linderoth brings down Van Nistelrooy in Holland's first attack of the second half, and the referee awards a free kick for Holland. Clarence Seedorf steps up to take it, he shoots a powerful spin ball that hits Wilhelmsson on the way and Isaksson makes a wonderful diving save and puts the ball wide.
Van Nistelrooy also had a goal disallowed because of an offside five minutes later.
Sweden stole the show after that. Henrik Larsson picks up Wilfred Bouma's clearance and turns past Jaap Stam, but his shot hits the crossbar! Unlucky.
A couple of minutes later Ibrahimovich sets up Ljungberg who has a clear shot just from outside the area... It goes past Van Der Sar but hits the inside of the post! Very unlucky!
Surprisingly, no one scores before the penalty shootout.

Sweden's Källström steps up first... His powerful shot to the down-left corner is almost saved by Edwin Van Der Sar.
Van Nistelrooy 's penalty is great, and even though Isaksson dives to the right way, he has no chance to save it.
Larsson puts the ball into the roof of the net and Van Der Sar has no chance.
Heitinga sends Isaksson to the left and the ball to the right - goal!
Ibrahimovich steps up for the penalty spot next... Somehow I knew that he was going to miss, and he did... He shot the ball well over the crossbar.
Reiziger of Holland shoots the ball to the same corner than the previous two Dutch players - goal!
Ljungberg got the luckiest goal tonight - his penalty hit the crossbar, but bounced back, hit Van Der Sar's back and the ball went in.
The Holland captain Cocu , who missed the penalty kick against Italy in 2002, also missed tonight - his shot hit the left post and went wide.
Wilhelmsson sends the keeper to the wrong way and scores.
Makaay who's under pressure now, does exactly the same!
Mellberg , the captain of Sweden, shoots to the right but Van Der Sar saves the penalty.
Robben takes the last penalty... a powerful shot to the down-right corner, Isaksson has no chance.
Holland wins the penalty shootout.

Sweden were the better team again tonight, in my opinion, so I was a bit sorry to see them lose. The Swedes showed a great TEAM performance in this tournament and they really have nothing to be ashamed of. Holland have been a bit lucky in my opinion, but I hope that their luck ends against Portugal in semi-finals.
_________________
"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

[Setareh Juventina]

How on earth do you do this T? You're not even getting paid! L&P
_________________
Man is the only animal clever enough to build The Empire State Building and stupid enough to jump from it.

[Tommy BOO]

[John Mc]

Writing football match reports without repeating yourself must be impossible. Everything that happens in the game is basically "he kicked the ball to him and then he had a shot".

I tried to write a couple of album reviews once and its very tough to do. When you're describing stuff you like/hate to your friends its really easy because you can just say "it sounds like (insert something they've heard) and is (good/bad/ugly)". Stretching that out to 1000 words must be difficult. Most NME writers get around this problem these days by writing 980 words of shit and then finishing the review with "it sounds like (insert name of credible band) mixed with (insert name of pop band) in (insert name of weird place)". For example: "it sounds like the Pixes mixed with Busted in outer space".

The reviews on Pitchfork are generally good but the one of Kid A deserves a place in Pseud's Corner:

http://www.pitchforkmedia.com/record-reviews/r/radiohead/kid-a.shtml

or is it meant to be ironic?

Back to the football - I'm glad the Dutch got through but a bit sad to see Sweden go out. Both their main strikers were ace and at least two of their defenders have great beards. They will be missed.

[columbo]

[Tommy BOO]

FULL TIME:

CZEC H REP UBLIC 3 - 0 DE NMA RK
1-0 Koller - 49 min.
2-0 Baros - 63 min.
3-0 Baros - 65 min.

Half time thoughts:
Denmark and Czech Republic surprised me during the first round with their attackive play, tonight I haven't seen anything like that, unfortunately.
It hasn't been a poor match though, both sides have just been a bit too defensive in my opinion... Could be another extra time and penalty shootout tonight!
Czech Republic got their best chance to score soon after the kick off when Thomas Helveg brought down a Czech player near the penalty box. Pavel Nedved shoots a powerful low shot on goal but Jan Sorensen (Denmark goalie) dives to his right and makes a comfortable save.
After that, both teams waited for the other team to make the first move, and during that period, the Czech sideback Marek Jankulowski was booked for a dangerous tackle on Thomas Helveg. Fortunately no one gets hurt.
15 minutes after the kick off Denmark gets the best goalscoring chance in the game. Claus Jensen runs with the ball to the edge of the area, passes back to Christian Poulsen who makes a fake shot and gets past 2 Czech defenders. He shoots but the shot is blocked by the defense.
5 minutes later Denmark gets a free kick. Jensen takes it and crosses the ball in the middle. Poulsen jumps for the ball and heads it towards the goal, but the good header goes wide. Danish players put the pressure back to the Czech defense area after the goal kick, and managed to move the ball dangerously around their penalty box for a while.
Denmark controlled the game for most of the first half, and about ten minutes before the half time they had possessed the ball 65% of the match! Jankulowski and the other Czech sideback made long runs forward, but they didn't create anything dangerous. That made everything easier for Danish wingers though, especially for Jesper Gronkjaer who was dangerous on the right wing. He proceeded with the ball to the corner flag many times, but all his crosses were poor and the Czech goalkeeper had no trouble gathering those.
10 minutes before the half time whistle Jiranek of Czech Rep strained a muscle when battling for the ball - he was stretched off and had to be subbed for Grygera. Hopefully it wasn't anything too serious, it looked quite bad though.
Ujfalusi made another dangerous tackle on Jon Dahl Tomasson just before the end of the half and got a yellow card for that. Now Czech Republic, who have only got two yellow cards during all three first stage matches, already have two bookings in this match!
Karel Poborsky created another dangerous chance for the Czechs on the injury time - he took the ball in the midfield, ran with it to the Denmark penalty area and crossed the ball. His high pass hit the crossbar and bounced back but Danish defenders cleared it.
-------------------------

Second half:
Czech Republic obviously made some good tactical changes during the break and managed to turn things around once again. Denmark controlled the game on the first half, but Czech Republic dominated it on the second.
The Czechs didn't have to wait for the goal for very long. A corner was taken from the right, Jan Koller the Czech giant jumped for the ball and scored with a fine header. Laursen who was marking him was unfortunately two heads shorter so he didn't really have a chance.
Denmark got the control again for a very little time but lost it again, and the magnificent Milan Baros show began on the 63rd minute of the game. He got a great through pass from Karel Poborsky on the right wing and he was one-on-one with Jan Sorensen. Sorensen probably went down a millisecond too early and Baros chipped the ball neatly while running over him and into the back of the net. Great technique by Baros and a great goal.
Two minutes later he did exactly the same, this time everything began from the left wing. Pavel Nedved got the ball in the midfield and gave a perfect through pass for Baros - he got the ball to his left foot, proceeded to the penalty area and shot it into the roof of the net. Another great goal, and now Milan Baros has scored 5 goals in 4 matches. He was subbed for Heinz five minutes after that.
Unfortunately Denmark had to concede two goals before they started battling again. They were only poor 5 minutes during the whole tournament and they conceded two goals then. Madsen, who was subbed on for Jensen, had two good shots and one good header, but Denmark never really looked like scoring. 3-0 for Czech Rep is still quite "unfair" though. They were definitely the better team tonight, but they weren't that much better. The Czechs only had three good chances during the match but they managed to score from all of them... Denmark had at least three as well but tonight their finishing wasn't very good.

No more Scandinavian teams in the tournament then, but Sweden and Denmark both were great. Czech Republic has been the best team so far and I'm now going to give them my full support.
The Czechs will now play against Greece in the semi-finals. It will be an interesting match, how are they going to break through the Greek defense?
_________________
"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

[Setareh Juventina]

WOOHOOOOOOO exit Denmark day of joy!!!!
The Czech republic are doing really well...here's hoping!

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