Euro 2008...

[jetdog]

anybody care?

[furie]

yes, but I probably won't get the chance to catch many games.

[jetdog]

We've got a good sized European contingent at my workplace, the Dutch guy went all out and hung Flags and scarfs all over his workspace.
We have a pool, I picked Germany and the Netherlands in the final with the Netherlands taking it all.

[Dan G]

As much as I love Ron & Fez, I can pretty much say that I won't be listening live to them much this month. I'll be watching the Euro's.

[jauble]

Wow look at you soccer mos.
















Ok now that no one is looking I like the netherlands winning this thing as well.

[hereintheUK]

Looking forward to the Group of death tomorrow. Germany were good tonight too.

[FunkyDrummer]

Should be a good second game today...

http://soccernet-assets.espn.go.com/design05/DJ/20080405/italy.jpg

VS.

http://soccernet-assets.espn.go.com/design05/DJ/20080405/netherlands.jpg

[NickyL0885]

I gotta go with my Italiano brothers. But the Netherlands can be a dangerous team. lots of talent. I can see Croatia going far in this thing. Neither Greece nor Sweden would surprise me. But if Italy doesnt win, I gotta pick Germany. The French better not win....those bastards.......

[spadanko]

Forza Azzurri!!!!!

[ChrisBrown]

I am big Netherlands supporter so I am hoping they will take it. Croatia could surprise everyone but I agree that a Germany - Netherlands final is likely.

[NickyL0885]

France is short handed. Perhaps Romania pulls an upset?

[ChrisBrown]

France is short handed. Perhaps Romania pulls an upset?

A Romanian upset would be interesting. I'd love to see Romania and Croatia go far.

[NickyL0885]

Is it just me or does Franck Ribery look retarded?

[jetdog]

France stinks.

[hereintheUK]

Holand Italy. This is going to be a great game. Both teams are friggin awesome.

[NickyL0885]

Im ashamed to be an Italian right now.......

[hereintheUK]

Some fabulous football so far. What a great game. 2-0 Holland.

[hereintheUK]

I had a feeling about this game. Best of the tournemant so far from a neutrals stand point.

[NickyL0885]

Im inconsolable........

[Tallman388]

3-0 Orange Crush, I was worried about this game killing the Dutch early in the tourney, but not so much now.

[TeeBone]

3-0 Orange Crush, I was worried about this game killing the Dutch early in the tourney, but not so much now.

Fuck Yeah!!!!

I've always hated the boring, defensive play of the Italians. Particularly the Serie A and even more-so today during the game. Its just not exciting football. that being said, I'm pulling for Croatia to win the whole thing.

[jetdog]

What great match! Holland look amazing, by far the best play I have seen so far. the Italians kept it interesting, some luck for Holland kept them from having a few goals scored on them. Van der Saar had some amazing saves though. i can't beleive the offense Holland put together, so impressive, they dominated the game against the world champs. If they can keep up the offense like that, and Van der Saar plays his top game like he did today...I don't think even Germany can stop them. But so many things can change so quickly.

[ChrisBrown]

What a great game! Netherlands looks very strong. That first Dutch goal was so clearly offsides that I almost felt bad for the Italians. It didn't really matter though. The Dutch earned it to say the least. I was especially impressed with their defense.

[ChrisBrown]

What great match! Holland look amazing, by far the best play I have seen so far. the Italians kept it interesting, some luck for Holland kept them from having a few goals scored on them. Van der Saar had some amazing saves though. i can't beleive the offense Holland put together, so impressive, they dominated the game against the world champs. If they can keep up the offense like that, and Van der Saar plays his top game like he did today...I don't think even Germany can stop them. But so many things can change so quickly.

yeah, their offense was amazing too.

I don't know what to make of the Italians. It will be interesting to see what they do with their lineup.

[ChrisBrown]

Did anyone see the France-Romania match? I know it was nil-nil but I have no idea who looked stronger.

[NickyL0885]

Did anyone see the France-Romania match? I know it was nil-nil but I have no idea who looked stronger.

I saw it. I say it was about even. Romania play great defense. they didnt allow france any big room to make plays. Romania has some good players. so you cant discount them. they could advance.

[TeeBone]

I saw it. I say it was about even. Romania play great defense. they didnt allow france any big room to make plays. Romania has some good players. so you cant discount them. they could advance.

Watch out for the young kid who will play up front with Henry in the next match. http://www.euro2008.uefa.com/tournament/players/player=93321/index.html
The French side have a couple of speedy forwards that play club ball for Lyon. Benzema (as noted in the article) is fast as shit and a young up and comer. We all know what Henry and Anelka can do, but watch out for these younger French strikers in the next match.

[jetdog]

What a great game! Netherlands looks very strong. That first Dutch goal was so clearly offsides that I almost felt bad for the Italians. It didn't really matter though. The Dutch earned it to say the least. I was especially impressed with their defense.

I heard the explanation that the goal was not offsides because there was an Italian defender offield, next to the goal. He had fallen down after colliding with Buffon, and did not make it back up until the shot had been taken and deflected in by Van Nistleroy.

[sailor]

so great that germany and holland got off to fast starts.

[hereintheUK]

Spain Russia right now. The spanish are leading 2-0 at half time been another exiting game.

[spadanko]

I am truly disgusted with the Italians. awful performance. It shows what the loss of cannavarro has caused and what a shit bag Donadoni is as a coach

[ChrisBrown]

Great to see Spain do so well against Russia. Fabregas was great.

I'm looking forward to see Sweden vs. Greece today. I'd love to see Croatia kick Germany's ass on Thursday.

[ChrisBrown]

I'm watching the Sweden vs. Greece match. Wow. 2-0. That first Ibrahimovic goal was impressive. First Italy loses and now it looks like the Euro 2004 champions might lose. I also like it when the cameraman picks out some of Swedish female fans.

[TeeBone]

Fabregas was great.

Its all about TORA TORA TORRES
http://sportsvideos.files.wordpress.com/2007/06/fernando-torres-2.jpg
His play at the conclusion of the EPL was so damn god, its great to see it translate into this tourney. I just watched the game on DVR and can't wait to see the other game played today.
Greece are a good side and are defending champs, but I don't think they have a prayer today.

[ChrisBrown]

Congratulations Croatia fans. Nice win over Germany.

[CambriaBurning]

I'm rooting for Portugal... go Ronaldo...

I gotta say, Italy's defense crumbled without Cannavaro, they went down like domino's.

[ralphbxny]

Ok I dont watch soccer much but I am watching this. Which coach is the one who looks like Ric Flair. Its either Polands or Austria?

[CambriaBurning]

Maybe Czech Republic's coach?

http://im.sport.cz/327/23274-article-qvwia.jpg

[ralphbxny]

Maybe Czech Republic's coach?

http://im.sport.cz/327/23274-article-qvwia.jpg

Im starting to think all these guys look alike!

[TeeBone]

Congratulations Croatia fans. Nice win over Germany.

YEAH BABY!!!!!!
I told you, they are my Dark Horse pick to go to the final.
Portugal will be tough though.

[TeeBone]

If you have the Austria-Poland game on DVR, go to the :12 minute mark. There is a Polish defender that takes THE ALL TIME WORST SHOT TO THE NUTS THAT HAS EVER BEEN RECORDED.
It is just painful to watch, but sadly funny as hell.

Oh, and also, this is the best game of the tourney so far.

[sailor]

bad result for germany, but great that poland blew an easy win against austria. now germany just needs to draw against austria to advance?

[CambriaBurning]

Yes... but hopefully austria upsets and wins... haha, i don't want my team to take on germany.

[TeeBone]

France plays today. France, or as I like to call them, 'The African Team With Organization,' are a good side. OVerall, the citizenship of this competition is in need of an overhaul. The guy that scored for Poland, Roger Guerreiro is Brazillian born and hasn't been a citizen for very long.
All joking aside, this tournament is consistently well contested and played much better than the World Cup.

[sailor]

the dutch are monsters.

[Donnie Iris]

the dutch are monsters.

Agreed. Granted it's only one-nil in the first half of just their second game, but mark my words, the Dutch will be the Euro 08 champs. They look unreal.

[spadanko]

need them to get thee victory today to give the Itallians a chance... please oh please

[sailor]

need them to get thee victory today to give the Itallians a chance... please oh please

sets up a great france-italy match. how hilarious if the dutch roll over to romania so it doesn't matter who wins that one? :lol:

edit: 2-0

[jauble]

What absolute destruction that match was. Very fun to watch though. Go Netherlands.

[ChrisBrown]

What absolute destruction that match was. Very fun to watch though. Go Netherlands.

I just saw the Dutch destroy the French. Holy shit they are strong. That goal fifteen seconds after the Thierry Henry goal was one of the best I have seen in the tournament. They play such great soccer. yeah, Go Netherlands.

[spadanko]

thank you Holland for getting the goal differential the same as Italy. please take care of romania.. italy/france winner could advance

[sailor]

and lets not forget, france and italy were the world cup finalists from 2006. i'm really hoping they just let romania win. i hate france and most italian fans i know are obnoxious. god, it would be so funny.

[TeeBone]

Prediction - Croatia versus Holland for the final.

GO CROATIA!!!!!



Its also important to note that most of the top players in this tournament either have played or currently do play in the English Premiere League.

The European Cup is clearly a better tournament than the World Cup ever will be.

[ohioscouser]

Its all about TORA TORA TORRES
http://sportsvideos.files.wordpress.com/2007/06/fernando-torres-2.jpg
His play at the conclusion of the EPL was so damn god, its great to see it translate into this tourney. I just watched the game on DVR and can't wait to see the other game played today.
Greece are a good side and are defending champs, but I don't think they have a prayer today.

FERNANDO TORRES LIVERPOOL'S NUMBER NINE!!!

Nando to get a goal today against the swedish.

Im Spain until July, but even though they and the Dutch got off to a flyer, both will fizzle out, guarantee it. Im still saying watch out for the Ities, theyre gonna beat France and who the hell wants to end up playing them in the knockout rounds.

[ChrisBrown]

Prediction - Croatia versus Holland for the final.

That would be great final. Your Holland prediction is a good bet based on yesterday's match.

[ohioscouser]

Their back 4 is still a bit suspect in my opinion.

[ChrisBrown]

Their back 4 is still a bit suspect in my opinion.

Good point.

I'm hoping Sweden can beat Spain today.

You think the Italians will bounce back? How far do you think Portugal can go?

[Tallman388]

As long as Holland doesn't have to face Portugal or Croatia before the final, I can see them making it. They haven't played well against either team recently.
Even if the Italians bounce back they're not going to get very far. They would have to pull off a miracle.

[sailor]

i refuse to get excited over spain. no team disappoints more in major tourneys than they.

[ohioscouser]

Good point.

I'm hoping Sweden can beat Spain today.

You think the Italians will bounce back? How far do you think Portugal can go?

The Italians in my opinion will bounce back and win against France on Tuesday and by doing so qualify for the knockout stages where they will play Spain. Which if they do, I think the Italians will win, my reasoning is that, if you watched Italy v. Romania you know that the Italians are great and getting to the wings and putting the ball in the middle of the 18. And with Spain being weak defensively in the center of their defense, Luca Toni will have a field day with them. Spain just isnt strong enough for Italy, and as well as Spain has played, free-flowing and all of that, it wont happen against that Italian defense, Cannavaro or not, an Italian defense in a quarterfinal match wont let you down.

And as for Portugal, they will go as far as that young Manc scumbag Ronaldo takes them. Amazing player, I hate him myself since he plays for the manc scum, but as long as he plays as well as he has the past 2 years, he can take them to the final. Although they might come up against quite a challenge against Germany in the second round which it looks like that will happen, and just like my point mentioned about the Italians, Portugal wont be as free-flowing against the hard-nose Germans and I reckon that game will go to penalties, it will be that close.

[sailor]

Spain just isnt strong enough for Italy, and as well as Spain has played, free-flowing and all of that, it wont happen against that Italian defense, Cannavaro or not, an Italian defense in a quarterfinal match wont let you down.

like i said, i refuse to get excited about spain, but my you have some rose-colored glasses. yes, italy may advance (they are probably slightly more likely to finish dead last in their group than to advance) even though they need help in addition to a victory (help from a team that has almost zero incentive to play hard vs a team fighting to advance) and yes they may well defeat spain, but the facts are they've scored one goal and have one point so far. Huge jump to write them into the semis.

[ohioscouser]

Well if Spain ends up playing France or Romania theyll advance to the semifinals in my opinion. But Spain have only one on tournament ever in 1964, they and England are the most disappointing international sides in the world. Spain are my team in this tournament by the way due to the huge amount of Liverpool players in their side.

I mean you have a good point with Italy, theyve played really shit in this tournament, but I still have trouble counting out the Italians. Theyre new formation taking Ambrosini and Gatusso out made them look very dangerous, and Del Piero in there from the beginning really made them look good. And if Puyol is out for a potential Italy v Spain matchup, Toni will tear them apart I feel.

[Mr.Pants]

Will Italy's coach go back to singing for the Flaming Lips once he gets sacked?

[ohioscouser]

Holy crap them two are like twins!

[Mr.Pants]

Wow! That was a crazy game. The Turks beat the Czechs 3-2

[ChrisBrown]

Damn that Turkey-Czech Republic match was fun to watch. What a great Turkish comeback.

[hereintheUK]

The last ten minutes or so of that game were incredible. Turkey cam back from 2-0 down and their goal keeper got sent off. Amazing. I hate Turkey but that was an entertaining game.

[ohioscouser]

What a fuckin match, great stuff by the turks, what a good little player that Nihat is, and how bad must Petr Cech must feel after that absolute blunder by him.

[TeeBone]

I say again----This is so much better than the World Cup!!!!!

[sailor]

switzerland-portugal should scare the heck out of the french and italians.

[ohioscouser]

Germany Austria tomorrow, any thoughts?

[TeeBone]

Germany will win

[ohioscouser]

More than likely yes, Austrians have never even made a tournament before this and theyve only made this one since they are co-hosts. You know the Austrians will make it interesting though playing in their home country, I hope its a close one.

[TeeBone]

I wasn't aware that any Scousers lived in Ohio.
Aren't you bastards trying to draw in Gareth Barry from my beloved Villa?


(just kidding about the 'bastards' comment BTW)

[ohioscouser]

I wasn't aware that any Scousers lived in Ohio.
Aren't you bastards trying to draw in Gareth Barry from my beloved Villa?


(just kidding about the 'bastards' comment BTW)


Hehe, well Im not born scouse, my dad is though lol.

Anyways yes we will get Gareth in a matter of weeks here, with Juventus about sign Xabi from us, we will improve our bid to around the 17-18 million mark and O'Neill will have no other choice but to sell him. Gareth has already stated he wants to be in the Champions League next year and play for Liverpool so its going to happen sooner or later.

[sailor]

Germany Austria tomorrow, any thoughts?

i don't foresee any problems for germany. 3-1 maybe.

[CambriaBurning]

As much as I want Austria to beat Germany... I don't think it's going to happen.

A lot of people are predicting Portugal - Holland for the finals... I can only dream.

[Fezticle98]

Yeah, I don't see any way Austria can top Germany.

I would love a Spain - Germany final, although the Dutch have been kicking ass.

[angryhugo]

A lot of people are predicting Portugal - Holland for the finals... I can only dream.

That would be a hell of a match. Both squads are complete from front to back. Spain is also a quality side, but they are always a heartbreaker of a team and will unlikely make it that far.

[ohioscouser]

That would be a hell of a match. Both squads are complete from front to back. Spain is also a quality side, but they are always a heartbreaker of a team and will unlikely make it that far.


Still think both Portugal and Holland's back four are suspect myself, along with Spain.

[angryhugo]

Still think both Portugal and Holland's back four are suspect myself, along with Spain.

I agree, but van der Sar makes up for a lot of the Dutch gaffes, as does Casillas for Spain (how old is Puyol? 80?). Ricardo is just shite. Pepe's been fun to watch, but I'd never call him a good defender.

[CambriaBurning]

Ricardo is great in between the posts, but once you get the ball in the air, in corner kicks or high crosses, it's all bad. Ricardo takes too many chances in the air... Once he jumps up for the ball, my fellow Portuguese and I all hold our breath.

Van Der Sar is just amazing... 38 and still world class.

[TeeBone]

Hehe, well Im not born scouse, my dad is though lol.

Anyways yes we will get Gareth in a matter of weeks here, with Juventus about sign Xabi from us, we will improve our bid to around the 17-18 million mark and O'Neill will have no other choice but to sell him. Gareth has already stated he wants to be in the Champions League next year and play for Liverpool so its going to happen sooner or later.

Juve is getting some Villa players as well this year.
I HATE Italian futbol in every way. The national team is boring, Serie A is terrible and they complain about every call.
EPL all the way!!!!!

[ohioscouser]

Juve is getting some Villa players as well this year.
I HATE Italian futbol in every way. The national team is boring, Serie A is terrible and they complain about every call.
EPL all the way!!!!!

Yea Olof Mellberg is going there I know.

And of course Im gonna say the EPL is the best league since my club is in it.

[hammersavage]

who's going to win today? Italy vs. France. Romania vs. Netherlands. I want to bet on them.

[CambriaBurning]

If Holland is smart they'll play all their subs, lose to Romania, and knock out Italy AND France.

Romania can easily be beaten later.

[Tallman388]

If Holland is smart they'll play all their subs, lose to Romania, and knock out Italy AND France.

Romania can easily be beaten later.

That would be nice, but I don't think Van Basten would do it. He wants to pick up the maximum on points coming out of their group before playing Russia/Sweden, just to keep the confidence level up.

[sailor]

If Holland is smart they'll play all their subs, lose to Romania, and knock out Italy AND France.

Romania can easily be beaten later.

fine, ignore me then steal my idea. see if i care. go on, see! :tongue:

[CambriaBurning]

fine, ignore me then steal my idea. see if i care. go on, see! :tongue:

haha... my bad.

[sailor]

haha... my bad.

just kidding. i don't think they'd totally tank the match, but i can really see them easing off the throttle a bit.

[CambriaBurning]

Definitely, I don't think they'd risk top players getting hurt, or getting red cards in a match thats only personal pride, which hurts the matches that mean the most.

[ohioscouser]

Theyll do what croatia did yesterday, put their B team in, but their B team is still more than capable of beating Romania, so who knows, I still have a hunch Italy will advance.

[Auslander]

I think we'll see two draws today. I don't think there's very much between Italy and France, and Holland don't have anything to play for. I'm hoping Van Basten gives Huntelaar a run out today; I don't get to see him very much in the Eredivise.

[ChrisBrown]

Italy is back. nice to see them beat up on the French today.

[spadanko]

Forza Azzurri!!!!!

Andiamo Ragazzi!!!!!

[ohioscouser]

I told all ya fools the Ities would advance.

[hereintheUK]

Russia could have won by six goals tonight and it would have been a fair result. Sweden haven't played that badly but they have been beaten by a far, far better side.

I really liked what I saw from them tonight.

[Donnie Iris]

I was excited have the opportunity to catch Germany Portugal today and it has not disappointed thus far. I can't believe how strong the Germans look. But, you'd be an idiot to count Portugal out after a 2-0 defecit, especially this early. Anyway, the reason I felt compelled to post was to comment on the officiating. This is easily my favorite ref I've seen. This guy is not falling for any of the flamboyant diving; really letting them play. At one point one of the Portugese players was rolling around on the ground like he'd literally just been shot, you know the type, and the ref all but picked him off the ground and threw him off the pitch. He's not letting the players get cunty. There need to be more refs like this guy...

[Donnie Iris]

That was fast... 2-1. Unbelievable game so far.. Only 40 in too

[cougarjake13]

yeh i've been watching

great game so far

[cougarjake13]

guess you're allowed to push off in soccer

[TeeBone]

Great game. I think the announcer was correct in assuming that some of these remaining matches will go to penalties. This however; was an exciting match.
That being said, I still feel Croatia are the side to watch.

[jaychetta]

Netherlands and Croatia very nice, but Germany is really tough to beat. Too big, too much experience. Glad to see the interest on RF.net.

[Mr.Pants]

A lot of defenders flaked out today. Pretty tense game though.

[CambriaBurning]

This game was fuckin bullshit. I'm sick of how against the Portuguese the refs have been.

Really? You can push a defender down in the box and score? I had no idea!

Also, when's the last time you saw a team, ANY TEAM, only get 1 free kick the entire match near the box??? Portugal only had 1, when they should have had a few more. What a bunch of BULLSHIT this game was. FUCK these kraut nazi fucks.

[TeeBone]

Tomorrow should be another great match.
http://www.euro2008.uefa.com/MultimediaFiles/Photo/competitions/EURO/71/55/04/715504_w5.jpg

[sailor]

for the record, i never said italy wouldn't advance, just it was presumptive to assume to see them thru to the semis (i thought them and france were a real coin-toss game and there was always the outside chance neither would move on). as it stands i'd probably pick them to win their next match at this point. i do think it's a bit off to say they're finally back, as the poster formerly known as mlc was claiming. they had a lot of trouble finishing and let france hang around way too long while a man down.


i also think it's silly how everyone thinks the refs are against them. i thought the refs were very biased towards portugal. germans were getting run over and/or tackled from behind with nothing called. one minor push that was missed (or not enough to warrant a whistle) is not the same as consistently allowing one side to foul the other. again, i'm biased and that probably means the refs were fair throughout.


all-in-all it was an exciting match (just finished watching it) with some very nice goals. germany shouldn't have let portugal back into the match (twice!) but what are you gonna do?


i don't see why tomorrow would be a good match. least interesting quarter to me. won't even bother recording it, but i definitely hope turkey pulls off the upset.

[Mr.Pants]

The push Ballack made may of been minor but very important. It was enough to make Ferreira miss the ball. The ref wasn't good but I don't think he favored Germany overall.

[CambriaBurning]

Well I don't know what game you guys were watching, but, at least one situation I can point out off hand without watching the game again was when someone from Portugal got fouled in the box, and no call was made. Germany then went for a run seconds later that ended up obviously offsides. The broadcast then showed a replay off the offsides, but not a replay of the foul in the box. Worse than that, the announcers didn't even acknowledge that it even happened...

The fact is the Portuguese have always had the reputation for diving, whether warranted or not, and that comes into play because the refs don't call fouls against other teams. This has been happening the whole tournament, and in the World Cup. To say the Germans got hit with fouls that weren't called, once again, I don't know what game you were watching. Every time they got slightly touched the ref called a foul. Take the magical "your elbow hit my eye even though it was your forearm slightly grazing it" call as an example.

Take the pushed goal and nullify it, and it would have been tied and gone to extra time. Who knows what would have happened then, but at least it'd be fair. And if the foul in the box was indeed a foul (i can't say 100% certain because of a lack of replay), then the score would have been 3-3, or 3-2 Portugal wins because the push goal shouldn't have counted.

Now for the concessions... with ALL THAT rambling I just did, Scolari picked some stupid subs and should have utilized our taller players and put them in. Every air ball and long ball was overtaken by the Germans. It's not that hard of a concept for him to grasp... taller players have a better chance of heading from the box and getting the ball in the air, and the Germans were much taller than us, so guys like Meira, and Hugo Almeida should have been put in, ESPECIALLY Almeida, since he plays for a German club and plays in games with a lot of these players.

[Fezticle98]

Looks like the Germans gave the Pork chops a face job. FACE!

Another in a long line of Portugal flops. Overrated.

[CambriaBurning]

3-2 isn't a face job. That's what you call a close game... especially when one of those goals shouldn't have counted.

Overrated my ass, if anything Portugal doesn't get enough credit. Consistently being a big name in the last few international tournaments. Nobody predicted Portugal getting as far as they did in the World Cup, despite getting to the finals of the last Euro.

Tell me one player in Germany that has footwork besides Schweinsteiger... There isn't any. They're just powerhouses. It's like a bunch of white Drogba's.

[hereintheUK]

Croatia Turkey tonight. One of these teams is going to create history, neither of them has ever been further than the quarter-finals of the European Championship. The sensible money appears to be on 5/6 favourites Croatia rather than 9/4 shot Turkey, but I'm not so sure. Those Turks, they just don't know the meaning of the word defeat. They've been behind in all their Euro 2008 games so far, yet here they are.

[CambriaBurning]

I think Croatia will take down Turkey. Their last game was great, what a comeback, but not having their starting keeper? That's gotta suck for them.

[sailor]

just following the game on-line i'm glad i didn't record it. they are really panning it soundly. nothing wrong with a 0-0 game, but this one just sounds so boring.

[hereintheUK]

the first half was bad but compared to the second half it was an absolute classic.

[CambriaBurning]

Oof... well I know what I'm deleting off my DVR without watching it... haha.

[sailor]

now i really hope turkey wins, they won't have anyone left for the semi.

[hereintheUK]

now i really hope turkey wins, they won't have anyone left for the semi.

The Germans will be praying Turkey get through.

[underdog]

What a finish! The final minute of extra time and Croatia scores.

Just in case people are waiting to watch.

[hereintheUK]

Croatia goal. Nice to see manager Slaven Bilic running around like a mad man. He's come a long way sinve he played for West Ham.

[underdog]

WTF?! Holy shit, this game is nuts.

[hereintheUK]

holy shit

[hereintheUK]

WTF?! Holy shit,

I swear to god I didn't read that before I posted.

[HBox]

Croatia Turkey tonight. One of these teams is going to create history, neither of them has ever been further than the quarter-finals of the European Championship. The sensible money appears to be on 5/6 favourites Croatia rather than 9/4 shot Turkey, but I'm not so sure. Those Turks, they just don't know the meaning of the word defeat. They've been behind in all their Euro 2008 games so far, yet here they are.

wow.

[underdog]

I swear to god I didn't read that before I posted.

I think its the only response to what happened.

[hereintheUK]

wow.



They just do not know when they are beaten

[FunkyDrummer]

Unbelievable!!! First penalty shots of Euro 2008.

[hereintheUK]

I hate rooting for the Turks after what happened to the Leeds fans in Galatasaray but they absolutely deserve it. It's a shame for Slaven Bilic though if they lose. He's done himself no harm though and will get a big job out of this,

[jauble]

Holy Shit...I cant believed that just happened.

[sailor]

http://i159.photobucket.com/albums/t129/sea_eagle_tr/Turkish_flag.gif

[hereintheUK]

It was an extradanary end to the game. One of the best finishes to a game ever. It really is a great tournemant this time around.

[TeeBone]

They had the game won.....I can't believe it.:bye: Hats off to the Turks. They hung in there tough and played their ass off when they needed it most.
So much for the vaunted Croatian resolve.

[Mr.Pants]

Jive Turkeys!

[Mr.Pants]

Is it just me or did Turkey's tying goal look like Doug Flutie's Boston College TD pass?

[hereintheUK]

Hope this one doesn't go to penalties for hollands sake. They're almost as bad as England.

[Mr.Pants]

Another one of these games

[sailor]

that was a sad game. holland never played up to their talent. can all 4 2nd seeds advance? go italy!

[CambriaBurning]

If Turkey wins the tournament they should make a movie about it...

[eeroomnhoj]

Being a relarively new fan to soccer and knowing nothing about soccer, I will say I thoroughly enjoyed Russia versus the Netherlands. I think I want to be a soccer hooligan now.

Can't wait for today's mathces.

[hereintheUK]

I think I want to be a soccer hooligan now.


It's over rated.

[CambriaBurning]

Spain advances, much to the referee's dismay. They tried really hard to get Italy to advance, didn't they? Good god...

[OGC]

I hate it when a game has to be decided on penalties, but at least this time, the better team won.

[sailor]

didn't care for today's game at all. italy always plays for the tie and they're dreadfully boring.

[Fezticle98]

didn't care for today's game at all. italy always plays for the tie and they're dreadfully boring.

I missed the first half because I was playing a rec league game, but saw the 2nd half on. I thought it was a pretty exciting game, plenty of attacking back and forth.

I also hate to see a game like that decided by penalties, but you have to end it at some point. If you keep playing on, it just gets sloppier and sloppier.

One big step closer to my dream final of Spain vs. Germany.

[sailor]

I missed the first half because I was playing a rec league game, but saw the 2nd half on. I thought it was a pretty exciting game, plenty of attacking back and forth.

I also hate to see a game like that decided by penalties, but you have to end it at some point. If you keep playing on, it just gets sloppier and sloppier.

One big step closer to my dream final of Spain vs. Germany.

didn't help i was exhausted and couldn't stay awake.

i'd much more prefer the historical drama of germany-russia

[spadanko]

Hopefully this match will send donadoni to the unemployment line. Why Di Natale was in the game let alone taking a penalty was beyond me

[CambriaBurning]

Hopefully this match will send donadoni to the unemployment line. Why Di Natale was in the game let alone taking a penalty was beyond me

Check it out:

http://www.goal.com/en/Articolo.aspx?ContenutoId=749696



Looks pretty likely

[spadanko]

Check it out:

http://www.goal.com/en/Articolo.aspx?ContenutoId=749696



Looks pretty likely

beautiful

[hereintheUK]

OK Germany - Turkey tonight. On paper it looks like an east 4 nil victory for Germany. The Turks have only 13 fit players with 9 either injured or suspended. The Turkey coach even mentioned he may field his third choice goal keeper as an attacker although he was probably joking you can see his point.

Again, I know I've said it before but Turkey just do not know when they are beaten. I have my money on the Germans tonight. With the players Turkey have tonight I don't see how they can win. I expect a convincing victory from Germany but who knows.

[hereintheUK]

If Turkey win today, then I will start believing in miracles. Rule number one is never EVER bet against Germany. I've been burnt too many times before. The second 'never write off Turkey' And since Spain flagrantly ignored another rule by actually getting past the quarter-finals of a major tournament, are there some new rules I haven't been told about? I'm so confused.

[Donnie Iris]

If you're not loving the Turks, check your pulse. Holy fuck they literally just scored as I typed that. I was just going to say what a run they are on and how they could easily be up a goal or two already.... Unreal

[hereintheUK]

Crikey. Germany 0 Turkey 1. Totally deserve it and are the better team so far

[Fezticle98]

If Turkey win today, then I will start believing in miracles. Rule number one is never EVER bet against Germany. I've been burnt too many times before. The second 'never write off Turkey' And since Spain flagrantly ignored another rule by actually getting past the quarter-finals of a major tournament, are there some new rules I haven't been told about? I'm so confused.

The most famous is never get involved in a land war in Asia, but only slightly less well-known is this: never go in against a Sicilian when death is on the line!

[Donnie Iris]

Wow. This is quite the start....

[DolaMight]

any live streaming out there?

[hereintheUK]

The video feed went down for about 5 minutes on the BBC. Did this happen in the US?

[K.C.]

Dude...were the German fans just Sieg Heil-ing when they scanned the crowd a couple minutes ago???

I know I remember them having to break up a 'display' of German football fans, after one of these games, for marching through the streets and doing it a la 1939.

These guys are f-ing crazy.

[CambriaBurning]

google "Sopcast"... free video on a lot of games you can't normally catch during regular seasons as well.

[hereintheUK]

Shit BBC1 feed is down again. I believe this is a world wide thing

[K.C.]

Shit BBC1 feed is down again. I believe this is a world wide thing

It is...they're all using the same international feed.

ESPN cut back to the studio citing technical difficulties.

[CambriaBurning]

What a terrible time for someone to Earl up the feed.

[K.C.]

Bullshit...Germany scores a goal and NO ONE gets to see it!!

[hereintheUK]

For some reason the picture is back on but instead of the usual BBC1 commentary they have the BBC Radio 5 commentary.

[hereintheUK]

Which is slightly out of synch.

[badorties]

2-1 ger

[K.C.]

FUCK!

Germany scores....Turkey ties....NOBODY IS SEEING IT! GET THE FEED UP!!!!

:furious::furious::furious:

[hereintheUK]

3-2 Germany.

[K.C.]

3-2 Germany.

The feed literally cut out 10 seconds after the final goal was scored.

At least I got to see that one, though...perfect give and go.

Officially over....Germany advances.

[hereintheUK]

Never thought I'd ever say this is an English man but I'm glad to see the Germans through. They we're very lucky though and the Turkish have had a hell of a tournament.

[CambriaBurning]

Germany are through with some of the WORST football i've ever seen. They got completely outclassed and still wound up winning, what a fluke.

[TeeBone]

Germany looked bad compared to the Turks.

[cougarjake13]

so who's next ??

spain and russia right

[Dan 'Hampton]

Germany looked bad compared to the Turks.

They looked bad in the first half but OWNED the 2nd half. Turks were just too tired and were too shorthanded to make up the difference.

[sailor]

Germany are through with some of the WORST football i've ever seen. They got completely outclassed and still wound up winning, what a fluke.

fluke? they played below themselves, but you wouldn't expect them to win that game 9 out of 10?

and i believe there have now been 4 knock-out stage euro matches with over 4 goals...ever. germany's last two games are half that total. crazy game. very terrifying. thanks to rustu for getting caught out in no-man's land a few times, as he's fond of doing. (just finished watching the game. recording got cocked up so i had to re-record it overnight. going to be so dead today.)

edit: i almost forgot to add how amazing the ending was with 3 late goals.

[CambriaBurning]

I expected them to win, but that expectation changed when the game was underway. If you asked me when the game was about to start who was going to win, I'd say Germany, but based on the way they were playing, Turkey deserved that win because they played better football, and they did it with 9 guys either suspended or injured. Both keepers were shit, but in overall performance, the Turks were just better. For a team as "good" as people think Germany is, they played like crap.

[Fezticle98]

So, do the Krauts stick with Jens Lehmann for the finals or make the switch to Hildebrand? Lehmann was god-awful yesterday and by all rights should have lost.

[CambriaBurning]

They should switch to Hildebrand, Lehmann stinks.

Here's something else everyone should remember...

from Goal.com:

"Colin Kazim-Richards went down injured just before Lahm's winner and the Germans refused to put the ball out of play. The London-born midfielder has since come out and publicly criticised them for a lack of sportsmanship, after Turkey had kicked it out for them earlier in the game. Was it fair? After all, the Germans weren't losing - scores were level, so it was not necessarily a matter of what had to be done there and then - or was it? How would Germany have reacted had it happened to them?"

[Dan 'Hampton]

If the Turks are going to complain about that how about the hit Lahm took IN THE BOX that was completely ignored by the ref. All these guys dive so I have no problem with a team that doesn't bend over backward for the other team's "injured player".
Bring back Oliver Kahn for the final.

[CambriaBurning]

If the Turks are going to complain about that how about the hit Lahm took IN THE BOX that was completely ignored by the ref. All these guys dive so I have no problem with a team that doesn't bend over backward for the other team's "injured player".
Bring back Oliver Kahn for the final.


If you wanna go that route, Semih should have never been booked, and Lahm should have been given a yellow for fouling Mehmet... but it didn't happen. Mistakes by refs are a different story than a team being sportsmanlike. Also, the German's NOTORIOUSLY dove this whole tournament, you can't call out the Turks on that without noticing the German's BS.

[Dan 'Hampton]

If you wanna go that route, Semih should have never been booked, and Lahm should have been given a yellow for fouling Mehmet... but it didn't happen. Mistakes by refs are a different story than a team being sportsmanlike. Also, the German's NOTORIOUSLY dove this whole tournament, you can't call out the Turks on that without noticing the German's BS.

Semih was booked as a make-up call for the obvious missed call. I'm not denying that Turkey had a great run, but the had no legs when i mattered. Lahms goal was a beautiful give and go with horrible defence. Germany didn't play their best but they are/were/are going to always be the better team. Give the Turks the guys they were missing and maybe they would have won but you have to admit that the second half belonged to Germany. All the Turks could do was tackle.

[CambriaBurning]

Germany was better score-wise in the second half, but the Turks were still playing better football, and overall I'd say the second half was even on both sides. Besides the play that led to Lahm's goal, there was nothing spectacular about Germany's second half.

[Dan 'Hampton]

We'll just have to agree to disagree....

[Fezticle98]

We'll just have to agree to disagree....

I don't agree to that.

I think the Germans were justified in not kicking the ball out at that time of the game. I've seen it done similarly in other games and it was not a big deal. That being said, the Germans would have bitched if the roles were reversed.

Who's everyone picking this afternoon? My heart says Spain, my head says Spain, but part of me fears the Russians and the impending Spanish collapse.

Spain 2-1.

[CambriaBurning]

I'm going to predict 1-1 and penalties... With Spain taking the win.

[Fezticle98]

Anyone know where I can see the game? I don't have a TV at work and streaming from ESPN360 doesn't work because I don't have the right ISP, I guess.

[CambriaBurning]

google "Sopcast"... its supposed to be the best way

[spadanko]

channelsurfing.net has feeds

[K.C.]

The Russians have been dominated on the field for most of this game, but they're keeping it close.

Spain can't close the door.

[K.C.]

Spain can't close the door.

There it is.

Germany vs. Spain for it all.

[CambriaBurning]

WOW I was wrong, hahaha

[LordJezo]

20 minutes to go.

http://img528.imageshack.us/img528/9777/cpsmvx25290608155014phorb6.jpg

[cougarjake13]

20 minutes to go.

http://img528.imageshack.us/img528/9777/cpsmvx25290608155014phorb6.jpg

damn shes hot

so is the dark haired chick to her left and down

[LordJezo]

This is going pretty shitty for Germany.

:(

[cougarjake13]

This is going pretty shitty for Germany.

:(

still 20 minutes plus stoppage

only down 1 nil

[cougarjake13]

why do the always take torres out for guiza

torres looks pretty damn good to me

[K.C.]

This is going pretty shitty for Germany.


Guess somebody's not the master race they thought they were.

:happy:

[LordJezo]

Guess somebody's not the master race they thought they were.

:happy:

Bah.

Germany didn't even put up a fight. They did nothing all game. This wasn't even fun to watch.

[K.C.]

Bah.

Germany didn't even put up a fight. They did nothing all game. This wasn't even fun to watch.

I was going to say it doesn't even matter, because there's no powerhouse like the USA...

...then I remembered what sport we're talking about.

[TeeBone]

http://img-nex.theonering.net/images/scrapbook/17762.jpg
Great Goal, Great Game!!!

[~Katja~]

so we lost... Ballack is still a hottie

bad game though, nothing exciting at all.

[~Katja~]

20 minutes to go.

http://img528.imageshack.us/img528/9777/cpsmvx25290608155014phorb6.jpg

that's gotta be a photoshop.
I was trying to see hot German and Spanish chicks and guys at the sidelines and all I saw was our fucking fat chancelor and some ol' spanish queen...

No wonder nobody is watching this game in the US

[sailor]

crappy game, germany were never in it and were out-played all the way. as for the goal, lahm (of the super hot wife) got burnt again (again! and on a play he had no reason to get burnt on) and wtf was lehmann doing coming out on that play?!

but, congrats to spain, they were the class of the tournament from the beginning and if it wasn't against germany i'd be super excited they finally broke thru.

[ladyface]

I thought it was a terrific tournament of football, arguably the most entertaining since the World Cup of Mexico '86. Congratulations to the Spanish, a team of fine talents who finally delivered on the international stage. I actually enjoyed the final. Sure, Germany did little but try to spoil and muscle, but the Spaniards were too good for them, and they played some delightful one touch football. Alongside the Dutch and the Russians, they have pleased the purist's the desire for flair; the need to win in style. All credit to them. NB. Perhaps now we can see why Cristiano Ronaldo (who didn't even make it in to the Team of the Tournament), wants to join Madrid; he wants to play against better players, week in-week out.

[TeeBone]

Huh?

[booster11373]

It was a great game to watch and Im happy for Spain, Germany was really showing their frustration towards the end