# The official UEFA Euro '08 Thread



## Guitarwizard (Jun 7, 2008)

Although there aren't too many Europeans here, I thought such a thread could be funny, just to talk about the games, results, favorite teams...







..and of course to celebrate Switzerlands big triuphal procession over the Czech Republic tonight!


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## Gilbucci (Jun 7, 2008)

Forza Azzurri! My entire family is from Cosenza, so I'm rooting for Italy all the way.


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## Guitarwizard (Jun 7, 2008)

Italy is, indeed, a bad ass team. 

They were kinda unlucky with their group, though. Holland and France could probably be better. 

Whatever. I'm happy as long as Germany doesn't win, and Sitzerland can pass the group phase.


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## Gilbucci (Jun 7, 2008)

I don't think we'll win it this year, unfortunately. Some of our key players aren't going to be playing (Inzaghi, Nesta, Cannavaro, and Totti) but I think we'll put up a good fight for sure. As long as Portugal doesn't win, I am a happy man.


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## Mr. S (Jun 7, 2008)

I'm rooting for Germany again, usually I support both England and Germany being part German but since the former are too crap to get in I get to support a decent team 100% this time instead of having to watch grown men cry as they yet again come to the realisation that it is _not_ 1966 and it is _not_ "our year"


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## -K4G- (Jun 7, 2008)

Mr. S said:


> I'm rooting for Germany again, usually I support both England and Germany being part German but since the former are too crap to get in I get to support a decent team 100% this time instead of having to watch grown men cry as they yet again come to the realisation that it is _not_ 1966 and it is _not_ "our year"






Do you know that both teams are a bore to watch?


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## Mr. S (Jun 7, 2008)

KillForGod said:


> Do you know that both teams are a bore to watch?



Well the English are totally wank have been for some time, but the Germans have always been interesting to watch, they're not a big scoring team like Brazil (although i do remember them trouncing San Marino 13-0 or something in the qualifiers) but they've always been a strong and very technically minded team but after Jurgen Klinsmann's (who's a former Spurs player too ) reign as coach they've actually changed to a more attack focused team, now if they manage to keep their previous qualities along with the new I dare say they're a serious contender


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## playstopause (Jun 7, 2008)

Guitarwizard said:


> ..and of course to celebrate Switzerlands big triuphal procession over the Czech Republic tonight!



NOT!


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## Evilfrenchy (Jun 8, 2008)

Hope France is going to set the record straight against italy.....we were robbed once not twice.....


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## Sebastian (Jun 8, 2008)

Im from Poland so obviously i support them.. I know they will not win but hey  its all about having a good time 

Today the Best match in our group - POLAND - Germany... 

Yesterdays matches... Portugal-Turkey,and Switzerland - Czech Republic were good, i plan to watch a couple of better matches.. France, Italy... Poland 

DAMN.. we lost 

Still congrats Germany  nice match


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## playstopause (Jun 8, 2008)

Evilfrenchy said:


> Hope France is going to set the record straight against italy.....we were robbed once not twice.....





Such a rivalry. It rumbles a lot in Montreal when it's Mundial or Euro time. Many communities over here and especially a lot of french from France and italians. That means a LOT of car horns trough the night.


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## Guitarwizard (Jun 9, 2008)

playstopause said:


> NOT!




GODDAMNIT! 

That weekend really sucked - each single game ended like I didn't want it to end... Austria lost though, that's a good thing..


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## petereanima (Jun 9, 2008)

Guitarwizard said:


> Austria lost though, that's a good thing..





man, austria is unable to qualify themselves and is just aprt of it because this hsit happens here. austrian football has always this little smell of special olympics.

how are things in switzerland going so far? vienna and klagenfurt the police and special ops are nonstop in action. this weekend in klagenfurt 140 arrests and as a little side note: 17 raped women.  this is going totally out of control over here...


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## 7 Dying Trees (Jun 9, 2008)

As long as holland take a battering and lose with embarressing score lines I'll be happy. Oh, and for some reason I never want france to do well either...

I'm actually wanting Portugal and Spain to do well!


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## Makelele (Jun 9, 2008)

In every game so far I've just rooted for the underdog, but I guess it'd be quite nice if Sweden did well. Though I hardly see that happening.


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## playstopause (Jun 9, 2008)

petereanima said:


> ... this weekend in klagenfurt 140 arrests and as a little side note: 17 raped women.  this is going totally out of control over here...



What?!? That's crazy shit!


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## Blind Faith (Jun 9, 2008)

Im going to support Holland since Scotland didnt make it through.

The past few games have been quite good, but the france game at the minute is quite poor


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## Ville (Jun 9, 2008)

Holland won Italy 3-0!


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## Guitarwizard (Jun 9, 2008)

petereanima said:


> man, austria is unable to qualify themselves and is just aprt of it because this hsit happens here. austrian football has always this little smell of special olympics.



I know that - but Austria still did better than Switzerland, though... Croatia was damn close..



petereanima said:


> how are things in switzerland going so far? vienna and klagenfurt the police and special ops are nonstop in action. this weekend in klagenfurt 140 arrests and as a little side note: 17 raped women.  this is going totally out of control over here...



wtf? There is nothing like that going on here in Zurich - the only problems were in Basel, because the gates were too small for all the pople to get in, so they had to let them all in without checking if they had weapons and stuff..

But damn - there wasn't one single word about these happenings in Austia in Swiss newspapers, seems to be pretty chaotic over there...

PS: O R A N J E ! ! ! ! ! !


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## petereanima (Jun 10, 2008)

Guitarwizard said:


> But damn - there wasn't one single word about these happenings in Austia in Swiss newspapers, seems to be pretty chaotic over there...



there is also not many of it in austrian newspapers, except the "140 hooligans arrested" headline...but you know: the father of a friend of mine is a cop in klagenfurt, so we get a little "more" information as there is the order to keep as many as possible away from the public as there was in advance a lot of criticism as there are way not enough cops and securities in austria.


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## Guitarwizard (Jun 10, 2008)

That's sucks man...

..I heard today that the uefa is also having full control over the games in television, and all scenes with hools etc. get just cut out and censored... even the private vids on youtube get deleted...
What the fuck is this? 1930's??


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## Gilbucci (Jun 10, 2008)

Man..Italy played terrible today. It was almost embarrassing to watch. That in combination with the absolutely AWFUL officials. That first goal should NOT have counted, Van Nistelrooy was offside by like 8 feet. I'll admit that the Netherlands played better than us today, but the refs were completely clueless at the same time. I am very disappointed.


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## petereanima (Jun 10, 2008)

Guitarwizard said:


> That's sucks man...
> 
> ..I heard today that the uefa is also having full control over the games in television, and all scenes with hools etc. get just cut out and censored... even the private vids on youtube get deleted...
> What the fuck is this? 1930's??



yeah, there is a little "back in time" feel haha...


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## Guitarwizard (Jun 10, 2008)

Gilbucci said:


> That first goal should NOT have counted, Van Nistelrooy was offside by like 8 feet.



Wrong! 

The Offside didn't count because the goalie was behind the borderline at the time when hollands guy shot.
I didn't know about this rule neither - but it's there.


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## Ville (Jun 10, 2008)

Panucci was the last defender behind the borderline and Buffon was the second to last defender at the time. I wouldn't call it offside but then again I'm a big fan of the Netherlands...


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## DelfinoPie (Jun 10, 2008)

Come on Romania! 

I find it funny that the first time they qualify in something like 14 years they're going to get absolutely dicked because of the group they're in 

I'm supporting Germany because they have some of the best exports; beer, multiple varieties of sausage, Claudia Schiffer and Black Forest Gateau.



Although Greece is my second team because I used to live in the Greek side of Cyprus.


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## Gilbucci (Jun 10, 2008)

Guitarwizard said:


> Wrong!
> 
> The Offside didn't count because the goalie was behind the borderline at the time when hollands guy shot.
> I didn't know about this rule neither - but it's there.


Oh, I wasn't aware of that...neither were all the angry italians in the bar yesterday  Thanks for telling me bro


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## petereanima (Jun 11, 2008)

DelfinoPie said:


> Germany ...some of the best exports; beer,





ridiculous EURO08 side-note: in the fan-zones, austrias barkeepers are not allowed to sell austrian beer, only shitty carlsberg.


and what do carlsberg and sex on a boat do have in common?



Spoiler



both is fucking close to water.


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## Dormant (Jun 11, 2008)

Guitarwizard said:


> Wrong!
> 
> The Offside didn't count because the goalie was behind the borderline at the time when hollands guy shot.
> I didn't know about this rule neither - but it's there.



Incorrect. 



Ville said:


> Panucci was the last defender behind the borderline and Buffon was the second to last defender at the time. I wouldn't call it offside but then again I'm a big fan of the Netherlands...



Incorrect. The Goalkeeper can never be deemed to be 'the second to last defender'. 

The correct reason the goal was given: 


Rulebook said:


> Law 11.11 in the rulebook - under advice to referees. _"A defender who leaves the field during the course of play and does not immediately return must still be considered in determining where the second to last defender is for the purpose of judging which attackers are in an offside position" _. *Such a defender is considered to be on the touch line or goal line closest to his or her off-field position.* A defender who leaves the field with the referee's permission (and who thus requires the referee's permission to return) is not included in determining offside position.



This law has been around for ages (I remember seeing it in the rules over 15 years ago) but there just hasn't been a situation like the one in the game the other night that could lead to so much controversy. 

I think it's a good rule as it stops the following scenario: Attacking team has a corner - Defending team all stand on the byline and as soon as the kick is taken all jump off the field of play making every attacking player stood in the opponents half offside. 

No defending player can leave the field of play or be deemed inactive without the permission of the referee. It basically is there to stop cheating. In the situation the other night it seemed perfectly justifiable as Panucci only went down injured as he got a smack in the head from his own goalkeeper. It's down to poor communication on the part of the Italians. If Panucci fell down and lay prostrate in the field of play just by the goal-line he would have played every Dutch attacker onside. It was also quite telling that he lay on the floor like he had been shot but got up very quickly when the goal was awarded, to complain. It's all a moot point really because Italy were completely outplayed and deserved nothing from the game anyway. 



DelfinoPie said:


> Come on Romania!
> 
> I find it funny that the first time they qualify in something like 14 years they're going to get absolutely dicked because of the group they're in



This is not the first time Romania have qualified for 14 years. Romania reached the 2nd Round of the World Cup in 1990 getting knocked out by the Republic of Ireland, Missed out on Euro 92, reached the World Cup in 1994 getting knocked out at the Quarter Final stage to Sweden, reached Euro 96 to get knocked out at the group stages, reached the World Cup in 98 (beating England 2-1 in the group stages) and getting knocked out by Croatia in the 2nd round, and reached Euro 2000 getting knocked out by Italy, having beaten England (again). 

This is the Romanian's first tournament in 8 years but that's only 3 they have missed. You really aren't giving them enough credit. They are ranked 12th best team in the World in the FIFA rankings, and in the Euro qualifying they beat Holland and came top of their group. 

Yes, they are underdogs in the group (because they tend to do better when teams have to play them in the hostile environment in Romania) but they are no pushovers. They also as you may have seen if you watched the game against France will see that they are boring ugly battlers who grind out results. I don't want them to qualify because they are bad for football. I feel the same way about Greece who were appalling last night and didn't behave like the defending champions showing no ambition to do anything. 

Sorry I didn't mean to come across like a big know it all but I think it's best if people know the truth in these situations!


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## playstopause (Jun 11, 2008)

DelfinoPie said:


> I'm supporting Germany because they have some of the best exports; beer, multiple varieties of sausage, Claudia Schiffer and Black Forest Gateau.





Wow, Spain was brutal against Russia yesterday.
Looking forward for PORTUGAL vs CZECH today.


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## arktan (Jun 11, 2008)

DelfinoPie said:


> Come on Romania!
> I'm supporting Germany because they have some of the best exports; beer, multiple varieties of sausage, Claudia Schiffer and Black Forest Gateau.
> of Cyprus.



and jägermeister, you forgot jägermeister.


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## playstopause (Jun 11, 2008)

arktan said:


> and jägermeister, you forgot jägermeister.



And those :


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## Guitarwizard (Jun 11, 2008)

My promise for you guys:


If we don't beat Turkey today, I'll stick a kebab into my ass.
And there will be a picstory!

EDIT:

...and I'm talking about the whole fucking thing:









Yeah, drinking and soccer is fun, heheh..


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## playstopause (Jun 11, 2008)

So...

What about that *kebab?*


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## Blind Faith (Jun 11, 2008)

Damn a whole kebab


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## arktan (Jun 11, 2008)

a kebab? holy shit..





EDIT: Why not a pizza?

EDIT2: For his defense, he was probably pretty drunk when he wrote that...


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## playstopause (Jun 12, 2008)

playstopause said:


> So...
> 
> What about that *kebab?*



*???*


...

Oh, and Germany : owned by Croatia.


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## Guitarwizard (Jun 12, 2008)

Ok.. fuck.. that's going to be painful.. 

At least Croatia owned Germany...


,,,but Austria/Poland was fucking awful!!!
First goal was clearly offside... and then this penalty? wtf?


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## nikt (Jun 13, 2008)




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## arktan (Jun 13, 2008)




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## petereanima (Jun 13, 2008)

nikt said:


>








man, yesterdays match just PROVED again that austria national-eleven was, is and always will be a retarted bunch of shitheads. in the first 15 minutes there were 3, i repeat: THREE 100%-percent-chances, which just have to be realized.

polands goal was completely offside, the interview on austrias TV with the polish coach afterwards was pretty funny how he denied everything "i cannot see any offside here, don't know where you see this" - and yeah, the penalty was a little bit too much, but otherwise: he didn't give the first one, which should have been a 100%-penatly, so this was kinda fair i think.

anyway, i hope that latest on monday this whole over-ptariotism-shit over here will end.


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## Guitarwizard (Jun 13, 2008)

petereanima said:


> i hope that latest on monday this whole over-ptariotism-shit over here will end.



This is why I want Germany to loose.
Schweinsteiger's foul against Croatia was symbolic: They're just dickheads, and they just can't ever confess if someone's better then them.


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## petereanima (Jun 13, 2008)

exactly!


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## E Lucevan Le Stelle (Jun 13, 2008)

Guitarwizard said:


> Ok.. fuck.. that's going to be painful..
> 
> At least Croatia owned Germany...



 That was one of the outcomes I've been looking for...

being British and all, and therefore nowhere to be seen...


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## Guitarwizard (Jun 13, 2008)

The losing of Germany means a winning of Europe!


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## nikt (Jun 13, 2008)

petereanima said:


> polands goal was completely offside


, 
true




petereanima said:


> and yeah, the penalty was a little bit too much, but otherwise:



the guy with blond dyed hair from Austria fauled Bak first, he should recive yellow card not Bak


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## DelfinoPie (Jun 13, 2008)

Guitarwizard said:


> The losing of Germany means a winning of Europe!



I was hoping Germany would win


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## v7_ (Jun 13, 2008)

Germany will be lucky to get a draw against Austria on monday, seeing how they played yesterday... How our media ever saw us as some kind of favorite is way beyond me


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## playstopause (Jun 13, 2008)

Ok, so Netherlands OWNED France. 

Next is France vs Italy. Now that's going to be epic, as both tems needs to win to qualify.



nikt said:


>



I don't get it... Someone can explain, please?


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## nikt (Jun 14, 2008)

sorry, they put it out of server. It was this pic


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## playstopause (Jun 15, 2008)




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## Guitarwizard (Jun 16, 2008)

I hope the Netherlands will let Rumania win, so that Italy and France are out.
And also Austria should win against Germany, so they're kicked out.
That way, it would be a REALLY interresting championship.


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## petereanima (Jun 16, 2008)

nikt said:


> the guy with blond dyed hair from Austria fauled Bak first, he should recive yellow card not Bak



true.

despite the fact that i hate him most of all austria players, he is a complete dickhead. 

so, today is austrias last match and i can see already thousand of little flags (which every asshole has now on his car) will lay round on the streets tomorrow.


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## playstopause (Jun 17, 2008)

Italy qualifies.


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## Gilbucci (Jun 17, 2008)

WOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOT!


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## playstopause (Jun 18, 2008)

... And Russia beats Sweden and makes it to the quarterfinals... 

First time in their history.


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## Guitarwizard (Jun 19, 2008)

Well, I always knew there were some football talents on 1/6 of the world's surface.


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## arktan (Jun 19, 2008)

WHAT? The Rus beat the shit out of vikings?

Russia in the quarters? This is gonna be pretty interesting...


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## Dormant (Jun 19, 2008)

playstopause said:


> ... And Russia beats Sweden and makes it to the quarterfinals...
> 
> First time in their history.



That's not strictly true. The USSR reached the Final of Euro 88, where they lost to Holland (and Van Basten scored one of the most amazing goals in world football). 

Seeing as the Russian Federation has only been around since 1991 when the Soviet Union was dissolved and there have only been 8 tournaments since then (and particularly taking into consideration that most of the best players in the Soviet side were from Ukraine) it's not surprising. 

Russia were superb last night. Hiddink has really got them playing attractive fast paced football. Don't expect them to go much further though.


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## playstopause (Jun 19, 2008)

And it's quarterfinals time!!! 

Anyone watching Germany against Portugal?


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## Guitarwizard (Jun 20, 2008)

playstopause said:


> Anyone watching Germany against Portugal?




I watched it. I really thought Portugal is going to make the 3:3 in the end, didn't happen unfortunately..


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## arktan (Jun 20, 2008)

Guitarwizard said:


> I watched it. I really thought Portugal is going to make the 3:3 in the end, didn't happen unfortunately..



this whole thing is going down a way i absolutely don't like...
germany will loose... we just need it for our self esteem


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## petereanima (Jun 20, 2008)

germany MUST loose.

altough i have to admit that the 1:0-goal was just an awesome action.


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## Guitarwizard (Jun 20, 2008)

petereanima said:


> germany MUST loose.
> 
> altough i have to admit that the 1:0-goal was just an awesome action.



I think ALL five goals were awesome...

But FUCK Germany really has to loose...


The final is going to be Netherlands - Croatia, 3:0


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## Scali (Jun 20, 2008)

Slightly off-topic, but I'm watching Euro 08 in digital HDTV via cable for the first time.
Looks quite amazing. I hope I can watch Holland win three more games this way


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## petereanima (Jun 20, 2008)

Scali said:


> Slightly off-topic, but I'm watching Euro 08 in digital HDTV via cable for the first time.



me too, looks awesome.


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## Guitarwizard (Jun 20, 2008)

I had such an expierience when I first saw hockey in HDTV... 
It was like "wow you can actually SEE the puck"..


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## playstopause (Jun 20, 2008)

Turkey vs Croatia :no goals for 120 minutes... And then 2 GOALS in the last (added) minute of overtime!!! Incredible.


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## Guitarwizard (Jun 21, 2008)

Side note: Why is Turkey even playing in the Euro? 

I mean if THEY are playing, then we should also have Georgia, Aserbaijan, Armenia and Kazakhstan playing in the Euro.

Or did they all drop out in qualifying?
Litteraly, these countries are in Europe, and I don't think they're playing in the Asian Championships..


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## Scali (Jun 21, 2008)

We (Holland) played Armenia in the qualifications (they were in our group).
Azerbaijan, Kazakhstan and Georgia were also in qualifications.
So yes, apparently they all dropped out.

And Turkey is considered a European country, with a pretty strong football culture.

At least Turkey is geographically inside Europe, at least partly. Israel was in the qualification aswell...


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## djpharoah (Jun 21, 2008)

Holy shit - Russia just beat the shit out of the Dutch 3-1. Never expected that.


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## Lee (Jun 21, 2008)

That score is a bit deceiving though. It was 1-1 through about the 110th minute and then the Dutch just fell apart.


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## djpharoah (Jun 21, 2008)

Lee said:


> That score is a bit deceiving though. It was 1-1 through about the 110th minute and then the Dutch just fell apart.



That might be - but lets be real those Russian strikers were all up in Van De Sars comfort zone it was just a matter of time.

Anyways looking forward to the Spain vs. Italy game tomorrow.


Forza Azure!


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## playstopause (Jun 21, 2008)

djpharoah said:


> Anyways looking forward to the Spain vs. Italy game tomorrow.
> 
> 
> Forza Azure!



To me, that THE game of the quarter finals.


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## djpharoah (Jun 22, 2008)

Currently watching the Spanish vs the Italians - here's hoping to a great game.


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## DelfinoPie (Jun 22, 2008)

I know a guy who bet £200 on Holland to win, needless to say he wasn't happy.

However, his loss cheered me up last night  


COME ON GERMANY!!!


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## Lee (Jun 22, 2008)

That was crazy. Third straight game to go to extra time, and second to go to PK's.


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## Dormant (Jun 23, 2008)

Lee said:


> That score is a bit deceiving though. It was 1-1 through about the 110th minute and then the Dutch just fell apart.



To be fair, I don't think it was really that deceiving at all. Russia were all over the Dutch and they were fairly pedestrian for the whole game. It was confusing to see but it really felt like a matter of time before Russia would score again. Very well deserved I felt. 

Despite being one of the most awful boring games I have seen, it was great to see the Italians go out last night. Any team that plays anti-football the way Italy do, do not deserve to win this tournament. 

I honestly don't understand why anyone apart from the Italians look forward to watching Italy play. They do everything they can to stifle their opponents and to score on the break. It's really disappointing because they quite clearly have some fantastic players fully capable of playing attacking football but their ethos is always to destroy the game as a spectacle for the neutral.

The only time I can remember Italy playing cohesive football in any of the past tournaments was when they played fantastically well against the Germans in the last World Cup. Anyway, good riddance.


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## Scali (Jun 23, 2008)

Well, our great Dutch team was beaten by a great Dutch coach.
What Hiddink does is really the stuff of legend.
He managed to make the Russians do exactly what we did to our opponents the first 3 matches.
Which is impressive enough... but he's also done it with the Koreans and Australians before (and PSV ofcourse). This is not just coincidence anymore.

In a way it makes sense. Any reasonably large country should have some amount of talented/experienced footballers. It's the team-building and strategy that ultimately make the difference.


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## playstopause (Jun 23, 2008)

Well, one thing"s for sure : we might have a final with very unexpected teams! Can you imagine a final between Russia and Turkey? On the other hand, I expect Spain vs Germany... That would be epic.


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## Lee (Jun 25, 2008)

That was probably one of the better matches I've ever seen. That game was amazing, despite the outages  Turkey played an awesome game, but Germany prevailed in a very Turkish fashion - at the last point possible


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## DelfinoPie (Jun 25, 2008)

Wehay Germany!!!

I'm going to go out on a limb and say a Germany Vs Russia final, in which Germany wins 2-0.


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## Mr. S (Jun 25, 2008)

despite the outages (I preferred the bbc's radio coverage that they put on during the outages I hate Jonathan Pearce's commentary) it was a bloody good game, frustrating at times as Germany just weren't the organised team you'd normally expect, but full marks to Turkey they put on a great show and it's a shame to see them go out as they'd had such a good tournament but its for the greater good, come on Germany! 



DelfinoPie said:


> Wehay Germany!!!
> 
> I'm going to go out on a limb and say a Germany Vs Russia final, in which Germany wins 2-0.



I could live with a scoreline like that  just so long as they get into the game a bit more as they were a bit lacking for alot of the game.


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## Dormant (Jun 26, 2008)

Mr. S said:


> despite the outages (I preferred the bbc's radio coverage that they put on during the outages I hate Jonathan Pearce's commentary) it was a bloody good game, frustrating at times as Germany just weren't the organised team you'd normally expect, but full marks to Turkey they put on a great show and it's a shame to see them go out as they'd had such a good tournament but its for the greater good, come on Germany!



Definitely agree it was a great game (as a spectacle not in footballing terms - the defending and both teams abilities generally were fairly shocking). Two points that totally confused me about what you said: 

1) Hating Jonathan Pearce's commentary - he wasn't the commentator last night so I don't get why you would have preferred the Radio coverage?  However, John Motson and Mark Lawrenson were their usual shocking selves (although I did quite like Lineker's 'silenced by the lahm' quip at the end of the coverage ). 

2) Germany going through being for the greater good - both you and Delfino are deluded for thinking this! lol:  ) - Germany are awful - this is the most distinctly average German team that I can remember (although the team in Euro 2000 was hilariously worse) - they definitely don't deserve to win it and my German colleagues at work although pleased that they are through are thoroughly embarrassed by them and don't expect them to win the competition playing the way they have played so far. 

Hopefully justice will be done and Russia will win their first ever tournament, or Spain live up to the superior quality of their squad. I'm going for Spain to beat Germany in the final 2-1 and the world of football to be a much happier place.


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## DelfinoPie (Jun 26, 2008)

Dormant said:


> 1) Hating Jonathan Pearce's commentary - he wasn't the commentator last night so I don't get why you would have preferred the Radio coverage?  However, John Motson and Mark Lawrenson were their usual shocking selves (although I did quite like Lineker's 'silenced by the lahm' quip at the end of the coverage ).



I think Jonathon Pearce is awesome, although every time he's commentating I'm expecting at some point a player to get throw across the pitch by a giant flipper or fall into a pit of fire like in Robot Wars 



Dormant said:


> 2) Germany going through being for the greater good - both you and Delfino are deluded for thinking this! lol:  ) - Germany are awful - this is the most distinctly average German team that I can remember (although the team in Euro 2000 was hilariously worse) - they definitely don't deserve to win it and my German colleagues at work although pleased that they are through are thoroughly embarrassed by them and don't expect them to win the competition playing the way they have played so far.



I'll admit I'm not a big fan of football, however, when the world cup or euro competitions come around I make friendly bets with people, often for stupid reasons.

Why am I hoping Germany win? Well, any country that produces such fine beer as them and an abundance of awesome pork-related snacks is a winner in my books!

My first team I wanted to win was Romania...probably out of pity because of the group they were in


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## InTheRavensName (Jun 26, 2008)

I'm going to say Russia to do a Greece this time. I fancy them to beat Spain on recent form and Spain's remarkable ability to choke whenever they get anywhere (ala England), and Germany have just looked average, especially against poorer sides like Turkey (yes, I think Turkey have been poor to average, but have benefited from some genuinely bad opponents-Croatia were almost laughable when the two met.)


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## Dormant (Jun 26, 2008)

DelfinoPie said:


> Why am I hoping Germany win? Well, any country that produces such fine beer as them and an abundance of awesome pork-related snacks is a winner in my books!





Well in that case they can lose and still be winners as they can go home to scoff themselves silly!


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## DelfinoPie (Jun 26, 2008)

Dormant said:


> Well in that case they can lose and still be winners as they can go home to scoff themselves silly!



Yup, they'll be happy chappies...maybe they might share their sausages with the Swedish and some of their swedish meatballs and put them in hilarious positions and giggle about it 

If only the world would join hands and make phallic symbols out of food together it would be a happier place.


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## Mr. S (Jun 26, 2008)

Dormant said:


> Definitely agree it was a great game (as a spectacle not in footballing terms - the defending and both teams abilities generally were fairly shocking). Two points that totally confused me about what you said:
> 
> 1) Hating Jonathan Pearce's commentary - he wasn't the commentator last night so I don't get why you would have preferred the Radio coverage?  However, John Motson and Mark Lawrenson were their usual shocking selves (although I did quite like Lineker's 'silenced by the lahm' quip at the end of the coverage ).



holy shit? he wasn't? fuck me! I must have been tireder than I thought as I could have sworn it was him, either way I still hate the majority of TV commentators on any sport, though ITV is worse at it....



Dormant said:


> 2) Germany going through being for the greater good - both you and Delfino are deluded for thinking this! lol:  ) - Germany are awful - this is the most distinctly average German team that I can remember (although the team in Euro 2000 was hilariously worse) - they definitely don't deserve to win it and my German colleagues at work although pleased that they are through are thoroughly embarrassed by them and don't expect them to win the competition playing the way they have played so far.
> 
> Hopefully justice will be done and Russia will win their first ever tournament, or Spain live up to the superior quality of their squad. I'm going for Spain to beat Germany in the final 2-1 and the world of football to be a much happier place.



I agree that this German side is by no means up to their usual standards, at times they've played rather embarrassingly, but hey I always support Germany (being part German) and the England (who are always awful ) and since England didn't get through to the competition I can only support Germany so I'd be happy even if they won with a crap side


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## playstopause (Jun 29, 2008)

1-0 for Spain @ halftime.


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## FortePenance (Jun 29, 2008)

SPAIN WIN!


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## Makelele (Jun 29, 2008)

Great game by Spain there. They really deserved the victory, and they played beautifully throughout the tournament (the Italy game being an exception - but that's what happens when Italy play their boring defensive soccer). Clearly the best team in this tournament IMO.


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## FortePenance (Jun 29, 2008)

Yes, that was an amazing game. I expected Spain to be defending a lot at first especially with how the Germans started off but then wham bam, Torres. The Spanish defence did a good job too though, Sergio Ramos is an ace player.


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## djpharoah (Jun 29, 2008)

Spain wining is  for them -definitely the most consistent team in the tournament. Germans really dissapointed me


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## D-EJ915 (Jun 29, 2008)

Germany pulled an Eagles, lol.


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## InTheRavensName (Jun 29, 2008)

Fair result all round I think. Best International tournament of recent years IMO, and the first time I've given a flying fuck about football in general for about 4 or 5 years


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## playstopause (Jun 29, 2008)

for Spain! Great game all around.


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## Mr. S (Jun 30, 2008)

Well done to the Spanish, they totally cut Germany to pieces as I predicted they would... I was surprised they didn't score more as this is certainly the worst German team, at least in terms of defence, that I've ever seen.

Pity to see the Germans lose it but the Spanish deserved it way more, all in all a great tournament


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## FortePenance (Jun 30, 2008)

The German midfield is pretty strong but I agree with the defence comment.


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## playstopause (Jul 2, 2008)

Ok... 

I think we can close this thread now.


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