Euro 2004

Who does everyone tip to win Euro 2004?

My moneys on France again, i think there front line is just to strong, with Henry and Trezequet, as well as Pires and Zidane.

Although do watch out for us Greeks!(although my father is Greek-Cypriot, my mother is from a Greek family) We topped are play-off group, which included Spain (who we beat 1-0 away), and have only conceded one goal in are last 9 games.
Watch out for Karagounis of Inter Milan and Nikolaidis of Athletico Madrid.

joe

Well, as a Dutch man I would say the Netherlands. But because of their latest performance......no they are not ready. So I go for Czech. Or how do you spell it in English? The team with Baros/Koller/Nedved etc.

Czech Republic

Well, Czech or Czech Republic. Doesn't have a great difference.

I can't wait til saturday, but the whole tournament is just gonna be another big dissapointment for England fans, we do it all the time. Build ourselves up to believe we can win it then fuck up around the semi's. We're shit, why don't people understand that. Individually we have great players, maybe 3 or 4 genuine world class performers but as a team that hardly ever plays with each other due to Svens changing (Americans reading this may want to relate this to the ProBowl) we're crap.

At least Baddiel and Skinner are returning for another Fantasy Football series.

Italy all the way. Strong at the the back and the trio meravglie up front Totti, Del Piero and Vieri. Cassano on the bench too!

It Ally for me too. Obviously, I want In Gland to win, but as Turi said, the team is just one big disappointment. So, after In Gland, I want It Ally to win.

Mick

Come on Greece!

my prediction;

Portugal-1 Greece-2

The Greek did a nice job today, after 7 minutes the first goal of the tournament .... couldn't be better.

My money goes to the winner of the match tuesday (Germany vs The Netherlands) and i hope that the Dutch will win.

well what a prediction!

i told you to watch out for us!

Have you ever seen anything like that in all your life? Absolutely unbelievable; I don't know whether to call it extremely bad luck or just disgustingly poor pressure play towards the end. Beckham's penalty: I don't care what Lynam, Venables et al say about it, he could and should have hit it better than he did. It was a perfect height for a save, and had no pace.

Zidane's on the other hand was one of the best penalties I've seen. And the freekick inspiring too.

Mick

too bad for me I couldn't watch the game. it must have been awesome.

now I hope Germany and Dutch to play well and give me a good game to watch on tuesday.

L.A., CA
I'm still disappointed that Turkey didn't qualify but since they're out my money is on Italy. I think tmmw. Spain will defeat Greece and Portugal will beat Russia.

now that all the teams have played I know I have no idea of who is gonna win.
Sweden and Chezch Republic were the best teams so far, but I don't think neither of them will win.

England were quite disappointing in all honesty. Ignore what the media say, they were playing very negative tactics in the secoond half, and I always say you cannot hold on to a 1-0 lead by packing out your area.

The games haven't been that exciting yet, but I'm sure it'll be better once everyones warmed up.

Scholes to score on thursday

im from bulgaria and im really dissapointed with bulgaria-sweeden
i expected sweeden to win but after bulgaria's performance in the 1st half i thought we had a chance. but nooooooooooo,cos of some ******s like #4 who couldnt do S***

Netherlands played horrible against Germany. Hope it will be better next game. Still I think Czech Republic will win. Their game wasn't good too, but still they win.

But in my heart I'm still Dutchmen, DONT FORGET THAT!

I'd love that too. He's the one player I actually love scoring against us when playing for Man Utd. Glad he got a hattrick when they slaughtered us a couple of seasons ago; obviously, I wasn't GLAD, but if anyone had to score it, I wanted it to be him.

Mick

yea i was gutted when zie french got those 2 goals i have now experienced what it is like to win in the dieing seconds (man utd against munich) now this. I'm not happy about it in fact im pissed off we lost like that. Al though i thought rooney played very well and ledley kind did pretty good.

I also agree with scholes to score hasn't scored for time think the last time he scored in a England match was against tunisia.

I was gutted at the England match Sunday. Double gutted coz I had a bet that England would win 1-0, with Frank Lampard as the first goalscoreer. I'd have won £150 from a £2 bet.

They played worse today, and won 3-0! Funny game sometimes...

Mick

funny game sometimes....

Greece are through

(well pretty much)

Yep, greece is almost certain. hope the Dutchmen will follow. A draw against Czech and a win against Latvia is enoug (Latvia is correct I hope?)

What a match ...... the Dutch against the Czech, it's a shame the Dutchies lost after 2-0.

yeah saturday's game was one of the greatest ones I have watched in a loooong time. this Czech team is amazing, now I think they can win it all.

The Czech team was very lucky with the referee and the Dutch coach.

That referee sucked .... the Dutch deserved a penalty, the second yellow for Heitinga ....

About Dick "what's in an name" Advocaat:

How could he ever take Robben (imho the man of the match) out

Sweden are my outside bet for this tourny, they have Larsson, and that means a lot

Definitely game of the tournament so far, and the best international game I've seen since Yugoslavia 4-3 Spain at Euro 2000. The Czechs play with such grace and flair, and attack the game from begin to end--my second favourite team now after England. Nedved is a fantastic player of amazing quality.

Mick

LOL. Glad that everybody (or many people) joined me up with the fact that the Czech do have a great team. I already said they would win the tournament even when it had to start! Next time I put a lot of money in a betting, and then will see...

so long divers (I mean Italy).
I would love to see Portugal and Czechs in the Final with Portugal winning 3-2.

With all due respect to Rooney, Cristiano Ronaldo is the next huge international superstar (even with his excessive stepovers). That kid has faster reflexes than Bruce Lee and has an incredible sense of the field and where his team mates are.

Orlando, FL

Today I'm picking France over Switzerland and England over Croatia.

UPDATE
England just beat Croatia, 4-2
France beat Switzerland, 3-1
So, Thursday will have England vs. Portugal.
Tough call here, but I'm going with Portugal (agologies all around mates)
Friday will have France and Greece. Come on you Greeks! Send the French packing!

UPDATE
Italy just beat Bulgaria in a sqeaker, 2-1, but Italy still goes home since Sweden and Denamrk have more goals in their group.

Watch out England, here comes Portugal!!!

Yes!!

Nordic Victory - Bye Bye Italy!!

Serves Gli Azzurri right for playing so defensive and boring.

Mmm, Nordic victory. But it was a little of a shame. The way Sweden got the penalty and the goal was imo planned. 2-2 It can't be coincedence.

Well, hope the Czech do what they have to do and beat Germany, then the Dutch will finish off the Swedish team.

If England don't win the tournament--and it's ridiculous to even think about that yet--I want the Czechs to win. 3 out of 3 wins now, and for each one they came from behind. Cracking stuff.

I am usually gutted for any team who strives as hard as Italy did, only to still go out due to other scores--and last night was no exception, as I love to watch the Italians play (when they're playing well, which they haven't for a while).

Tomorrow's match prediction:

Portugal (1) - (3) England

Mick

Here are my predictions:
Quarter:
Portugal 2, England 3 (although I would love to see Portugal advance)
France 3, Greece 0 (valiant effort Greece)
Sweden 1, Holland 2 (I have too many Dutch friends to not pick Holland)
Czech Rep 2, Denmark 1 (CR are come back kids)

Semi:
England 2, Holland 0
France 1, Czech Rep 3

Final:
England 1, Czech Rep 0

BTW, I think Sweden and Demark tanked the end of the match to construct a draw, but strategy is part of a tournament. Playing down after the draw was legitimately acheived is one thing, but fixing it so in a pre-arranged draw is bad.

Ciao Italia!

Would love to see the Czech Republic win it. The only team who don't seem frightened to lose. So far my predicitons have been way off but undaunted I'm going for the semis of:

England v. Holland
France v. Czechs

I don't think England have been as brilliant as the media makes out over here but I don't think the Portuguese have enough of a cutting edge in the forwards to score enough goals to win. Say 2-1 to England.

Sadly, I agree with you Senza Mama. Portugal dominated Spain with agression to the ball, but they could not finish with many goals. If step-overs and spot on passes were goals then Portugal wins by 50-0, but Cristiano Ronaldo and Figo will have to shoot on goal often to win.

This game is a win-win for me, I enjoy both sides.
As long as France gets beat, I'm happy.

Ofcourse I'm happy with the fact the Dutch are trough and the German not. But still i think Czech will eventually win the tournament.

that was a great game! England 2 x 2 Portugal. Portugal advance on penalties. this buddy above who thought England would win, sorry! what a weak team! again they started winning in an important game, and then stopped playing and kept waiting for the other team to win. as Portugal is almost as weak as them, it still allowed the tie. anyway, I'm cheering for Czech Republic, as somebody here already said "the only team that is not frightened to lose". they are playing so fine like I don't see a national team to play in a long time. I hope they win, but what I really want is to see great games.

Great game last night. England can blame many things, the referee, the sandy penalty spot, the heat. Me? I blame the coach. Defending for 80 minutes with 8 or 9 players behind the ball and your forwards 60 yards away is just not England's game. It's alright for Italy who are brought up playing like that but England's natural game is going forward with passion and aggression. Also David Beckham was the worst player on the pitch by a country mile but Eriksson didn't have the cojones to bring him off. Sorry, but under Eriksson England won't win anything.

Have to agree with you there. Of course I do blame the ref, because if it wasn't for his decision we would almost certainly have won. However, it shouldn't have to have come down to that. Like you say, Eriksson just encourages us to sit on the lead and not attack. Yes we got to the quarter final but with the players we have we could have gone a lot further with a different manager.

No arguments here on anything said above. Beckham has not shown up for a game (in spirit) since he left Man U.
John Terry and Sol Campbell kept England in the game. Cole shutdown Ronaldo. Rooney's departure may have been the turning point in England's agression to the ball. Campbell's goal was legit and should have been the end of the game. Vassell does not belong on this team and not because of his penalty kick. He runs away from the ball.
Anyway, enough complaining...I like Portugal, so hopefully they will win it all.

AMAZING!!!!

Greece defeats France, 1-0 !!!!!!!

I love it - I love it - I love it !!!!!

Underdogs rule the past few days!!!!

The best game I've seen from England's back four, and possibly the worst I've seen from the midfield. Beckham is a shadow of the player he was when he lead us to a 2-2 draw against Greece a couple of years ago (I rank that as his best performance I've seen from him, ever). Scholes should NEVER have been taken off. Gerrard shouldn't have either. I cringed when Eriksson brought Vassell on--you can NEVER see a goal comeing from him, and I don't rate his work off the ball either. Ultimately, I feel the choice of substitutions was a disgrace, and asking for trouble. What's wrong with players who offer defensive duties while STILL attacking the ball, such as Dyer, Joe Cole et al? Instead, Sven took away all opportunities of invention (at a time when we desperately needed to get a cushion) by bringing on Phil Neville and Owen Hargreaves. Hargreaves is one of the most overrated players in the squad for me, with Vassell close behind, and am bewildered at the decision to bring Phil Neville on--AND put him in the CENTRE.

The state of the spot kick WAS a disgrace, but it didn't work against us--look at what Rui Costa did.

I ALSO thought that the commentary was typically horrid--tempting fate RIGHT after Owen's goal, and the media hyped Rooney up way too much: as if the team was relying on only ONE player (which, after he went off, it seemed that we HAD to been).

Anyway, a cruel way to finish a match. An awfuly unjust result for Ashley Cole (my man of the match) and Sol Campbell, whose goal was ROBBED big time from the Swiss bastard.

I thought I had burst a blood vessel after Lampard's goal--continuous screaming is NOT recommended.

Anyway, I'm glad the Frogs are out now, and well done Greece.

Czech Republic to win!

Mick

Hell Yeah. We are still in the tournament and we are growing every day.

I loved it to see France losing against Greece... guahahahah
Now I hope that Portugal gets to the final and meets with Czech Republic. That would be a great final. I think the Czechs will win it. They have an amazing team with Baros, Nedved, Makaay and others.

Euhh Vito, Makaay is a Dutchmen! LOL

In the semis I'm taking Portugal over Holland and the Czech Republic over Greece.

so am I.

and Czech to win it all.

I agree with the semi predictions, but I say Portugal over Czechs, 3-1.

My Big Fat Greek Final !!!!!

Greece beats Czech Rep, 1-0 !!!!!

Portugal vs. Greece in the Final.

I'm sticking with my original pick of Portugal, but that Greek defence will be hard to crack.

And we're back to game 1. Who would have thought Greece would make it past the group stage? But they did, and now they're in the final. I'm really proud of them. This shows you that you don't need a team full of stars to make it to the final. All the favorites were knocked out early. I won't be surprised if Greece ends up winning. But I think this time Portugal will truimph. May the best team win.

Wow, I've just realised that! Amazing, isn't it! I want the Greeks to win, being a fan of the underdogs in neutral games.

Mick

I can't believe Greece won! They're probably on a huge high and have a lot of momentum but I've still got to go with Portugal in the final. Should be a great match.

My bad haahahha

lol

And once again Greece upset the odds. Unbelievable! A big congratulations to Greece and all the Greek fans.

hello my friends! have been on holiday so unable to post for a few days!
wow what a night! i am unable to describe the sheer joy from last night, at the start of the tournament i told you to watch out for us!
The team spirit brought us through in the end, it just shows that a team with a great spirit and no stars is better than a team filled with stars and no spirit, like the portugeuse.
Traianos Dellas had a fantastic tournament, and so did are full back,Seitaridis, im sure there be snapped up by bigger teams.
I am still buzzing from last night, i cannot believe it! it was the greatest night of my life!

Condratulations, Greece. Unbelievable!!!!

Congrats to Greece. They deserved to win the final. Portugal may have done better if Deco hadn't spent all his time diving, sorry simulating and trying to chip the Greek keeper from 40 yards.

Greece had three of the best players of the tournament in Seitaridis, Dellas and Zagorakis. Though pundits favoured Dellas and Zagorakis got the official Player of the Torunament award, I thought Seitaridis was outstanding. BTW Joe, he's already signed for Porto next season.

Congratulations to Greece! 2008 Turkey?

Defense wins games and Greece proved it! Almost 20 shots by Portugal and only 2 by Greece. Wow!

Amen on the Deco Diving comment! He may have scored if he had stayed on his feet, but trying to get the cheap penalty shot lost it for him.

Greece diffenatly deserve it (Obviously i would of loved England to win it) just shows if you work together and have great morale you have great chances. Greece didn't have an easy way there either had portugal and spain in the group stage both good sides then they got france then the czech's who were a great side in the tournament and then portugal again in the final.