Official Football Thread

Belarus - Netherlands 2-1  :mad:

Holland was pretty bad in certain situations and I could mention some excuses, but to be honest the Belarussians were quite cunning and created excellent goals.

Well, I hope England didn't make a deal with Croatia and then I still might have a nice football evening! ;)

@Albie & Eddies Wingman:  GOOD LUCK!
 
Well Albie, Eddies Wingman, I assume you both must feel very bad, since your countries did not qualify. I saw the England match and WHAT a match. There was really some hope at the end, but the Croatians were d*mn good. Big respect for such motivation and quality. They won the group and still went for it as hell. Excellent. The Netherlands should be ashamed when they compare their own spirit to the Croatians.

Did you guys see the towel in England's goal dropping in slow motion when Croatia scored 2-3? It's was a dramatic and kind of symbolic sight, I thought. Wembley's ground is good ground, but no holy ground... I am afraid that England underestimated this last match :/

Norway. They did very well vs. Malta. All that they could do.
Unfortunately Bosnia-Herzegovina didn't score. One goal would have been enough... I guess?

Now Hiddink. Hiddink must have a record now right? 5 times at a big tournament.

Coach of the Netherlands at Euro96
Coach of the Netherlands at WC98
Coach of the South Korea at WC02
Coach of Australia at WC06
Coach of Russia at Euro08

Finland is out as well. If they would have scored once they had made it. :/

"Groupheads" next summer will be:

Switzerland (Organizer)
Austria (Organizer)
Greece (Title-holder)
Netherlands (Based on the coefficient obtained in the qualifying competition for the 2006 FIFA World Cup and for this EURO. Netherlands almost was not the winner because they lost today, but they still made it because Germany played 0-0 vs Wales. I almost suspect Germany (and the Netherlands?) of not winning on purpose, because a grouphead can truly meet France and Italy and Germany in the same group. AAAAAARRRGHHHH, the thought alone kills)

Advantage for the Netherlands is that they will play all their matches in the same stadium. However, disadvantage is that they will meet several big opponents in their group.

Pot 1:              Pot 2:            
Switzerland       Italy 
Netherlands       Sweden      
Greece             Croatia            
Austria             Czech Republic          
                  
                                       
Pot 3:             Pot 4:            
Germany          France          
Poland             Russia           
Portugal           Spain            
Romania           Turkey           
                   
Drawing will be on Sunday, 2 December.                  
 
porcnoz said:
Maybe we could ask Scots if they would interpret it like you, about the last Scotland - Italy they lost...
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I've mentioned this before, but I always get the feeling like the Italians sneak their way further than they deserve.  I just do NOT like their style of play and the seeming coincidences that allow them a last second penalty shot or free kick from a highly dubious situation.  I know that in my neck of the woods (Hamilton, ON, Canada) there are plenty of Italian immigrants and many non-Italians feel this way.  I'm sure jealousy and cynicism play a role in this overwhelming mood here, but most of the people I speak to would say it is simply the Italian style of play that is suspect.  The nationalities are quite varied too (Croats, Serbs, Poles, Portugese, Chinese, Indian, Scots and just plain Canadian).  Like Forostar said, this sport does bring out nationalism out.  Sadly.  If there are no Scot or Aussie incidences this tournament, I'll withdraw my words and keep my mouth shut!  By the way, I've nothing against Italians, just their national football team.

Albie said:
I'm just going to lay low for a while. :D
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That's what I should have done.
 
Eddies Wingman said:
Then sympathy and antipathy are also emotions. During Euro 2004, some had sympathy with the Greeks while other despised them for their defensive and cynical style of play. Personally, I supported Greece in the final because I have more respect for hard-working players than the Portuguese primadonnas. I mean, my general impression of the Portuguese players (clubs AND national team) is that they whine more, go down easier and cheat more than most other European teams. I have some memories of rather ridiculous diving from Portuguese players:

UEFA  cup, 2003: Benfica playing against Rosenborg at Lerkendal. The Benfica goalkeeper collides with another player and goes down, seemingly in great pain. After some time on the grass, he realizes the ball lies on the ground besides him. He gets on his feet, takes the ball and kicks it into row Y, before going down to the grass again.

Champions League, 2005: Benfica vs Man United in Lisbon. United have a corner, the ball goes to Paul Scholes who stands with his back towards the goal and tries an overhead kick. Unfortunately, he misses the ball and hits a Benfica player in the chest. The player next to the one who was hit goes to the ground as if he'd been shot  :)

Sure, Portugal has produced some fine footballers, some of them are very entertaining to watch, but there is a dark side as well.
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There is a dark side on every single country (or national team).... i hope you mean some players are "primadonnas", not all the players or the clubs.
 
Well, the better won :)

And as i said, the referee was on their side. Criteria was not same for both teams throughout the 90 minutes, and that penalty kick was pretty disputable. I mean, our defender did hold the other guy's shirt, but that was for like 50 miliseconds, and the guy fell theatrically. Thinking that referee was just waiting to blow the whistle and show the white spot...

England's game was dissapointing, they are phisically on a good level, they can maintain pressure, but they don't have the game. 90% of the stuff was long passes, kick it and hope that Crouch can down the ball. They had a couple of good actions in the very beginning, but it all faded out as soon as we scored. The first goal...well a bit of luck and a goalkeeper's mistake, but the pitch was wet and the kick was good, very tricky trajectory. World class goalkeeper should tame that ball, this one made a mistake (crucial?), but Kranjcar's shot was superb anyways.

Second goal...no words there. Two guys dribbled whole defense and literally walked into the net. England's penality then, and then England's superb second goal. Beckham, altrough i don't like him at all, showed that there's something more to him than the usual "supermodel" stuff, and Crouch was on the right place at the right time with the right skill. Really a beauty.

But then, Petric's crosskick, the best goal of the match, superb kick into the opposite side of the net. Both teams had some great additional goal chances, but we had two times more of those. A deserved victory.
 
Zare said:
Well, the better won :)
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Indeed. However I disagree with you on a few things.

Zare said:
And as i said, the referee was on their side. Criteria was not same for both teams throughout the 90 minutes, and that penalty kick was pretty disputable. I mean, our defender did hold the other guy's shirt, but that was for like 50 miliseconds, and the guy fell theatrically. Thinking that referee was just waiting to blow the whistle and show the white spot...
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Disputable? I thought the Croatian made one of the dumbest actions I have ever seen. It was most unnecessarily. 2-0 ahead and a goalkeeper who easily got the ball. The referee needed only 50 milliseconds to see the dumb action. Further, I hardly have seen any mistakes from the referee. He was way better than e.g. the one between Scotland vs Italy. I hope the Croatian defender does it again vs Netherlands (if we meet).

Zare said:
But then, Petric's crosskick, the best goal of the match, superb kick into the opposite side of the net. Both teams had some great additional goal chances, but we had two times more of those. A deserved victory.
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I liked the Beckham/Crouch goal better. What a pass. In Holland we say Beckham placed the ball "on his tie".
Now I wonder how soon they'll fire the coach.
 
Got to agree with Forostar here. I saw the highlights on the 23:00 news and the Croatian defender was really clumsy. Also a nice equalizer by Crouch after a top class pass from Beckham.

Too bad England didn't qualify, they're my "sympathy team" when Norway don't qualify and a tournament without either loses a dimension for me.

The disappointment for Norway not qualifying was really not that big yesterday. I did not expect Bosnia to take points in Istanbul. On Saturday, I was fuming with disappointment, but yesterday it was just a little ache. Norway played a good first half and did the job - unfortunately for us, the Turks also did theirs. When I came through Sunday without hanging myself, I knew I would live through  :)

I have to congratulate Turkey, as well as Croatia, Sweden, Russia and so on. And Portugal (ouch). Had been fun if Finland had qualified, I think it would've been their first.

Well, soon new exciting things to happen - the qual groups for the 2010 World Cup will be drawn soon. Is it Sunday?
 
Forostar said:
Disputable? I thought the Croatian made one of the dumbest actions I have ever seen. It was most unnecessarily. 2-0 ahead and a goalkeeper who easily got the ball. The referee needed only 50 milliseconds to see the dumb action.
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You're right, Forostar, it was a penalty - whether the infringement takes 50 milliseconds or more, it's still an infringement.

Forostar said:
Now I wonder how soon they'll fire the coach.
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Done:
VodaWolph said:
Yay!!! :yey:

McClaren sacked!!!
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I see some people really afraid of something....

Best games in World Cup 1966, Euro 1984, Euro 2000, Euro 2004, and only one defeat lolllllll  :P

World Cup 1966 - Two players in the All Star Team, best goalscorer (and probably player).
Euro 1984 - Two players in the All Star team
Euro 1996 - One player in the All Star Team
Euro 2000 - Three players in the All Star Team
Euro 2004 - Four players in the All Star Team
World Cup 2006 - Most Entertaining Team award from Fifa, four players in the All Star team.

* European Championships (best overall final results than England, for instance).


Tremble, my friends, when people only refer the bad, they usually are afraid of something....


Although i´m not the best fan of Mister Scolari... Mourinho near Scolari is a gentleman.

Hummm... As anyone see Norway in any statistics ??
 
I have switched allegiance to Portugal, at least they play a brand of football and aren't pansies!!!  :ok:

I'm not Portuguese in the slightest, gotta follow someone though now that our <sic> "national heroes" <sic> won't be parading around in their Armani suits and £60 000 sunglasses.
 
Rotam said:
I see some people really afraid of something....

Best games in World Cup 1966, Euro 1984, Euro 2000, Euro 2004, and only one defeat lolllllll  :P

World Cup 1966 - Two players in the All Star Team, best goalscorer (and probably player).
Euro 1984 - Two players in the All Star team
Euro 1996 - One player in the All Star Team
Euro 2000 - Three players in the All Star Team
Euro 2004 - Four players in the All Star Team
World Cup 2006 - Most Entertaining Team award from Fifa, four players in the All Star team.

* European Championships (best overall final results than England, for instance).


Tremble, my friends, when people only refer the bad, they usually are afraid of something....


Although i´m not the best fan of Mister Scolari... Mourinho near Scolari is a gentleman.

Hummm... As anyone see Norway in any statistics ??
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What are you talking about ?
 
I was sure Ukraine would win yestarday, but it finally issued with a draw. I'm quite sad for our goal keeper for whom it was his first capped (S. Frey, plays at Fiorentina) who made a mistake that brought the draw (2 - 2).

Eddies Wingman said:
Too bad England didn't qualify, they're my "sympathy team" when Norway don't qualify and a tournament without either loses a dimension for me.
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That's mine too, but now you have to choose another "sympathy team" ! A single player doesn't make a team but J. Terry, R. Ferdinand, W. Rooney and M. Owen were missing for that match. But a team like England should have qualified before.

Rotam said:
* European Championships (best overall final results than England, for instance).
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England won the '66 World Cup... And last time Portugal didn't qualify in a great cup was for the '98 World Cup, '94 for England.

@Albie : could you, please, give me links to English sport newspaper (or someone else) ?
 
porcnoz said:
@Albie : could you, please, give me links to English sport newspaper (or someone else) ?
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The Sun
The Mirror
The Mail

There's a couple to get going with. :)

As a footnote, the top two papers listed are really the lowest of the low and are the epitome of sleazey press. I refuse to even read, let alone buy, anything they print.
 
I guess every country has their gutter press and I can't pass comment* on the two you mentioned, but some of the things The Sun has printed defy belief. Does anyone remember the infamous "Up Yours Delors" headline?

*However, a paper that does this:
fussballzwerg-114.jpg

Despite what people think of him, it's really not that funny.
 
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