Official Football Thread
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Dr. Eddies Wingman
Brighter than thousand_suns
I really hope Holland win tomorrow, and that Italy and France draw 2-2 so that they end up in another penalty shootout ... for no specific reason 
national acrobat
Ancient Mariner
Maverick said:
Perun said:
The apprentice becomes the master.Perun said:
I must say I'm suprised, but fair play to Bilic, I really like that guy.Genghis Khan said:
I watched Austria-Germany, not a great game, but a very good goal to separate the sides by Ballack. Austria again lacked creativity and any scoring threat.
Dr. Eddies Wingman
Brighter than thousand_suns
Ballack's goal actually reminded me of this screamer from the 1984 cup final in Norway: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bbO-fT_JII8. The "1" in the beginning is because the goal won a poll on "greatest goal in a Norwegian cup final" a couple of years ago.
Digression: The player who scored this goal, Per Egil Ahlsen (with 54 appearances for Norway in the 80s) was the assistant coach of Fredrikstad FK the next time they won the cup, in 2006. He is also quite capable on guitar - in the party after the 2006 final, he entered the stage and played Queen's "We are the champions" on guitar
Digression: The player who scored this goal, Per Egil Ahlsen (with 54 appearances for Norway in the 80s) was the assistant coach of Fredrikstad FK the next time they won the cup, in 2006. He is also quite capable on guitar - in the party after the 2006 final, he entered the stage and played Queen's "We are the champions" on guitar
D
Deleted member 7164
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We did well tonight...basically the only two starters from the a-team were a big threat for Poland...Rakitic and Pranjic.
I'm glad that Klasnic scored. The guy knows with the ball. When Barca won Champions League, they kicked Werder's ass, but Klasnic was the only man out of Werder's eleven that was threating Valdez' net. He just wasn't on the club level whenever he played for national team.
Third one's a charm. Two 100% chances missed, then one went in.
It'd say 1998-2006, because around 2000 we were at our lowest. It was the only tournament since Croatia plays international tournaments (Nerthelands/Belgium Euro2000) that we didn't qualify for. But yeah, some bad coaching was around...Otto Baric comes to mind first, his tactics at Euro2004 were awful.
Contrary to popular belief, i think that Blazevic isn't a good coach at all. He didn't do anything out of the ordinary except for the third place on WC1998. Big exception, one could say, but bear in mind players he had. Some of the world's best players were Croats in those days. And, most important players from that team were under-20 world champions in Chile 1987, for Yugoslavia. They were 17-19 year old young talents back then, eleven years later they were in the best years for football player. Late twenties.
Just for the trivia's sake...on that championship (Chile '87), out of 17 (!) goals that Yugoslavia scored;
- Six by Davor Suker
- Three by Zvone Boban
- Two by Igor Stimac
- and one by Robert Prosinecki (regarding this guy, he's the only person that scored for two different countries on the FIFA World Cup tournament, he was successful for Yugoslavia in Italy 1990, also).
So out of 17, twelve goals were scored by the sole backbone of Croatia's team that finished third in WC1998.
Tactics wise, Blazevic wasn't great at all. Our sucess came from the fact that we had such quality players. Where i really bow down to him, is his motivation. He is a great motivator. But motivation is only a part of being a supreme coach.
IMHO, Bilic is far better than him. Great tactician, even if he lacks experience, great motivator, really brought up team spirit. Just look how well our b-side preformed today. Those guys never played together!
And let's not forget the fact that he's a hardcore Maiden fan and a personal friend of our beloved Steve Harris
So all of you people that watch Euro and your countries aren't playing in the second leg, support Croatia, for Maiden's sake!
[/propaganda]
I'm glad that Klasnic scored. The guy knows with the ball. When Barca won Champions League, they kicked Werder's ass, but Klasnic was the only man out of Werder's eleven that was threating Valdez' net. He just wasn't on the club level whenever he played for national team.
Third one's a charm. Two 100% chances missed, then one went in.
It'd say 1998-2006, because around 2000 we were at our lowest. It was the only tournament since Croatia plays international tournaments (Nerthelands/Belgium Euro2000) that we didn't qualify for. But yeah, some bad coaching was around...Otto Baric comes to mind first, his tactics at Euro2004 were awful.
Contrary to popular belief, i think that Blazevic isn't a good coach at all. He didn't do anything out of the ordinary except for the third place on WC1998. Big exception, one could say, but bear in mind players he had. Some of the world's best players were Croats in those days. And, most important players from that team were under-20 world champions in Chile 1987, for Yugoslavia. They were 17-19 year old young talents back then, eleven years later they were in the best years for football player. Late twenties.
Just for the trivia's sake...on that championship (Chile '87), out of 17 (!) goals that Yugoslavia scored;
- Six by Davor Suker
- Three by Zvone Boban
- Two by Igor Stimac
- and one by Robert Prosinecki (regarding this guy, he's the only person that scored for two different countries on the FIFA World Cup tournament, he was successful for Yugoslavia in Italy 1990, also).
So out of 17, twelve goals were scored by the sole backbone of Croatia's team that finished third in WC1998.
Tactics wise, Blazevic wasn't great at all. Our sucess came from the fact that we had such quality players. Where i really bow down to him, is his motivation. He is a great motivator. But motivation is only a part of being a supreme coach.
IMHO, Bilic is far better than him. Great tactician, even if he lacks experience, great motivator, really brought up team spirit. Just look how well our b-side preformed today. Those guys never played together!
And let's not forget the fact that he's a hardcore Maiden fan and a personal friend of our beloved Steve Harris
So all of you people that watch Euro and your countries aren't playing in the second leg, support Croatia, for Maiden's sake!
[/propaganda]
Genghis Khan
Ancient Mariner
Eddies Wingman said:Ballack's goal actually reminded me of this screamer from the 1984 cup final in Norway: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bbO-fT_JII8. The "1" in the beginning is because the goal won a poll on "greatest goal in a Norwegian cup final" a couple of years ago.
Digression: The player who scored this goal, Per Egil Ahlsen (with 54 appearances for Norway in the 80s) was the assistant coach of Fredrikstad FK the next time they won the cup, in 2006. He is also quite capable on guitar - in the party after the 2006 final, he entered the stage and played Queen's "We are the champions" on guitar
That was a great free kick goal. Thanks. I always like to watch impressive goals.
Zare said:
The biggest mistake that I recall is not starting Robert Prosinecki in the France game WC1998. But yeah not qualifying for 2000 and being knocked out by Yugoslavia was a big let down. Still he's smart enough to know which talent to fill the team. Recall Mornar playing in 2004? Whose decision was it to ask him to join the national team?
I've read a poll (can't recall the name, but I'll look it up if people want) where Bilic was ranked as the world's 2nd best coach after Brazil's Dunga back in January.
Where did you get that Steve Harris quote?
For tomorrow I've said that the Dutch and the Italians win, though I'm secretly hoping the Italians don't make it through.
Dr. Eddies Wingman
Brighter than thousand_suns
Zare said:And let's not forget the fact that he's a hardcore Maiden fan and a personal friend of our beloved Steve Harris
So all of you people that watch Euro and your countries aren't playing in the second leg, support Croatia, for Maiden's sake!
[/propaganda]
Great story, Genghis ... and of course, congratulations to both of you on a match well done by the Croatian reserves team. Before the European Championships I picked Poland as the team to support - if you watch that Youtube vid again you realize why
They were quite disappointing actually, so for the quarter-finals I have to pick another team. I'll consider Croatia 
And by the way; the goalkeeper for Viking in that 1984 cup final was no other than Erik Thorstvedt - the third most capped Norwegian player (97 appearances for Norway), the most solid player in our good years in the 90's until he retired in 1996. He won the FA Cup with Tottenham in 1991. The sad thing is, ever since he retired we haven't had a single goalkeeper coming close to his consistency. Grodås was good for some time and of course Thomas Myhre has served us well, but both of these could do strange things from time to time and neither one has had Thorstvedt's authority.
Forostar
Ancient Mariner
Genghis Khan said:
This is still my favourite free kick (also because Feyenoord won the UEFA-cup that year) by Pierre van Hooijdonk.
Also check that awesome replay!
http://nl.youtube.com/watch?v=ooUOdDDtsac
Dr. Eddies Wingman
Brighter than thousand_suns
A beauty of a goal, that one.
And who do we think will come out victorious tonight?
My bet is on Holland to beat Romania, thus making the match between Italy and France a pure 1/8 final.
Think about it, if Holland are up 1-0 with 10 minutes to go and the score was 0-0 between France and Italy, we would have the following internal table for the bottom three:
2. Romania 2 0 2 0 1-1 2
3. Italy 2 0 2 0 1-1 2
4. France 2 0 2 0 0-0 2
Here, Romania would be ahead of Italy because of better _total_ goal difference. And both Italy and France would now be in a situation where a single goal would send them through and a 0-0 would send them out. Could be in for fascinating 10 minutes ... let it happen.
PS: Actually we cannot get a penalty shootout between France and Italy. If Romania get a point against Holland, it is either them or the winner of Italy vs France that go through. But if the three finish equal on points like I've described above, then France and Italy cannot be equal on that three-team table. Italy with their 1-1 against Romania will have more scored goals than France anyway ... the matches against Holland will not come into consideration for France and Italy!
And who do we think will come out victorious tonight?
My bet is on Holland to beat Romania, thus making the match between Italy and France a pure 1/8 final.
Think about it, if Holland are up 1-0 with 10 minutes to go and the score was 0-0 between France and Italy, we would have the following internal table for the bottom three:
2. Romania 2 0 2 0 1-1 2
3. Italy 2 0 2 0 1-1 2
4. France 2 0 2 0 0-0 2
Here, Romania would be ahead of Italy because of better _total_ goal difference. And both Italy and France would now be in a situation where a single goal would send them through and a 0-0 would send them out. Could be in for fascinating 10 minutes ... let it happen.
PS: Actually we cannot get a penalty shootout between France and Italy. If Romania get a point against Holland, it is either them or the winner of Italy vs France that go through. But if the three finish equal on points like I've described above, then France and Italy cannot be equal on that three-team table. Italy with their 1-1 against Romania will have more scored goals than France anyway ... the matches against Holland will not come into consideration for France and Italy!
Forostar
Ancient Mariner
Hard to predict this. I think Italy will go through, but like Genghis, I rather have it not that way. Not that I think we can't beat them twice. Just because I dislike that squad.
I expect that Holland will win, the substitutes will give 200%, for sure. But let's not forget that Romania might even give 250% because they have to qualify. Still, to reach that goal they have to do their best a bit more than how they've done until now.
I expect that Holland will win, the substitutes will give 200%, for sure. But let's not forget that Romania might even give 250% because they have to qualify. Still, to reach that goal they have to do their best a bit more than how they've done until now.
Oh today should be some great football. I would like to see the French make it because I think they played better against Holland than the Italians. Just like Forostar I'm not over fond of the squad this tournament, so I'll be rooting for the French. At any rate it should be a good game because both teams will be out to win.
As for yesterday's match between Austria and Germany. Austria are way in over their heads in this tournament, so I'm proud of their unequal fights. I'm not sure, but I think there was alot of luck on the Austrians side that night especially with that chance that Gomez missed (the ball was practically inside the goal). So well done to Austria for trying their best and not giving up (they could have just sat down and let everyone score on them).
I predict Holland to beat the Romanians tonight and for Italy and France to each score 2 goals against each other, from there we shall see because neither of those teams will give up without a fight. As for tomorrow, hehe, Sweden to beat Russia and Spain to beat Greece.
As for yesterday's match between Austria and Germany. Austria are way in over their heads in this tournament, so I'm proud of their unequal fights. I'm not sure, but I think there was alot of luck on the Austrians side that night especially with that chance that Gomez missed (the ball was practically inside the goal). So well done to Austria for trying their best and not giving up (they could have just sat down and let everyone score on them).
I predict Holland to beat the Romanians tonight and for Italy and France to each score 2 goals against each other, from there we shall see because neither of those teams will give up without a fight. As for tomorrow, hehe, Sweden to beat Russia and Spain to beat Greece.
Albie
Keeping an open eye on the Weeping Angels.
It was the semi's of Italia 90 - we weren't there in '94 (crap manager). But as for the picture NA showed of Pearce, that was taken in Euro '96 after he scored his penalty against Spain in the last shoot out England won. As pointed out by NA, the passion he showed playing for England is sadly lacking in a few of the current players.Forostar said:
I would not say he is the best, but certainly he is a formidable keeper - but there is better. But what a howler for the equaliser.national acrobat said:
Not really a good yard stick, I'm afraid. The current England squad could well fetch a lot more in the transfer market than most teams at Euro 2008 - but we ain't there. Possibly down to good individuals and good club players, but not good internationals (see above - the Pearce bit).Zare said:
It will be one of Italy or France, but not Romania - the Dutch will beat them I'm sure. But then again, conspiracy theories and all that..........____no5 said:but this time the ticket is for one only -and in the worst of cases ......for nobody
that let those theories leak out
Forostar
Ancient Mariner
Ahum..well, I don't want to discourage anyone with French and/or Italian passion, but Holland will start with 9(!!) different players. The ones in blue are the only two who started in the other matches.:
Stekelenburg, Boulahrouz, Heitinga, Bouma, De Cler, Van Persie, De Zeeuw, Afellay, Engelaar, Robben, Huntelaar
Even another goalkeeper! With all respect for Stekelenburg, but Van der Sar was very important in the last two matches. I'm not sure what to think about this. It's almost a risk. I'm convinced that their's enough threat in the Dutch attacking lines, but how the hell will the defense and the goalie do? We'll see soon enough.
My idea is that Van Basten wants to give rest to some players but I also think he wants to give others some time to play. I am terribly curious how this is gonna work out!
Stekelenburg, Boulahrouz, Heitinga, Bouma, De Cler, Van Persie, De Zeeuw, Afellay, Engelaar, Robben, Huntelaar
Even another goalkeeper! With all respect for Stekelenburg, but Van der Sar was very important in the last two matches. I'm not sure what to think about this. It's almost a risk. I'm convinced that their's enough threat in the Dutch attacking lines, but how the hell will the defense and the goalie do? We'll see soon enough.
My idea is that Van Basten wants to give rest to some players but I also think he wants to give others some time to play. I am terribly curious how this is gonna work out!
Dr. Eddies Wingman
Brighter than thousand_suns
The Dutch team did a professional performance and Romania were disappointingly weak. Congratulations to Italy on beating France and getting the spot. It's quite typical Italy, though - getting a crappy start to the tournament and just managing to go through from the group stage, and now I won't be surprised if they get far. Spain vs Italy in the quarter-finals, we've seen it all before ...