Euro 2008

Who will win Euro 2008?

  • Germany

    Votes: 7 53.8%
  • Russia

    Votes: 3 23.1%
  • Spain

    Votes: 3 23.1%
  • Turkey

    Votes: 0 0.0%

  • Total voters
    13
  • Poll closed .

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mania

Cousin Itt
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Anybody watching? Following?

We lost against Germany but still 2 games to go. If we are lucky we may get out of our group although Croatia may be a difficult team to win with.

The funniest thing about yesterday's game was that 2 goals scored by Germans were done by a Polish guy who wanted to play in Polish team but our soccer authorities didn't accept him. Jerks!!!!

Mania
 
We had a similar issue with a speed skater who couldn't make the Dutch team. He's now a Belgian skater. :)
 
Any European football fans following the tournament? Heck of a win for the Dutch today. The France v Romania games reminds me of why they often propose the rule that no score draws should give nul points to either side.
 
Rampant Netherlands crush sorry Italy :yeahbaby:

(CNN) -- World champions Italy suffered a calamitous start to their Euro 2008 campaign as they slumped to a 3-0 defeat against an impressive Netherlands side in their Group C opener in Berne.

The Dutch took a 26th-minute lead after Ruud van Nistelrooy turned in Giovanni van Bronckhorst's effort.

Wesley Sneijder then celebrated his 24th birthday in style by adding a stunning breakaway second on the half-hour.

Italy had numerous chances to reduce the deficit after the restart but Edwin van der Sar came to the rescue, making superb saves from Andrea Pirlo's free-kick and Fabio Grosso's close-range effort.

Van Bronckhorst completed a wonderful evening for Marco van Basten's side by heading past goalkeeper Gianluigi Buffon in the 79th minute as the Dutch celebrated their first victory against the Italians since the 1978 World Cup.

The Azzurri should have taken an early lead but Luca Toni failed to get behind Antonio Di Natale's dangerous cross while, at the other end, Rafael van der Vaart's left-footed strike forced Buffon to dive to his right to clear.

Italy replied with Toni's header from Gennaro Gattuso's cross going wide of Van der Sar's near post.

Then in the 17th minute, Netherlands should have broken the deadlock following a defensive mistake by Italy. Dirk Kuyt set up Van Nistelrooy, who got past Buffon but lost his balance and the opportunity vanished.

However, the Dutch soon made amends when Van Nistelrooy netted from close range.

They doubled their lead five minutes later with a great breakaway goal. Van Bronkhorst made a crucial goalline clearance after a team-mate almost headed into his own net and, from that Italian attack, the Netherlands swept straight upfield to score their second goal.

Van Bronckhorst's long ball found Dirk Kuyt, who in turn set up Sneijder inside the area, the midfielder's first touch finish beating Buffon.

Italy could have reduced the deficit shortly after but Di Natale's close-range volley was saved by Van der Sar.

Three minutes before the break, Buffon made a fine save to deny the Dutch their third of the evening. A beautiful ball by Sneijder found Van Nistelrooy, whose strike was parried by the goalkeeper.

Italy showed more determination after the re-start and had a good chance as Gianluca Zambrotta did well to get past Kuyt but his effort went wide. Toni then fired wide on the hour mark as Italy moved forward.

Just when Italy looked to have found their rhythm, the Dutch scored a stunning third. Van Bronckhorst latched onto Kuyt's cross, after another quickfire breakaway move, before heading past Buffon.

"I'm very happy and proud with this result," said van Basten. "To beat the world champions playing football to the last minute -- it was for us a very nice game and also a historical game. We have never beaten Italy by three goals.

"If you think we were without players like Arjen Robben and Ryan Babel, the players reacted in a wonderful way. They fought like a team and if the spirit is like it was tonight, with all the quality we have, we can have nice dreams."

Italian coach Roberto Donadoni said his men had to move on and look forward. "The game started badly for us and ended up worse but it is already history.

"We made mistakes and paid for them but now we have to look forward to the Romania game, which is going to be critical now."
 
The officiating is poor.

The players dive too much.

The pitch is in poor condition.

The new ball is slippery and hard to control.

I wonder what the magic elixier is in the trainer's bottle that they spray on the players legs to make them recover from the awful injury so quickly.

OK, now that is out of the way, my son and I have enjoyed watching most of the games. That is until yesterday's sleeper between France and Romania. Thankfully the second game was full of the flair, attack, and counter attack that makes watching the beautiful sport so enjoyable.

Mania, I think German has two players from Poland. Klose was born in Poland. What's up with that?
 
Switzerland is the only country in the world where one hears every day of the horns after each victory of no matter which team.
 
That was the first time that Holland had beaten Italy for 30 years. And it was the worst match I've seen the Azzure play in ages. The World Champions may be in big trouble.

Right now, Spain are ripping Russia apart. David Villa already has a hat trick, and Cesc Fabregas just made it 4-1. I picked Spain before the tournament and I'm feeling good about that selection. They're way overdue for a trophy and need to shed that image of the biggest underachievers in world football.
 
Rampant Netherlands crush sorry Italy :yeahbaby:

Then in the 17th minute, Netherlands should have broken the deadlock following a defensive mistake by Italy. Dirk Kuyt set up Van Nistelrooy, who got past Buffon but lost his balance and the opportunity vanished.

However, the Dutch soon made amends when Van Nistelrooy netted from close range.

They doubled their lead five minutes later with a great breakaway goal. Van Bronkhorst made a crucial goalline clearance after a team-mate almost headed into his own net and, from that Italian attack, the Netherlands swept straight upfield to score their second goal.

Van Bronckhorst's long ball found Dirk Kuyt, who in turn set up Sneijder inside the area, the midfielder's first touch finish beating Buffon.

Italy could have reduced the deficit shortly after but Di Natale's close-range volley was saved by Van der Sar.

<snip>
I'm Dutch so I'm liking this :D
Funny, usually I really don't care about soccer at all.

:yelclap: :cheers:
 
Last edited by a moderator:
Lot of football left to play. If there are three certainties in life it is death, taxes and that Spain will choke in international football tournaments.
 
Switzerland is the only country in the world where one hears every day of the horns after each victory of no matter which team.

Last weekend wasn't too good for Switzerland. Not only did they lose to Croatia (and lost Alexander Frei for the remainder of the tournament), but Roger Federer was annihilated by Rafael Nadal in the French Open final. Maybe things will look up a little this week for the Swiss.
 
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