Euro 2004

[apoggy]

Originally Posted by Vertical Vortex

hmm, maybe you did not know YET... but we dutch build the best dikes on the world... we WILL survive!

are their lots of well built dykes in Holland

as for the final I see it being Portugal-Czech Republic the Czechs winning 2-1

[Hazzle]

Originally Posted by Liam

Haz is only saying that to spite me, knowing that I am cheering for Holland.

Actually, no...it's my honest assessment of the tournament...I didn't actually watch the Sweden v Holland game...I watched every single game up until England got knocked out, and in my view, as poor as Holland are, they should still be good enough to beat Portugal...

As for Becks' missed pen...it's not fault they can't bloody keep a pitch in decent spec...and we all know we beat Portugal 2-1...that's why a major English bookie is paying out on 2-1 to England and Asda, by all accounts, are offering to pay for eyetests for anyone who can prove they're a Swiss citizen

I see a Czech-Holland final myself...Portugal were incredibly lucky to get out of the group, even luckier to beat England thanks to a blind swiss...I'd suggest their luck has to run out soon, especially as the Dutch seem to have found THEIR luck.

As for Sweden being losers...didn't those losers have 3 perfect chances to beat you in ET? Didn't it take the great and marvellous Dutch til the 6th penalty to beat them? If they're that bad...how bad does that make Holland for barely scraping past?

Baros to top score for sure...2 against the Greeks and at least 1 against the Dutch in the final will seal it...Ruud'll probably bag one against Portugal and then that'll be the end of it for him, and his Dutch teammates

[DragonRat]

As for the England-Portugal game, I thought either team deserved a win. Owen finally got on the scoring sheet, but Rooney came off early, and he was the catalyst to the entire England team. However, watching the game with my dad in Guangzhou, he got pissed because Becks missed the penalty; that's his third missed penalty for the national team, and it would've been the game winner.

Portugal-Holland will be an excellent one to watch, and both teams eeked out their wins in penalties, but I think Portugal was the better after theirs. The Czechs look unstoppable, and I now favor them to demolish Greece (a defensive-minded team in the similar trend as Denmark), and then to take on Portugal. Technically, I think if any team in the tourney this far were to beat the Czechs, it would be Portugal. But still, Baros is dynamite up front, and Nedved is being himself.

[Edward]

Holland got to win tomorrow

[ralfusius]

Isn’t this a little bit drastic.
Impressing German skills you have, by the way.
Anyway the Dutch need to hurry up if the want to win something until... lets say 2020. I mean with the greenhouse effect and all.

german skills? what do you mean?
and about the greenhouse effect: vertical is right about the dikes

I wouldn't go posting graphics like that. You'll feel more the fool if you lose.

sarah i'm sure they will ,and allready did make pictures like that in the past,
i could think of some for the world cup in 2002 which we missed.

As for Sweden being losers...didn't those losers have 3 perfect chances to beat you in ET? Didn't it take the great and marvellous Dutch til the 6th penalty to beat them? If they're that bad...how bad does that make Holland for barely scraping past?

you deserve to win or you don't , and if you miss a chance like larsson did, you don't deserve it, by the way we hit the post 2 times as well.

ps. chill ! it was just a pic i found on the net, didn't make it myself, i don't really think the players of sweden are losers, they have a great team and with some more luck they would have beaten us.
I still don't get the one about great german skills....

[Jollie]

We have to win tomorrow. History shows us we have to, because at the last 4 European Championships the host country left the tournament in the semi-finals. Unfortunately we, the Netherlands, had the same problem four years ago, but now is the right time for revenge, whahahahaha . We already solved our penalty problem, or at least I hope we did….So it's time to do something else: defeat the host country!

By the way don’t be too mad at Becks for missing that penalty. Our team captain , Phillip Cocu, missed one too. But at least he had the courage to take that shot. Would there have been anyone else who would have made that shot, bloody spot…

Try not to blame the ref. It always happens in football. Stupid English tabloids that published his address, that just isn’t fair. I don’t recall anything like this happening during the World Championships in South Korea and Japan. Lots of mistakes made by referees there as well, remember South Korea vs. Italy and South Korea vs. Spain. Couldn’t stand the referees back then, my favourite country was Spain (we weren’t there remember, bloody Irish people :P ).

But anyway, I still love the English, basically because most of them decided to cheer for us. After all we do have a lot of players who play in the English league: Van Nistelrooij and Robben and they are almost the best players of this tournament. Robben plays extremely well if you ask me.

We will win.

[Sarah]

Good luck Holland! You deserve to win. Kick Portugal's cheating arse for us! I will be cheering for you tomorrow night and jumping up and down when you score. GOOD LUCK! I hope the ref isn't Urs (but, it can't be, can it?)

[tarmadir]

Originally Posted by ralfusius

german skills? what do you mean?
..

"schade deutschland, alles ist vorbei ,alles ist vorbei ,alles ist vorbei. SCHADE DEUTSCHLAND ALLES IST VORBEI!!!"

Do you get it now?

[Hazzle]

Originally Posted by DragonRat

Technically, I think if any team in the tourney this far were to beat the Czechs, it would be Portugal. But still, Baros is dynamite up front, and Nedved is being himself.

Nahh...Portuguese have been poor. Their best players were all defensive (Nuno Valente, Miguel, and Mancihe) who just had far too much time on the ball...doubt the Dutch will allow them the same time and space and the Dutch look technically FAR better than the Portuguese...Robben for me is more of a threat than Ronaldo, and Ruud is easily a better forward than anyone on the Portuguese side. If the Dutch play what they're capable of, they can demolish Portugal...but you never know with the Dutch. I think the Portuguese team is playing as well as it can (I think it's overrated and Figo and Rui Costa are over the hill, with Deco being an inconsistent threat, much like Ronaldo) whereas the Dutch have more gears to go up into for my money.

I never said the Dutch didn't deserve to beat the Swedes, only that if they're so poor, the Dutch must not be much better. In my view beating the Swedes was an achievement as they're an excellent side...whereas Urs gifted Portugal their win over us (that said, I don't condone getting into his private life...that's wrong)...so again, I see the Dutch making the final...only to be beat by the Czechs.

Ruud one of the best player in the tournament? Hmm...not so sure...at least one of his goals was offside...and I think he's only done well because of superb service...but Robben...what a player...I'm terrified what he'll do at Chelsea...

And thank God someone can see that the pen miss wasn't David's fault...first pen was always going to be the hardest on that spot...and for the record it was a double hit...his left foot (standing foot) didn't get the right support and actually hit the ball first, so the second shot was an "air shot" meaning he barely got any contact...hence the height...it's like slicing the ball...but it being a double-hit means it wasn't a technically legit pen and should've been retaken as it would be in a normal penalty in normal time But of course that'd be a decision against the hosts...hmmm...wonder if Urs bottled it...no...not him...he wasn't too gutless to go against the host nation...never!

[Vertical Vortex]

Originally Posted by Sarah

Good luck Holland! You deserve to win. Kick Portugal's cheating arse for us! I will be cheering for you tomorrow night and jumping up and down when you score. GOOD LUCK! I hope the ref isn't Urs (but, it can't be, can it?)

thx sarah... will do our best i hope...
butt i am affraid we will lose this time... we ware all the way lucky to got this far, and against sweden it was a damn close call... we have to run out of luck some time dont we? but lets hope it aint tonight...

[Edward]

nah

holland will beat portugal

if they don't i will kill myself

[Hazzle]

Originally Posted by Edward

nah

holland will beat portugal

if they don't i will kill myself

So far, it seems not...Portuguese dirty tactics again? Am I the only one who thinks having a Swiss ref referee a game with England in it (who effectively knocked out the Swiss by beating them and making it nearly impossible for them to qualify) and a Swede referee a game with the Dutch in it (and I wonder who the Dutch knocked out in the last game?) is odd? Both times against the hosts? I mean why couldn't Collina, who's unrelated to Portugal OR Holland have refereed the game and Frisk be given the other semi? Both are semis for God's sake...so it's not like it'd be hard to swap the refs over...now I'm not SERIOUSLY suggesting that this is some big conspiracy (I'm not an idiot...contrary to popular belief) but it hardly adds credibility to the Portuguese claims they deserve to be there, especially as the Dutch had a perfectly good goal ruled offside (it was in-line, and if there WAS any doubt, the benefit of it should go to the forward...there's no way the linesman could've been 100% certain Ruud was offside when it was so tight...so he shouldn't have flagged).

I actually don't bloody care if the cheating hosts win it now...at least we can say we went out to the team that eventually won it, and only managed to do so by cheating...

[Sarah]

Portugal are in the final.

I thought the exact same thing about the refs as you, Haz. It does seem really quite odd.

The own goal was so funny. What an idiot keeper.

[Edward]

oh dear holland....

[DragonRat]

If all is right with the world, Baros will power another brace to send the Czechs into the final, and Portugal will eat collective Eastern European dust. Both teams have played well as a team, but I do not think that Portugal have a defense capable of tackling the vaunted attack of the Czech Republic. Greece has probably the best chance, but the Czechs are faster and better this tourney than France was. None of the French players were really into the tournament, save probably their final group game.

Honestly, I'd hate to see a Portugal-Greece final. It just seems so unattractive. Of course, besides playing dirty, Portugal do have some quality players, but that final would look quite ugly. Compare that to a Portugal-Czech Republic final. That would showcase some fine talents there, and it would be a high-speed game, full of attacks and counter-attacks.

[apoggy]

Who'd have put money on Greece getting to the final?

[Sarah]

My brother put £20 on actually. lol.

[apoggy]

No that was Grease.

(have you seen Figo's hair)

[Hazzle]

And another dodgy call on a potential penalty for the Czechs?

Well if the hosts have to cheat to win...good luck to them...they were in fact my pick before the tournament because on paper they had a superb team and had the homefield advantage, but they've fluked their way this far aided by dodgy refereeing decisions and it's a real shame it wasn't a Czech v England final as THOSE were the two sides that DESERVED to be there...here's hoping the giant killers (Greece) can manage one more...

Anyone else notice it's the hosts v the hosts of the Olympics? I won't say it's a "conspiracy" but there do seem a fair amount of coincidences...

[deviljet88]

*gets to laugh at all the people that told me Greece was lucky and will lose to the Czechs*

Hosts verse giantkillers... I'm guessing Portugal still, but Greece if they don't get overconfident...