Euro 2008

[cartman]

Germany are most peoples, and the bookies, clear favourites to win the tournament yeah?

You say the Czechs only qualified because we were crap! The Germans were worse against us than the Czechs. The Czechs also topped the group, winning 3-0 in Germany.

The Czechs are better than you think. Plus Bruckner retires after this tournament so the players will be well up for it ;)

well done, the czechs topped the group!!! hillarious stuff - have you any idea how that qualifying group panned out at all.. germany had qualified with around 3 games to spare.. when the czechs palyed germany, the czechs still needed a result to be 100% sure of qualification.. and germany needed to lose to try and not be top seed as was already mentioned!!!!
the czechs are an extremely poor team at the moment - no midfield whatsoevere these days... i can easily see them finishing bottom of that group and also getting no wins in the process - you heard it here 1st!!!
get on the czechs not to qualify FROM the group at EVENS - this is a cert... also have a small bet on them to finish last at 3-1 which is a very good price..

[Rovers fan]

bet of the tournamet first player to be subbed in mondays holland v italy clash or the first player to be pulled off at the wankdorf stadium :D:D another classic by paddy power

that is class! Was that on their website?

[shakermaker1982]

I've gone for Germany to win it and Klose to end up as top scorer in my work predictor competition. I have Italy going out at the group stages.....so watch them win this tournament!

I'd love Holland to do well.

[superfrank]

So who are people supporting for the tournament?

I'm rooting for Spain.

[Coltron]

It looks like it's going to be a very close competition again this year. The margin of success is going to be so slight. Looking at all the teams it's hard to pick a clear favourite. Managers are fundamental to a teams success. So I think Italy will face a particularly tough tournament. Whether it will be as humbling as Euro 2004 was we'll have to see. Also, France. I only know a little of Domenach but I think his defensive teams will struggle if they go behind. On the positive side, Rehaggel's, Hidink's, Bilic's and Scolari's teams will do battle to the very end. They may be the cause of major nations misery. I know nothing of Romania but I've heard them being talked up as a decent outside bet. Considering how close it will be, that might be true.

[srfc19]

i wonder what the odds are like for top goal scorer in other european countries.
the only reason that torres is the favourite is because of prepiership hype,he isn't spains only attacking outlet as he was for liverpool.
klose would be my bet for top scorer

[Coltron]

The odds worldwide are basically the same srfc19. If there was any difference in price speculators would have snapped it up straight away. Villa and Torres are both superb players. Can they play together? I've never seen them. Anyone?

[Noelys Guitar]

I fancy Russia to win. A Russia v Italy final.

[DmanDmythDledge]

The odds worldwide are basically the same srfc19. If there was any difference in price speculators would have snapped it up straight away. Villa and Torres are both superb players. Can they play together? I've never seen them. Anyone?
Played together in the WC. I think Spain will only be playing with one upfront though. Torres looks likely to get the nod ahead of Villa, although Villa may feature on the left.

[superfrank]

Reasonably good opening match.

I was disappointed with the Czechs and impressed with the Swiss. Both sides went for it and it was an intriguing watch. The set-pieces were shocking and some of the shooting was dismal. Even for the goal, Sverkos didn't catch it properly.

I switched over to the BBC because Dunphy's in his usual annoying form. Anyone else think he's drunk?

BBC's commentary was not much better. The Swiss lad Derdiyok (?) was considered as the only player who could change the game at half-time. Their basis: he scored against England in a friendly "so he must be good". :rolleyes:

[gaiscíoch]

How the hell Kazim Richards playing for Turkey. This guy is rubbish... I can't believe a player like him can play in a European Championship game. Possibly even at this early stage the worst player at the tournament. I've seen muck but this guy is slurey....

[NeilMcD]

He is playing well tonight though. Has beaten his man time and time again.

[shakermaker1982]

Kazim Richards played well! Didn't look out of place at all. Just because Alan Hansen or Dunphy doesn't have a hard on for him doesn't mean he isn't a decent player.

I thought the Swiss were unlucky today, the Czech's did not impress and really miss Rosicky. Decent opening game but tonights game was much more enjoyable. The Portugese in full flow are very easy on the eye.

[old git]

How the hell Kazim Richards playing for Turkey. This guy is rubbish... I can't believe a player like him can play in a European Championship game. Possibly even at this early stage the worst player at the tournament. I've seen muck but this guy is slurey....

what game were you watching he was one of turkeys better players on the night done alot of hard work and even made a lot of good runs down the right wing causing portugal plenty of problems :ball:

[DaveyCakes]

I fancy Russia to win. A Russia v Italy final.

Not possible, they're in the same side of the draw so they'll meet in the semis if they get that far.

[CupWinner99]

So who are people supporting for the tournament?

I'm rooting for Spain.

Think everyone is rooting for Spain. Think their suspect defence could cost them though. Hope Croatia do well. Very impressive in the group stages, but they might struggle without Eduardo.

[ramsfan]

watched apiece on news , swiss fans looked like they were going to a funeral not a championship game in their home stadium, it will defo miss an irish/ scottish influence to liven it up

[cheifo]

watched apiece on news , swiss fans looked like they were going to a funeral not a championship game in their home stadium, it will defo miss an irish/ scottish influence to liven it up

Agreed.Even Ingerland might have brought a certain uncouth quality to the party.What was it Orson Welles said about the Swiss?

[superfrank]

Kazim-Richards did pretty well considering how poor the rest of the Turks were.

It's a pretty impressive turn around. Just under two years ago he was transfer-listed at Brighton in League One. Now he's playing in the Euros, Champion's League quarter finals and he's at one of Europe's biggest clubs.

I wasn't surprised by Turkey. I didn't think they were going to get anything out of that game.

Portugal didn't seem to be at full throttle but they had two very well taken goals. Am I the only one who's surprised that Pepe plays for Portugal instead of Brazil? He vould easily get in to their squad.

[superfrank]

Hope Croatia do well. Very impressive in the group stages, but they might struggle without Eduardo.
Olic and Petric are both good strikers playing in the Bundesliga. They play a bit deeper than Eduardo but they can both get goals. And they've the perfect opposition tonight.

I don't know if Ivan Klasnic made the squad but he's also a very talented striker. I'd love to see him play. IIRC, he missed a year of football after having two kidney transplants.

[OwlsFan]

Yawn, yawn, yawn. RTE Panel once again in an attempt to be controversial play up "Ronaldo best player in the world". EVERY game he's played in before the RTE cameras, be it the Champions League or now Euro 08, the discussion is the same: Laughing Bill introducing the "best player in the world tag" and DUnphy jeering him. Am I the only one bored and frustrated by this same artificial "debate" to cause controversy?

I enjoyed the Ports vs Turkey game. Didn't see the earlier game. Turkey were made to look pretty ordinary by the Ports. Some lovely one touch football. More of the same please.

[osarusan]

Am I the only one bored and frustrated by this same artificial "debate" to cause controversy?

I don't know, but you are the only one who bothered to bring it up this time (as you do every other time), despite your apparent boredom with the issue.

[stojkovic]

What was it Orson Welles said about the Swiss?

After 500 years of democracy, all they produced was the cuckoo clock.

[stojkovic]

Predicted 1-1 in Swiss-Czech but had Portugal at 2-0. Unfortunatley I had it in a double with Ladyboy to get the first goal :(

[shakermaker1982]

I thought Croatia were very poor today, looked good for the 20 minutes but from that point it was all Austria (who deserved a point at the very least but that is football). Some lovely touches by Modric but they need a striker who can score goals. No cutting edge up top and that was supposed to be a 'gimme' game. They will surely improve but the Croatians looked wrecked afterwards, Olic and Petric must have ran a marathon each. Austria should go into the Poland game full of confidence and I hope their supporters get behind them and they can pull off a shock.

Decent tournament so far and I'm really looking forward to tomorrow.

[gaiscíoch]

Very disapointed with Croatia today... Have them to win the tournament but on todays display it doesn't look too good :( Hopefully it was a case of early goal syndrome....

[boovidge]

Agreed.Even Ingerland might have brought a certain uncouth quality to the party.What was it Orson Welles said about the Swiss?

Say what you will about the English fans but they are passionate and they do bring the numbers with them. Also there is something lacking from the tournament when you don't want one team to lose so badly just to see the look on the faces of the BBC panel :D

[superfrank]

Austrians were a lot better than I gave them credit for. They did very well but they just didn't have a final ball, like Switzerland. Croatia relaxed after the goal. They probably thought it would be simple. They weren't at their best and I think they'll do a lot better against Germany and Poland.

Germany and Poland was an interesting match. Germany started well but Poland came back into it, then out of the blue Germany doubled. There was a fantastic save from Artur Boruc in the second half. Only a few angles show how good it really was.

Already, there is an unsettling pattern. The stronger team sneaks ahead and draws the weaker onto them afterwards. It's working well. So far, the favourites have won every match and the weaker teams have failed to score. I just wish teams would go out and play attacking football, instead of counter-attacking football. This mightn't continue with Italy-Netherlands tomorrow night but I expect it in the France-Romania one.

[bholg]

Hard to see Croatia scoring at all against Germany on tonights evidence.

Would go for a 1-1 with holland and Italy and 1-0 for france

[OwlsFan]

I don't know, but you are the only one who bothered to bring it up this time (as you do every other time), despite your apparent boredom with the issue.

Well then you've answered my question. I am the only one :confused:

Felt for the Poles. Never beaten their huge rivals even though they gave as good as they got. Souness got his history wrong though. He said the Poles are bitter about the Germans owning some of their territory. It's the other way round. Most of old Prussia is in Poland. Must be tough for the Poles. Imagine if we'd never beaten England in 15 attempts. Enjoyable game like the one before it as well. Good championship so far.

[joe_barry80]

That was the best I've seen Austria play in a long long time. After the shock of giving away a peno they really put the Croats under pressure. As someone mentioned above they just didn't have it up front. I say they will get something out of the Polish game. Then Hammer the Germans to get through :eek:

What do you think of Vastic who came on in The 2nd half. At 39 he's still great. When I moved to Austria he was the star of the Sturm Graz Teams that made into the Champions League 3 times. Still a legend.

[shakermaker1982]

Vastic first pass when he came on was as sweet as a nut. Not bad for an old man :)

[lionelhutz]

On the weekends games, the Czechs and Croats were extremely lucky to beat the host nations. The Swiss and Austrians just lacked the finishing ability to make their dominance count. I was very disappointed with the Croats lack of control after they scored - I thought they would dominate possession and run the Austrians into the ground but quite the opposite happened.

I think most people (myself included) completely wrote off the Austrians considering the poor standard of players in their ranks. Playing in your home country in a major championship makes such a difference though and I think they could give the Poles and Germans a run for their money.

Portugal were excellent at opening the Turks up and their retention of the ball is top quality. I still think they leave themselves a little too open in the wide areas - a better team would expose the gaps out wide with the Portuguese full backs bombing forward at every opportunity.

Germany also looked very strong. I still don't think much of Podolski though despite his goals yest. And Gomes doesn't look up to much either. Frings and Balllack work very well together in midfield and the full backs look lively.

[Closed Account 2]

Vastic has a great engine on him despite his advanced years, he's a good little motor who can certainly do a job for 30 mins or so if thrown on. A bit like Quinny for us in Korea and Japan, limited in terms of stamina but very effective. One thing I would say about Ivica is his penalties are, from what I recall, pretty shoddy. I remember one of his in the champions league where he hit it right down the middle with no pace. I would say the Austrians are missing a striker of the calibre of the great Toni Polster. I remember he was deadly in their qualifiers for France 98.

Poland were a mite unlucky last night, I felt the Brazilian fella (Guerrerio ?) looked to be a tidy player and had a lot of joy against the German full backs on either flank. The Polish goalkeeper (Borac) looked to be on top form and I think the second place in the group will be a hard call.

Croatia went 1-0 and sat back, this was nearly a costly mistake. They should have had the game done and dusted afte about 30 mins, creating chance after chance and keeping the Austrians firmly under the thumb.

Portugal have been the most impressive team for me so far. Their deftness on the ball and sheer pace cut the Turkish flanks to ribbons. Turkey themselves were not too bad and I wouldn't be sure if they or the Czech's will get through. There was a clear paucity of skill in the opening match, the Czechs missed Nedved and Rosicky. Zdneck Grygera (a poor man's Radjek Bejbel for those old enough to remember him) and Tomas Ujfalushi are great players but they lack good creative midfielders. I'm sure they must have been tempted to wheel out Poborsky again. It's worth noting that Koller's presence again caused problems for the Swiss. Koller is devoid of any skill but his physical presence can really put the fear of god into any defence. I remember him tearing the Champions League apart for Anderlecht years ago. It's worth seeing that continental defenders tend to have problems dealing with target men, if only we had a decent tall physical striker I think we'd do very well in the qualifiers for WC 2010. I remember the Doc being our top scorer in Euro 2004 qualifiers with something like 6 or 7 goals. Imagine if we had the likes of Quinny again!

[gustavo]

I think that it'll be a France Romania draw and Italy to just edge out the Dutch , should bbe a ggood attacking game as neithers defence looks particularly secure

[Block G Raptor]

I think that it'll be a France Romania draw and Italy to just edge out the Dutch , should bbe a ggood attacking game as neithers defence looks particularly secure

Surprised that so many are rating Romania. I reckon they'll be the Whipping Boys in that Group

[joe_barry80]

Just got a 0-0 draw not bad.

[Closed Account 2]

Romanians are a proud people from a nation forged in steel and fire, that was in evidence this afternoon when they out foxed a technically superior (on paper) French team. Like a great game of chess the Romanians held their line with grit and resolve, fair play to them and I can see big problems for teams that play them. They've a good set of players and Nicolae Dorin Goian, Radoi and Dica would grace many teams.

[Metrostars]

Italy look very shaky without Cannavaro at the back.

[superfrank]

Delighted Romania got a draw as I detest Raymond Domenech and I can't wait to see him fired. It was up to France to break the Romanians down and they just don't have enough about them to do it. They don't work as a team. They rely too much on individuals and when some of them have off days, like Ribery and Benzema today, they're poor.

I don't believe Van Nistelrooy's goal was onside. Panucci was off the pitch and wasn't going to get back on. Van Nistelrooy knew what he was doing, you could see his guilty conscience after he'd scored.

Saying that, the second goal was amazing. Already, I think it'll be goal of the tournament. Great counter-attacking football. Good vision to pick out Van Bronckhorst by Sneijder (?), brilliant run and cross by Van Bronckhorst. A lovely cushioned header by Kuyt and a magnificent finish by Sneijder. A lovely goal all round.

[sligoman]

Great 2nd goal by the Dutch. Good save by Van der Sar and then they go on the counter and get the goal, pure class.

[Maroon 7]

Italy beginning to show their age tonight. Don't look like a team to be feared.

[shakermaker1982]

Pirlo was brilliant tonight.........only joking. How good was Engelaar? He really impressed me last week against the Welsh but to do it against Gattuso and Pirlo shows he belongs on this stage. Delighted Holland won. Hope they go on to win the thing. That is how you play football.

France looked crap. Malouda, Anelka and Abidal should not be anywhere near the starting 11. No grit, passion or determination. Romania on the other hand fought for their lives.

[superfrank]

I was surprised by how easily Holland won tonight. I thought Italy would have a bit more but Holland absorbed what ever Italy through at them and took their chances when they had them.

[thischarmingman]

Holland looked like they were bothered. France just looked like the football was spoiling their holiday.

[old git]

Delighted Romania got a draw as I detest Raymond Domenech and I can't wait to see him fired. It was up to France to break the Romanians down and they just don't have enough about them to do it. They don't work as a team. They rely too much on individuals and when some of them have off days, like Ribery and Benzema today, they're poor.

I don't believe Van Nistelrooy's goal was onside. Panucci was off the pitch and wasn't going to get back on. Van Nistelrooy knew what he was doing, you could see his guilty conscience after he'd scored.

Saying that, the second goal was amazing. Already, I think it'll be goal of the tournament. Great counter-attacking football. Good vision to pick out Van Bronckhorst by Sneijder (?), brilliant run and cross by Van Bronckhorst. A lovely cushioned header by Kuyt and a magnificent finish by Sneijder. A lovely goal all round.

what was van nistelrooy supposed to do kick it wide because he was guilty of being offside put the ball in the net and let the officals decide .. second goal was a classic but it was van der vart who picked out van bronckhorst and their 3rd goal was not to bad either another quick break by van bronckhorst after a great save by van der sar very impressed by the dutch tonight but a long way to go yet :ball:

[NeilMcD]

1st goal was rightly given as those are the rules. Only harsh on the Italians as they did not know the rules. They would not have pushed out and left Van Nistelrooy free if they had of know that Panucci was playing him onside. Fair play to him and great finish as it was flying across the box. Best game of the tournament and it could easily have been 4-2. Dutch still look dodgy at the back but fair play to them and their midfield looked great tonight.

[Billsthoughts]

France will do better against teams that come out and attack them. Lots of turns in this group to come. Italy not out of it yet by any means. Still think Portugal best team so far.

[Sligo Hornet]

Really enjoyed last night's game...fantastic counter attacking football from the Dutch (best way to defend too)...Thought Engelaar was man of the match.

Great to see a team leading by 3 goals and still willing to go forward in the closing stages, rather than the boring norm of holding up play in the corners.

Both teams are technically superb.....but wouldn't have beeen able to live with us had we got there!;)

[OwlsFan]

France will do better against teams that come out and attack them. Lots of turns in this group to come. Italy not out of it yet by any means. Still think Portugal best team so far.

I agree :eek: We saw Italy in 1994 recover from a first game loss to us. I don't buy in to this ageing stuff. They were coming on strong late in the game until Holland hit them on the break. They'll probably need to win both games though.

I wonder did van Nettlesoup pick up an injury. Saw him holding his leg gingerly before being substituted. Nice to be able to bring on Van Persie as a sub. We bring on Daryl Murphy.

Also interesting that in the 6 games todate, both sides have failed to score in all the games. 5 teams have scored and 7 have failed to score. First goal seems more important than ever :(