Croatia should have won that game 2-1, but thy had a very poor start. With England not qualifying for Euro 2008, I've decided to support Croatia. I really hope that Manzukic isn't injured, because Spain is gonna be very tough. I hope for either a draw or a Croatia win, because Italy have to score 3 goals against Ireland to qualify.

I really want Italy to go out because I haven't and I will never forgive them for fixing the final of the 2006 world cup game. I'm really pulling for Republic of Ireland to beat Italy to send them packing. I really don't mind if we come second: because the likes of England, France or Ukraine shouldn't be very difficult provided on how the Croatians play against them.

Ladies and gentlemen, my hat goes off to Greece. I don't know how, but they did it again. It's incredible, I can't understand how Russia got kicked out but their stupid mistake right when the first half was about to end was incredibly costly, and the result of the other match didn't help them at all. It's ridiculous, but there you go.

I'm sorry I haven't had time to make a full summary of the last matches, I have been busy with my last exam, but I'll start again from tomorrow on :P

Qualified for Quarterfinals:

Czech Republic VS 2nd Group B
1st Group B VS Greece

I really wanted Poland to get through, they fought apart from the last 45 minutes of their last match. Blasczcykowski was amazing and Lewandowski should have scored a few but for the keeping brilliance of Malafeev. To see how they celebrated when they scored against Russia really showed me how much they wanted it.

I'm pleased for Greece, but I can't understand why Russia isn't through instead, given that they have a much better goal difference than Greece. Is this what the tournament is all about, that goal differences just doesn't count anymore?

It goes on head to head results then goal difference. Since Greece beat Russia they finished ahead of them.

Either way, I don't know what to feel worse about. Greece going through or Czech Rep going through, Greece are just such an ugly team in like every possible way and Czech Rep have about two talented players, Gebreselassie and Pilar (weird r but I can't be bothered finding it to copy). Then I have to count in the fact that the actually talented Russians will now be absent from the tournament. Either way, the Germans should have a nice easy task for them in the quarters assuming they make it.

Just out of curiosity, what did you mean when you said the Italians fixed the world cup in '06? xD

I think they should have just stuck to goal difference. Greece will never get as far as Russia would have. I think Russia go a bit complacent in their match against the Greeks and expected to win.

But yeah, the Czechs also have Plasil and Rosicky, both very technical. Cech had a good game against the Poles, which is out of the ordinary when it comes to the Euros. Czech Republic can go far if they think they can, Greece can go through 1 or 2 rounds because they have experience and have won the cup before so they know they can win it.

Have to say well done to Greece going through, but anyone get the suspicion it might of be organised? Obviously with all the trouble with the Russian fans, it makes you wonder if they didn't want them to carry on... Obviously I'm not meaning to take anything away from Greece, obviously they did really well. I'm just saying it might not be all it seems.

I think the Czechs are a really underrated team, when they can be bothered to play. I think with a few of the players they've got they should be doing quite well.

Really looking forward to the Portugal - Netherlands game though, I can't see Germany losing so that means it'll be be between these 2 on who goes through in second spot. Hoping that Netherlands go all out to win it though, with the quality they have I think they can put a few past Portugal.

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Originally Posted by DLL Have to say well done to Greece going through, but anyone get the suspicion it might of be organised? Obviously with all the trouble with the Russian fans, it makes you wonder if they didn't want them to carry on... Obviously I'm not meaning to take anything away from Greece, obviously they did really well. I'm just saying it might not be all it seems. I think the Czechs are a really underrated team, when they can be bothered to play. I think with a few of the players they've got they should be doing quite well. Really looking forward to the Portugal - Netherlands game though, I can't see Germany losing so that means it'll be be between these 2 on who goes through in second spot. Hoping that Netherlands go all out to win it though, with the quality they have I think they can put a few past Portugal.

I honestly can't see Russia voluntarily walking out of the competition (why?) and nothing strange happened during the match- no obvious penalty calls denied (only two clear dives, one from each side), no weird ref calls, nothing resembling a suspiciously nonsensical behaviour in either team, the result didn't favour both sides... so I can't see anything that you could say suggests that it was a fixed match. If you watched the 2004 Euro, you'll know that Greece are very well capable of these sort of miracles, and if the match was rigged by the organizers, they could have rigged the other one as well so they went through instead of the Czechs.

Also, if, by any chance, Germany and Denmark draw and the Netherlands win, both Portugal and the Netherlands get kicked out. It's going to be veeeery fun to watch.

I never said they'd 'voluntarily' walk out, but they've already been in trouble due to fans 'rioting' not just after their own match but also during the Ireland - Croatia match. Obviously they had already been fined and they've got the 6 point deduction threat looming over them for the next campaign. All I'm saying is, perhaps UEFA haven't wanted the possibility of having more rioting etc. I'm sure this wasn't the case, I just said it could be a possibility due to circumstance.

Yes, I'm well aware of Greece being able to do it... They did amazingly well to win back in '04. Obviously they showed you don't have to play 'beautiful' football to win tournaments.

I wonder if Denmark are going to go out and win then or play for the draw, obviously Germany aren't going to be too fussed about it as they're already through. I'd like to see them go to Win though.

Portugal 2 - 1 Netherlands
Germany 2 - 1 Denmark

Well done by Portugal, the Netherlands were just... horrible isn't good enough a word. They played for 15 minutes, scored the goal, and then forgot how to play football. They had two chances in the end, but Portugal were vastly superior after their initial shock. Ronaldo finally broke his mental lock so he's going to be even more threatening in the future- that's something to be careful about.

Meanwhile, Germany and Denmark had enough with a draw and Germany didn't take a step forward until Portugal scored the second and put their group win at stake. Otherwise, they played like Germany do- very confident and ready to strike when they need to. Deserved win.

Qualified for Quaterfinals:

QF1: Czech Republic VS Portugal
QF3: Germany VS Greece

And tomorrow... have you heard the word "biscotto" yet?

By contrast in the last match besides the start and end it seemed that they just weren't up for it. =/ Was quite annoying to watch, and I can't help but feel the coach went way too defensive and didn't act when he should have (double attacking sub only after we conceded; we needed to win in the first place, not draw! Plus his inaction in the match against Greece). Ah well.

Don't worry, the match hasn't even started yet, but I find it very funny to see the UEFA match report test- specially the result they have guessed

Bonus points to whoever knows what will happen if that scoreboard, by any chance, ever happened.

Currently watching both games now, very nervous. I don't mind if Spain draw to Croatia, because I'd like to see the Spanish through as well as the Croats. Ireland had a chance to make it 1-0. Come on Ireland, go out with a bang and do the Croats a favour. ;)

1-0 Italy, not good news at all. Croatia are out if it stays like this.

You gotta feel sorry for Croatia, they worked so hard to keep Spain at bay until the very end. Rakitic should have taken that chance and headed downwards, but he doesn't really get those heading opportunities when he plays for his club so him pulling a header off against Casillas that went in would have been amazing. Also, the Croatian players spirits would have been lifted if that goal had been scored, they would be thinking "If we can beat Spain, we can win the Euros". It would have been a completely different game, especially since the Spanish knew the embarrassment they were going to get if they got knocked out in the group stage, so they would be working a lot harder along with the Croatian spirits and that would have called for an amazing 25 mins at the end of the game.

The Croatians put a shameless bus until they realized they were going nowhere, and the crazy decisions by Del Bosque helped: having a "run and score" striker when there were 9 people defending around the keeper and not a single inch of space to go through (although Silva did find a couple of gaps), and then replacing him by a winger whose only job is sending crosses but leaving nobody to head them. It got extra-ridiculous because, when the Croats realized that the draw would send them nowhere and started to go in desperate attacks, they left giant holes in their defence that Torres would have enjoyed greatly. Oh well, scoring a goal against Spain is incredibly difficult and they failed at it, so any "what ifs" mean nothing. They wasted the entire first half and they ran out of time when they absolutely needed to score.

I would have enjoyed a 2-2 biscotto to send Italy out but, to be honest, I think that teams who deploy the bus without any shame are much more difficult for us to play against so I'm happy to see them off.

What do you guys think of the decision about teams that go through in the groups? I mean I completely hate the idea behind the mini league and the head to head, Russia definitely deserved to go through ahead of Greece.

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Originally Posted by Pave Low What do you guys think of the decision about teams that go through in the groups? I mean I completely hate the idea behind the mini league and the head to head, Russia definitely deserved to go through ahead of Greece.

True, but the logic behind head-to-head is to reward the team that won the match between the two tied teams, instead of being placed behind the team they had beaten, but that scored an awful amount of goals against possibly weaker teams. If they have the same number of points, then what should be considered is, primarily, the result of the matches between those two teams. If one team had won the match against the one that has the same number of points, why being placed behind because the other scored more goals in other matches, if they were better than the other team on their match? Points achieved matter. Victories matter. Not the number of goals.
I am of the opinion that tie-breakers should only be settled between the teams that are tied, never influenced by results against other teams.

Russia could have deserved to be qualified for the match vs the Czech only. It's their fault they didn't go through. They had clear chances to beat Poland and the mistake that resulted in Greece's goal can never happen in any team. A team like Greece that has such playstyle can only rely on the opponent's mistakes and set pieces to score. It's Russia's own fault.

Let's talk about goal line technology and how much it was needed in that match.

I mean, living in England, I'm really pleased that England are progressing to the next stage but oh my God that was such a bad shout by the officials. The ball was obviously over the line and, although it didn't make any difference in the end, it's still annoying. What was even more annoying was how the ref seemed to turn biased right after the goal - I assume he was told that he'd messed up and was trying to compensate or something because he seemed to be giving literally everything he could against England, especially the ludicrous Yellow given to Cole. But whatever - the disallowed goal didn't actually make a difference in the end and we still won so I'm totally happy with that. (edit: ukraine scorer was offside)

Regarding the players though, did anyone else see Rooney tonight? I thought he was totally off form for some reason. Yes he scored the only goal given but that was because he happened to be there and for the rest of the match he seemed kinda slow and unsure to me.

While they are at it, they could implement professional offside technology too, that way the whole thing would have been flagged out before the Ukranian player could even kick the ball.

I'm glad they are playing France! The team that have won a single match in the last three major tournaments they have played- and they don't have a ridiculous love for defending for their lives so that's all I can ask for!

Sorry Went, go Italy!

I was supporting Poland, Russia, Denmark, Croatia and Sweden but that obviously didn't work out. Since my 2nd favourite team is Lazio, I'm supporting Italy for the remainder of the Euros.

Well, since the Croatians are out (and I'm not the least bit happy about it) I have decided to back the underdogs Greece for the rest of the tournament, and also France.

Yeah, goalline technology and so forth really should have already been implemented, and I feel there's workarounds for each argument against it too, tbh. And now Blatter says such technology is a necessity. A bit late, Blatter! -_-

I only really cared about Poland so as they are out I have not much else to support. =p

How about the first goal against France btw? That was a screamer.

To be fair to the Croats, even though they pretty much parked the tank, they did create much better chances than Spain using the only tactic that isn't going to kill them against the possession game.

As for the England game, we played very poorly and got some benefit from the lack of GLT. I hate Blatter's attitude toward it, when it seemed to only go against England, goal line technology could take its sweet time. Now it's absolutely essential. I joked he would say something similar directly after it happened and he did, he and Platini are so predictable.

Yeh, I agree with Nuke.
Someone said this to me and I agree so much.

Quote:

Germany knock England out of World Cup, during game, Lampard scores, goal is not given when it is clearly over the line Blatter: Meh Ukraine goal not given vs England, England knock Ukraine out of Euros Blatter: OMFG GOALLINETECHNOLOGY NOW Continuous penalty shootouts over the years, many of which England have lost, especially against Germany Blatter: Meh Chelsea beat Bayern on penalties Blatter: Find an alternative to penalties Beckenbauer, it's harsh.

It really is a joke. I just can't believe people just overlook these obviously bias decisions and views.

Sepp Blatter is a joke. The problem is we have no alternative to him as every re-election no one stands against him (and when they do they get suspended).