EURO 2008 - The Official Trek BBS Thread

[Nerroth]

The BBC loved Marco Van Basten's famed goal against the USSR in Euro 1988 so much that they set up a competition to select the second best goal ever scored at a European Championship - and named the contest after him!

And when they asked Van Basten if he reckoned that his goal was the best ever scored in the tournament, he immediately answered 'of course!'.


Heh heh heh...

 

[Hitman]

Bad news for Portugal. Goalkeeper Quim broke a wrist in yesterday's training and has left the team. He had a brilliant season and saved Benfica from pretty humiliating results. Now if Ricardo fails...

 

[Jax]

I must admit I enjoyed both matches today...

The Swiss game was not a classic by any means but I thought overall it was a decent game of football and they were very unlucky to lose as I thought they outplayed the Czech side. Also while the 2nd one wasn't handball, the first one was a stone cold penalty and I guess that was the first of many ref mistakes that will happen but I hope they won't ruin the tourney as the did in WC 06.

Portugal was on a different level to Turkey and deserved there 2-0 win. It was a joy to watch some real nice attacking play, especially the little turn by Moutinho in the box for the 2nd goal.

 

[Tomalak]

Portugal was on a different level to Turkey and deserved there 2-0 win. It was a joy to watch some real nice attacking play, especially the little turn by Moutinho in the box for the 2nd goal.

They had a lot of the ball, but didn't actually creat that many clear-cut chances. They hit the post three times, but I wouldn't call it another level of football. The Turks had chances and openings, but lacked any killer instinct in the box. If they had a stronger front man, things might have been different.

 

[Jax]

More News from EURO 2008...

Holland will be without pacey winger Arjen Robben for their Euro 2008 opener against Italy on Monday and is a doubt for the game against France

 

[TheArsenal]

The BBC loved Marco Van Basten's famed goal against the USSR in Euro 1988 so much that they set up a competition to select the second best goal ever scored at a European Championship - and named the contest after him!

While not a European Championship goal, my favorite goal belongs to another Dutch master Dennis Bergkamp's goal against Argentina in the 1998 WC.

Portugal was on a different level to Turkey and deserved there 2-0 win. It was a joy to watch some real nice attacking play, especially the little turn by Moutinho in the box for the 2nd goal.

They had a lot of the ball, but didn't actually creat that many clear-cut chances. They hit the post three times, but I wouldn't call it another level of football. The Turks had chances and openings, but lacked any killer instinct in the box. If they had a stronger front man, things might have been different.

I'll have to disagree here. Portugal's movement and passing was crisp, they played at extreme pace, and the fact that they hit the woodwork three times and scored twice says to me they created enough chances. Entertaining game, much more so than the opener.

(And I ask you, why must every opening ceremony in every sport have people walking around on stilts?)

 

[Chilli]

I must admit I enjoyed both matches today...

The Swiss game was not a classic by any means but I thought overall it was a decent game of football and they were very unlucky to lose as I thought they outplayed the Czech side. Also while the 2nd one wasn't handball, the first one was a stone cold penalty and I guess that was the first of many ref mistakes that will happen but I hope they won't ruin the tourney as the did in WC 06.

I watched those scenes in all the repeats, and it seemed quite clear to me that neither situation should have been called. Handball is hand --> ball, not ball --> hand, and both situations in this game were the latter.

But the Swiss WERE pretty unlucky to not even tie the game. They were working a lot harder than the Czechs. I was a bit disappointed by the Czechs' game, and am hoping they have something more hidden somewhere.

There was, however, a bad handball call yesterday .. in the Turkey/Portugal game. While it wasn't necessarily intentional, the Portuguese did profit from it, so it should have been called. That the Turks got a yellow card for complaining sucked in this case, as their complaints were quite valid.

Portugal's win was quite fair though. I wouldn't be surprised if both Portugal and Turkey move up.

 

[Roger Wilco]

lol, the Austrians are so stupid, this will be a disaster.

 

[Iasius]

This game certainly didn't make me doubt Germany being able to advance to the quarter finals.

Austria put in a good effort, but I think they lacked the necessary class. When they tried to play slow, Croatia defended too good. And if they tried to play fast, the passes were too often awful.

Croatia was a lot worse than I expected.

 

[Jax]

I have to admit, I've enjoyed the football so far because while there may of not been a classic match yet, there has not been a real stinker. Decent passing and chances created from all 3 matches thus far and the home nations have played better than we thought they would and both did not deserve to lose.

Austria had the better of the game overall due to Croatia sitting back but both sides never looked comfortable in defence. Looking forward to watching Germany later and predict a 2-0 win for the Germans.

 

[Roger Wilco]

Well, the second half was the best I've seen the Austrian national team play in quite a while. I don't particularly care for the team but I mostly liked it today. Were it not for the incredibly stupid penalty by a player who has no fucking business being in the team in the first place - they would have gotten the draw they deserved.

Croatia might be the shittiest, most unlikable team in the whole tournament. Nothing but diving cunts, dirty attacks, holding, etc. and 60 minutes anti-football against a (at best) mediocre team. At least they won't get far themselves playing that way...

 

[Iasius]

I like the way this game is going.

1:0 for Germany!

The only problem seems to be the defense.


Edit at half time: Should've been at least 2:0 now though. I hope this won't cause any problems in the 2nd half.

 

[Roger Wilco]

Edit at half time: Should've been at least 2:0 now though. I hope this won't cause any problems in the 2nd half.

I hope it will.

 

[Iasius]

Edit at half time: Should've been at least 2:0 now though. I hope this won't cause any problems in the 2nd half.

I hope it will.

And I was so close agreeing.

2:0 !!!


Still, they need to get a lot better to make the finals.

 

[TheMasterOfOrion]

Who scored for Ze Germans?

 

[Daedalus12]

A Pole scored for the Germans. In fact both goals were by him.

The first half was great with the Germans on the offensive. The 2nd half was boring. Ballack surprisingly wasn't playing his usual role. Poldoski should had the hat trick.

 

[Nerroth]

The Swiss were somewhat unlucky, Portugal looked the business, I missed the Austria match, and the Germans are clinical!


I suspect that there will be rather more people in Ireland who will sympathise for the team the DFBers beat today, however...

 

[Iasius]

A decent game by our team, but the first ~30 minutes were much better than the rest. I hope they can play at that level a bit longer in the games to come.

 

[Jax]

Latest News...

Arjen Robben looks set to miss out on all of Holland's group fixtures at Euro 2008.

 

[BigFoot]

^ Bummer.