Official Euro 2008 Thread

[celticmaestro]

Spain have looked impressive against the Swedish. Controlling the game and creating some opportunities. The lack of muscle and size hurts a bit but not as large as I expected it would.

Sweden are missing Wilhelmsson. Best player on the flanks and at taking people on and getting balls into the box. Too predictable too one dimensional without him. Big loss. The Ibrahimovic injury just added salt to the wound.

yeah but they didn't deserve to concede in the 92nd minute. villa - what a player! i knew i should have picked him for my euro 2008 dream team

I think Sweden win that game if they had Wilhelmsson and Zlatan for a full 90. They would have supplied that cutting edge.

I don't see their tourney run going far without Wilhelmsson. Too important. Like France losing Ribery, similar values to their teams albeit very different talent levels.

yeah i agree. i think sweden could be such a good team but they never seem to get over that hump. hopefully ibrahimovic isn't out for long, they need him and he's a delight to watch. ever seen his goal for ajaz about 5 years ago against vitesse i think?

edit: here it is, i've broken the link into two so the video doesn't appear on the page, that way keeping it still a football debate rather than a media show

http://www.youtube.com/ watch?v=ZgqsaDnsEq8

[Who]

Yes I've seen that goal before. Beautiful stuff. Incredible composure.

That was a fun Ajax team with Ibrahimovic, Chivu, Van Der Vaart, Pienaar, Van Der Meyde. Then the old timer Galasek keeping order in midfield and making sure all the pieces fit right. I had Champions League aspirations for that team,, darn lucky AC Milan knocking them out in the Quarter Finals.

[celticmaestro]

Yes I've seen that goal before. Beautiful stuff. Incredible composure.

That was a fun Ajax team with Ibrahimovic, Chivu, Van Der Vaart, Pienaar, Van Der Meyde. Then the old timer Galasek keeping order in midfield and making sure all the pieces fit right. I had Champions League aspirations for that team,, darn lucky AC Milan knocking them out in the Quarter Finals.

same here, what a team - such potential. i'd like to see van der vaart, chivu, ibrahimovic, pienaar re-united at hamburg. that'd be great.

[Casperian]

Yes I've seen that goal before. Beautiful stuff. Incredible composure.

That was a fun Ajax team with Ibrahimovic, Chivu, Van Der Vaart, Pienaar, Van Der Meyde. Then the old timer Galasek keeping order in midfield and making sure all the pieces fit right. I had Champions League aspirations for that team,, darn lucky AC Milan knocking them out in the Quarter Finals.

same here, what a team - such potential. i'd like to see van der vaart, chivu, ibrahimovic, pienaar re-united at hamburg. that'd be great.

lol, that would be great, but I don`t think Ibrahimovic would go to a club like Hamburg. They don`t have the talent or money to be interesting for him, and it seems that Van der Vaart will leave Hamburg this off-season. Valencia already wanted him last year, and although Hamburg said no, VdV was in the spanish newspapers with a Valencia jersey. Big uproar here in Germany about that, and VdV had to pay a big penalty for this. It´s very likely that he won´t return.

Greece - Russia looks good so far. Lots of good opportunities for both teams. Greece will have a problem with Russia´s fast offense, it´s only a matter of time. I still hope they can win this one.

[celticmaestro]

Yes I've seen that goal before. Beautiful stuff. Incredible composure.

That was a fun Ajax team with Ibrahimovic, Chivu, Van Der Vaart, Pienaar, Van Der Meyde. Then the old timer Galasek keeping order in midfield and making sure all the pieces fit right. I had Champions League aspirations for that team,, darn lucky AC Milan knocking them out in the Quarter Finals.

same here, what a team - such potential. i'd like to see van der vaart, chivu, ibrahimovic, pienaar re-united at hamburg. that'd be great.

lol, that would be great, but I don`t think Ibrahimovic would go to a club like Hamburg. They don`t have the talent or money to be interesting for him, and it seems that Van der Vaart will leave Hamburg this off-season. Valencia already wanted him last year, and although Hamburg said no, VdV was in the spanish newspapers with a Valencia jersey. Big uproar here in Germany about that, and VdV had to pay a big penalty for this. It´s very likely that he won´t return.

i remember seeing this and thinking it was disgustingly unprofessional. although, he said that he never meant the picture to go public. either way, it's disgraceful.

i'm not sure if van der vaart will leave, if he does, he'll be leaving for a large amount of money. the reason i say that i hope they all re-unite at hamburg is because hamburg are the german team i admire most and it would be nice to see them have success because, historically, they are the second biggest team in germany behind bayern.

[crownsy]

wow another terrible mistake in the back, this time by greece's keeper.

inexcusable, the man has 89 caps....

[celticmaestro]

wow another terrible mistake in the back, this time by greece's keeper.

inexcusable, the man has 89 caps....

he also looks 89...

[Who]

wow another terrible mistake in the back, this time by greece's keeper.

inexcusable, the man has 89 caps....

I still can't get over the fact he is their starting keeper. He's been fantastic for Greece over the past few years considering all the mistakes he makes at club level. I have no confidence in the man and I am always pleasantly surprised when he doesn't cost his team a goal or hand the opposition a great chance of scoring.

[Who]

Russia is doing a good job stretching out the pitch. They're doing a good job of forcing the Greek's to defend them individually instead of trying to break down a team defense. Doing a good job of limiting the Greek's excellent team defensive structure.

Russia have the right idea yanking everyone back to defend the set pieces. Whenever the ball breaks loose out of the area Greece can't get a shot off because there's too many jerseys in the way.

[celticmaestro]

turkey-czech republic is a cup final pretty much, winner takes all.

i fancied the czechs beforehand, and that hasn't changed the turks can't contain koller.

[celticmaestro]

czech republic-croatia it is

[celticmaestro]

wow! turkey have come from 2-0 to tie it up with 2 minutes left. could this be the first ever penalty shoot-out in the group stage?

[celticmaestro]

NO! oh my goodness what a turnaround! 3-2 turkey now! absolutely remarkable!!

and the turkish goalkeeper has just been sent off and they have to put a player in goal now!

[celticmaestro]

the most astonishing finish to a football match i've seen in a very, very long time. wow! i'm speechless.

[celticmaestro]

admittedly i'm doing my best to stay away from any basketball debate because i really can't take the nerves.

so i have euro 2008 to distract me.

anyone see the germany game? ballack just scored the best goal of the tournament by a long way.

germany-portugal quarter final this thursday should be outstanding.