There were no freebies. All four matches so far have been reasonably well contested. Portugal and Germany had better scorelines but they were made to sweat. The hosts Switzerland and Austria surely deserved something from their matches but were unlucky.
Before we get to the Euro news, let’s look at some Chelsea news. Scolari is now rumoured to be the next Chelsea boss. Now, Scolari is a proper manager. Lots of experience and real pedigree. I’ll wait but wasn’t he the one who refused to take the England job because of the English press? More rumours as Chelsea chase Eto, Diego and a dozen other players. I don’t see any deal being clinched before the end of Euro, not even Eto’s deal. Essien has committed his future with Chelsea. I’ll let you read these beautiful words from the Bison:
I will go back to Chelsea for the next season and expect to have a great season. We have shown as a club that we can handle disappointments, and I think we will be able to bounce back next season a better side. Most of the guys have gone on holidays and they will put the disappointment of the last season behind them. The season generally was very disappointing, but that is football. When you put these things behind you, you become stronger.
Over to Euro 2008. I thought Portugal played really well. Good that Ronaldo did not score. Already newspapers have printed millions of pages as if he is the only footballer alive. The first goal was from a brilliant move. Well done Pepe. Looks like he was destined to score one that night. Thing is, I was looking to see a performance from Bosingwa but what I saw did not make me jump for joy. Anyway, we’ll see more of him as we go along.
I was pleased with the Germany result. Poland did trouble Germany but if you read the game, Germany were always in control of the game. A goal in each half by Polish-born Podolski was just enough. I thought it was Schweinsteiger (I had to copy and paste his name) who changed the course of the match. Only after he was brought in, Germany looked more and more dangerous and were looking to seal the match.
No upsets or shocks in the first couple of days. I hope Romania can shock France tonight. Chivu has been reminding us that this group is not all about Italy, France and Netherlands. France have been poor of late. They might also be missing Henry, Ribery and Vieira. They do have able subs but Chivu and Mutu give me more belief than Anelka and Flamini.
Would you believe it? Arjen Robben is injured again. he won’t be playing against Italy tonight. Even Sneijder and van Persie may not be fit for this match. Though Italy are missing Cannavaro, I think they are the clear favourites against Netherlands. Romania and Italy to win tonight.
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i think france has a higher chance of winning..as for the italy match…it will be very tighly contested…a draw more likely though either side can nick it…..
chelsea buying eto!!!!!!!!!!!!!great…ibrahimovic would be gr8 too….i think tonite we should keep a lookout on vandervaart…if he’s performing well..chelsea should get him…deco maybe too old…ALSO…..a website say scolari plan to ring moutinho and quaresma to chelsea….this is gd man…quaresma is the player i am looking forward for him to come chelsea…as for moutinho…i think vandervaart is better
players to go:belleti(sorry to say tt though his attacking was gr8 but due to the arrival of bosingwa, i have to put his name on the exit list)
benhaim
sidwell,pizarro,drogba,anelka(maybe if 2 strikers arrive),swp and malouda(maybe)
players to come:quaresma,eto,ibrahimovic and vandervaart/deco/ronaldinho,robinho
“No upsets or shocks in the first couple of days” – I’m really upset BC!!
No surprises, one is due like in 2004 with Greece.
Hope Russia will not be the one that causes the surprise.
Germany played well can still do better, but I was disappointed with Poland they played much better against Portugal in Poland anyway one gone one to go to qualify.
Croatia really poor, maybe because was the first match and I felt Austria should get something from the match, really a good attitude they showed.
Portugal showewd moments of brilliant play, with Deco, Cristiano, Moutinho etc.
Hve you noticed that Portugal defence is almost Chelsea’s? Bosingwa, Carvalho and Ferreira? every foreign newspaper I read on line says they are the best defence in the tournament.
Anyway lets watch the next matches today.
I can not see Romania upsetting France, but stranger things have happened.
chelsea are rumoured to have agreed a deal with scolari and he will bring in quaresma and moutinho!!!
Romania to win in your dreams, ribery to set up benzema and score one himself. man of the match is our old beloved midfield engine “MAKA”
allez les bleus.
my start 11 for france
———coupet————
sagnol—thuram—gallas—evra
ribery–nasri—maka—malouda
——bnezema—henry—-
but i guess abidal and jeremy will get first 11 place.
i think scolary is better, no more italian coach
Portugal to win
eto, quaresma and ribery please!
and if we absolutely need to buy another midefielder (we have ballack and essien for ffs!), i would much prefer van der vaart over moutinho, i’ve always loved VDV ever since i bought him in my pro evo squad when i didn’t know who he was, and he was bloody brilliant
Same with schweinsteiger actually, who’s also a nice option.
Going by all transfer rumours I predict few of following players to enter Bridge coming season:
Kaka
Eto
Villa
Quaresma
Auguero
Ribery
Van Der Vart
Ronaldinho
lol from what i saw of the france game toulalan is the only one that chelsea doesnt own that did anything. Ribery was quite, malouda has skill but mentally he looks all over the place. Anelka was running quite hard but he had no help from mid field and benzema just kind of wandered in and out of the game and only showed up when france held it up long enough to get players in. So far the chelsea players have basically shown why chelsea bought em, cept for malouda and anelka but thats cause france as a whole played shit.
yay!!!!!!holland 3-ITaly -0!!!!!!!!!!!!
suck my nipples Italia!!!!!!!!
netherlands – italy what a game. sneijder was superb, RVN’s goal was bad refereeing. VDV was ok but got lost a couple of times. engelaar was great and very tidy, wouldnt be surprised if a bigger team picks him up after the tourney. bhoulahrouz was very good and tidy at the big, didnt try anything fancy just got the job done. RVP showed some drive and kuyt was hard working. Italy was also quite good but netherlands controlled large amounts of the game too bad they lacked cutting edge cept during counters. Cassano also opened the game up a bit but by then it was over.
Italy..big disappointment.Not so much because they lost but beacuse they didnt take any chances even after being losing by two.4-3-3 is not an offensive formation.I mean, being the favorites they should have risked more,a bit unfortunate in the finishing line, but all in all Netherlands was the more deserving team.
Wow…you people don’t know how to predict…
Italy got trashed 3-0 against holland and Romania held a goaless draw with France..
I say that Spain will win Russia 2-0 and Greece and sweeden will draw 1-1..
Let’s see who will win??Zz
I was quite sure that Holland is gonna beat Italy but I wasn’t ever dreaming about 3-0
A quite big surprise I guess. Bravo Oranje!
hi guys..
Great game between holland & italy..Holland definitely deserved to win , but 3-0 was flattering.
Dutch were very impressive today. They are a very unlucky team . Hope they go all the way till the finals. Only worry is if they are peaking too early.
I’d actually been somewhat disappointed with the Euro until today; I didn’t feel like major teams were invested enough on the pitch. Germany looked ok but only because Poland really wasn’t in it, Portugal did alright, and then what the hell happened to France? Up until the Dutch game, I thought the best soccer of this month was the US friendly against Argentina. Thank god the Dutch showed up like they did. Despite the first “freebie” goal, they were dead on. I’d put them to take group C.
Euro 08 Best team:
…..Van Der Sar[Ned]…..
…Lahm[Ger]..Puyol[Spa]..Carvalho[Por]..Evra[Fra]..
.Sneijder[Ned]..Xavi[Spa]…Ballack[Ger]…Ronaldo[Por]/Ribery[Fra]
…Torres[Spa]/Ruud Van Nistelrooy[Ned]..Poldoski[Ger]
France is ging to be first in Group C followed by holland
Italy is going to be kicked out..
Anelka and Malouda played very bad.Only makelele played good.
Boulahrouz showed thad he want to return to chelsea.
f**king Italians wasted my 15€. But I think i´m going to give them one more chance…
Next its gonna be Ferreira, Carvalho and Bosingwa VS Cech, and later on Anelka, Malouda and Makelele VS Boulahrouz (technically still belongs to CFC).
Sorry to off topic BC but could you start a topic where we could speculate on what CFC’s chances of getting silverware might be next few years ? Like whether we’ll reach the cL final again so easily again ?
ZICO LINKED TO CHELSEA NOW!!! I WOULD LOE HIM AS MANAGER BUT APPARENTLY REPORTS TODAY SAY WE ALREADY HAVE AGREED TERMS WITH SCOLARI AND CHELSEA WILL ANNOUNCE HE WILL BE MANAGER A AFTER UERO 2008!!
zico i think will be ok. I personally dont want an influx of brazilians into positions we have plenty of, bring in adriano and VDV i guess.
Also rewatching the RVN goal i have to say very likely it was a onside because panucci was playing ruud onside, shitty setanta didnt show it very well.
Forza Azurri!!!!!! We are down but definitely not out. you count us out at your peril. We will back on friday with a bang.
Scolari is definitely the man for me since lippi ruled himself out. Keep the Italian and the Chelsea Blue flags flying ever so high
ricci considering leavin chelsea for inter
I am watching Spain-Russia game…I wonder why Roman is looking all over the world for Chelsea manager when he has such a diamond in his backyard…if Hiddink can make this bunch of Russian players play so nice then I am damn sure he will do wonders at Chelsea..average display upfront is the only shortcoming for Russians and Arshavin is not playing…otherwise their passing, movement on flanks and from middle all are very good.
bola showed he deserves to be in chelsea.
based on the performances i’ve seen so far, We’re looking at a Germany and Spain final, Portugal are lacking that attacking edge whereas Spain are so free flowing with talent throughout the pitch, Portugal’s talent is in the midfield only. And i am not looking foward to Bosingwa in the EPL, he may have alot of speed and stamina, but he is not very good on the ball and ultimately that is going to cost possession
as for this off season
Scolari must be our number 1 target as no one has actually been offered our managerial position. I welcome him with open arms for we know he will bring in new talent. With Scolari in power, I can almost guarantee:
out; Lampard, Carvahlo, Drogba, Anelka, ben haim
in; Quaresma, David Villa, Dean Ashton, David Silva
as a proud south-African- german I can say with cofidence that deutscher fussbal-bund shall destroy all teams and beat the sh$t out of Italy to make up for2006 FIFA wc
i heard schevchenko is “the Advisor” of RA in signing our new manager.
Sign Villa up now.
come on over to chelsea ribery, schweinsteiger or quaresma, and villa! also sneijder can if he wants.
god i hope carvalho doesn’t go, but he seems pretty set on rejoining mourinhio
Scolari could very well be Chelsea next manager, maybe to try and lure Ronaldinho to join in?
Is a new cycle of players coming in to Chelsea next year ?
Are there any strong indications pointing that way ?
Yeah Netherlands win! And for once I’m happy at BC getting his predictions wrong!! Great display by the Dutch. Hit Italy in their own game of counter attacks. Hope they can keep up that up throughout the tournament. Again reinforcing my view that Chelsea SHOULD get van Basten next season. Somehow hijack him from Ajax!
How man ppl are playing UEFA fantasy here. can we have a league of chelsea fans
well they (Portugal) played bad and still won 3-1
hmmmmmmm when will they start playing well?
anyway I was extremelly pleased to see Quaresma and he scored, lol.
Want to see him from start and do what Ronaldo does with more magic though.
Glad to see that all defensive squads are getting what they deserve.Checzs didnt play all that diferent from Greece or Italy,its only that they have more skill than Greece,apart from that,didnt take any chances at all.
i thought bosingwa looked very solid in defence a/g the Czechs… hes got speed to kill and great ball control and technique
HOW CAN ITALY AND ROMANIA WIN WHEN BOTH OF THEM ARE PLAYING TOGETHER??
italy vs romania and
France vs netherlands zzz
Romania is awesome!
U Craiova is the great too!
HAI ROMANIA!!!