Damn Italy plays some boring soccer.

I agree. The Italian mantra is score a goal and then bunker down Alamo style. Sometimes boring, but often successful. I wish they would play a more attacking style like the Dutch. The Italians are so gifted, but to watch them can be like watching grass grow. Anyway, I'm hoping the Swedes keep rolling along.

The most exciting soccer is the English brand. That is some intense soccer. Of course they don't always match up well in the CL but I still prefer EPL.

And to make it Euro 2004 related, I predict Germany to take it all.

I'll have to try the Londener. I went by The Dubliner on Sunday to try and watch the England-France match. I got there a little after 1pm, a good 30 minutes before game time, and they were not letting anyone else in because it was so packed. The place is not very big anyway.

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I got there a little after 1pm, a good 30 minutes before game time, and they were not letting anyone else in because it was so packed.

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Wow! Color me surprised.

Yesterday it was Czech Rep 2-1 over Latvia and Germany-Holland 1-1.

Today: Spain v Greece & Portugal v Russia.

Spain - Greece 1-1 ...despite the good performance by the Spain team....Spain and Portugal probably gonna have to hustle for a spot

Portugal - Russia 2-0 ... a pretty questionable sent off for the Russian GK... I have Cristiano Ronaldo in my fantasy team, yet he didn't start, but he still dished an ast to Rui Costa.

Today's results:
England 3-Switzerland 0 Switzerland played far better than the result. England worse than the result.

France 2-Croatia 2 A very exciting and entertaining game. The French at times looked like winning by 5 goals then would play some sloppy defense.

France and Croatia each had a gift goal. Fun match to watch. Croatia had a chance to win in injury time, but the shot went wide. That would've put Croatia in the driver's seat, and England with almost no shot to advance. England has to beat Croatia now.

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No, England has to draw against Croatia to advance. England has 3 points after 2 games while Croatia has 2. Switzerland is out and can only hope to beat some French butt as consolation. Since 65% of that country speaks German you know they hate them (of course about 35% speak French).

That's right, they can advance on a draw.

Croatia looked good today, and could give England all they can handle.

You are right about that. England better make some tough choices or they are going to be in some trouble. First off, something is wrong with Owens. He is not performing very well. They might want to make some changes in their strikers (I know that is drastic but Owens is not playing well and has been substituted for early in both games). Gary Neville is playing well.

TO be honest, IMO if the had Ferdinand they would win this thing.

Italian Star Francesco Totti is suspended for the next 3 games after spitting a Denmark player (Jansen if I'm not mistaken).

Meanwhile, Denmark beat Bulgaria 2-0 thru 1 goal and 1 ast for Jon Dahl Tomasson. Gronkjaer, who just got back from his mom's funeral also bagged 1 goal.

If England can beat Croatia then they might have a rematch against France in the finals.

In today's action:

Denmark 2 Bulgaria 0. Good bye Bulgaria. Denmark in the driver's seat at the moment for a spot in the quarterfinals.

Italy 1 Sweden 1. Italy wastes several chances to put this away in the first half. Sweden scores late, and the pressure is now really on Italy. The Italians need a victory against Bulgaria (possibly by a huge margin) and they would be helped by having the Sweden-Denmark game NOT end in a draw. The Italians are really up against it now.

Saturday: Germany v Latvia & Holland v Czech Rep.

that one goal by Sweden has got to be one of the top goals of the tournament.

In today's action:

Germany 0 Latvia 0. Germany may have to win against the Czechs to advance; depending on the outcome of the later game. Latvia are proving to be anything but a pushover. Props to them in their first major tournament.

Czech Rep 3 Holland 2. The Dutch take a 2-0 lead inside of 25 minutes. The Czechs pull one back and trail 2-1 at the half. In a blistering second half the Czechs dominate and rally to win 3-2. This locks up the Czechs for the quarterfinals. Now the Dutch are really behind the 8 ball. This probably has been the best game of the tournament so far.

[This message has been edited by MB19 (edited 6/19/2004 3:36p).]

Wow, I really wish I could've seen that Czech Rep./Holland game...

It would be classic to see the Czechs and Latvia come out of that group!

In Sunday's Group A matches:

Russia 2 Greece 1. Russians get 2 early goals and make it stand. They close out their Euro campaign on a high note.

Portugal 1 Spain 0. The Portugese finally beat their Iberian neighbors. The win allows Portugal to clinch the top spot in Group A. They will play their quarterfinal against the Group B runners up in the Stadium of Light on June 24.

Spain are eliminated. Greece advance due to having scored more goals. Greece and Spain had the same number of points and goal differential.

Greece will play their quarterfinal against the winner of Group B in Lisbon on June 25.

So much for my prediction that Spain will win the whole thing.

[This message has been edited by MB19 (edited 6/20/2004 8:46p).]

Ahhhh..Spain so much talent, no result... I will miss seeing Vicente scalping around opponent's right back, Morientes clinical finishing, Valeron's creativity and flair, uncompromising Puyol.

The Italy/Sweden match is currently on Fox Sports World if anyone's interested.

Group A turned out interesting, huh?

Greece in the last eight is already the shock of the tournament...if I'm not mistaken they have never qualified for the knockout stage of a major tournament.

On a side note, I'm leaving for Europe on Wednesday for a 2 1/2 week study abroad class/vacation. I'm excited about all the buzz surrounding the tournament. Of course, I will be arriving first in Madrid, where the buzz will be replaced by sadness after their group stage failure. However, after a few days I will be moving on to France, and if they are still alive, I'm sure the country will be filled with an electric atmosphere. I'll also visit Belgium, but of course they failed to qualify and the tournament will be over by the time I get to Brussels.

Texas Aggie '98
"Despite my privileged upbringing, I'm actually quite well-balanced. I have a chip on both shoulders."

Enjoy your trip! I was in France during the 1998 WC, when France was the host. Electric doesn't even begin to describe what the atmosphere felt like, and I was nowhere near a game. If you're in the city and France is still alive in the tourney, expect to meet a lot of friendly strangers.

Have fun!

In Monday's action:

France 3 Switzerland 1. For long periods the French are pretty poor. Then Thierry Henry poaches 2 second half goals. France win the group and will face Greece in the quarterfinals. Switzerland look forward to being co-hosts of Euro 2008 with Austria.

England 4 Croatia 2. Croatia score early. England do not play well for most of the first half. Then Scholes equalizes and Rooney puts England up 2-1 at the half. Goals from Rooney and Lampard in the second half seal the 4-2 win. England face Portugal in the quarterfinals.

Wayne Rooney is a scary scary player. Four goals in their last two games -- it really looks like England has hit their stride since playing France a week ago. After seeing them (on ESPN Gamecast from work ) thrash Croatia, I hope the French don't have to play them later in the tournament!

In the France/Switzerland match, Santini made a stellar decision to put in Louis Saha for Trézéguet with 15 minutes left -- Saha had an assist (header) to Henry before he was on the field for 5 minutes.

Rooney has made himself some incredible money in this tournament. Manchester United was going to make a preemptive strike and try and sign him away from Everton. NOw with the results Rooney has made it looks like the only club that can sign him will be Chelsea. Of course Rooney in London would not be good because he is prone to cut loose at times.

It doesn't help that Sven is essentially shopping him to other clubs. I would be super pissed if I were Everton's manager.

That aside, Rooney has done well enough so far that he probably didn't need the extra marketing.

Rooney was a bit player for Everton for most of the year. In fact, there were times he was not even a substitute.

I know. I meant he's done well enough in 3 Euro 2004 games to attract attention without Sven's help.

In Tuesday's action:

Denmark 2 Sweden 2. This is the one result that ensures Italy's elimination, no matter the outcome of Italy v Bulgaria. Jon Dahl Thomasson scores twice for the Danes. Sweden equalizes in the 89th minute to ensure that they win the group.

Italy 2 Bulgaria 1. Cassano's 90th minute goal gives the Italians the victory. Fans are now collecting the rotten tomatoes that will be used to greet the team upon their return to Rome. Failure to advance is a cardinal sin in Italy.

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Denmark 2 Sweden 2. This is the one result that ensures Italy's elimination, no matter the outcome of Italy v Bulgaria. Jon Dahl Thomasson scores twice for the Danes. Sweden equalizes in the 89th minute to ensure that they win the group.

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It should be interesting to see the Italian reaction to this match -- a 2-2 draw in this game was the only result that would send Italy packing. Naturally, the Italians speculated that the Swedes and Danes would conspire a 2-2 draw and that Italian television would have tons of extra cameras at the Sweden/Denmark match to ensure a "fair outcome." Ha.

Remember the South Korean player that was playing in Italy prior to World Cup 2002? Well, he blistered the Italians in World Cup and the Italian government took away his work visa. Now that is class.