Another quickie!

Who do you guys think are gonna win Euro 2004?

I can't see past France myself! They have an absolutely immaculate team!

I mean, just look at it:

- Sebastien Frey / Fabien Barthez

- Philippe Christanval
- Marcel Desailly
- Mikael Silvestre
- Lilian Thuram

- Patrick Vieira
- Claude Makelele
- Zinedine Zidane
- Johan Micoud

- Thierry Henry
- David Trezeguet

What a team! :eek:

If they trip up though, teams like England (especially!) Spain, Italy, Sweden, Portugal etc. will be hot on their heals!

Who do you think?

The time has come for Spain to finally live up to their promise (it must be have been hard work being a Spanish fan over the years). Home advantage can't be ruled out for Portugal but they have flattered to deceive more often than Spain even. France will have to overcome the mental block that railroaded them in the World Cup if they are to fulfill their top billing.

In my very limited opinion, England have too few match-winners and only one quality striker. They should get past Croatia and Switzerland but I predict they will stumble in their quarter final v Spain or Portugal.

Too few many match winners.

Aww bless him! ;)

Rooney
Defoe
Beckham
Owen
Gerrard

Need I go on? England stand a very good chance of winning!... if someones breaks Thierry Henrys leg! :p

Bah! I have had looney Rooney in my fantasy football team all season and he has done NOTHING for me!

If he's such a 'match-winner' how come he never scores any goals in the Premiership? And don't say it's because he plays in a crap team because there are other strikers in crap teams who score all the time. Half the time Everton don't even seem to play him.

Plus there's no guarantee that Defoe will even play!

But I will defer to your greater experience in this sport and look forward to having lots of happy work colleagues when England narrowly lose in the final to France.

Yes, France sure seems like a steamroller. However, they looked that way back before Japan, and we all know what happened there... :)

Capitalising on the home advantage, Portugal could do very well imo.

But, never oh never count out Germany or the Netherlands. Or Italy for that matter. Or England, or ...

*ahem* This will be interesting indeed. When do I get time to study?

lol

Well, I think we have established you really know f*ck all about English footy mate! :D

No offence :p .

No offence taken; half the fun of sport is the debate (so long as the debate remains about the sport and not the watchers).

Anyway, you still haven't explained what miraculous change is going to come over Rooney to turn him into a match-winner if and when he plays for England in Euro 2004 . . . . . . . . . :p

The proof of the pudding will be in the eating, as they say.

Hehe. Rooneys is the best young player in the Premiership. The kid is barely 18 years old and has already scored 3 goals for his country. His scoring record for Everton isn't bad for a boy of his age.

He has strength, power, a great array of passes, an unbelievable technique, a great eye for goal and a superb footballing brain.

He may only be 18 but has a old head on young shoulders! Does have moments of madness such as getting straight red carded earlier in the season but if he keeps his head down and curb his temperament he could become one of Englands greatest ever players.

He has the unique skill that few other players have of being able to grab a game by the scruff of the neck and make things happen. The footballing brain of a seasoned veteran mixed with the enphusiasm and fire of a hungry youngster. It is easy to forget he is barely 18 sometimes. I hope he stays at Everton for many years, under the watchful eyes of David Moyes. A big move would ruin him imo.

Rooney has some amazing amount of talent indeed. I think a club like Everton is just perfect for him right now at his age. I wonder how much he is worth.

I just wish Rooney would actually score some points for my Fantasy Premiership team. He is my worst player by miles! And I picked him because I listened to people like you rave about how good he is.

Fantasy football teams haha ah well Rooney would not have been a good choice on a fantasy football team this year. I won't explain why though ;)

Find me another 18 year old in a top flight league that not only forced his way into the first team choice to represent his country but can also match his record. Then I'll agree he might be a bit overrated. If he continues to progress the way he is then he will be one of the best in the world by the time he is 23-24. As it stands he is still somewhat inexperienced. But he is still an enormous talent! :D

Man, o man, do you like twisting my words....

Did I ever say he was over-rated?

All I said was that England had insufficient match-winners for Euro 2004 (not World Cup 2010) and that Rooney was by far the worst player in my Fantasy Premiership team THIS SEASON, despite everyone telling me otherwise.

I reckon my prediction of England going out to Spain / Portugal is every bit as likely as yours of France winning the whole thing.

We'll just have to see what happens! ;)

Hehe not to worry. I enjoy our little tit for tats

France are interesting - they should be a fantastic team (and have been), but then there was the whole World Cup debacle. I don't think it'll happen again, but its a possibility

After what happened in Madrid I wouldn't be suprised if euro 2004 doesn't go ahead, or if it does some big name players might choose not to play

I think France, Spain or the Netherlands will become the next European Champion. I'm a little biased toward the Netherlands...
With younger players like Robben and Sneijder and with established players like van Nistelrooy, Makaay, Davids and Stam they have a good chance. As long as they keep Frank de Boer on the bench...

I think Italy looks real good this year, their offence is awesome. France may have Henry and the Netherlands may have van Nistelrooy but Italy have Totti, Del Piero, Vieri, Cassano, Inzaghi and manym more. In general I think France, the Netherlands and Italy are the big favourites. Spain is Spain and can never pull themselves together, I have thought it to be their year many times before and it never have been. Germany however should never be dismissed, they have an ability to go long in a tournament no matter what.

I think the Czech Republic can be an outsider and maybe maybe home turf might boost Portugal to new heights.

As for the rest of the teams I think they are going to be hardpressed exceed any expectations. England as usual think they are a lot better than they really are and it has an ability to lash back at them. Sweden as many other teams have troups a long way from the top nations. We just dont have the material to do something, teamwork and tactics cant do everything. I am going to warn a bit about Denmark though, if they get past their group I think they can rattle any team.

Hmmm, Italy versus France in the final. France wins.

Netherlands and Spain get their ass kicked in the semi's.

England as usual think they are a lot better than they really are and it has an ability to lash back at them We think we're good because we are good. For an island so small we have a great amount of talent in nearly every sport. We should have won that last World Cup. Daylight robbery I tell ya!! :D :cool:

We should have won that last World Cup. How do you propose England to do that? "Daylight robbery I tell ya!! ", cheat a goal from penalty and play extra cautious passive defensive 10-0-0, good job, way to go, nice one.

Hooray! Some other people agree with me that England are over-rated and have too few match-winners. England to lose to Spain or Portugal in the quarter final. The winner of that game to meet France in the final. Who cares what size the island is? You're no smaller than Portugal or Italy!

I think you must be referring to the Argentina match teek. Hehe, how pedantic.

It was a penalty. And we won the match. Who cares how. We went through and lost to what was an extremely lucky goal at the end of the day. I think that is out of argument to even a person with your vigour towards a bias.

The winner of that match would have gone on to win the World Cup and no others teams left in it were any good.

But anyway, arguing with Harbourboy is near enough fruitless anyway, but at least he is entertaning. By the looks of it arguing with you would be even worse.

Just try and open your eyes and stop being such a silly boy :rolleyes: ;) .

[edit: no smaller than Portuagal or Italy? Look at a map mate! :D . We tiny! ]

Arguing you would be fun if you got your facts straight! Surely you were talking about population rather than geographical size (which would be even more irrelevant).

Population of England (approx 51m) is hardly tiny compared to Portugal (11m), Spain (40m), Italy (58m), and France (60m), and Netherlands (41m).

So, no excuses. England had better win now with all that talent.

Have faith my friend! :D

Nah, England aren't good enough to win it atm imo. Although that doesn't mean we don't have a team of great players. We will go far in it, but I doubt we will win it unfortunately,

I wasn't gonna reply further to this but teek's aggressive response kicked me into action! :D

As always Harbourboy you have proven a worthy adversary (in other words, you beat me! lol) but other's pfft, lol. You would be a great ally to my cause. Alas, the time for such possibilities has passed! ;)

Sit down and have a beer mate. Your paying.

Doesn't a nation has a national pride or something? Especially aganist an old rival like Argentina. i did not expect England to display such passive playing style before that match. Or, should i say i had so many confident in England that i did not think they will play the match just for the sake of winning it. i guess you are old enough to know the outcome of winning or losing is not everything.

To be a champion, you have to show the champion quality in you. Playing passive 10-0-0 is not the dictatorial attitude a champion should have. Think about it, if, at that time, your national coach was not a foreign Eriksson but a native English. Do you think that English national coach will go all out to display that kind of passive-ness to all the world? Eriksson was a hired national coach, that's it. His job is to protect his job. i don't think he would care much about what kind of football the English should show to the world. And you have it, for the first time, England is playing like the, already outdated, Italian 10-0-0.

Go back some years, how Germany won Euro 96? One by one their player went down. It was so bad that they had to give their backup keeper an outfield jersey. With all those second choice players, did they play passive at all? That is the kind of football that gives people meaning to get involve.

i can't even imagine you feel happy with that kind to attitude display on that day.

By the way, i am a Liverpool fan, i am not bias, just disappointed.

Italy will won, hands down. Maldini mayhap left but as Joacquin said, their offence is great, and he even forgot the two best of them all, Roberto Baggio(Yes, he is coming back) and Marco Di Vaio. Also, Luigi Di Biagio, Pessotto, Allesandro Nesta, Cannavaro, Di Livio, Francesco Toldo, they are all great players. The only reason they didn't won 2000 is because of some cheesy judges that wanted to make the game go on for a long time and gave France 6 extra minutes in the second half, and that is a lot in football when the other team only leads by one goal, y'now.

Also, the only reason they didn't advance 2002 is because the judges had something really bad against them and a lot for South Korea. I may risk sounding like a bad looser, but the judges were the worst ever 2002. Just look at Henrik Larsson's yellow card in the game against Senegal. It should've been a red card for the Senegalian defender. Rigged, I tell ya.

And at last, on the England subject, well. They suck. I have thought to in years and it all began in 2000 when they and Germany were kicked out in the group against Romania and Spain and hell broke loose. Germany managed to come back but as you saw, England never did. They got a new kick when the (lousy) Swedish manager Sven-Göran Eriksson came and they won against, that's right, Germany with 5 to 1, but that was soon forgotten.

The game against Sweden in ENGLAND before the World cup?
A draw, but with a lot of luck on the England side.
The game against Sweden this time?
Well, once again, they would've been beaten if Sweden just had a veeery little more luck on their side.
The game against Argentina?
Well, that have already been covered.
The game against Nigeria?
Well, Nigeria weren't at their best because it was already known that they had no chance in advancing so they just played for something not often remembered, fun.
England would have had a very hard time if they had a chance to advance, and England probably wouldn't.

I could go on for a lot more, but I wont.

Go Italy!


EDIT: And Morsmodre, the only chance for Sweden to win is if Henrik Larsson comes back, Zlatan is the main in offence with Henrik Larsson and if for some reason Portugal, England, Italy, Spain, France, Germany and a lot of more teams send 85-years old to play, otherwise, they are screwed. :D

Go Italy again!!

EDIT2: And Fabien Barthez is a reeeaaal bad goalie, we all know that.

Go Italy forever!!!

Interresting list of strikers you sum up there Joaquin. Unfortunately Italy doesn't have the guts to field most of them, since they prefer to play defensively all the way. That same attitude got them knocked out of the last worldcup, where they refused to attack furthermore after taking a 1-0 lead over South Korea.

Of course, being from Holland, i'd like to say that my country is favourite, but unfortunately i can't get that out of mouth. Once things go a little too well, some players start developing some kind of egotrip and think they are more important than God himself. Names like Kluivert, seedorf, and Davids come to mind. If they do however show the right spirit, and all noses point in the same direction, Holland can sweep every single opponent clean from the pitch, like when they thrashed the Scots the other day. No other nation can field as many scoring power as the Netherlands, not even the French. The problem with Holland lies in the defense though, they simply can't defend. They have to be in possession of the ball and attack constantly or they are very vulnerable. But i'm pretty sure we'll give the Germans a beating in game nr.1 And from there on we'll see where it ends.

I'm surprised nobody mentioned the Czech republic though. They are by far the strongest playing team i've seen in a long time. They have an unbeaten streak of somewhat 20 games now, including victories against Holland and France (0-2 in Paris). Those who don't take the Czechs serious, are up for a rough surprise. They may not have very big names on their roster (except for Nedved of course), but as a team they are currently by far superior on most other countries.

England don't suck. Thats just a stupid statement.

And Fabien Barthez is not a reeeeeeeeeeeeeeally bad goalie either. Just a bit eccentric sometimes but he's a brilliant shot stopper.

Pfft. Does anybody on this board actually know anything about World football? Why am I wasting my time debating poorly thought out and ill-informed arguments? :rolleyes:

In fact. Full stop :D

Well, we will see how good England are the 31st March, 21:30 Swedish time. At that moment, they will be disgraced and defeated by the puny Swedish team, and if they aren't, well, then maybe, and only maybe, they will advance from the groups.

That's right. The only truth will be in the results. That is the only 'fact'.

The rest is just a load of hot air.

Baggio aint coming back, he is just playing a farewell match in Gli Azzuri.

As for Italy having a great list of strikers and them not fielding them all? Well, of course they wont, but they also have one of the best defences I have ever seen. Nesta, Cannavaro and even good ole Maldini are able to stand up to any forward. As for the midfield that is really the only questionmark. I hope they have the guts to put Totti in the midfield and still have two pure strikers in front of him. Oh and Velve/Caleb, I doubt that Di Livio is going to play.

I am going to agree with Pacman about both Holland and the Czechs though, Holland is fiersome on a good day and the Czechs are just an awesome *team*. Hmm, I just noticed that I had mentioned the Czechs before.

Sweden wont really have a prayer, we might advance from the groupstage due to the fact that Bulgaria and Denmark are around as good as we. However we dont have a decent player outside of our central defence. Ibrahimovic is vastly overrated, as is Larsson, even though he is a great player he is still overrated, and I dont think he will play. Ljungberg has yet to make a good game for the national team. Anders Svensson hasnt played much in Southampton this year but on a good day he can do some nice stuff. Our wingbacks are below crap and in general we dnot have much of a midfield. What we do have is excellent tactics, teamwork and heart and that should give us a win over Bulgaria and an even game against Denmark. Italy will score 1-0 and then watch as Sweden vainly tries to control the game.

I wouldn't do away with Ibrahimovic that easily, he's a very smart player who waits for the right moments. He can be completely invisible for 89 minutes, and score the gamewinner with one brilliant move in the final minute. He's made a lot of important goals for Ajax in the CL last year, and in this years national league. The guy really has an excellent technique and is very unpredictable. Unfortunately he also has the very nasty habit of swinging his elbows around during duels with his defenders, knocking their lips to bloody pulp.

Don't underestimate the Germans. They are not the team that they used be until 1996 but I believe that they still have the warrior's spirit, this "never surrender" attitude, which has been always their characteristic. As Gary Linecker has said "Football is when 22 guys are playing and at the end it is always Germany that wins".

Well, Pac Man, that is called "defensive offencive." :D

Baggio aint coming back, he is just playing a farewell match in Gli Azzuri.I am 95% sure that the Itali manager said that he is going to join in the troup and play in the Euro 2004.

I doubt that Di Livio is going to play.Yeah, me too, but that just shows what a great team they have if they leave a player like him home.

Also, Maldini said he quitted international football after the 2002 bribings.

Haa there is no way you will see Baggio play in the Euro 2004

Why not?

EDIT: I looked it up, and while they didn't say that it was certain that he would join the squad to Portogal, he is in the line-up for their next game, as Joacquin said, but also, it is not his last international game, only if he doesn't make the 2004 squad.

[ March 25, 2004, 23:19: Message edited by: Caleb: The Chosen ]

Hm... perhaps Italy makes the same mistake as Holland did, which is hanging on too long to some "over the hill" players. Baggio was once a great player, no doubt, but surely they must have a younger, faster, and more hungry player to take his place ?

Sure, but since he scores in almost every league game he plays in, he sure can hold up with them as good as always. His only problem are the injuries.

Perhaps he will be a valuable asset for the Italian paralympics squad then. :D

Hehe, not really, because I don't think leg-injured players can play FOOTball. :D