Euro 2004

pthouron · Post by **pthouron** » Tue Jun 22, 2004 1:40 pm

No TV channel is showing the games on the East Coast, not even the Spanish ones. Only available on DirectTV and pay-per-view. Disgusting. I've been listening to the games off the BBC site in streaming audio... better than nothing, I guess.

Bloomfield · Post by **Bloomfield** » Wed Jun 23, 2004 12:36 pm

Ok, kick-off in about an hour. And tonight either the Germans or the Dutch are going home. Good on the Czechs, you have to hand it to them. And I do love the Dutch, great fellas and all that, too bad they'll be watching the rest of the tournament on the tele.

Oh, and I thought you might like this:

A man had great tickets for the Euro 2004 final. As he sits down, another man comes over and asks if anyone is sitting in the seat next to him.

"No," he says. "The seat is empty." "This is incredible!" said the man. "Who in their right mind would have a seat like this for the Euro 2004 Final, the biggest sporting event in the world and not use it?"

He says, "Well, actually, the seat belongs to me. My wife was supposed to come with me, but she passed away. This is the first Final we haven't been to together since we got married."

"Oh ... I'm sorry to hear that. That's terrible. But couldn't you find someone else - a friend or relative, or even a neighbour to take the seat?"

The man shakes his head. "No they're all at the funeral."

Bloomfield · Post by **Bloomfield** » Wed Jun 23, 2004 2:45 pm

Oh, yikes, I'm depressed.

claudine · Post by **claudine** » Wed Jun 23, 2004 3:36 pm

come on, Bloomie, they'll be champions in 2006!

Zubivka · Post by **Zubivka** » Thu Jun 24, 2004 12:07 am

claudine wrote:come on, Bloomie, they'll be champions in 2006!

Who, Czechs?

Azathoth · Post by **Azathoth** » Thu Jun 24, 2004 2:46 am

With their "B Team" playing as it does they'll probably do the double, this year and then in 2006. Will be exciting to watch -- all the more so since I'll be in the host country for the WM

And in other breaking news, seems as though the German trainer Rudi Völler has fallen on his sword.

Only thing to do really after that performance.

Hoed · Post by **Hoed** » Thu Jun 24, 2004 4:21 am

We're through!

(not that I really care, I'm not much of a soccer fan, but still...)

Germans can go home now

ChristianRo · Post by **ChristianRo** » Thu Jun 24, 2004 9:15 am

Hoed wrote: Germans can go home now

Deservedly so. I only feel sorry for Ruuuuuuudi Völler

amar · Post by **amar** » Thu Jun 24, 2004 9:51 am

was ist los mit dem rudi, bekommt er denn einen auf den deckel jetzt?

tuaz · Post by **tuaz** » Thu Jun 24, 2004 10:15 am

Well.

I certainly prefer Germany to be out, rather than Holland. THis German team doesn't have that much quality save for Ballack and Kahn. They were pretty unimaginative last night.

The Czech 2nd team played well, but of course, it's different when there's no real pressure on you. Whatever the case, their self-belief must be at an all-time high now. It might raise their game to even greater heights.

Now I have to choose between them and Denmark when they meet. Sigh.

Bloomfield · Post by **Bloomfield** » Thu Jun 24, 2004 10:23 am

OK, here are my predictions for the quarter finals:

Portugal - England 4:5 (after penalty kicks). I would like Portugal to win, but don't think they will, unfortunately.

France - Greece 2:0 (No real resistance for France.)

Sweden - Netherlands 1:2 (The Netherlands will get stronger as they go on)

Czech R - Denmark 3:1 (The Czechs are my favorites now; they'll take out France in the Final 2:0, hehe.)

jhonan · Post by **jhonan** » Thu Jun 24, 2004 3:52 pm

Bloomfield wrote:OK, here are my predictions for the quarter finals:

Portugal - England 4:5 (after penalty kicks). I would like Portugal to win, but don't think they will, unfortunately.

Nice prediction, you just got it the wrong way around.

I'm not a big football fan, but I did watch the England match. May I be the first to say that I thought that was an absolutely terrible way for England to exit the competition.......

Bloomfield · Post by **Bloomfield** » Thu Jun 24, 2004 4:32 pm

Yes, penalty kicks are always terrible and unsatisfactory. And there was that funny call where they disallowed the English goal... But you can't say the Portugese don't deserve it, I hope they go far.

The Sporting Pitchfork · Fri Jun 25, 2004 12:36 am

Another Yank invading.

Wow, glad to see that the Dutch are doing so well. That's great. I was living in Japan during the last world cup and a good friend of mine at the time was Dutch. "We've got the best f***ing football team in the world, we just never make it to the World Cup," he said, on the verge of crying into his beer.
When David Beckham isn't preening himself, he can be found advertising strawberry-flavored pocky sticks on Japanese television. He's really starting to encroach on Brad Pitt and Jean Reno in the Japanese advertising market.

For the record, as far as football clubs go, I like serious underdog teams like Manchester City and Partick Thistle.

"Last week a man said to me,
"If you refuse to call yourself
a Scot--or a Briton--or a Tory--
or a Socialist--or a Christian
what DO you call yourself?
What do you believe in?"
"I am a Partick Thistle supporter,"
I told him, "and I believe in
Virtual Reality."

Alasdair Gray, "The Trendelenburg Position"

claudine · Post by **claudine** » Fri Jun 25, 2004 12:56 am

Sorry for the English, they played a great match. But my favourite scene was the Portuguese goalkeeper kicking the final penalty. Has that ever been done before?