EC Day #1: Portugal vs. Greece / Spain vs. Russia (GDT)

Good morning everyone (or afternoon or whatever, depending on when you're reading this)

Today, the 12th of June marks the official start of the European Championchips Football 2004 in Portugal. Two games scheduled today, and of course not forgetting the opening ceremony always the highlight of the Tournament (*sarcasm alert*)

Anyway:

Portugal v Greece

GROUP A
Venue: Dragao Stadium, Porto
Date/time: Sat, 12 June, 1800 CET
Referee: Pierluigi Collina (Italy)
Team news: http://news.bbc.co.uk/sport2/hi/football/euro_2004/3787343.stm


Spain v Russia

GROUP A
Venue: Estadio Algarve, Faro/Loulé
Date/time: Sat, 12 June, 2045 CET
Referee: Urs Meier (Switzerland)
Team news: http://news.bbc.co.uk/sport2/hi/football/euro_2004/3787463.stm


Secondly, Everyone is welcome to join us in our little prediction game on a daily (or more if you're not around for some time) basis:
3 points for the correct result (win - draw)
3 bonus points for the correct score
3 bonus points for naming a goalscorer (you can only name one)

For example:
If you predict the following
Portugal 0-0 Greece (Figo)
->and the result turns out to be 5-5 with Figo scoring three you will get 3 (result)+3 (scorer) points. Very simple if you're asking me
(I tweaked the point system a bit as I thought there were too many points involved in guessing the scorers - maybe it will be tweaked further if someone has good arguments)


Maybe everyone participating can put his prediction in red with a bit of size so the volunteer (if we find one) that keeps the scores can spot them faster.
Everyone is welcome in our Guess the Score game and our Game Day Threads, so don't be shy!

Portugal 3:0 Greece (Pauleta)
Spain 2:1 Russia (Fernando Morientes)

Portugal 2:1 Greece (Pauleta)
Spain 3:1 Russia (Raul)

Portugal 2 - 0 Greece (Ronaldo)
Spain 1 - 0 Russia (Raul)

Spain 1 - 0 Russia (Vicente)
Portugal 3 - 1 Greece (Rui Costa)

Portugal 2 : 1 Greece (C. Ronaldo)

Spain 2 : 0 Russia (F. Morientes)

For example:
If you predict the following
Portugal 0-0 Greece (Figo)
->and the result turns out to be 5-5 with Figo scoring three you will get 3 (result)+3 (scorer) points.

Shouldn't that be 3 (result) +9 (scorer) points ? Figo scores three times.


Portugal 3 - 1 Greece (Nuno Gomes)
Spain 2 - 0 Russia (Raul)

Shouldn't that be 3 (result) +9 (scorer) points ? Figo scores three times.

We didn't do that last time either. We could do that if you want it but that way people are only going to select strikers as goalscorers (they're the only ones likely to score more than once) and that takes a bit of the fun and guessing out of it...

Anyway, that's MO, like I said it can be discussed.


BTW I'm hoping that Portugal will start the tournament in an offensive way. Usually opening matches are 'rather dull' and with all that talent on the pitch today I'm hoping for that to change. I'll be supporting Portugal and Spain today, hoping for big scores!

We could do that if you want it but that way people are only going to select strikers as goalscorers (they're the only ones likely to score more than once) and that takes a bit of the fun and guessing out of it...

Well you hit the nail on the head but I was just wondering.

Portugal 3 Greece 0 (Pauletta)

Spain 2 Russia 0 (Raul)

Portugal 2-0 Greece (Pauleta)

Spain 2-1 Russia (Raul)

Portugal-Greece 3-1 (Pauleta)

Spain - Russia 2-1 (Morientes)

Portugal 2 - 0 Greece (Pauleta)

Spain 2 - 0 Russia (Morientes)

portugal 2-1 greece (charisteas)

spain 2-1 russia (etxeberria)

BF, it isn't necessary to predict a goalscorer of the winning team, right?

BF, it isn't necessary to predict a goalscorer of the winning team, right?

Correct, as it is equally allowed to predict a 0-0 draw and add a goalscorer just in case :)

Correct, as it is equally allowed to predict a 0-0 draw and add a goalscorer just in case :)

... which however obviously means you don't get any point for the goalscorer shoudl there indeed be a 0-0 game. You can also predict (no scorer) in that case...

... which however obviously means you don't get any point for the goalscorer shoudl there indeed be a 0-0 game. You can also predict (no scorer) in that case...

Good idea, I don't think we had that in the previous installment right?


Oh right, I forgot my own predictions:


Portugal v Greece: 2-0 (Figo)
I think there will be at least one penalty in this game, the Portugese along with the home crowd will be too much for Collina to resist.

Spain v Russia: 2-1 (Raul Gonzalez Blanco)

Portugal v Greece: 4-0 (Figo)


Spain v Russia: 3-0 (Raul Gonzalez Blanco)

Portugal - Greece : 3-0 (Rui Costa)

Spain - Russia : 3-1 (Raul)

I can't beleive it's finally here :banana:

Portugal-Greece: 3-1 (Pauleta)
I will always put Pauleta as scorer when Portugal will play :D

Spain-Russia: 0-0 (sychev)

Portugal 2 - 0 Greece (C. Ronaldo)
Spain 2 - 1 Russia (Raul)

Everyone looks fairly confident that Portugal and Spain will win tonight... :eek:
We will see!

Everyone looks fairly confident that Portugal and Spain will win tonight... :eek:
We will see!

betting for portugal, but hoping for greece. that's for sure.

boy, this ceremony is booooooring. i'm getting sick of it. i wanna see soccer, not kids running up and down on the grass. :mad:

if it will continue like this, i think i'm getting allergic to the color orange! :lol :lol :D

I think there will be at least one penalty in this game, the Portugese along with the home crowd will be too much for Collina to resist.

mmmh..not sure that you're assuming the penalty will be surely for Portugal, but this is the way i get it (tell me if i'm wrong)..so i have to say in this situation Collina is the perfect guy to call a penalty AGAINST Portugal (not necessarily blatant) just to show to the whole Europe what a great referee he is!! (:dunno: i don't buy it)

mmmh..not sure that you're assuming the penalty will be surely for Portugal, but this is the way i get it (tell me if i'm wrong)..so i have to say in this situation Collina is the perfect guy to call a penalty AGAINST Portugal (not necessarily blatant) just to show to the whole Europe what a great referee he is!! (:dunno: i don't buy it)

Bah, if not for Collina Belgium would have been at the EC, he totally ignored a blatant penalty in the game in Bulgaria, if we would've gotten that things would have been different.

And yes I'm predicting a penalty for Portugal, even though Greece have a bunch of divers too. My money's on Figo to earn it!

figo with a foul after 10 seconds. haha

and charisteas missed the ball, otherwise it could have been 1-0 already. nice start.

And yes I'm predicting a penalty for Portugal, even though Greece have a bunch of divers too. My money's on Figo to earn it!

do you get a point if figo dives and get the penalty? :D

but honestly it would be not fair, because he's one of the super-divers. i predict that if there's a penalty for portugal, it was nuno gomes who dived. :)

Ricardo looks about as reliable as Vitor Baia, hehe... that's twice the ball gets dangerously uncontested in the area...

EDIT:

GOAL! Great shot by Karagounis!!

GOOOOOAAAAAAL

karagounis scores. what a nice goal.

how sweet it is...aaaaah...now i'm happy. :handclap: :handclap:

Ideal scenario for Greece, they're great defensively!

And another chance for Charisteas!


Hehe, Figo went for his first dive there, my prediction is looking good :D:D

the portugese defense looks damn shaky after 10 minutes.

and figo...nah...i won't comment the way he felt to the grass a few seconds ago. :)

Ferreira is worth £13M ?? And English defenders are criticized for their distribution..

greece is closer to the 2-0 than portugal to the tie. very surprising but interesting too.

can't complain about the game so far.

well i was going to log on and say that i reckon that Portugal would win 4-1 so that might still be true.

Ferreira is worth £13M ?? And English defenders are criticized for their distribution..

You know that most players bought by Chelsea are worth about 1/3d of what Chelsea pays ;)

Bah, if not for Collina Belgium would have been at the EC, he totally ignored a blatant penalty in the game in Bulgaria, if we would've gotten that things would have been different.


Hey, i want to make clear that my comment '( :dunno: i don't buy it)' was related to the worldwide assumption of Collina being the best referee in the world (even a given in Italy :dunno: ) and not to your previous post! ;)

costinha or how he's called got booked. it was about time.

charisteas with another good chance. he looks good so far. and now another shot. he want his goal, i hope he gets it.

Good chances by Greece, keep it on guys!! :handclap:

Crap, I've missed the goal.

Crap, I've missed the goal.

I think there's a Portugese goal coming up, Greece are starting to have trouble to hold the ball.


And it seems as if Pauleta and Simao have basketball shoes on instead of their regular football shoes, they can't control the ball

Crap, I've missed the goal.

what did you do instead? game started at 18 o'clock. :)

I think there's a Portugese goal coming up, Greece are starting to have trouble to hold the ball.


don't think so. charisteas will have a break-away next, i guess. portugal is still not looking good at all. they should play instead of talking to collina everytime.

The last time a home country lost an opening match at a big tournament was 20 years ago, so that should have been France.

don't think so. charisteas will have a break-away next, i guess. portugal is still not looking good at all. they should play instead of talking to collina everytime.

Yeah, Figo isn't exaclty setting the example...

He once was a great footballer, now he's just a slow, whining, arrogant diver with some fine technical skills

what did you do instead? game started at 18 o'clock. :)

Some idiot asked me who's participating in the Tour de Catalunya and I forgot to change the channel. ;)

what's collina doing? no yellow card on the dude who fouled charisteas on that break-away, but a card for karagounis? bah...home-ref for sure. ;)

Some idiot asked me who's participating in the Tour de Catalunya and I forgot to change the channel. ;)

:lol :lol :lol

1st half-time is over. good game by greece, and extremely bad by portugal. figo sucks, but most of us knew it before. ;)

i need a smoke

Werbung, Reclame, Commercials...terrible.
I would like to see the replay of the goal, please.

King Otto made the Greeks play just like Germans. :handclap:

King Otto made the Greeks play just like Germans. :handclap:

Yeah, something to be proud of.. :innocent:

I've seen the goal and the goalie should have stopped that shot IMO.

Portugal needs to quit dicking around and attack. Greece gets a free kick from 40 yards out, and it goes into the box (and they have had a few chances becaus eof it). Portugal gets the same free kick, and they pass it around for 2 minutes before losing the ball, without ever getting a chance. ATTACK, it may be uglier, but it works.

Ok, here we go again.

and Karagounis is out :eek:

Werbung, Reclame, Commercials...terrible.
I would like to see the replay of the goal, please.

what's even more terrible is guenther netzer talking about soccer. he's awful. be happy, you don't have to listen to him. :)

The last time a home country lost an opening match at a big tournament was 20 years ago, so that should have been France.
Nope.
France won their 5 games.
1-0 against Denmark (Platini)
5-0 against Belgium (Platini X3, Giresse, Fernandez)
3-2 against Yugoslavia (Platini X3)
3-2 against Portugal (Domergue X2, Platini)
2-0 against Spain (Platini, Bellone)

Platini finished with 9 goals in 5 games.
Probably one of the finest tournament performance ever.
And one of the reason why I think Platini is right there with Cruyff, Maradona and Pele.

No. Greece hasn't lost yet. :D

but a greece fan raised his right arm during the national anthem which reminded me of some dumb germans as well. :shakehead
and this was no insult of germans, i'm one too. though not very proud of it. GO SWEDEN! :)

what's even more terrible is guenther netzer talking about soccer. he's awful. be happy, you don't have to listen to him. :)

I find the duo Delling/Netzer quite amusing. Their comments regarding each other are a hell of a lot more entertaining than the other TV zombies. :)

And Netzer's haircut is funny all by itself :joker:

penalty !

Penalty Shot for Greece !!!

2:0 !!! :yo: :yo: :yo:

I find the duo Delling/Netzer quite amusing. Their comments regarding each other are a hell of a lot more entertaining than the other TV zombies. :)


hehe, that's true. but i'd love to listen to someone why has knowledge.


And Netzer's haircut is funny all by itself :joker:

we have to watch him with this haircut for several years, it gets boring. :)

btw: nice penalty. dumb foul!

pauleta got booked now too. could be important. it was a dumb foul.

Nope.
France won their 5 games.
1-0 against Denmark (Platini)
5-0 against Belgium (Platini X3, Giresse, Fernandez)
3-2 against Yugoslavia (Platini X3)
3-2 against Portugal (Domergue X2, Platini)
2-0 against Spain (Platini, Bellone)

Platini finished with 9 goals in 5 games.
Probably one of the finest tournament performance ever.
And one of the reason why I think Platini is right there with Cruyff, Maradona and Pele.

Damn announcers, they are good for nothing.

It feels good to be Greek right now :D

Damn announcers, they are good for nothing.

on pay-TV in germany you can just listen to the stadium sounds, if the announcers get on your nerves. i'd love to have that option on public TV too.

Oh to be Portugese today. Scolari has the most pressure of any soccer man in the world. I am praying Figo finds his way to the subs bench. I wonder if he can hack being on the same pitch as Deco right now- Whining used to be top player.

on pay-TV in germany you can just listen to the stadium sounds, if the announcers get on your nerves. i'd love to have that option on public TV too.

Yes I know..

With a bit effort it's possible on the public tv as well but they are either too lazy or just plain arrogant to take the pains.


Substitution: Nuno Gomes, that's my man.

Subsitute: Nuno Gomes, that's my man.

but two portugese attackers? first time ever, eh? :)

nikolaidis now in. he'll make the 3-0 :D

ronaldo is running a lot, but he's not effective. and where's figo? haven't seen him in the 2nd half-time.

ah he's looking angry into the camera. ;)

deco is playing at least with passion, but he's as effective as ronaldo.

pauleta doesn't get a single ball. he's lost in space. :p:

what a chance by ronaldo. but somehow they have no luck today.

I can't believe the total lack of control in Portugal's attack. They have 61% possession through 73 minutes, and it seems like all they're doing, is getting to the middle about 20 metres from the goal and shooting aimlessly. They've been panicking ever since Greece pounced on that Portuguese defensive lapse in the 7th minute.

At least when Greece gets the ball and bring it up the pitch, they look to have some control in their attack and know what they want to do. Their defence has also been spectacular. They deserve some credit in Portugal's in-effectiveness.

Full marks to Greece up to this point.
Portugal's passes are not connecting. All they do is pass the ball high to the front of the goal and that's exactly what the six or seven greeks there are waiting for.
Awful concept to score a goal against an organisated defense.

what a dive by pauleta. boy...they don't deserve a goal.

and nuno gomes with a nice chance.

Well Portugal was a disappointment.

Portugal goal 2:1

It's over!!! :banana: :banana:

2:1 :yo:

All I can say is WOW. Full marks to Greece, they played a great game and fully deserved the score. Portugal looked so disinterested the whole game, their coach is surely gone if they don't advance.

But what an upset.

Not looking too good for my prediction. Oh well, at least C. Ronaldo scored. ;)

Portugal was really disappointing today. They should have thrown Deco and C. Ronaldo into mix at the beginning of the game, IMO.

...Not to discount Greece's spectacular team effort to win this match.

Hats off to them.



True. But Portugal has some hyped players and home "advantage" (not much of an advantage having 50.000 boo you after 35 minutes)

Still damn boring game. Next game better be better or I'll probably skip every game until the final and save my sport interest for the Olympics / World Cup.

Great efford by the Greeks.

Have the portuguise ever heard of the word team play. :lol:

The Greece defence was great and based on that they deserved the win but offensively they haven't done anything either.

Portugal had numerous corners druing the match, and all but three they took short, and got NOTHING. The three they took long resulted in scramble chabce at goal, Ronaldo missing a wide open header, and the Ronaldo goal. I have never seen a team so intent on NOT attacking the net, and being content to pass the ball around the outside. A pathetic display by the Portugese, who are now looking good to not get out of the group stage.

Great efford by the Greeks.

Have the portuguise ever heard of the word team play. :lol:
With Figo and Deco on the field, probably not.
Deco is better at free kicks than Figo and yet, Figo was the one taking them.

Portugal played a very bad game (I have a hard time deciding who was worse, Portugal today, or Holland last week), and only started to somewhat threaten the Greek goal 10 minutes from the end, way too late.

While not creating a whole lot, Greece played a very effective offensive game and capitalized on the few chances they had. Also played an extremely good and organized team game, and deserved the win for this.

Did anyone btw count the number of crosses going nowhere during the second half?

Poor match overall.

Portugal started of too passively when not in posession (especially the defensive minded mids - Maniche and Costinha), they gave the Greeks way too much space with the ball and that caused the first chances and the goal. It was not unstoppable, but the passive defending is as much to blame as the keeper.

After that Greece could play it's preferred game, applying pressure, immediatly attacking the man with the ball and double teaming on Portugal's only dangerous players: Figo and Ronaldo. Both were too selfish to use this to the team's advantage by quickly passing the ball around...
Ronaldo is very flashy but needs to practice on his last pass, his crossing was just not good enough today. But at least he tried hard and he deserved the goal he got. I would also say that Figo tried hard, but he's nlost too much pace to be a serious threat these days + he was the main culprit of a couple of opportunities going wrong by not passing to open teammates (most notably Deco did anyone else notice that)

The penalty was deserved and very well taken indeed.


Good team game by Greece, solid but nothing spectacular, they will have a hard time against other teams because it will be hard for them when they are the favorites expected to attack.
Portugal showed that a bunch of individuals is not a team. They needed more passing and less running. It will be difficult for them now to reach the next round..

As usual, I forgot to make my predictions in time. :banghead: Atleast I remembered the Spain-Russia -game.

Spain-Russia: 2-1 (Raul)

Poor match overall.

Harsh from someone who is used to watch Liverpool play! ;)

But not far from being true! It wasn't a great game, far from it.
Portugal probably thought at the start of the game that they would come, play a few tricks, get a couple of goals and easy three points. Now they are in real trouble.
Defense makes that teams are capable to win tournaments. Portugal defense is poor. How good is the spanish one?

Darn, got my goal scorer right but had my score reversed! I never thought Portugal would lose their first game on home soil... :amazed:

..so i have to say in this situation Collina is the perfect guy to call a penalty AGAINST Portugal (not necessarily blatant) just to show to the whole Europe what a great referee he is!! (:dunno: i don't buy it)
eh eh, i know well the bald one.. :D



They needed more passing and less running..
They need less running wiht the ball and more running without it (which means more passing, of course), as usual for Portugues national team.

eh eh, i know well the bald one.. :D


He was right though ;)

Not a bad foul, but a typical attacker's mistake, as well as a clear display of a lack of experience from Christiano Ronaldo's part.

Not a bad foul, but a typical attacker's mistake..
you're right on the target! ;)

nice desperation goal by C. Ronaldo though. I really think Portugal should have won that one. Greece?

I really think Portugal should have won that one.

Based on the players they have? Definitely. But we are talking about a team game, and Portugal's team chemistry was close to non-existent, whereas the Greeks operated as one tight unit, and were rightfully rewarded for this.

Harsh from someone who is used to watch Liverpool play! ;)

But not far from being true! It wasn't a great game, far from it.
Portugal probably thought at the start of the game that they would come, play a few tricks, get a couple of goals and easy three points. Now they are in real trouble.
Defense makes that teams are capable to win tournaments. Portugal defense is poor. How good is the spanish one?


Ah, I plead guilty on the first remark. :blush:


Spain is looking better already though. Baraja and Albelda are so much more in control of things than the Portuges midfield ever was. Even though Russia looked good too for a stretch there. And I think Joaquin should play ahead of Etxebarria, he should have buried that chance and was overall much less threathening from the right than Vicente (best player on the pitch in the first half) was.
In the Defense they are better than Portugal with Puyol, Helguera and Marchena (even though the latter two are even better in the anchor position). Raul Bravo is not a quality player but he tries hard at least.

In the Defense they are better than Portugal with Puyol, Helguera and Marchena (even though the latter two are even better in the anchor position). Raul Bravo is not a quality player but he tries hard at least.

Better defense than Portugal, maybe but after just watched the first half of their game against Russia, it doesn't look rock solid. The second half should be interesting as I expect Spain to raise the tempo which could leave gaps in the back.

Well, good win by Spain. Russia didn't show much and the few times they were moving forward players always took the bad decisions so it never meant a threat for Casillas. If Spain strikers had been more efficient this could have been a beating.
Pujol is an outstanding player.

close win by spain, but better game than the first and some good chances as well. valeron with a nice goal, etxe with a good game, pujol nice game too.

Yeah, Puyol had a good game, won the ball many times. I was hoping for more offense though, from either side, but it looked like Torres and some of the other Spanish players had some good chances.

Well if SPain and Portugal are favourites, then I'd say Holland, France, England, Italy and even Germany have a big opportunity to win.
I'm really unimpressed by Portugal and Spain today.
They were selfish, dived way too much, and were both on the weak side defensively.
Russia was dysmal and yet if not for a couple of bad decision and a hand in the box that would be a penalty 9 times out of 10, the game would have finished in a tie.
Pretty awful challenge by Albelda too at the end. Should have been red carded.

Agreed , this was a better game than the first. Alenichev could have made this a different game- some outstanding dribbling. Casillas was out to challnge beautifully. I did not think Morientes needed to come off but how can you argue when Valeron scores immediately? Raul was nothing special. Spain were OK but we'll see if they get better because that was nothing great. Vicente and Exteberria squandered many opportunities.

Somewhat decent game by the Spanish, who will however need to improve a lot if they want to win the title. Russia looked pretty good between mins 30-45, but was unable to create a lot during the rest of the match. Will be interesting to see how Portugal will play during game 2, has they are basically in a must-win situation, meaning the pressure is even increased wrt today.

What's up with all these blown crosses anyways? :dunno:

Decent start to the tournament.

I actually enjoyed the first game more as I found it interesting to see how the Greecs defended their lead and frustrated Portugal.

Game 2 was allright so Russia in my eyes never really had a chance and Spain controlled the game except for 10 Minutes with playing briliantly.

Really looking forward to tomorrow. France - England that should be a match.

..a hand in the box that would be a penalty 9 times out of 10.
On the Alenichev's cross?? C'mon..

Pretty awful challenge by Albelda too at the end. Should have been red carded.
The one with the shoulder? C'mon!! :joker:

Who won? What happened?

Very disappointed in the Portuguese effort, but can't say I'm suprised. I thought they would be life and death to get out of the group phase. They probably needed a tie between Spain and Russia to have a decent shot at advancing. IMO the best they can do against Spain is a draw so advancing is highly unlikely.

A few of my fellow Portuguese fans thought they should just bring FC Porto and replace the foreigners on the team with Figo, Rui Costa, Pauletta and Couto. IMO they would have a much better chance of doing well in this tournament. At least they might play as a team.

The game Spain - Russia was pretty entertaining. The tempo was good at times and Spain played very nice football. The Russians passing game could have been better.

I hope more games are like this one and not like the Portugal - Greece game which was as boring as watching paint dry.

After the this first day, there is already a bit of news: Portugal will have to work very hard to be in the quarters. This is good news for the group B (France, England, Switzerland and Croatia) whose qualified teams will be opponents of the ones from group A.

I actually enjoyed the first game more as I found it interesting to see how the Greecs defended their lead and frustrated Portugal..

Same here, it seems I enjoyed the game more than msot other posters. Not the best football, but very interesitng to see how the better organised team completely frustrated a collection of eleven better individual players.

On the Alenichev's cross?? C'mon..


The one with the shoulder? C'mon!! :joker:

Yes, there are many refs that would have whistled a penalty there. Pretty similar to the penalty that gave France the win against Portugal in Euro '00 semis for instance.

As for the "shoulder" hit, it would have been charging in hockey and has nothing to do on a football pitch.
He didn't even try to get the ball and just jumped into the russian striker that was going straight to the goal or at least to a very dangerous cross.
It was completely delibarate and it should have been a red card IMO.

Agreed , this was a better game than the first. Alenichev could have made this a different game- some outstanding dribbling.

Agreed, it seems like he's experiencing his second youth.

MTV3 (Finnish tv channel) quoted Luis Figo after yesterday's match:
"Emme ansainneet tätä tappiota. Kreikalla oli kaksi paikkaa ja he tekivät kaksi maalia."

In English:
"We didn't deserve losing. Greece had two scoring opportunities and they scored twice."

What does he mean they didn't deserve losing? They scored less goals than opponent and played a poor match. They didn't even get a real scoring opportunities, so I really don't see what he means when he says they didn't deserve it. Maybe someone should tell mr Figo that the team which scores more goals wins, not the team that holds the ball over 60% of the time.

Maybe someone should tell Mr Figo to speak when he has something sensible to say, rather than all this stuff he has been producing lately...

While a team which had ample scoring opportunities and got beaten by a lucky goal might say they did not deserve to lose, Portugal didn't create a whole lot more than Greece offensively, despite having possession 60+ % of the match...

Yes, there are many refs that would have whistled a penalty there. Pretty similar to the penalty that gave France the win against Portugal in Euro '00 semis for instance.
Yes, there are many refs that make mistakes you know..
I can't remember so well that penalty for France, but i think the Portugues wasn't as close as the Spanish yesterday..


He didn't even try to get the ball and just jumped into the russian striker...
agree for THIS part, so it was a well deserved yellow card.
No place for a red card at all, Albelda didn't use the elbow..

It was a great day to be Greek yesterday.
Montreal streets were packed with greek flags after the game.