EC Day #10: Croatia v England / Switzerland v France (GDT)

Well, last night the first big name crashed out of the Tournament, the Spaniards once again failed to show up during a big tournament.

Today, we could again see a big name crashing out, both France and England could go out even though it's unlikely, but then again, Greece beating out Spain to reach the quarters was unilkely too.

Group B standings: http://uk.sports.yahoo.com/football/europeanchampionship/standing/groupstage/groupb/full_standing.html

Croatia v England

GROUP B
Venue: Estadio Da Luz, Lisbon
Date/time: Mon, 21 June, 2045 CET
Referee: Pierluigi Collina (Italy)
Team News: http://news.bbc.co.uk/sport2/hi/football/euro_2004/3787501.stm


Switzerland v France

GROUP B
Venue: Coimbra stadium, Coimbra City
Date/time: Mon, 21 June, 2045 CET
Referee: Lubos Michel (Slovakia)
Team News: http://news.bbc.co.uk/sport2/hi/football/euro_2004/3787505.stm


**************** Predictions *****************


Portugal v Greece: 2-0 (Figo)
Spain v Russia: 2-1 (Raul Gonzalez Blanco)
Switzerland v Croatia: 2-1 (Frei)
France v England: 1-1 (Owen)
Denmark v Italy: 0-2 (Totti)
Sweden v Bulgaria: 1-1 (Berbatov)
Czech Republic v Latvia: 3-0 (Baros)
Germany v Holland: 1-2 (Ruud)
Greece v Spain: 0-2 (F Torres)
Russia v Portugal: 1-3 (Pauleta)
England v Switzerland 2-0 (Gerrard)
Croatia v France 1-3 (Trézéguet)
Bulgaria v Denmark 0-1 (Sand)
Italy v Sweden 1-1 (Ibrahimovic)
Latvia - Germany 0-2 (Ballack)
Holland - Czech Rep 1-2 (Nedved)
Russia v Greece: 1-0 (Izmailov)
Spain v Portugal: 2-1 (F Torres)

Three miserable points yesterday, up to 42 now.

Today:
England v Croatia: 2-1 (Owen)
Switzerland v France: 0-2 (Henry)

There's a guy in my neighborhood who claims to have played at AS Monaco academy (and he's sure got enough skills to seem credible), he's picking France to go out at the semis, and England to win it(!). He says he expects England to get better and better as the competition wears on; that Italy looks like the end of an era; that Czechs can't defend.

It sounds plausible yet I just can't imagine England winning this.

England 2 - Croatia 0 (Owen)
France 3 - Switzerland 0 (Henry)

63 points now. :D

England - Croatia: 2-0 (Rooney)
Switzerland - France: 0-2 (Trezeguet)

I actually have 51 points.. Though zero points for me last night..

England 1 - 1 Croatia (Owen)
Switzerland 0 - 3 France (Henry)

If you people want points, put your money on Henry.

Henry is B-Class striker, he only scores against shyte teams. Expect him to load it up today and against Greece in a couple of days.

England Vs. The Croatians 1-1 (Beckham)
France Vs. The Swiss 1-2 (Frei)

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

Day 2
Swiss - Croatia 2-1 (Hakan Yakin)
France - England 3-1 (Henry)

Day 3:
Denmark v Italy: 0-2 (Totti)
Sweden v Bulgaria: 2-1 (Larsson)

Day 4
Czech Republic 3 : 1 Latvia (M. Baros)
Germany 3 : 1 Holland (M. Ballack)

Day 5
Greece 0 : 2 Spain (Raul)
Russia 0 : 2 Portugal (Pauleta)

Day 6
England 3 : 1 Switzerland (Owen)
Croatia 0 : 2 France (Henry)

Day 7
Bulgaria v Denmark 2-1 (Berbatov)
Italy v Sweden 1-2 (Larsson)

Day 8
Latvia 0 - 2 Germany (Ballack)
Holland 2- 1 Czech Republic (RVN)

Day 9
Russia 1 - 2 Greece (Charisteas)
Spain 2 - 1 Portugal (Raul)

30 Points

----------------------------------------------------------------------------
England - Croatia: 2-0 (Lampard)
Switzerland - France: 1-3 (Henry)

Just for kicks, I guess I'll make a guess


England 2-1 Croatia (Owen)
Switzerland 0-3 France (Henry)

DAY 1: 3 points
DAY 2: 6 points
DAY 3: 3 points
DAY 4: 6 points
DAY 5: 6 points
DAY 6: 6 points
DAY 7: 6 points
DAY 8: 3 points
DAY 9: 3 points
--------------------
TOTAL 42 points

England 2-1 Croatia (Rooney)
Switzerland 0-3 France (Henry)

28 points so far... :cry:

Croatia-England: 1-1 (Owen)...A dirty game
France-Switzerland: 2-0 (Henry)....A boring game

As posted already in the other thread:

England-Croatia 2-2 (Prso)
France-Switzerland 2-1 (Henry, gotta score sometime one would say...)

Btw, according to the predictions (http://www.hfboards.com/showpost.php?p=1520582&postcount=13) I made for the weekend on Friday , I now have 27+6+6+0=39 points. Seems like I was also the only one to predict Germany-Latvia somewhat properly :D

Day 1
Portugal 2 : 1 Greece (C. Ronaldo)
Spain 2 : 0 Russia (F. Morientes)
Day 2
France 2 : 1 England (T. Henry)
Switzerland 1 : 0 Croatia (A. Frei)
Day 3
Denmark 1 : 2 Italy (A. Del Piero)
Sweden 2 : 1 Bulgaria (H. Larsson)
Day 4
Czech Republic 2 : 1 Latvia (M. Baros)
Germany 2 : 2 Holland (R. van Nistelrooy)
Day 5
Greece 1 : 2 Spain (F. Morientes)
Russia 1 : 2 Portugal (Pauleta)
Day 6
England 2 : 1 Switzerland (Owen)
Croatia 0 : 2 France (Henry)
Day 7
Bulgaria 2 : 1 Denmark (D. Berbatov)
Italy 2 : 2 Sweden (H. Larsson)
Day 8
Latvia 0 : 2 Germany (K. Kuranyi)
Holland 2 : 2 Czech Republic (R. van Nistelrooy)
Another horrible Day 8 for me. Only 3 points.
48 points so far.
Couldn't post in time for Day 9

Day 10
England 2 : 1 Croatia (Owen)
Switzerland 0 : 2 France (Henry)

England goes home today.

I see Croatia pulling off the upset.
you're halfway there...croatia is up in the 1st half 1-0...

you're halfway there...croatia is up in the 1st half 1-0...

1-1 in both games now.

ROONEY~!

2-1 England

Rooney! :banana:

England are winning :banghead:

Is Beckahm trying to LOSE this game for England? He stinkin' up the freakin' park.

To me at least, England are looking REALLY good against Croatia. They didn't let the early goal against get them down, and continued a nice, patient attack. And Rooney WOOOWW.

England are winning :handclap:

That's better. :)

Good match so far. England is playing

3-1 England, Rooney with another great goal.

henry with 2 goals 3-1 france !

Well much better day today 12 points for me.
Trezeguet has been awful and I don't have a clue why.
Pires was good, Zizou was average, but the defense was division 2 worthy.
Silvestre -> get out of here. Boy when I think we have guys like Mexes ot selected because of this clown.
2 penalties in the first two games and a gross mistake in the third one that directly cost the goal.
Switzerland played well, but the pressing was inexistant which let the swiss players do their thing as they wanted to.
At least Makelele (even if I hate him), Barthez, Pires, Lizarazu and Saha played well.
Saha made such an inspired substitution that I think Santini actually has a decision to make concerning Trezeguet's starter status.

After the three games, the summary is easy : we suck, we play awful on defense,, Santini has no clue how to use some of his bench players (Saha until tonight, Rothen...), and the offense is struggling, with an awful Trezeguet.

Still I love the fact that despite that, France finished with 7 out of 9 possible points, that we were unbeaten in three games against above average to quality opponents and that we're through to the quarters where we have to face Greece, who's a beatable opponent. After that, the final four is always a gamble.

Good games by the favourites today. Rooney was fantastic and Henry... well, he finally scored. Not his greatest game but it might spark him for the quarters.

England though looked fairly composed, even after Croatia scored early and especially after the Tudor header made it 3-2. Good on them for overcoming early adversity in the tournament and making it through.

9 points today makes 48 + 9 = 57 points total.

i think england - croatia was the best game so far, because croatia was fighting until the end and england looked good, especially in the 2nd half.

somebody said before this tournament that france is playing like a team...well, today they looked like zidane + henry + some solo artists without any skill. very poor game.

trezeguet is completely lost in this tournament and vieira...he just sucks.

SUI-Vonlanthen 26' (Youngest ever to score at the EC)
At least something to be proud of. Rooney lost his record after just 4 days! :yo:

Apart from that, I think that our side played quite well for the first hour, but then they just had to realize that the French were better individually. But at least we finally managed to score a goal :)

who is this vonlanthen? strizzi or maybe another one, can you give me some information about him?
and is it me or doesn't he really look like a swiss. ;)

who is this vonlanthen? strizzi or maybe another one, can you give me some information about him?
and is it me or doesn't he really look like a swiss. ;)
He's half Swiss, half Columbian (one of his parents is Swiss, and one is Columbian), and plays in Eindhoven. Technically, he's one of the two most gifted young Swiss players, and it seems like he finally started to mature mentally too (was a bit difficult at times).

Really?

England is playing?

Get out of here!
LOL I forgot to say well.

Another bad game by France.
The team is completely split in two halves: Defense and attack. The midfield doesn't know where to go or what to do. Vieira has maybe passed twice the central line, today. This had to be a request by the coach and clearly Vieira wasn't in his game.
I don't think France is a team who is based on two outstanding individuals. It is just a very confused team right now and the two guys just saved the day. There isn't any pressing, there isn't any link up play. The balance is lost and it all look rather disorganised.
But I am optimistic: that is something that can be sorted out in short time. We will see if Santini has what it takes.
Trezeguet was horrible and I would be of the opinion of playing Saha against the greeks.

The England game looked very good and Rooney made absolutely oustanding plays. The croatian goalie should have saved Rooney's first goal IMO.
Rooney looks very good and very fresh. Oh well, I suppose that he has been rested for a year by playing for unambitious Everton. :D

I wonder: Can he cope with the early phenomenal success or will he become an overweight and undisciplined player if he starts to believe too much what the tabloids are saying about him? :dunno:

Another bad game by France.
The team is completely split in two halves: Defense and attack. The midfield doesn't know where to go or what to do. Vieira has maybe passed twice the central line, today. This had to be a request by the coach and clearly Vieira wasn't in his game.
I already said it earlier:

------------------- Vieira/Makelele -----------------------
- Pires ------------------Zidane ----------------Rothen -

This is the midfield I would put up (in a first try with Vieira). Vieira and Makelele together just does not work, and Zidane would be fine in the middle, while Pires and Rothen could finally make the French side use the flanks more in this setup.

I already said it earlier:

------------------- Vieira/Makelele -----------------------
- Pires ------------------Zidane ----------------Rothen -

This is the midfield I would put up (in a first try with Vieira). Vieira and Makelele together just does not work, and Zidane would be fine in the middle, while Pires and Rothen could finally make the French side use the flanks more in this setup.

I can't agree more about Rothen. At the same time, I think the team as it is now should produce much more if the manager was right on.

He's half Swiss, half Columbian (one of his parents is Swiss, and one is Columbian), and plays in Eindhoven. Technically, he's one of the two most gifted young Swiss players, and it seems like he finally started to mature mentally too (was a bit difficult at times).

so he's the next chapuisat, eh? :)

always good to know that other nations develop good strikers. it'll take 50 years to develop a german striker, there's simply no one.

and vieira...he just sucks.
Vieira was probably the best french player over the first three games.
Completely unfair comment.

I already said it earlier:

------------------- Vieira/Makelele -----------------------
- Pires ------------------Zidane ----------------Rothen -

This is the midfield I would put up (in a first try with Vieira). Vieira and Makelele together just does not work, and Zidane would be fine in the middle, while Pires and Rothen could finally make the French side use the flanks more in this setup.
:bow:

Well Rooney has been the star of this tournament so far bar none. He has taken this tournament by the scruff of the neck and is terrorising defences. Being an Everton fan Ive seen him play before and new he had the ability. But in all honesty we need to let Wayne go to Improve his career and become the superstar he can be. He plays with poor players at Everton except for Gravesen and he will not become the complete player if he is not playing with the best players day in day out! :bow:

Good to see Owen play well,didnt score but had two assits and linked well with Rooney. Neville and Cole played well as well, not convinved by James i dont think he gives our defence any confidence when the balls are crossed over. By the way I Know a lot of people think Gary Neville is an average player but to me ive not seen a better right back in this tournament. Only other right back ive watched who has been good is Helveg of Denmark!

Come on England! We are building confidence we have the form striker of the tournament we can definitely beat Portugal and who knows after that! :banana: :handclap:

I think we should settle down with Rooney for now. Don't get me wrong, the kid is doing great right now, but this reminds a bit much of Owen during the 98 WC. His carreer hasn't progressed that much since so...

Bulgaria: 0 Italy: 2 (Vieri)
Denmark: 1 Sweden: 1 (Larsson)

That's 4 goals England have conceded now, all from set-plays. That worries me and I really hope they're working on it in training. A trademark error from James as well isn't comforting. Still it was good to see Scholes score and i think Owen and Rooney linked well. Lampard's dummy for the 4th goal was lovely, and Cole played well, except for that needless foul that lead to Croatia's 2nd goal. I hope Hargreaves was still suffering from his illness, because I can think of no other reason Phil Neville came on instead of him. I really hope Beckham improves his play very soon.

Gary Neville is an average player but to me ive not seen a better right back in this tournament. Only other right back ive watched who has been good is Helveg of Denmark!

:joker: :lol:

Actually i was supposed to say he is seen as an average player by most of the people on this forum, but to me he has been the best right back in the competition so far. If anyone can tell me who has played better than Gary Neville as a right back id like to know! I also think Helveg has played well from what ive seen! Anyway lets look forward to a good 2-2 draw by the swedes and the danes and then we can get rid of the whiny/moany italians! :yo:

Actually i was supposed to say he is seen as an average player by most of the people on this forum, but to me he has been the best right back in the competition so far. If anyone can tell me who has played better than Gary Neville as a right back id like to know! I also think Helveg has played well from what ive seen! :
Panucci has played surprisingly well till now.

Anyway the point was and is Helveg SUCKS!!!!



Anyway lets look forward to a good 2-2 draw by the swedes and the danes..
:dunno:

(off the board's game)

Italy-Bulgaria 2-1
Sweden-Denmark 2-2
:dunno:

Well Rooney has been the star of this tournament so far bar none. He has taken this tournament by the scruff of the neck and is terrorising defences. Being an Everton fan Ive seen him play before and new he had the ability. But in all honesty we need to let Wayne go to Improve his career and become the superstar he can be. He plays with poor players at Everton except for Gravesen and he will not become the complete player if he is not playing with the best players day in day out! :bow:

We need to let Wayne go to improve his career ?? I don't think so. Who knows what happens with Everton in the next two years. As Roma wasn't a topteam either, a couple of years ago. A guy called Totti arrived and a few additions here and there and suddenly everything started to run. The last thing I want is that other EPL teams benefit from Rooney's development with Everton. If somebody is willing to pay €60M, then I perhaps will change my mind.

Denmark - Italy: 1-2 (Totti)
Sweden - Bulgaria: 1-0 (Larsson)
Czech Republic - Latvia: 3-0 (Rosicky)
Germany - Netherlands: 1-2 (Ballack)
Greece - Spain: 0-2 (Raúl)
Russia - Portugal: 1-2 (Pauleta)
England - Switzerland: 1-1 (Frei)
Croatia-France: 0-2 (Henry)
Bulgaria - Denmark: 1-1 (Berbatov)
Italy - Sweden: 2-1 (Cassano)
Latvia - Germany: 0-3 (Kuranyi)
Holland - Czech Rep.: 1-2 (Koller)
England - Croatia: 2-0 (Rooney)
Switzerland - France: 0-2 (Trezeguet)
36 points.

Today:
Italy-Bulgaria: 2-0 (Cassano)
Sweden-Denmark: 1-1 (Larsson)

51+12 = 63 points

Italy 2-0 Bulgaria (Del Piero)
Sweden 1-1 Denmark (Larsson)

Delirium Rooney:

from the BBC website:

-------------
Eriksson said: "I don't remember anyone making such an impact on a tournament since Pele in the 1958 World Cup.

"I don't really know what to say. He's absolutely fantastic, not only at scoring goals but he plays football - he's a complete footballer."

Pele, widely regarded as the greatest footballer of all time, inspired Brazil to victory at the 1958 World Cup finals as a 17-year-old.

England skipper David Beckham agreed with his coach's assessment of Rooney, who is now the tournament's top scorer with four goals.

"I think he's probably right," he said
-------------

:amazed:

I'd place that in the "Lecavalier=Jordan' category...

We need to let Wayne go to improve his career ?? I don't think so. Who knows what happens with Everton in the next two years. As Roma wasn't a topteam either, a couple of years ago. A guy called Totti arrived and a few additions here and there and suddenly everything started to run. The last thing I want is that other EPL teams benefit from Rooney's development with Everton. If somebody is willing to pay €60M, then I perhaps will change my mind.
agree on your Rooney/Everton argument.
Anyway Totti has been playing in Roma for 10 years and Roma won the Italian title
just two years ago!

agree on your Rooney/Everton argument.
Anyway Totti has been playing in Roma for 10 years and Roma won the Italian title
just two years ago!

Yes I know helicopter but I'm not sure what you mean. Look, since the days Giannini was playing over there I'm a fan of AS Roma. Perhaps they only won the Italian title two years ago but the years before they were very close as well, at least they were competitive again. They have become a topteam again in Italy, that's the point and what matters.