Guest Museite Posted May 7, 2004 Report Posted May 7, 2004 Euro 2004 is weeks away. What's everyone's predictions/tips/shocks for this tournament. Group A Portugal Spain Greece Russia Group B France England Switzerland Croatia Group C Sweden Denmark Bulgaria Italy Group D Czech Republic (!) Germany Latvia Netherlands Quarter-Finals 1 Winner A vs Second B 2 Winner B vs Second A 3 Winner C vs Second D 4 Winner D vs Second C Semi-Finals Winner 1 vs Winner 3 Winner 2 vs Winner 4
TheFranchise Posted May 7, 2004 Report Posted May 7, 2004 Can we put this in the other football thread please? I shall bump it so you can find it.
EVIL~! alkeiper Posted May 7, 2004 Report Posted May 7, 2004 No. I would not tolerate such a treatment of MLB, and similarly no other sport, even foreign, should suffer such an indignity. The Euro 2004 is a legitimate, big time tournament, and deserves its own thread.
Guest HungryJack Posted May 7, 2004 Report Posted May 7, 2004 Man, England has a tough group, especially with France coming off their humiliation at WC 02. I guess we'll see how it goes though.
Gert T Posted May 8, 2004 Report Posted May 8, 2004 I could see France or England not making the quarter's especially if one loses to the other and can only muster one win and a draw after that. If one loses to the other they almost have to win the other two, unless Switzerland & Croatia draws. Does anybody know if these games are going to broadcast on Fox Sports World?
TheFranchise Posted May 8, 2004 Report Posted May 8, 2004 England or France. I think whoever wins that match will win the tourniment.
caboose Posted May 9, 2004 Report Posted May 9, 2004 Just like Club football where I support my home town and a random club for a equally random reason. I have a second international side I root for... ...It's Spain, and they are my tip to finally realise they're potential. Spain would have been playing in the World Cup final against Brazil two years back if it wasn't for the obvious dodgy refereeing that was biased to South Korea.
Guest Museite Posted May 9, 2004 Report Posted May 9, 2004 England should realistically (if they play like the SHOULD do) easily beat Switzerland and Croatia, and most probably they'll lose to France although they have the best chance out of all the teams in the group to cause an upset, although I see Croatia possibly getting a draw with France. But I really see either a repeat of Euro 2000 with an Italy vs France Final, or a Portugal vs France Final
TheFranchise Posted May 9, 2004 Report Posted May 9, 2004 I dont see it as an upset, France's current peak has gone, and England's peak is in the next two years. If England beat France, it should be well deserved.
Guest Museite Posted May 9, 2004 Report Posted May 9, 2004 If anyone beats France, it's well deserved, French peak gone or not.
RepoMan Posted May 9, 2004 Report Posted May 9, 2004 Germany got a very good draw. Not that I'm an expert and could give a educated prediction.
Guest Museite Posted May 9, 2004 Report Posted May 9, 2004 Group D is the group of death, Czech Republic, Netherlands & Germany are 3 great teams, so 1 big name will go out at the first round, I think Germany may miss out this time round. Especially after seeing Oliver Kahn's bloopers against Werder Bremen
Guest Dr. Wrestlingphysics Posted May 10, 2004 Report Posted May 10, 2004 Damned Ireland not being there! That will spoil my whole enjoyment of the tournament. England will not win because they are not as good as everyone in England thinks they are, especially not with the injuries/suspension in defence. I see Italy doing well as they are far and away the best team in their group.
Anorak Posted May 10, 2004 Report Posted May 10, 2004 Just like Club football where I support my home town and a random club for a equally random reason. I have a second international side I root for... ...It's Spain, and they are my tip to finally realise they're potential. Spain would have been playing in the World Cup final against Brazil two years back if it wasn't for the obvious dodgy refereeing that was biased to South Korea. Spain definately got cheated in that game but I was gutted they sneaked past Ireland in the 2nd round after being outplayed for long periods. Switzerland & Croatia are both very beatable but you never know which England is going to turn up sometimes, our defence worries me the most as we seem to get stretched too easily even against weaker international sides. Playing France first just might bring out the best in England, they often perform really well against the very top sides.
King Cucaracha Posted May 11, 2004 Report Posted May 11, 2004 Well...England will most likely get trounced by France, who'll be out to prove themselves after what happened at the World Cup. To be honest, any result better than 3-0, and I'll be happy. From there, we SHOULD beat Croatia and Switzerland. But it's England. I think we'll JUST scrape through the group stage, and go out to Portugal in the first knockout stage. Owen is our best striker, and his form has been terrible. To top it off, we have no other striker worth anything. Rooney hasn't played consistantly all season. Heskey doesn't score enough. Vassell has done nothing to warrant a place. Smith's temper might cost him a lace in the squad. DeFoe is 50/50 to get into the squad. Shearer, the best English striker, is retired from international football. Our only hope of good performances lies at the feet of the midfield. Stevie Gerrard and Frank Lampard. Plus John Terry at the back. Still, I doubt we'll make the semis, let alone win it. 96 was our year, and we blew it. This year I reckon it'll be France winning, with Portugal the outside bet. Especially after seeing Oliver Kahn's bloopers against Werder Bremen Funniest thing all season.
Guest frowned Posted May 11, 2004 Report Posted May 11, 2004 I'm going with Italy to win it, knocking England out in the semis.
DCMaximo Posted May 11, 2004 Report Posted May 11, 2004 Meh, I stopped caring back in November. I'm not sure on England's chances of beating France, especially with Owen off-form, Heskey being a plodding donkey and the other possible strikers lacking big-time experience (Defoe, Vassell, Rooney etc). Being half-English, I'd love to see them win, but I can only see it if they win their group. I also predict the Czech Republic getting to the semi's and Russia going out in the group stages (bastards). Irritatingly, loads of my friends managed to get tickets to England-France, but I've had to turn it down because I start a new job then (£6.20 p/h to research football )
DCMaximo Posted May 11, 2004 Report Posted May 11, 2004 England are good, but there are areas of the team that they need to sort out. Their midfield is very good, although it'll be interesting to see where they'll play Beckham. Beckham has said he wants to play centre-midfield, as he does for Real Madrid, but IMO he'd be better on the ringht-wing, when they can play Gerrard and Lampard in midfield. Defence is also very solid, but their goalkeepers leave a lot to be desired- David James is very hit or miss and not totally reliable, Paul Robinson and Ian Walker are decent, but lack international experience and the fringe keepers (Robert Green, Chris Kirkland) don't have enough experience in top flight football. England are also weak upfront, as their strikers are either lacking form (Owen, Rooney, Vassell), plodding donkeys (Heskey, who wouldn't make the Wales team, so god knows how he gets into the England squad) or lack experience (Defoe, Smith). What England have in their favour is a very young squad, which can only get better in time. England are good now, but in a few years time, they'll be tremendous.
Guest Museite Posted May 12, 2004 Report Posted May 12, 2004 Sven was apparently going on about playing a Diamond formation midfield with Gerrard on the left flank...sounds like a disaster in the making.
TheFranchise Posted May 12, 2004 Report Posted May 12, 2004 Sven was apparently going on about playing a Diamond formation midfield with Gerrard on the left flank...sounds like a disaster in the making. He can do what the hell he wants with that left side, untill a player of Ryan Giggs' quality comes along, he'll fail. Oh, and Giggs did play for England at Schoolboy level....
King Cucaracha Posted May 12, 2004 Report Posted May 12, 2004 So, a Diamond formation would mean Lampard, Gerrard, Beckham and Scholes presumably. It could work I suppose. At least they provide the opportunities for goals if Rooney and Owen are mis-firing.
Guest Museite Posted May 13, 2004 Report Posted May 13, 2004 So, a Diamond formation would mean Lampard, Gerrard, Beckham and Scholes presumably. It could work I suppose. At least they provide the opportunities for goals if Rooney and Owen are mis-firing. The current England team looks so right, yet so wrong at the same time. Also my Championship Manager game just decided to drop Beckham from the World Cup 2006 squad...who needs AI huh?
Guest Dr. Wrestlingphysics Posted May 13, 2004 Report Posted May 13, 2004 Beckham can't tackle well enough or dribble well enough to play in centre midfield. England should play him on the right side of midfield where he can give the ball away in less dangerous areas of the pitch. And I'm not saying he gives it away a lot, but when most of his game is about long passing, it's inevitable some of them go astray.
TheFranchise Posted May 13, 2004 Report Posted May 13, 2004 And I'm not saying he gives it away a lot He gave it away on the right of midfield against Brazil, Rivaldo took it up the pitch and knocked England out.
Mystery Eskimo Posted May 13, 2004 Report Posted May 13, 2004 I predict England will go out in the quarter finals. They'll battle hard and probably get results against Croatia and Switzerland but against any decent defences we're not going to score.
Guest Museite Posted May 17, 2004 Report Posted May 17, 2004 Hmmm my Final four I think after examining all possibilities are France/Spain/Italy/Portugal however one could be exchanged for Czech Republic/Netherlands/Sweden
Gert T Posted May 17, 2004 Report Posted May 17, 2004 Does anybody in the States know how much/what coverage we will get? I think in 2000, we had the semi's & finals on ESPN2, hopefully Fox Sports World picks up the games.
Guest CurryMan Posted May 17, 2004 Report Posted May 17, 2004 I believe we will see a rerun of the Euro 2000 final between France and Italy. Spain has never really been able to take there talent and make something of it when it counts, England has a good team on paper but not as good as all english ppl want to think even though you have a swedish coach ;-) Czech Republic and Netherlands can be outsiders. I feel this Euro is a pretty even affair but my tip is going for either France or Italy. I´m of course hoping for Sweden, they can perhaps make it to the quarterfinal or semifinal now when Henrik Larsson has agreed to play. We were desperat to find a scorer upfront.
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