European Championships

yudansha

TheGreatOne
There could be other reasons...

It could be because parents find soccer as a safe(er) sport to play, than let's say hockey or baseball (I don't think that I really have to explain why) ... and parents like to get their kids active for many reasons ... to have them exercising ... and to have them away so that the parents can have some time alone in peace and quiet and for whatever other activities they have that require the absence of their children.

Don't get me wrong, hockey clubs here are almost always filled up, but there is a reson for that too ... it's called that Canadian pride in their reputation (and you better know which reputation I'm talking about :=)).
 

tora

Funmaker
Expect the unexpected

English thought they had dine France but who would have thought that the opposite would happen within the last 3 additional minutes.
And honestly,I don't know why I was supporting France.Years back then I used to hate them,especially at World Cup in 1998 when they beat up Brazil in the final.And it was ZiZi back then who made that game.
Later I gave up on my hate and simply started looking at the way the players were playing.And now Zidane is one of my most favorite players on the whole planet.I also like Henry's style a lot.In general I'd say now, they have many good players.
 

yudansha

TheGreatOne
An English disappointment ...

France wins over Beckham's team in a 2-1 finish.
Let's see how Italy does.
 

tora

Funmaker
Goalless draw.Italy learns a lesson.Northern dudes begin to like Southern heat.
Dammit,I should admit,Danish were bloody good.
 

yudansha

TheGreatOne
Greece through to Euro 2004 quarter-finals despite 1-0 loss to Russia

Greece was upset by Russia 2-1 in their last Group A match Sunday, but the Euro 2004 surprise team advanced to the quarter-finals for the first time. Greece's German coach Otto Rehhagel said his team was now looking forward to the quarter-finals. "We have already won everything. Every opponent from now on is a comfortable one," he said.

Striker Dmitry Kirichenko split the Greek defence with a good run in the second minute to score the fastest goal in European Championship history and give Russia a 1-0 lead. Dmitri Bulykin made it 2-0 in the 17th minute, after he was left unmarked to head in a corner kick from the near side.

"People might say we didn't need this victory," said Russia coach Georgy Yartsev. "I think we very much needed it. The Russian soccer needed it. Look at how many rookies we had."

The Russians were unfettered by any pressure and their play was for the most part fluid and attractive, coming mostly from counter-attacks.

Vryzas had an early chance for Greece on the turn in the box, his shot was too tame and off target. Kirichenko, who was having a great start, almost won a penalty in the 10th minute, after he tried to slip in front of Georgios Seitaridis, but referee Gilles Veisseire waved play on. Angelos Basinas was denied by some good goalkeeping from Viacheslav Malafeev, who dived to parry the midfielder's low shot around the wall.

Vassilis Tsiartas had the first chance after the interval with a toothless shot from outside the box that was easily picked up by Malafeev. Zagorakis blasted a half-chance right after over the bar from a distance on the other end.

The last 15 minutes saw a desperate Greek outfit trying to beat stubborn Russian defenders (but with no use).

Lineups:
Russia: Viacheslav Malafeev; Alexander Anyuokv, Roman Sharonov (Dmitry Sennikov, 55th minute), Alexey Bugaev, Vadim Evseev, Rolan Gusev, Vladislav Radimov, Andrey Karyaka (Igor Semshov, 46th minute), Dmitry Alenichev, Dmitri Bulykin (Dmitri Sychev, 46th minute), Dmitry Kirichenko.

Greece: Antonios Nikopolidis; Stylianos Venetidis (Panagiotis Fyssas, 89th minute), Traianos Dellas, Mihalis Kapsis, Georgios Seitaridis, Angelos Basinas (Vasilios Tsiartas, 42nd minute), Theodoros Zagorakis, Dimitrios Papadopoulos (Themistoklis Nikolaidis, 70th minute), Konstantinos Katsouranis, Angelos Charisteas, Zisis Vryzas.

© CP 2004.
 

yudansha

TheGreatOne
No!!!

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Italy is out. They do not advance any further, even with the win over Bulgaria ... due to the lack of scored goals.
 

Storm

Smile dammit!
Good luck to England tonight in quarter final against hosts Portugal. Wayne Rooney is walking on water at present. He's become a massive national hero.His transfer price is £45million. 4 goals already and tournament leading scorer at 18.
Serena,good point about soccer in the US. I know it is very popular with younger ones espescially.I don't think soccer has a chance against baseball,basketball and your gridiron of course. They are the established sports and football/soccer never really made it there.But the world is a big place and soccer is easily the world's biggest sport. I'd love to see the US team do well in world football as interest there would boom. I have always been bemused by the apathy of the US towards it,but i guess you made your sporting choices a long time ago.
We had a gridiron league here a few years back but it never took off. That's the just the way it is i suppose.
 

Serena

Administrator
Storm said:
Good luck to England tonight in quarter final against hosts Portugal. Wayne Rooney is walking on water at present. He's become a massive national hero.His transfer price is £45million. 4 goals already and tournament leading scorer at 18.

45 million pounds? :eek: He ought to win it single-handedly! :D
Good luck to England, Storm! :)
 

yudansha

TheGreatOne
And another big loss!

Germany is out! What's going on? They are such efficient players ... with probably more head-shot goals than any other team ever.

Czechs advance and Latvia is out ... no more former Soviet republics in the EURO cup...
 

tora

Funmaker
I'm not sorry for Germany.I never loved their style.But I'm glad for the Netherlands.

Umm...what a dramatical match it was yesterday.Portugal is through and England go home though in the previous match England was fantastic with their brilliant boy Wayne Rooney.
Portugal-England 1-1 main time,2-2 extra time,6-5 penalty series.

Ah well,let's see what Greece has to pack for Zidane and his team.And what Zidane has to pack for Greece,of course :D
 

Storm

Smile dammit!
What a swizz! We were robbed with a perfectly good goal disallowed in 89th minute which would have put us through. It's a disgrace such a mistake cannot be rectified,with so much at stake. So England fly home because of a bribed/blind official.
Video replays are a must. Football is in the dark ages that way.
 

tora

Funmaker
The same was when Russia played against Portugal.They eliminated their goalkeeper Ovchinnikov giving him a red card for what he didn't do.This bribery is so common these days in sport.
 

yudansha

TheGreatOne
Conspiracies all over the place :=))

I was rooting for England too ... and that Portugal got lucky against Russia :D
 

tora

Funmaker
Kidding or what?You should've seen Russians playing...Playing that way they wouldn't have won even if Ovchinnikov stayed in.
 

tora

Funmaker
Hey Yudansha,here's a surprise of surprises.Greece has knocked France out of the spotlight.1-0
 
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