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Post by sAner on Jun 14, 2008 20:36:53 GMT 2
Thanks Mike! If Greece manages to win tonight, they have a good chance of becoming second in poule D and then they'll play against NL! Regards, Pieter EDIT: Sorry, Mike! We won't meet eachother in the quarter finals!
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Post by mpanayiotakis on Jun 15, 2008 14:34:25 GMT 2
Yeah, I think that's good for us! lol! I remember that we played a friendly match before Euro 2004 and the score was 4-0 in favor of your team! Anyway, yesterday's match was no surprise, we always had problems playing against Russia! At least we played a bit better this time. What team do you prefer to face now Pieter, Sweden or Russia ? Michael
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Post by sAner on Jun 15, 2008 21:43:43 GMT 2
But later you won Euro 2004! Hmmm ... Well, I don't really prefer one or the other but it would be sad to send Guus Hiddink home so therefore I think I prefer Sweden. Let's see what will happen! First we have to defeat Romania so Italy and France still have their fate in their own hands. Regards, Pieter
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Post by mpanayiotakis on Jun 15, 2008 23:01:13 GMT 2
Well, if I was Van Basten I'd let Romania beat me so that we wouldn't have to face Italy or France in the semi-final!! At least I would play with a lot of substitutes! What do you think ?
Michael
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Post by sAner on Jun 16, 2008 18:49:01 GMT 2
Well, I don't know ... I wouldn't want to break/lose the momentum! They're in the winning mood now and one loss can stop the flow. I would certainly use subsitutes for the players that have a yellow card (Ooijer and De Jong) and maybe give someone like Van Nistelrooy a break. We have some very decent substitutes like Huntelaar (Ajax striker; top scorer in NL and topscorer number 3 of Europe) and Afellay (PSV player who almost scored a fourth goal against Italy, but it the crossbar. So, I think I would definately make 3 or 4 changes, but I would still try to win from Romania. Maybe Italy and France will draw and then Romania will most likely still conitnue in the tournament. Regards, Pieter
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Post by mpanayiotakis on Jun 18, 2008 0:39:59 GMT 2
Well, Italy passed to the next round and the game against Spain will be very interesting! Good for Holland, they managed to win for a 3rd time and easily from what I've seen! Tomorrow we will know which team you'll face in the quarter finals Pieter!! Michael
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Post by bobo74 on Jun 19, 2008 19:02:39 GMT 2
Farewell Sweden and Greece! The two best playing teams in group D got through! A final between Holland-Portugal would be nice! Good Luck sAner!
Björn
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Post by mpanayiotakis on Jun 19, 2008 20:33:47 GMT 2
As I predicted in the shoutbox, Russia got through. And they deserved it of course. It will be a hard match against Holland! Very nice games in the quarter finals!! Michael
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Post by sAner on Jun 20, 2008 17:33:33 GMT 2
And Germany got through to the semi finals! Don't they always?? Well, they deserved it against a bleak Portugal! I didn't expect Portugal to play so weak. Tomorrow it will be very difficult for NL to beat Russia, a team that is ever increasing in strength and don't forget their manager (Guus Hiddink) knows everything there is to know about Dutch soccer and the Dutch players. That's a major disadvantage for NL I think. We'll see. I hope, if we get through, we play Spain in the semi finals as I don't think it's much fun to play so soon against your poule-opponent again. I don't understand why UEFA did that. They shouldn't have done that imo. Anyway, let's see if we even get through! Man, the Turks went through! Unbelievable ... That last goals in the very last second was sensational! And now the Germans have an easy match I think. Just look at it: the Turks played one day later and 120 minutes. The Turks also have lots of injuries and three players who are suspended for the semi-final of next Wednesday. Germany is virtually already in the next match, but then again: that was also what the Tjechs and Croatia thought! Regards, Pieter
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Post by mpanayiotakis on Jun 21, 2008 15:35:57 GMT 2
I think Germany had the easiest program so far and they are very lucky playing against Turkey because it's the only team they can win right now. Pity that a weak Germany with such mediocre players will reach the final! But, they're Germany.. you can never say never with them!! The looks on their faces in the match against Portugal was enough to see who was going to win! Great matches so far eh ? I think it's the best Euro I've ever watched (besides the last one when we won the tournament of course! ). Good luck to Holland Pieter, you have the better team, Russia has a rather weak defense. It should be another great match to watch!! Michael
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Post by pheldge on Jun 22, 2008 1:02:00 GMT 2
"Football is a simple game : 22 men running after the ball during 90 minutes and, at the end, Germany always win"
Gary Lineker, 1990
;D
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Post by sAner on Jun 22, 2008 13:11:52 GMT 2
Man, NL was bad! The whole nation was shocked to see them perform like that. They always do that: play great matches and then give it away like that. So unprofessional ... How can you give a 1-1 away, being only 8 minutes away from penalties? Of course Russia wasn't bad but NL was just so unbelievably weak. I think there weren't many teams in this EC that played bleaker than NL did in yesterday's match. They deserve to go home. Period. Now, Italy will win the cup ... mark my words. Unbelievable! Regards, Pieter
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Post by mpanayiotakis on Jun 22, 2008 14:22:03 GMT 2
Pieter, I think that Van Basten shouldn't have changed the way they played in the first 3 matches. He feared Russia too much but Russia has problems at the back (Holland's goal is just proof of that) and he could have exploited that better. If your team pressed higher on the field I'm sure Russia would have made some mistakes and maybe you could have scored another goal! In the extra time, your team just didn't have the stamina required to stop the young and very fast Russian players.. Sorry for your team, they deserved something better! Edit: Why didn't he use Roben ? Yesterday's match was a very good one as well. Lots of goals and great matches in this Euro!! Today's match shouldn't be an exception! Italy is missing lots of important players and they don't seem to be able to score easily. Spain has defence problems but very fast players at the front. We'll see!! Michael
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Post by sAner on Jun 22, 2008 14:49:55 GMT 2
Hi Mike,
I agree completely with you. Van Basten adapted to the way the Russians played and that was what cost NL the match. Don't forget NL has some very experienced players that play in extremely different leagues like Van der Sar, Van Persie, Kuyt (premier league), De Jong, Van der Vaart, Matthijsen (Bundesliga), Robben, Sneijder, Van Nistelrooy, Boulahrouz (primera division). All but one of the Russian players play in the not so tough Russian league. How could NL give away a 1-1 score with only minutes to play? Van der Sar is a penalty killer and I doubt NL would have lost if it had come down to penalties.
Robben was supposedly injured again. We were shocked when Van Basten told that only minutes before the match started. Normally the fans know about injuries as soon as they happen, but Van Basten kept it a secret until just before the match started. Robben got himself injured in the training of Friday. That was of course a major loss for NL.
I also think tonight's game can possibly be fantastic, but I know for 99% sure that Italy will go through. Let's see if I am right!
Regards, Pieter
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Post by mpanayiotakis on Jun 22, 2008 17:36:04 GMT 2
Pity for Robben, he could have helped a lot! Spain has a knack for destroying the hype surrounding their team before every tournament after a few matches! I don't think this Euro will be an exception! They have some great players but they don't make a great team. It will be a tough match. Difficult to pick a clear winner but if Spain manages to score an early goal it will be difficult for Italy to turn the match around!
Michael
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