JdB 151 Posted June 8, 2008 I'm very interested in tomorrow's Italy vs NL, the first big match in this Euro. Me too, if we have any physically fit strikers left by tomorrow... The greatest weakness of our offense laying in the static central strikers van Nistelrooij and Huntelaar, and our main wingers van Persie and Robben both being very unlikely for the matches against Italy and France, and Babel already being sent home with a serious injury. If because of this we end up playing everything through the center (like we already tend to do even with wingers), the Italian defense will have it's easiest day in the tournament. Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Thunderbird 0 Posted June 8, 2008 Wonder why France has not been mentioned at least once through this topic as a threatening team alongside with Italy or Germany, heh... a kind of déjà-vu (Back to 2006 before the start of the WC in germany when everyone was convinced that France would not reach the quarter-finals). The Mannschaft showed a great offensive tactical organization with Podolski and Klose (Both have polish origins, for those who wonder why Podolski didn't show too much of joy after the 2 goals he scored, heh). The polish played quite well as well, but were globally inferior than germans. Regards, TB Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
kavoven 4 Posted June 9, 2008 Damn, France-Romania was boring! The french didn't show any ambition winning the cup... Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Albert Schweitzer 10 Posted June 9, 2008 Damn, France-Romania was boring!The french didn't show any ambition winning the cup... But they always start weak. As far as the french team is concerned the first few games cant be conidered an indicator of their strength. Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Thunderbird 0 Posted June 9, 2008 France always has some difficulties to enter major competitions, but once we find the 'good' arrangements, things usually get much better. Without Thierry Henry, the attack was kind of weak today and Ribery was tired like hell, while he is supposed to be behind most of offensive actions (Just see how he played with the Bayern). Seamingly all matches starting around 6:00 PM show a kind of low rythm and are way less entertaining than those at around 8:30 PM. Regards, TB Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
kavoven 4 Posted June 9, 2008 The Netherlands are playing amazin at the moment and the game is definatly worth watching Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
kmossco 9 Posted June 9, 2008 The Netherlands are playing amazin at the moment and the game is definatly worth watching x2! I am watching and loving it! Damn, that Italian defence without Cannavarro is like swiss cheese, every through ball is a threat. I just don't know what is delaying Cassano's entry... Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
hardrock 1 Posted June 9, 2008 What a fabulous first half! Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Thunderbird 0 Posted June 9, 2008 What a grand team! Since Van Basten's era, The dutch haven't reached such a status. The dutch team is definitely impressive, and it's so far the best match of this Euro. Regards, TB Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
kavoven 4 Posted June 9, 2008 Amazing presentation of the Dutch team! Congrats! Best game of this EC so far Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
kmossco 9 Posted June 9, 2008 I agree with Thunderbird84. Holland played a terrific game. Italy committed so many mistakes in the defence... and I just can't believe how fragile they were. Cassano finally got in but instead of doing the position behind the strikers he is the middle Kuyt was just relentless today, great match! Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
DaRat 0 Posted June 9, 2008 Best game so far! Holland played incredibly well, hats off! Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
blackjack-VS- 0 Posted June 9, 2008 Congrats to Holand for the amazing performance. So far the best match indeed (one sided but the best so far). As a football fan i wish that we have a PortugalXHoland again, but as a Portuguese i don't want to meet Holand before the final! Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
gunny1987 0 Posted June 9, 2008 As I wrote some days ago, it's incredible that Materazzi, Barzagli, Panucci were on the field today. Chiellini didn't play...incredible. Congrats to Holland. Very nice match. Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
NoRailgunner 0 Posted June 9, 2008 Best goal was from Wesley Sneijder. Good match! Romania did all they could and "won" against France one point. Now we have three favourites to win the cup: Netherlands - Portugal - Germany Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
whisper 0 Posted June 9, 2008 Romania did all they could and "won" against France one point. You mean they tried to do absolutely nothing? If this is how to win, then, well, that's what they did indeed... Abysmal match by 2 abysmal teams.... Complete opposite of what happened after. Insane game, Netherland! Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Thunderbird 0 Posted June 9, 2008 Quote[/b] ]Now we have three favourites to win the cup: Netherlands - Portugal - Germany The first matches do rarely say it all, believe me. Just remember when the czech republic beat 3 - 0 the USA and then got beaten by Ghana 2 - 0 in the last WC 2006. Concerning the match opposing Romania to France, well, romanians formed a solid block behind, and the french attackers haven't been efficient enough to penetrate it. Without even to mention the poor way Malouda played as he didn't take any risk at all, and there is no way to win a match with such a mentality. I don't understand why Patrice Evra hasn't been introduced, though. But of course, the romanians played with their hearts and they fully deserve this point. Anyways, I hope we will stop the Dutch in their progress on friday. Regards, TB Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
NoRailgunner 0 Posted June 9, 2008 Romania only tried to safe their goal and defend it against the 2nd in the world championship. Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
whisper 0 Posted June 9, 2008 Romania only tried to safe their goal and defend it against the 2nd in the world championship. Yup, what I said. They didn't try anything. Which is apparently the new way to "win" at football. Pathetic. (note that I think France did exactly the same, so afraid to take a goal they didn't try more than Romania) => Poor football, and both teams are faulty. Poland was said to be inferior to Germany. That didn't stop them from at least trying. As for "deserving" anything, both teams sure deserved a 0-0 In fact I don't see how it could have ended up anything differently Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
raedor 8 Posted June 10, 2008 Wow... go NL, go! This was really nice to watch. More of that, please! Let's see how the Spanish play tomorrow... but of course thunderbird84 is correct, the first matches mean nothing or generally it doesn't depend on how nice you play, you can win 1:0 with some look in the finals... (errm 2004?) we'll see Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Postduifje 0 Posted June 10, 2008 Damn... hell of a party last night Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
quicksand 0 Posted June 10, 2008 Hey,I agree Romania-France was a boring game,granted,but when our star player(Mutu) had his grandmother die a day before and is closing bankruptcy because of a suspicious decissions that makes him lyable to pay 12$ to Chelsea there is more to it then just a team without ambition. Holland is an amazing team and the same team that obliterated Italy today only managed to get 1 point from us in the qualifying rounds. A draw with France is a good result to start on,and Romania's talent and will to play a good game should be judged based on the remaining matches. Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
FriketMonkey 0 Posted June 10, 2008 3-0 OLEEE OLEE Holland gaat het maken! Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
igor drukov 0 Posted June 10, 2008 Judging from Euro 2004, the more boring and defensive you play, the more likely you are to win. 7 goals were enough for Greece to win the cup (and they took 4) - that's about as many as France scored in the groups (8 for England). By these standards, France and Rumania seem to be awfully serious contenders  . Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
kavoven 4 Posted June 10, 2008 I think that the fast and progressive style (Portugal, Netherlands, Germany) will dominate this EC, since especially Portugal and Germany already tried that during the last WC (Netherlands had no chance to do so ) and ended up third. Now both teams have learned much more and will be able to beat these "pure defence" teams. Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
