2008 European Championship - Most popular for September 2007
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France 0, Scotland 1. Felt weird writing that. Ths Scots definitely deserve to go through if they
can pull off at least a draw with Italy coming up in Glasgow. And if your looking for John Arne
Riise's signature strike versus Greece, go here. Cheers.
- Fans of Austria's National Football team are so ashamed of the squads recent run of eight
straight losses that they've called for a withdrawal of the side from the 2008 European
Championship, despite the free invite as hosts. More than 4000 people have added their names to a
petition at www.rueckgrat.cc since it was launched a week ago today. The petitioners have made it
clear that they are not blaming players nor coaches of the team, but feel that their participation
in the tournament would be an insult to the sport.
Following England's 3-0 victories over Israel and Russia, a lot of talk has emerged about who is
England's best side. With the emergence of Gareth Barry in midfield and the inclusion of Shaun
Wright-Phillips on the right, it has been brought to the forefront whether players who were
unavailable due to injury, most notably David Beckham and Frank Lampard have lost their spots.
I will be posting this periodically as things happen, so keep checking back if you want to know
what's going on.
Greece 1, Norway 0
I'm watching this match so I'll probably be updating it more often. John Arne Riise almost went to
blows with a Greek player and two minutes later Greece scores on a corner. The ball crossed the net
unscathed an found a diving Sotirios Kyrgiakos who redirected it to the opposite side of the net
with a header, Greece 1-0.
- The Denmark women's boss, Kenneth Heiner-Moller, has denied that he accused China of bug-spying.
The 36-year-old also refuted claims that he lodged a protest with FIFA about that matter.
Apparently, prior to a Denmark staff meeting the day before the team met China, two individuals
with cameras were caught behind a two-way mirror in the meeting room.
Norway vs. Greece, Ullevål - Oslo
Every group so far seems to have an incredible match and this one is no different. First place is
at stake and because Norway has a game in hand, it means much more to them. Leapfrogging the Greeks
means that the Turks home tie with Greece on October 17th will cost one or both of their opponents
points, essentially rendering the game-in-hand of their closest competitors useless.
England vs. Russia, New Wembley - London
The Russians go to England in what is easily the match of the day for Group E. I originally thought
that this wasn't a must-win for the English, but now I'm beginning to have second thoughts. Neither
Russia nor Croatia have a very difficult schedule ahead of them, though the Croatians have to go to
London on the last day of qualifying.
Iceland vs. Northern Ireland, Laugardalsvöllur - Reykjavik
Well, finally we have a group that doesn't have a guaranteed intense match, but that doesn't mean
there isn't any drama. In fact, if you look down the road, the top three teams in this group:
Sweden, Northern Ireland, and Spain, could all be tied with 19 points at the end of the day, and
all meet each other in future fixtures.
Norway 2, Greece 2
Wow, what a first half. As the score indicates, neither team is playing very solid defense. Norway
appears to be the more dominate side and probably should be ahead had Carew not squandered a
one-on-one with the Greek keeper. It was a tough angle though. This has been an intense affair so
far as nearly two 'disagreements' have occurred.
Portugal vs. Serbia, José Alvalade - Lisbon
Portugal did themselves no favors when they gifted Poland the 2-2 draw on Saturday. Though that
doesn't make this game a must-win since the remaining of their schedule is quite easy, they could
save themselves a lot of unwanted pressure by going ahead and getting the home win here. They
suffered no major injuries, but will be without defender Marco Caneira and striker Hélder Postiga
for this tie.
France vs. Scotland, Parc des Princes - Paris
Les Bleus can put a little distant between themselves and the second place Scots here with a win in
Paris. In fact, it'd probably be a good idea if the did so, since even if Italy win, a French win
at the Faroe Islands in October would all but assure themselves advancement. Just don't expect the
Scots to make it too easy for them.
Group A
Portugal tries to redeem itself, Serbia fights for it's qualifying life, Poland travels to Finland
to battle for the top, & that other match
Group B
Les Bleus attempt to ruin the Scots' qualifying dreams, the Ukraine hosts the Azzurri with both
sides in desperate need of points, & Lithuania look to beat up on the Faroe Islands
Group C
The Greeks travel to Norway with group supremacy and who has the better mythological gods on the
line, Who's Hungary for some Turkey?
If I had to pick two players on the England squad that it wouldn't bother me if they retired to a
life of gardening and never wore the Three Lions shirt again, I'd be hard up to get past Peter
Crouch and Emile Heskey.
Crouchy, despite his knack for scoring goals, is a turnover machine and because of his height tends
to have fouls called against him more often then not especially when playing balls in the air.
I apologize for not doing anymore updates, but at one point I was watching three matches at once
and way too occupied to even think about writing. I hope this summary of what occurred today
somewhat makes up for it.
Group A
Portugal never seems to learn, do they? An 88th minute strike by Serbian Marko Pantelić cost the
Portuguese two valuable points and possibly their Euro chances.
Czech Republic vs. Republic of Ireland, Sparta Stadium - Prague
Continuing with the 'every group's got a cracker of a match' theme, we have the Irish traveling to
Prague with basically their Euro hopes on the line. A devastating Marek Cech equalizer in the 91st
minute of their Saturday tie with Slovakia could end up costing the Boys in Green their spot.
Greece has again taking the lead and again it was from the defender. After his initial vicious
header attempt on goal from a free kick well outside the box was saved, the six-foot-four Kyrgiakos
slammed the rebound that deflected off the bar with a diving kick. Though it looked like it bounced
off both a Norwegian defender and Håkon Opdal, the Norway keeper, it still easily found the back
of the net.
