My pick is Germany to win, but the Czechs are my dark horse pick.
THE QUEST FOR LORD STANLEY'S CUP
Tied for 9th: St. Louis Blues, New York Islanders, Dallas Stars, New Jersey Devils, Nashville Predators, Boston Bruins, Vancouver Canucks, Ottawa Senators Tied for 5th:Montreal Canadiens, Detroit Red Wings, Toronto Maple Leafs, Colorado Avalanche Tied for 3rd:San Jose Sharks, Philadelphia Flyers Second:Calgary Flames The Champion:Tampa Bay Lightning
It's in the middle of the first half of the England vs. France match and I've realized that I can't decide who I want to win. Part of me wants England to win because of my love of the EPL...but Henry, Pires and Vieira, my favourite players from Arsenal all play for France.
Originally posted by Doc_whiskeyFor those of us that dont follow soccer, what exactly is the Euro 2004, and which countries are involved?
As far as my pick, since i know nothing about soccer I will pick Sweden, and if they aren't involved then Spain.
The quality of the football is extraordinary because these 16 countries have gone through a harrowing qualification procedure. I believe there were 100 countries involved this time. So these 16 are the cream of the crop.
The qualifying for Euro 2004 started just a couple of months after the World Cup in 2002 ended. Euro 2000 had France winning the championship after defeating Italy in extra time.
edit/ WOW what a finish to that France/England match! Mindblowing.
Good lord, my neighbour is English. I'm going to run over to his house right now and take the gun out of his mouth.
My brother and I were arguing over who the bigger goat is....Beckham for missing that penalty kick or the English goalie for turning into Andre "Red Light" Racicot in the last two minutes.
THE QUEST FOR LORD STANLEY'S CUP
Tied for 9th: St. Louis Blues, New York Islanders, Dallas Stars, New Jersey Devils, Nashville Predators, Boston Bruins, Vancouver Canucks, Ottawa Senators Tied for 5th:Montreal Canadiens, Detroit Red Wings, Toronto Maple Leafs, Colorado Avalanche Tied for 3rd:San Jose Sharks, Philadelphia Flyers Second:Calgary Flames The Champion:Tampa Bay Lightning
My votes would be for either Gerrard, who inexplicably hit the ball backwards which forced the goalkeeper to make that foul, or Vassell(I think it was Vassell) who caused the free kick with his foul, and thus causing the first goal.
Beckham shouldn't be the goat. Barthez made an amazing save on that penalty shot.
There are a lot of suicidal(homicidal?) English football fans today.
Phenomenal finish to the England-France match. To answer Big Bad's question, the biggest goats were clearly Steven Gerrard, for his inexplicable back pass at a time when he had the entire left flank open to move the ball to, and Emile Heskey, for his unnecessary and idiotic foul on Claude Makelele just outside the penalty area. Gerrard's blunder led directly to Zidane's penalty goal, and Heskey's foul led to Zidane's brilliant free kick.
English 'Keeper David James was blameless on both goals. In fact, the entire England squad defended brilliantly until time added on, when the aforementioned goats stepped up. France had all the possession but didn't get a sniff of goal until the two dead ball plays.
One really has to wonder why Sven-Goran Eriksson brought on the useless Heskey when he did. Rooney was tired, but why bring on another striker when all you have to do is kill off the game. Another defensive midfielder, perhaps Nicky Butt, would have been a better choice, tactically allowing England to move to a 4-5-1 with Vassell the lone striker.
"The whole problem with the world is that fools and fanatics are always so certain of themselves, but wiser people so full of doubts" --Bertrand Russell
I would disagree with the French not getting a sniff of a goal.
They were passing brilliantly all match and Patrick Vieira was open for his missed shot and David Trezeguet almost got a header.
This was just an all around amazing match though. Both defenses played surprisingly well considering the injuries to both teams.
As concerns Greece/Portugal, I predicted a Greece win before hand. They really are a much better team then their play has indicated. Portugal just wasn't a talented team to live up to all the praise and expecatations. Greece has had the talent to win for a long time, but just haven't been able to deal with pressure. In a game no one expected them to win, there was no pressure.
Italian star player Totti was suspended for 3 games for spitting Denmark's players face in game 1... It doesn't seem to effect the Italian side as they are playing really well in Game 2
smark/net attack wienerville advisory stays at BLUE alert - Guarded (With Benoit & Eddie being World & WWE champions you'd expect all's be right but couldn't do it due to Trish/Y2J character switches & whats the deal with JBL PPV main event)- 5/6
Man, if Italy somehow fails to get into the next round, there might actually be a riot in my hometown. I think it's safe to say they'll beat Bulgaria in their next game, and so it will come down to the result of Sweden/Denmark. If that game is tied, then all three teams will have 5 points and Sweden is pretty much guaranteed a spot due to their big lead in goal differential.
Greece is a lock to advance from Group A, and Portugal/Spain is going to be a classic match. Group B is the most fascinating, since all four teams are still in it. I say that France finally plays a solid 90 minutes and beats Switzerland, and England gets a tougher-than-expected win over Croatia, though it may cost them a red card or two.
I like the Czechs to come out of Group D, but it'll be a dogfight between Germany and the Netherlands for the second spot.
THE QUEST FOR LORD STANLEY'S CUP
Tied for 9th: St. Louis Blues, New York Islanders, Dallas Stars, New Jersey Devils, Nashville Predators, Boston Bruins, Vancouver Canucks, Ottawa Senators Tied for 5th:Montreal Canadiens, Detroit Red Wings, Toronto Maple Leafs, Colorado Avalanche Tied for 3rd:San Jose Sharks, Philadelphia Flyers Second:Calgary Flames The Champion:Tampa Bay Lightning
Well, that's a great prediction, Big Bad. The Czechs are through to the group of 8, as they have a remarkable comeback against the Dutch. And Latvia holds Germany to a 0-0 draw(tape this game if you have insomnia, it's a great cure).
So Holland has to have a strong match against Latvia or it's another premature withdrawal for the Orange monster.
Group A: Greece and the winner of Spain/Portugal. Let's say Spain. Group B: France and the winner of England/Croatia. Let's say England. Group C: Denmark & Sweden Group D: Czech Republic & Germany
Quarters would go like this... June 24th: Greece vs. England June 25th: France vs. Spain June 26th: Denmark vs. Germany June 27th: Czechs vs. Sweden Semis... June 30th: Greece/England vs. Denmark/Germany July 1st: France/Spain vs. Czech/Sweden
Looks like potentially a TON of good matches.
2004 CALGARY FLAMES: 42-30-7-3 in 82 games for 94 points in the regular season 15-11 in 26 games in the playoffs 2004 Western Conference Champions
Originally posted by The Goonit's another premature withdrawal for the Orange monster.
Yeah right say that to Lita. Oops wrong forum.
I spoke too soon on Italy looking good as they played their normal prevent win defense and allowed Sweden to tie.
Thumbs down for TSN with their horrible weekend coverage by covering golf and showing the games on tape delay.
smark/net attack wienerville advisory stays at BLUE alert - Guarded (With Benoit & Eddie being World & WWE champions you'd expect all's be right but JBL PPV main event causes a threat)- 5/6
Didn't happen on a Sunday, but...I got a feeling last night's loss at home (again), this time to Philly, is what does the Packers in. We had a chance to get within 1 game of those purple SOBs in the NFC North...and blew it. Still 2 back...