Football : World Cup / European Championships [Archive]

Fowlees

11-17-2007, 11:14 AM

If your an Englishman and you like your football, then todays the day...It's crunch time.

At 6pm tonight Israel play Russia in Tel Aviv, and we need Israel to get a draw or a win to give us any chance of qualifying for the European Championships next year.

It's unthinkable that we find ourselves in this situation, I.E. relying on the results of other nations to ensure our progress. When this group was drawn it seemed like a cakewalk for England. The only reasonably tough games were going to be Croatia (away) and Russia (away), but we could be confident of getting at least a draw in Zagreb and Moscow with the great array of world class players in our team, so qualification would be no problem. We were certain to finish top of this group!!

It hasn't gone according to plan though , has it. A defeat to Croatia, and Russia and two draws against Israel and more importantly , Macedonia (at home) have put us right in the shit. The thought that we probably won't qualify makes me sick to the stomach. I remember when we didn't qualify for the world cup in the USA in '94 and how gutted i felt then. I never thought it would happen again. How wrong can a man be.:cry:

I'm not a big fan of Steve Mclaren but you cannot blame him alone for our demise. Just take a look at our squad and see all the world class players we have. The onus is on those fellas too. :mad:

So fingers crossed for tonight s match, and lets hope Israel do a number on the Russians for us.;)

Anyone else out there belong to country who have got qualification games coming up? Let me know your thoughts!!

Fowlees

11-23-2007, 08:36 PM

Unbelieveable!!! ...... Israel managed to beat the Russians 2-1, Croatia lost to Macedonia 2-0, so all we had to do on Wednesday night was get a draw or a win at Wembley against the Croatians to qualify for Euro 2008....And what do we do?....We play like a bunch of tarts , go 2-0 down inside 14 minutes, claw our way back to make it 2-2, then conceed another soppy goal 13 minutes from time to lose 3-2!!

What a fucking shambles. With the exception of Peter Crouch, Shaun Wright-Phillips and possibly David Beckham, they should all be ashamed of themselves. Israel give us a lifeline by beating Russia, then we go and blow it at home to a team that had already qualified. It's an absolute disgrace.

Even though he is well past his best, it would be nice to see the other England players take a leaf out of David Beckhams book. He may not be the best player on the pitch these days, but his passion for his country knows no bounds. The man is England through and through. He's the only one who seems to give a damn!!

Anyway, Steve McLaren was sacked on thursday and currently Jose "the ego" Mourinho, Martin O'Neil and Fabio Cappello are all in the running to be the next boss. Lets hope whoever gets appointed can instill some pride and passion into these over paid prima donnas.......We shall see.

Monkey

05-12-2008, 09:19 AM

EURO 2008 is coming up. As always, I'll be rooting for Germany. The last time they won was in '96, but we never heard anything about it. As you can tell, soccer is not too popular around here (just look at this thread... six months and only three posts?!?).

I've only watched the Germans play in World Cup, but that's only once every four years. I'll have to catch the Euro championship from now on; thankfully it's on ESPN and ABC. Even if Germany somehow manages to win, it still isn't the world cup... but I wouldn't complain. :D

Utellme

05-12-2008, 12:06 PM

Monkey

05-12-2008, 08:17 PM

Whoa this is cool i never thought id see anybody talk about soccer here. Big game May 21 also between Manchester United vs Chelsea.

Some good games this week.

Also i have Fifa 08 for ps3 is anybody know if the 2008 Euro game is worth buying ?

Now all i need to find is some people here that like Formula one racing but i might be alone on this one.But at least im not on soccer.
Are you going to watch the Euro cup? If so, who will you be rooting for?

I don't catch the English premiere league or the Budesleague. I mainly love to watch the international matches on the highest level. I wouldn't watch soccer at all, but the intensity of World Cup is amazing; somehow I'm drawn to watch the matches even though I'm not much of a fan.

Formula one? Nah, you're probably alone there. :p

Added: The old forum had a lot more soccer fans; mostly people in the UK. There just isn't much interest in it for now, but by World Cup 2010, I'm sure we'll see more activity on this forum.

Denzil

05-18-2008, 09:42 PM

I'll be watching Euro 2008, not sure who to support though.

I really hope that Chelsea beat Man Utd on Wednesday.

Utellme

05-18-2008, 09:49 PM

Are you going to watch the Euro cup? If so, who will you be rooting for?

I just want to see a good game by both teams.

Denzil

05-18-2008, 09:53 PM

Are you going to watch the Euro cup? If so, who will you be rooting for?

I just want to see a good game by both teams.

I take it you are talking about the Champions League final on Wednesday, right? I'm rooting for Chelsea, i'm not sure if it will be a good game or not. They had a bit of snooze fest when they met in the FA Cup final in 2007.

Utellme

05-19-2008, 12:58 AM

I take it you are talking about the Champions League final on Wednesday, right? Yes

The Euro games you have to fill me in on the schedules cause i would like to watch them also.

Denzil

05-19-2008, 02:23 PM

Here are the European Championship fixtures:

http://www.euro2008.uefa.com/tournament/matches/index.html

enjoy.

Utellme

05-22-2008, 02:33 PM

Monkey

05-23-2008, 12:42 AM

Thanks Denzil Feel free to post links to some good soccer websites cause i have none.

Did any one watch Manchester United vs Chelsea WOW !!!!! What a game.

As for who i will be pulling for in the Euro finals it will be USA now all the teams are international teams correct ?

Denzil i don't see USA listed on that link you posted ?
No, EURO 2008 features teams that are all from Europe.
The CONCACAF gold cup would feature the U.S.
The U.S. has won this four times, and is the current champion.

The EURO tournament is similar to the World Cup.
It's held every four years, but only features European national teams.

Denzil

05-26-2008, 02:25 PM

I'm well gutted, decided to go to a local pub to watch the Man Utd vs Chelsea match and it was full of Man Utd fans. It was an alright game, although i hate watching penalty shoot-outs. Once Man Utd won the 90% of the pub went crazy, people were jumping around, barstools being knocked over.

However my mood was lifted the next night when Aberdeen beat Rangers at home and stopped them from winning the Scottish Premier League title. Went to the pub again and i was going crazy for the Aberdeen goals and Novo's sending off. Good times.
ADDED:
No, EURO 2008 features teams that are all from Europe.
The CONCACAF gold cup would feature the U.S.
The U.S. has won this four times, and is the current champion.

The EURO tournament is similar to the World Cup.
It's held every four years, but only features European national teams.

Spot on. Still not sure who to support, Scotland didn't qualify and usually i would support the teams that England are playing against but they didn't qualify either.

Dezibluenose

05-27-2008, 06:54 PM

However my mood was lifted the next night when Aberdeen beat Rangers at home and stopped them from winning the Scottish Premier League title. Went to the pub again and i was going crazy for the Aberdeen goals and Novo's sending off. Good times.

As you can guess from my username, I on the other hand was not going crazy for the Aberdeen goals or the Novo sending off. Such is life though. ;)

Well actually now I come to think of it I was going crazy but not in a good way.:cry:

Still not sure who to support, Scotland didn't qualify and usually i would support the teams that England are playing against but they didn't qualify either.

I can't agree enough with you Denzil. Without Scotland to support or England not to support this Euro Championships is not getting me that excited.

Im not really going to support anybody but I fancy the Russians as a good outside bet to at least make the semis. They have a tough group though.

Monkey

05-27-2008, 07:30 PM

I'd say you guys should root for Germany. Everybody knows they were lucky to get in and will be the underdog in every match. They've never won anything in soccer. Poor Germany. :D

Dezibluenose

06-05-2008, 05:55 PM

Well today I put my money where my mouth is and put £10 on Russia to win.

At 22-1 it's pretty long odds but I just have a good feeling about this.

With my track record of bets though it normally means they have no chance. As soon as I put money on a team they never win. That why I never bet on Scotland or Rangers

Utellme

06-07-2008, 05:28 PM

Im watching SUI vs CZE right now. 2nd game i get is Portugal vs Turkey. Is there more games being played at these times ?
ADDED:
I'd say you guys should root for Germany. Everybody knows they were lucky to get in and will be the underdog in every match. They've never won anything in soccer. Poor Germany. :D
Yep that who im rooting for Germany. Italy is always good though if i had to predict a winner they are one i consider

Fowlees

06-07-2008, 10:37 PM

Im watching SUI vs CZE right now. 2nd game i get is Portugal vs Turkey. Is there more games being played at these times ?
ADDED:

Yep that who im rooting for Germany. Italy is always good though if i had to predict a winner they are one i consider

Yeah, two games on pretty much everyday at 5pm and 7.45pm GMT.

To fill you in the Euro Championship is the strongest continental cup competition in the world. Its a very tough competition to win...every nation is generally very strong (with the exception this time of Austria and Switzerland who qualified automatically as they are joint hosting the show.)World Cups, while great to win, have a lot of very weak nations involved so are arguably not as tough as the Euros.

Germany are the bookies favourites to win at 4/1.

Its a massive blow to everyone (except the Scots)that England aren't there. Tournaments are not the same without us. Not that i'm biased or anything.

That said, i was overjoyed when Scotland failed to make it too. Bring back the home nations championship again i say. I'd love to watch us wipe the floor with Scotland at Hampden Park, then out drink them in the pubs:D

I will still be watching as many games as i can though. I thought Portugal looked pretty handy tonight. Will be a tough team to beat.

I'll be backing Austria to win, but i think hell will freeze over before that happens. Can't believe you guys are backing the Germans..along with the Scots and the Argentinians they are Englands biggest footballing foes. Thought you Yanks would realise this and go for someone like the Czech Republic....or do you have a German heritage ?...if so its acceptable.

I reckon it will be a Germany v Italy Final.

Utellme

06-08-2008, 04:46 AM

Is there aggregate goals involved in these finals ?

What eliminates teams how many losses ?

Monkey

06-08-2008, 04:57 AM

...Can't believe you guys are backing the Germans..along with the Scots and the Argentinians they are Englands biggest footballing foes. Thought you Yanks would realise this and go for someone like the Czech Republic....or do you have a German heritage ?...if so its acceptable.

I reckon it will be a Germany v Italy Final.
Well, you got me. I'm mostly German. I've been rooting for them since I was a wee lad.

The best part about Euro 2008? Brazil can't win it. ;)
Is there aggregate goals involved in these finals ?

What eliminates teams how many losses ?
They use a point system. 3 points for a win, 1 point for a draw. The two teams with the most points from each group will advance (8 teams total) to a playoff format (think NFL), while the other 8 teams will be eliminated. Goal differential (and possibly head-to-head result) will be used as a tie-breaker for each group.

So, for example, if Portugal and Czech republic win their other games in their group 1-0 and tie in their match against each other, both teams would have 2 wins and 1 tie (7 points). Portugal would win the group because they currently have a higher goal differential (+2).

Fowlees

06-08-2008, 09:01 AM

Thats right.....top two teams from each group qualify for the quarter finals..which is played in a straight knock out format. If the scores are level at the end of 90 minutes, then 30 minutes extra time is played. If the game is still level after this, then it goes to a penalty shoot out to determine the winner.

Denzil

06-08-2008, 10:52 AM

I put money on Russia and Germany yesterday. Got 22-1 for Russia and 4-1 for Germany.

Watched both games yesterday, the first one wasn't that good. However Portugal looked great in the second match of the day.

Utellme

06-08-2008, 05:09 PM

By Fowless. Can't believe you guys are backing the Germans..along with the Scots and the Argentinians they are England's biggest footballing foes. Thought you Yanks would realize this and go for someone like the Czech Republic....or do you have a German heritage ?...if so its acceptable.

Yes i have German heritage

And i want to thank all of you for all the good info some of this confuses me so i appreciate the help.

And that header lead pass the CZECHS had yesterday for there lone goal was sweet.

Denzil

06-08-2008, 08:54 PM

The Germany vs Poland game has been the best game so far.

Good first half, Germany should have scored more than one goal though.

Monkey

06-09-2008, 12:17 AM

I'm extremely happy Germany won.

Unfortunately, I did not get to watch it and will not be able to watch the second match. That is extremely depressing for me... I love my Vikings and my Celtics, but I would do just about anything to watch Germany play in Euro or World cup play.

When you only get to watch your favorite team of all time play a handful of games every two years... I'm sick thinking about it. When Italy beat Germany in 2006, I'm not ashamed to say I cried a little bit. Maybe that's going overboard, but some of you soccer/football fans know how much it means when you see your nation's team play at that level, when they go deep in a tournament or finally get knocked out.

Damnit, I'm going to take days off when Germany plays in the second round... and know that I'll tear up if they get knocked out or manage to win the whole damn thing. :|

Utellme

06-09-2008, 03:45 AM

I want to create this tournament on my Fifa 08 game and heres some questions you guys might be able to answer to help me set it up.

Tournament type-- Group n knockout ?

Fixtures vs group teams ? options are 1,2,3,4 ?

Knockout round fixtures ? options are 1,2 ?

Final match legs ? 1 or 2 ?

Away goals rule on or off ?

suspension rule 2,3,4,5 ?

I don't understand any of these settings so if anyone knows feel free to tell.

Id like to set my tournament up the way the real one is if i can.

Monkey

06-10-2008, 06:59 AM

Netherlands beats Italy 3-0. I must be dreaming... :D

Fowlees

06-12-2008, 08:14 PM

Croatia 2 - 1 Germany........ha ha , what a fantastic result. All we need now is for Austria to beat the Germans , and out they go. !!

Dezibluenose

06-13-2008, 07:41 PM

The Italy - Romania match was some game.

Goal chopped off, missed penatlies, lots of chances from both sides. Hope the Holland France game is as good.

No offence to any French members of the forum but I so want France to go out. After beating them twice in the qualifiers Im still annoyed Scotland aren't there.

Monkey

06-14-2008, 09:19 AM

Croatia 2 - 1 Germany........ha ha , what a fantastic result. All we need now is for Austria to beat the Germans , and out they go. !!

HA! That's funny.

I have next friday off, so I'll get to see Germany play Portugal in a rematch of the World Cup 2006 (3rd place). It's weird, because Croatia knocked us out of the World Cup in '98... and then beat us again. Maybe it will be the same for Germany/Portugal? :|

...No offence to any French members of the forum but I so want France to go out. After beating them twice in the qualifiers Im still annoyed Scotland aren't there.
I'm with you there.

Monkey

06-20-2008, 09:29 AM

Germany beat Portugal... just like I thought they would back when they were only 1-1. Didn't get to see the game, but oh well. Hopefully Germany will continue to prove to the world that they are one of the best teams in history (if not THE best, they may not have the titles like Brazil or Italy, but year-in, year-out, nobody want's to have to play Deutscheland.

Fowlees

06-21-2008, 01:39 PM

Looks like Germany should get to the final....half of Turkeys players are suspended from playing in the semi finals.

As for the other side of the drawer..its anyones. Theres little to choose between Holland, Russia, Italy and Spain. I'd go for a Spain v Holland semi if i had to choose.

Its been a pretty good tournament, even without the mighty England team.

Germaniac

06-22-2008, 09:59 AM

I thought that we (the german tam) would get our ass handed by Portugal ... but what a great game. I was jumping all around the room.
Germany vs Turkey: there are a lot of turkish immigrants in Germany. I guess there will be war whe nthe game is over here (no matter who wins).
Just like during the world championship: Ther is a lot of patriotism going oin here again (something you don´t see here normalyy, but football IS that big that it changes everything).

Now that The Netherlands are out of the tourney (they lost to Russia yesterday) I really think that we/ the german team can win it all.

Denzil

06-25-2008, 10:06 PM

Germany were very poor tonight but made it through.

Mon the Russians! I hope they beat Spain tomorrow.

If they do then i will win money either way as i have bet on Germany and Russia. :)

Monkey

06-26-2008, 12:06 AM

Germany were very poor tonight but made it through.

Mon the Russians! I hope they beat Spain tomorrow.

If they do then i will win money either way as i have bet on Germany and Russia. :)
I'd like to see Russia win, too. Not sure why, though.

I'm sad to say I have not watched a single match. ....I know, I know. I've had to work for all 5 matches Germany played, but I'm excited as hell to watch them on Sunday. 3-2, it must have been exciting! I'd love to watch tomorrow's match, but I'm working... again. :misery:

I'm hoping like hell Germany wins the final... still sick over the Italy match in '06. :(

Dezibluenose

06-27-2008, 05:24 PM

Well that's my bet done.

Thought Russia were going to do it but they played awful last night.

For some reason I fancy Germany to win it now

Monkey

06-28-2008, 02:04 AM

After seeing Germany struggle against a decimated Turkey team, my hopes aren't as high. I hope Germany will rise to the occasion and play their best. :|

Germaniac

06-28-2008, 04:23 PM

I think that we/Germany will get it´s 4th Euro-cup tomorrow (that´s a record, the only other mutliple Euro-champ is France (they won it "only" twice)).

If I don´t log in during the next couple of weeks then its probably because I´ll be still drunk after the parties.

Utellme

06-28-2008, 04:45 PM

Go Germany !!!!!

Monkey

06-28-2008, 09:17 PM

Utellme

06-29-2008, 09:19 PM

When does the next Euro finals take place ?

And when does the world cup qualifying end ?

Dezibluenose

06-30-2008, 07:31 PM

When does the next Euro finals take place ?

Not for another 4 years now

And when does the world cup qualifying end ?

Well Scotland's last qualifier is September 2009.

Germaniac

07-02-2008, 04:47 PM

Congrats to Spain. Not only were they the best team last sunday, but they played good football during the entire tourney (Germany had some weak games against Croatia and Austria).
I am proud of tghe German team. We did not survive the first round in 200 and 2004 (in fact, we did not win a match in an Euro-tourney after we won the Euro-cup in 1996) and now we are back at the european top.
Well, we didn´t need the Euro-Cup anyway since we already got it 3 tinmes (which is a record). The confederations-cup is next year ... we haven´t won that one till now. This is a got appetizer for the big thing in 2010.

Monkey

07-03-2008, 02:16 AM

I felt the same way. Spain played a better game and had a better tournament; they've been unbeaten since the latter part of 2006.

I'm still happy with Germany. They're so good, year after year, 3 world cups and 3 euro titles. I've only watched them play for 18 years, and I've seen them win a world cup and Euro cup, runner-up at the world cup and Euro cup, and finally, a 3rd place showing at the world cup (2006). As far as international tournaments go, you can't ask for much more. No matter what tournament they're in, they always have a legitimate chance to win it all. :)