Indecent Exposure

Cristiano Ronaldo gets a booking for a sartorially-challenged celebration. What would Brandi Chastain say? 

Final: Portugal 2-1 the Netherlands

That's it--Portugal are in their first-ever major final game. After a 1-0 halftime score, Portugal added a second goal on 58 minutes with a brilliant strike from Maniche. One of the shots of the tournament for sure. Holland got some life at 63 minutes on an own goal by Jorge Andrade. But no more.

As stated below, the decision to start Pauleta was not applauded by Absolute Cracker. But as things turned out, if Nuno Gomes had started instead, the final score would have been more like 3-1 or 4-1. A win either way. Portugal certainly deserved the win, and they will be a tough out in the final on 7-4-04.

Halftime: Portugal 1 - 0 the Netherlands

As the half wore on, the Dutch seemed less and less capable of hanging in this match. Poor passing, little possession, few good chances. All Portugal.

Christiano Rolnaldo scored a header on a corner at 26 minutes after streaking down the left flank to win said corner. He was also booked during the celebration for removing his shirt. RVN nealry pulled one back at 39 minutes, but was ruled offsides, negating the goal. A very close call.

Figo has been the man of the match thus far. His shot at 41 minutes that hit woodwork would surely been one of the greatest of all time in the Euros had it been one-half inch to the right.

But...there are at least 45 minutes left, and being down only one goal puts the game well within Holland's reach.

SIDENOTE: Few fouls in this match so far, which has been pleasant. Pauleta started for Portugal instead of Nuno Goems, which I think was a mistake. Finally, and I hate to keep piling on Cocu, but criminy--no upside, keeps getting beaten on pace, etc.

Preview: Portugal v. the Netherlands

This is certainly the marquee matchup in the Euro 2004 semifinals. The best news is, if both squads are unafraid to play their attacking styles, the 'keeps could spend a lot of time picking the ball out of the old onion bag.

For Portugal, both Nuno Gomes and Andrade should be fit despite recent ankle issues. No word yet on whether Pauleta will start. For Holland, Frank de Boer is of course very doubtful for the match after injuring himself against Sweden.

This game seems to be a toss-up. The crowd will be a boon to Portugal...unless it isn't, and the pressure becomes too great. The Dutch shouldn't feel any pressure, since they're not the actual favorites...but they will. Here's hoping for a 3-2 scoreline either way. Let's make it...

PREDICTION:
Portugal 3 (Gomes, Ronaldo, Figo(pen))
Netherlands 2 (Robben, RVN)

But let's face it, it'll probably be 1-1 heading into penalties.

Who's Luckier: Scolari or Advocaat?

The Scotsman (must be registered to access) wonders which coach's luck will run out tonight: Portugal's Scolari or Holland's Advocaat?

For his part, Big Phil Scolari has already asked that the ref watch out for Dutch ploys such as dodgy throw ins and RVN's trademark offsides shenanigans. Because as we all know, Portuguese players would never, say, take dives during play.

Deco

Interesting piece in the Guardian about Deco, the Brazillian-born sparkplug of the Portugal side. Gordon Strachan has high praise for Deco, noting that Holland had some trouble when Nedved moved to behind center in their match against the Czechs in a way that Deco could replicate.

Snowball, Hell, Etc.

England fans singled out by UEFA...for praise! Well done.

Portugal Gaffer: No Favorites

Portugal's outspoken manager, Big Phil Scolari, protests that none of the final four teams in Euro 2004 should be considered a favorite. That sounds about right. Although, the Czechs are the betting favorites to win the final, followed in order by Portugal, Holland, and (overwhelmingly) by Greece.

Gerrard to Stay at Anfield

Now that Euro 2004 takes a couple-of-day break, other news is beginning to surface. At a news conference yesterday, Liverpool and England midfielder Steven Gerrard has announced that he'll stay a Kopite. With the possiblity of losing both he and lil' Mickey Owen (bless) all at once, Liverpool fans can now breathe a sigh of relief.

UPDATE: None other than Reds legend Kenny Dalglish has said: "Steve Gerrard is as good a midfield player as Liverpool have had throughout their history. He can be mentioned up there with Graeme Souness, Terry McDermott, Ray Kennedy and Ian Callaghan. He is right up there with the best of them." That's some high praise; now, can Liverpool contend this year?

UPDATE II: The London tabs try to cover their "Stevie G. to Chelsea!" arses.

Full Crystal Palace 2004-2005 Fixture List

For those who support the Palace, here's a bare-bones look at fixture list:

August
14 Norwich A
21 Everton H
24 Chelsea H
28 Middlesbrough A

September
11 Portsmouth A
18 Man City H
25 Aston Villa A

October
2 Fulham H
16 Bolton A
23 West Brom H
30 Birmingham A

November
6 Arsenal H
13 Liverpool A
20 Newcastle H
27 Southampton A

December
4 Charlton H
11 Blackburn H
18 Man Utd A
26 Portsmouth H
28 Tottenham A

January
1 Fulham A
3 Aston Villa H
15 Man City A
22 Tottenham H

February
1 West Brom A
5 Bolton H
12 Arsenal A
26 Birmingham H

March
5 Man Utd H
19 Chelsea A

April
2 Middlesbrough H
9 Everton A
16 Norwich H
20 Blackburn A
23 Liverpool H
30 Newcastle A

May
7 Southampton H
14 Charlton A

Final: Czech Republic 3-0 Denmark

The Czech Republic fills the fourth and final spot in the Euro 2004 semi-finals after dispatching the Danes 3-nil. The Czechs, it must be said, may just be the favorites at this point.

Final: Sweden 0 (4) - 0 (5) Netherlands

Another dramatic, draining match, won by Holland on penalties. Karmically speaking, Holland were probably due to win a penalty shoot out in a major tournament, but Sweden played them equal, and no one deserved to lose so cruelly.

Next for Holland: hosts Portugal on June 30.

Halftime: Sweden 0-0 Netherlands

Not much going on in the first 45 minutes. De Boer was subbed by Bouma at 35 minutes after injuring himself on a challenge. He gave his captain's arm band to Cocu. Each side has had only a couple of decent chances. Robben continues to impress for Holland. The Swedes complained of diving from RVN, and while the ITV announcers agreed, no card was shown by the ref.

BTW, my prediction wasn't posted earlier. For the record, it was : Sweden 1-2 Netherlands.

France 0-1 Greece !!!!!

An unbelievable result!

Charisteas scored (as predicted below!) a marvelous header past Barthez on 65 minutes.

France got very few sniffs of the net, with no goals in the end (as NOT predicted below!).

Certainly Greece's biggest-ever football victory. On to the Semi Finals. More later.

Halftime: France 0-0 Greece

After 45 minutes, France is looking clumsy, while Greece are doing exactly what they need to do to have a chance. Greece are marking well, not letting France get into a groove. Great shot on goal by Fyssas on 36 minutes, with a superb punch-save by Barthez. At 15 minutes, Barthez also had to make a save on a rolling Greek shot that crossed the line...but not all the way, so 0-0 it stands.

Saez Out

Spanish head coach Inaki Saez has is out following Spain's group A flameout. I'm sure watching their Iberian rivals shoot through to the semis didn't help matters.

France v. Greece Preview

We're not likely to see as much drama from this second quarterfinal as we were from England v. Portugal. Right?

France will be heavily favored to dispatch the surprise Greeks. France, after all, have two of the world's best three or four players, were World Cup champs in 1998, and have won this very tournament twice (1984 & 2000). Greece, have won once. That is, one match. In any major tournament. Ever.

Still, France have not yet set the tournament alight. Defender Willy Sagnol will be sidelined with a broken arm, which likely means that disaster-prone Marcel Desailly will be starting. If Greece can defend and counter well once or twice, we could be in for more drmatics.

Prediction:
France: 3 (Henry 2, Trezeguet)
Greece: 1 (Charisteas)

Immediate Aftermath

Shame to see a game like this decided on penalties. Shame the pitch was in horrible condition on the penalty spot! I'm looking in your direction Mr. Beckham.

Bad luck for England included Rooney's broken metatarsel and the ref's absolute botching of Sol's goal on 90 minutes.

But Portugal rode their fan support all the way to end, never giving up or backing down. Their cheekiness during the penalties was a bit cynical, to be sure, but you can't say that the ref's monumental blunder was their fault.

And big props to Portugal's gaffer Filipao. Subbing Figo out for Postiga turned out to be brilliant. The ever-pouting Figo may disagree. That's two matches in a row that Filipao's subbing has been inspired.

Portugal will take on the Holland/Sweden winner on June 30. For England, yet another penalty failure at a major tournament.

Whoa, what an exhausting match!

UPDATE: It now seems clear that England, whilst pratising penalties yesterday in the Stadia de Luz, noticed that the penalty spot was dodgy. Says little Mickey Owen: "The pitch is sand-based and we trained there yesterday. We took penalties and the way a lot of people take penalties puts a lot of pressure on the standing foot. It gave way at the other end yesterday in the practice." Which leads me to ask: if the players knew about this, why did Becks launch that moon shot? It's true he had to go first, and the pitch isn't his fault, but why, oh why, didn't he adjust like the other England players? Look, Becks works hard for England. Still.

UPDATE II: I'd also like to note that Portugal's final and winning penalty kick was taken by Ricardo, Portugal's goalkeeper that had just saved Darius Vassell's penalty attempt for England. Impressive for Ricardo, somewhat stinging for England 'keeper David James.

Final: Portugal 2(6) - 2 (5) England

After penalties! More later.

At the End of Regulation: Portugal 1-1 England

Tied after 90 minutes. England scored a perfectly good goal, by Sol Campbell, at 90 minutes, but the ref has taken it away. England, has been screwed by the ref. A shame to have such an important game bottled by a poor ref.

That said, Egland played a very poor (and tired) second half.

On to extra time!

Halftime - Portugal 0-1 England

Good news, bad news for England. First the good: Michael Owen got off the skids by scoring his first goal of the Euros (as predicted below!) in just the third minute of the game. It was a one touch, spinning shot, which followed a very poor Portugal defensive header mistake (as predicted below! sorta). Owen has looked like a different player since. Well, his old self, anyway.

Now the bad. Wayne Rooney had to be substituted before the half hour due to an apparent ankle injury. Needless to say, England are disadvanatged, and Portugal would do well to capitalize. A massive blow to England.

For Portugal, they certainly had some decent chances. Figo's free kicks, however, ahve been poor.

And, as is unecessary to say, the reffing is par for the touney. That is, pants.

Portugal v. England Preview

Hosts Portugal will face England today in the first quarterfinal match at Euro 2004. Both teams have improved as the competition has progressed, and today's tilt looks to be cracking.

England have been installed as slight favorites by the betting houses.

Any mistakes could get punished swiftly in this match. I think England have looked stronger on the whole, although with the likes of Figo taking free kicks for the hosts, England will need to radically improve their set piece defense.

Although they will of course not be marking one another, an intesting side note to this match will be the performances of two teenagers, both of whom play in the EPL. For Portugal, it's the Man Utd. winger Christiano Ronaldo, whose footwork can hypnotize defenses. For Ing-ger-lund, it'll be scouser Wayne Rooney, the new prince of English football. Unlike Ronaldo, Rooney is full steam ahead, using his brute force and lethal shooting to push England forward in the tournament. A tough call. I think this match will be tight, and may require more than 90 minutes.

Prediction:
England 2 (Rooney, Owen)
Portugal 1 (Figo)

Was World Cup 2002 a Fluke for Germany?

F365 thinks yes. Because Germany will host World Cup 2006, they won't have any real competitive matches in which to improve before that tournament. With Voller now out, the rebuilding must begin apace.

The Ladies, They Like-a da Football

From FoxSportsWorld, it seems that more and more women are turning up for the big soccer matches in Europe, especially helping to fill the Euro 2004 stadia in Portugal this summer. Cool.

EPL Fixture List

The 2004-2005 English Premier League fixture list has been published. Look here for the details.

The main attraction on the first matchday is Chelsea hosting Manchester United at the Bridge.

For Eagles fans, Crystal Palace will be away to Norwich for both clubs' return to the top flight. Doesn't exactly set the heart aflutter.

Voeller Out

German coach Rudi Voeller has resigned from the national team. The highlight of his four year tenure, of course, was a runner-up finish at Japan/Korea 2002.

Dutch speakers out there: why does RVN's surname always appear as van Nistelrooy in English-language sources, but just as often as van Nistelrooij, or similar, elsewhere? 

UPDATE: The consensus seems to be that 'van Nistelrooy' is simply an Anglicized version of 'van Nistelrooij', leading one to believe that his actual surname is spelled like the latter.

Why is this man smiling? 

Czechs Hold Off Germany 2-1

The Czech Republic proved that no team has acquitted itself better at the tournament so far. Nine points out of a possible nine sees them through to the Quarters as Group D winners, where they will face Denmark.

Coming into Euro 2004, Germany lost at home to Hungary in a friendly, and was generally seen as sub-par for the three time world champs. Today's lackluster performance proved the skeptics correct.

Michael Ballack did open the scoring after just 21 minutes, giving life to the German side. It was a well-struck left-footed volley from outside the box. But just ten minutes later, the Czechs equalised via a Marck Heinz free kick that left Oliver Kahn helpless.

Ballack and the Germans continued to see chance after chance just miss, including several meetings with the woodwork. But Baros scored the winner 23 minutes from time, and quite against the run of play. Miroslav Klose was brought on for Hamaan shortly thereafter, but no more goals were forthcoming.

The Czechs will be a tough out for any future opponent; and remember, they rested some of their star players today. Yowza.

Netherlands 3-0 Latvia

Holland showed their class today, even if it was against little Latvia. Ruud van Nistelrooy opened the scoring with a penalty just before the half hour. Less than ten minutes later, it was RVN with a fine header to make it 2-0.

Latvia was getting precious few chances. The Dutch ultimately outshot their opponents 28 to 6. RVN was subbed at 70 minutes by Roy Makaay, who himself put home the third and final goal.

Holland seem to be rebounding from their slow, disjointed start against Germany, and their (referee-aided) collapse against the Czechs. If they can continue to improve, a solid advancement in the tournament is certainly possible. I think it's fair to say that they proved themselves the second-best team in their group, and therefore deserve to advance to the quarters. Up next: Sweden.

Final Quarters Spot to Holland

The last group stage matches have ended, and the Netherlands will join the Czech Republic as Group D representatives. The Dutch will face Sweden, while the Czechs take on Denmark.

Minnows Latvia manage only a point in the group stages, while Germany crash and burn with two draws before today's loss. No second round for the Mannschaft for the second straight Euro championships.

Halftime, Group D

At the start of the second half, scores are:

Holland 2-0 Latvia

Germany 1-1 Czech Republic

Den Hotseat

According to this, Dutch Coach Dick Advocaat is playing down the speculation surrounding his future as national coach. "I do not fear that this will be my last match as national-team coach. I do not fear anything."

Uh-huh. In other words, without a good result today, Advocaat is Dead Man Walking.

Netherlands v. Latvia Preview

Latvia impressed in their goalless draw with (sorta) mighty Germany. The press noted that German 'keeper Oliver Kahn had a Latvian grandmother, and I'm still trying to figure out why that matters.

Latvia should be brimming with confidence, especially with the knowledge that they can still qualify for the quarters if things go their way. Their side looks to remain unchanged from that German tie, which would mean that Saints' Marian Pahars will take up residence on the bench.

Holland, Holland, Holland. [shakes head slowly]. They've certainly got the talent to easily slide past Latvia. But with only one point to show thus far, it's clear that their talent alone will not do the trick. What's more, Heitinga will sit this one out after collecting two yellow cards in the Czech match, and Davids may join him due to injury. Still, Ruud van Nistelrooy only needs one well-placed service ball to put one in the onion bag.

Prediction: Netherlands 1-0 Latvia

Germany v. Czech Republic Preview

With thew group's top spot already in hand, the Czechs are likely to overlook the occupation of the Sudetenland and rest several players for this match, including European footballer of the year Pavel Nedved. The Czechs may also rest the likes of Koller and Poborosky.

Germany, on the other hand, should be at full strength. If Michael Ballack puts in an heroic performance, the Germans could wiggle into the quarters. They obvisouly need to find the goal with more efficiency this time out. Gaffer Rudi Voller should have them prepared.

Prediction: Germany 2-1 Czech Republic

Hoosier Schedule

The schedule for the Hoosiers' forthcoming season is here.

Should be interesting to see the team in the immediate post-Yeagley era. A tough run of teams, but they should have the talent to compete. As usual.

Last of the Euro Spots

At this point, 7 of the 8 spots in the Euro 2004 quarterfinals have been filled. The last spot, which will be paired with Sweden, will be filled by Germany, the Netherlands or Latvia.

On Thursday, hosts Portugal will take on England featuring the much-anticipated Ronaldo v. Roonaldo matchup. Friday will see the France/Greece tilt. On Saturday, Sweden will face the Germany/Holland/Latvia representative. I think the Oranje will come through on this one, but [everyone together now] never underestimate the Mannschaft. German team, results machine--especially if the Czechs rest several players while looking to the quarters. Sunday will feature the Czech Republic v. Denmark.

Scandanavian Soiree

The 98th Meeting between Denmark and Sweden takes place in the city of Porto, Portugal--but would it be ruby (Denmark) or tawny (Sweden) at the end of the day?

At halftime, Denmark are ahead 1-0 thanks to a beautiful lob over the keeper from Jon Dahl Tomasson after 28 minutes. A lively match so far. As the Italian press (and players and tifosi and ...) have famously cried, Italy's efforts against Bulgaria can come to naught no matter, if Sweden and Denmark draw at 2-2 or greater. Needless to say, each Nordic side has denied such a collusion.

UPDATE: Quite soon after the break (47 minutes), Henrik Larsson equalises from the penalty spot to make it 1-1. The former Celtic star and future (?) Barca man was fouled in the box and struck home a sure shot. A 1-1 draw won't put both of these side through if Italy defeat Bulgaria; at any rate, there's plenty of time left.

UPDATE II: Tomasson again! Denmark 2-1. His third goal of the tournament. This puts Sweden in a right bind.

UPDATE THE LAST: Jonson equalises for Sweden just one minute from time! Amzazing finish. And since Italy scored a late winner against Belgium, that final Sweden goal means Sweden moves on to the quarters, and as group C winners no less. Italians, like the Spaniards, underachieve and go home.

Some Links

Here are some links for the teams mentioned below:

Crystal Palace

USA

England

Indiana Hoosiers

Early Doors

This is intended to be a blog, updated as often as is practicable and preferable, about soccer. Football, calcio, &c.

Right now, we're smack in the middle of the 2004 European Championships, so that's likely to dominate posting here at the beginning.

My own biases are not likely to stay hidden, but I do hope that they are consistent enough to keep posts sensical.

To that end, and in the interest of full disclosure, the teams that I support include the United States (CONCACAF and world), England (Europe), Crystal Palace (English Barclays Premier League), and the Indiana Hoosiers (USA NCAA Division 1). Leagues: EPL, Ecuador Serie A, and MLS to a certain extent.

Feedback is welcome! So, enough of that--back to Euro 2004. Although I already know the outcome, I'm off to watch a replay of the Sweden/Denmark Group C finale. Only two spots left for the quarter finals!