Euro 2004: Quarterfinals Portugal v England

[HamaticBabylon]

Also, has anybody seen the Portuguese incident with the header? Did it cross the line?

There was one Portuguese header, during the game and not extra time, and it went in clearly.

 

[phoenix_night]

Looks like it didn't cross the line.

Okay. At least there was no debate with Rui Costa's later effort!

Portugal:

A few days ago, I was very annoyed with Portugal. I wanted to see Spain progress, but tonight...

 

[phoenix_night]

There was one Portuguese header, during the game and not extra time, and it went in clearly.

I think I noticed that Postiga's header crossed the line.

 

[Marla_Singer]

For fun, I've calculated something.

It remains only 7 teams in this Euro.
The total population of countries still in the competition is :
124,655,400

The population of France alone is :
62,275,200

France alone has the same population than the 6 others altogether !!
And tomorrow, that population of countries still in the competition will be reduced of a half !

 

[Oruc]

Nope!

 

[Marla_Singer]

so you only like Portugal cos they beat England? thats nice of you

Certainly not ! I supported England tonight.

 

[Oruc]

Nope!

 

[Marla_Singer]

although that statement strikes me as weird, i was actually responding to phoenix but this thread seems popular

Sorry ! I thought you were talking to me !

Yes, I wanted England to win. I wanted all big football nations to stay in the competition as far as possible. I think it's good for the show... but that's not the only point. Indeed, the teams which are qualified for the quarters deserve to be there and they will be extremely hard to beat. However, if France is beaten by Greece, no matter how organized they can play, we will consider that as less excusable than if we are beaten by Germany, which played a lot worse... but has 3 stars on its shirt.

 

[phoenix_night]

England played defensive because Rooney was fouled and taken out of the match; their entire game plan was wrecked by one of the worst fouls in footy history.

The thing is, I can't tell if he's serious or not...

Yes we didn't deserve to go through, but that doesn't mean we wouldn't have gone through with a fair decision

Regardless of the validity of this decision, in the 90 minutes there would have been plenty of incidents which may have been fouls but weren't given, or vice-versa. Any one of these being different may have provided a different outcome. Just because this one happened in the last minute, and was in favour of England, doesn't mean it was the only possible instance of an "unfair" decision (and I'm not saying it was unfair).

If you want to change one decision, you have to accept any other questionable ones. It's impossible to predict that the rest of the match would have gone the same way.

I think a better tactic than blaming the ref is to blame the shoddy performance of England.

 

[phoenix_night]

so you only like Portugal cos they beat England? thats nice of you

Do you really think so?

 

[Marla_Singer]

There is also a common point between England, Germany, Spain and Italy. They are the stronger championships in Europe... but more than that, players from the national teams play at 99% in domestic clubs.

All the seven teams remaining, including France, are teams where players play in majority in foreign clubs.

 

[Inter4]

so you only like Portugal cos they beat England? thats nice of you

I like any team who beats the Lakers, any team who beats R. Madrid, any team who beats Juve and Milan...

 

[Oruc]

Nope!

 

[Inter4]

I know you weren't talking to me..I was just saying that everybody has a team/s they hate..

 

[Oruc]

Nope!

 

[Marla_Singer]

Players in the 23 who are playing in domestic clubs :

Czech Republic : 26%
Denmark : 17%
France : 35%
Netherlands : 35%
Portugal : 69%
Greece : 65%
Sweden : 13%


England : 96% (all except Beckham)
Germany : 91% (all except Hamann and Lehmann)
Italy : 100% (all)
Spain : 96 % (all except Morientes)

By the way, I'm sad England has been beaten but I must also admit that Portuguese players were really, really courageous during the game. It reminded me a bit Italy who played less good against Bulgaria but with the same courage. I think that's noble.

 

[Inter4]

Corradi and Fiore will sign for Valencia..so it won't be 100% any more..

 

[Marla_Singer]

Corradi and Fiore will sign for Valencia..so it won't be 100% any more..

Well, the thing I wanted to say is that I find that paradoxal. Tell me if I'm wrong, but normally, if they all evolve in the same championship, they know each other better so they should play better together.

On the other side, it's true they evolve in the same championship but that also means they play in "ennemy" clubs. Maybe that doesn't help them to play together but I find it hard to believe... anyway... It could be also purely random.

 

[Cilpot]

Players in the 23 who are playing in domestic clubs :
England : 96% (all except Beckham)

And Owen Hargreaves (Bayern München)

 

[Hitro]

When analyzing the big tournaments these days we shouldn't look over the fact that the differences in strength between the teams are very small compared with earlier decades. Therefore alot of it comes down to luck, just look at this tournament and the last World Cup.