Teams
A-List (Qualified, or will qualify)
Portugal (Group A)
1. Home Team advantage
2. Beaten by Greece?
3. Came out very strong against Russia, Spain
4. Rui Costa, Luis Figo, Cristiano Ronaldo
5. Beat Spain, 1-0 to qualify
France (Group B)
1. Two words – Zinedine Zidane, then of course Thierry Henry, Robert Pires
2. Killed England (Definitely not Scotland in disguise) 2-1
3. Had a close shave against Croatia 2-2
4. Beat Switzerland 3-1 to qualify
Sweden (Group C)
1. Beat Bulgaria 5-0 in their opening game, Ouch!
2. Larsson, Ljungberg (Arsenal ya), Allback, all opened their scoring with Bulgaria
3. Drew with Italy in a tough and inspiring game 1-1
4. Looked quite stifled by an aggressive Italy in the first half
5. Drew with Denmark 2-2 to qualify
Czech Republic (Group D)
1. Beat Latvia in a tight game 2-1
2. Can they be one of the two who get out of Group D?
3. Nedved, European footballer of the year, player of the tournament?
4. Already qualified having beaten the dutch 3-2
6. Spirited side, past Euro cup winners
7. Beat Germany with their ‘B’ team
B-List (Qualified, will qualify, chances to win the cup)
Greece (Group A)
1. Upset Portugal in a tight Group A match
2. Drew with Spain!
3. Tell me they aren’t competitive, doing great
4. The true dark horses of the tournament, with nothing to lose
5. Lost to Russia, but pipped Spain out of Group A
6. Qualify from a tough group
England (Group B)
1. Had great friendlies, iced Iceland
2. Beaten by France in their opening match 2-1, in Injury time
3. Never won the Euro… how strange is that?
4. Beat Switzerland 3-0,
5. Their top players seem to be playing well below their potential
6. Qualify after beating Croatia 4 – 2
Italy (Group C)
1. Counting on them to mesmerise the others
2. Drew with Denmark, no good
3. Drew with Sweden too, no better
5. Rallied well in the first half against the Swedes and had them on the ropes
6. Beat Bulgaria but are out since the Swedes and the Danes drew
Germany (Group D)
1. Defense!! Leaking soft goals
2. Drew with the Dutch when they should have won
3. Reliable team, always rise upto the challenge
4. Oliver Kahn reliable and efficient
6. Their last game has bolstered their reputation as big-tournament performers
7. Drew with Latvia, 0-0
8. Lost to the Czechs and are out of the Euro 1-2
C-List (If they won, that would be an upset)
Croatia (Group B)
1. Drew with Switzerland
2. Unfortunately, drew with France after going into the lead 2-2
3. Lost to England and are out
Denmark (Group C)
1. Held Italy to a draw
2. Killed Bulgaria 2-0
3. Strong team!
4. Drew with Sweden 2-2
5. Are through to the quarter-finals, over Italy
Netherlands (Group D)
1. Ruud Van Niestelroy, Clarence Seedorf, Edgar Davids 🙂
2. Tough group
3. Not reliable performers
4. Hate Penalty time deciders
5. Jaap Stam, Van Bronckhorst, Cocu
6. Drew with Germany 1-1, but were not convincing
7. Lost to the Czechs 2-1
8. Beat Latvia 3-0 and qualify
D-List (Going out the door alright)
Spain (Group A)
1. Trumped Russia 1-0, and yet unconvinced
2. Drew with Greece, hmm are they even in the game?
3. Lost to Portugal 1-0
4. I never expected them to be out, nevertheless they are
Russia (Group A)
1. Lost to Spain, Portugal 2-0, beat Greece
2. They are out too
Switzerland (Group B)
1. Held Croatia to a Draw
2. Lost against England in an unfortunate match
3. Going out of the tournament
4. They have great players but lack the atitude
5. Lost to France 1-3
6. They are out
Bulgaria (Group C)
1. They looked in good shape in the first 45 mins against Sweden
2. Lost to Denmark 2-0
3. Lost to Sweden 5-0
4. Play Italy next
5. These guys are out!
Latvia (Group D)
1. Sorry guys, I don’t see how else
2. In the toughest group of the competition
3. Do you think they can do a Cameroon or a Nigeria?
4. Caused the Czechs some problems
5. Drew with Germany 0-0, doggedly held onto a clean-sheet
6. Lost to Holland 3-0 and are out