I thought it might be a good idea to use the forum to discuss Euro 2004.

I will start the ball rolling by discussing the prospects of England (I hope others will do the same for their own country).

Unlike on previous occasions I think England will do well in this competition. The main reason is that we currently have several world class players: Steven Gerrard, Paul Scholes, David Beckham and Michael Owen. I am also hopeful that three more: Franik Lampard, Ashley Cole and Wayne Rooney could also emerge as world class over the next few weeks. Others like Sol Campbell, Gary Neville and John Terry are better than most English internationals from the past.

However, it seems we have two major problems. One concerns the tactics of Sven-Goran Eriksson. Success will depend on him playing Lampard and Gerrard in the centre with Scholes and Beckham wide of midfield. I know that makes us look too attacking but I think it is worth taking the risk (even against France).

In past European and World finals tiredness has proved to be a major problem for England. There is obviously a connection between this and our long season. A survey in today’s Guardian shows that the English team played an average of 49.5 games last season. This is much more than other teams: Spain (43.9), Portugal (43.6), France (43.0), Holland (40.9), Germany (39.7), Italy (35.3) and Czech Republic (34.8).

The warm weather will also be a problem for England, Germany, Holland and the Czech Republic.

Despite these problems I think the following might reach the semi-finals:

England, France, Italy and the Czech Republic.

El Corte Inglés (nothing to do with England), the biggest department store in Spain, has just launched a special offer in their supermarkets: "If Spain wins the Cup, we will give your money back". I have to admit that Spanish firms are not very supportive with our National Team.

However, I think we have quite a bunch of good players and that, sometime and someplace, Spain will work as a team. Will it be in Portugal? Let's hope that our neighbour's weather and cuisine, so similar to Spain, will help our poor millionaire players.

I have read in some foreign newspaper that the main reason of the poor record of Spain in international competition is our internal regional problems. I don't think so. Curiously, the main examples of "Spanish Fury" are Basque players and, nowadays, probably Carles Puyol, one of the few Catalan players in Barcelona, is the best example of a hard-working and fighter player.

Taking into account that this is a massively English-speaking forum... I bet that the teams that will reach semifinals will be Portugal (let's enjoy Figo), England (although Beckham was lately a bit depressed in Madrid), France (the best in the world is playing there) and Spain (Although, I am a Real Madrid supporter, keep an eye on Fernando Torres, a young player of Atlético de Madrid)

My heart says Engerland, my head says La France, but my money has been wagered on the Portugese (7/1 is too good to miss for a home team especially with Figo and, much as it pains me to admit, Christian Ronaldo).

My biggest worry about England, as John suggests is the dreaded 'Diamond' midfield. The best team in England / Europe (the Arsenal) with one of the finest managers in recent history always play 4-4-2 and that is a system that 'English' teams are used to. We looked incredibly weak against Japan playing the diamond as Lampard, Beckham, Scholes and Gerrard don't actually know how to tackle. Scholes should have been sent off several times in the last few games that he has played as a result of several shocking tackles. By playing Scholes at the 'top' of the diamond he also gets in the way of Rooney who should be allowed to drop inot the 'hole' a la Bergkamp and pick up the ball from deeper - you only needed to witness the second goal he scored against Finland to see the power of the boy. Beckham is also much more effective out on the right wing, despite his desire to play in the middle, and his deadly accurate passing helps the forwards much more than his attempts to dribble through a packed defence.

My second concern is the defence especially against the French. As a gooner I have seen the likes of Henry, Pires, Vieira and even Wiltord rip the heart out of so many teams with their incredible pace, energy and sublime skill. Without the injured John Terry in the middle whoever replaces him (Carragher or King) is going to be in for a tough time against Titi. However I have heard rumours that some Football journalists have suggested that Henry 'bottles it' on the biggest occasions and goes AWOL (eg the quarter-final of the Champions League against Chelsea). I am not totally convinced.

As for the other teams, it seems that there are serious doubts about the Italians (and rumours of unhappiness in their training camp), the Germans have been off the boil for the longest that I can remember and the Spanish never seem to gel as a team (and why did they leave Jose Antonio Reyes at home?). Strangely it seems that the Dutch are getting on well and they could be a surprise package - Ajax looked good in the Champions League and they have some great individuals like Arjen Robben - although the midfield is a bit old.

Predictions:

Semi finals - France, England, Holland, Italy

My second concern is the defence especially against the French. As a gooner I have seen the likes of Henry, Pires, Vieira and even Wiltord rip the heart out of so many teams with their incredible pace, energy and sublime skill. Without the injured John Terry in the middle whoever replaces him (Carragher or King) is going to be in for a tough time against Titi. (Dan Lyndon)

With the loss of Terry in defence Henry is bound to cause England serious problems on Sunday. I have no confidence in either Carragher or King being able to stop him. William Gallas is the only defender who has coped with him this season. My solution would be to bring in Wayne Bridge at left back and give Ashley Cole a man-marking role on Henry.

El Corte Inglés (nothing to do with England), the biggest department store in Spain, has just launched a special offer in their supermarkets: "If Spain wins the Cup, we will give your money back". I have to admit that Spanish firms are not very supportive with our National Team. (Juan Carlos)

I am afraid we have seen a big patriotic surge with about a third of all cars flying English flags.

I bet that the teams that will reach semifinals will be Portugal (let's enjoy Figo), England (although Beckham was lately a bit depressed in Madrid), France (the best in the world is playing there) and Spain (Although, I am a Real Madrid supporter, keep an eye on Fernando Torres, a young player of Atlético de Madrid) (Juan Carlos)

I look forward to seeing Fernando Torres. David Beckham looks like the hard season has caught up with him (I mean playing football). He will not the only one under-performing at Euro 2004. I thought Henry was showing signs of tiredness at the end of the season. Well, you can hope anyway.

Juan Carlos: What did you make of Spain’s performance last night? To my mind it was competent rather than brilliant. One got the impression that if Russia scored a goal, Spain would have gone up a gear and scored another.

Portugal seemed over-anxious and will now struggle to qualify. I expect Spain and Russia will beat them.

News emerging from the England camp suggests that King will replace Terry. This seems to me to be a terrible gamble. He has not even played much in this position for his own team. Nor has he played in any big games and is likely to suffer badly from nerves against France. Even if my idea of playing Cole against Henry is too revolutionary, why not switch Neville to the centre (he has played in this position in big games for Man United).

Let us hope I am wrong. If so, I will happily write about Sven-Goran Eriksson’s inspired team selection.

Three genius in French team : Barthez, Zidane and... God
Great British defense, poor french tactics : why allways trying to cross through the heart of this defense, with balls for English heads ? What about left or right wing ? So little occasions to score, on both sides... I definitively have rather rugby
English footballers are tough and often have problems of timing in tackling, especially Lampard and Scholes (I'm not quite sure of his name). But Lampard was in the timing to score

After the 5-0 win Sweden looks upon the European Mastership with new interest, but many of the comments have been cautious (except from some of the Newspapers...). I think that most of us realize that Sweden was fairly close of loosing the game when Henrik Larsson scored the 2-0 goal. Bulgaria played a smart game, but they forgot their defensive positions in the second half - and you can't do that against players like Zlatan, Henrik Larsson and Freddie...

But as I said until the second goal Bulgaria had quite a firm grip of the game...

I hope that the Swedish mistakes in the first part of the game was just some premier nerves... and that they will feel more confident now. It would be sweet to defeat Italy...

I also find the French victory over England a bit lucky... I thought the English team played a very typical efficient Sven-Göran Eriksson Game - up to the misfortunes of the extra time. It's not a lot of fun to watch, but it is very efficient. I was also impressed by the team effort of England and it was quite upsetting to see the end...

As for the continuation of the European Mastership I can sense two hard games for Sweden - but if we manage to qualify for the second round I know from previous experience that the team can get quite good... (We still remember the nice days of the World Championship of 1994 not so bad for a country with a population less than 9 million people...)

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It's only a game gentlemen!

But if you look at political implications: some say that modern Germany was born in the Swiss town of Bern on July 4th 1954: Das Wunder von Bern where the German team beat Hungary!

I found the England game very frustrating (surprise, surprise!) and very reassuring (we certainly know how to snatch defeat from the jaws of victory). There were many positive elements, especially in the form of Rooney and, despite John S's pessimism, Ledley King was outstanding. The worry, as I suggested previously was the midfield, who played so deep in the second half that they were virtually camped on our own 18 yard box. As an Arsenal man I thought that the English gooners out performed their French teammates (Henry was fairly anonymous, maybe those journalists were right after all!). However, I am still optimistic that England will qualify for the next round and could well meet the French in the final. Oh what joy it will be to take sweet revenge.

The only other match I have watched was the Sweden game last night and I was certainly impressed by their second half performance. Larsson's diving header was fantastic and it was good to see Freddie Ljungberg so involved. Maybe they are a good outside bet for the title?

I hope to watch the Holland-Germany game tonight, and despite my German ancestry I shall be rooting for the Dutch, they just play football as the good Lord intended it to be played!

Perhaps my posting on the EURO 2004 seems a bit weird at first sight, but i a what frivolous way I tried to describe how people in the Netherlands behave during Euro 2004.

The Dutch team is called ORANJE (=orange), named after the House of Orange. People decorate their house, whole streets have been decorated with orange plastic, flags, anything orange really.

In between a lot of Dutch national flags, the RED, WHITE, ande BLUE. In shops and advertisements you'll see a lot of these nationalistic symbols and sociologists describe it als "pseudo nationalism"

With the game against Germany coming up, half of my students were dressed in orange and asked about their orange outfit they simply answered: because of the game vs Germany.

Sometimes I'm worried about the fact that in games Holland vs Germany people still think they want to take revenge for "the War", a feeling also shared by many Brits when the relationship with Germany is concerned. (John Cleese in Falwty Towels, sorry Towers)

If you look at the German approach there is much more realism in judging the position of the German team.

'The Wunder von Bern' link however makes clear that the German footballteam has played a far bigger role in building up post war Germany than the creation of the Bundes Republik Deutschland. German people therefore cherish their team without exaggerating nationalistic feelings as much as Dutch people seem to be doing at the moment.

After the 5-0 win Sweden looks upon the European Mastership with new interest, but many of the comments have been cautious (except from some of the Newspapers...). I think that most of us realize that Sweden was fairly close of loosing the game when Henrik Larsson scored the 2-0 goal. Bulgaria played a smart game, but they forgot their defensive positions in the second half - and you can't do that against players like Zlatan, Henrik Larsson and Freddie. (Anders)

Sweden were very good to watch against Bulgaria. Were they influenced by the Swedish prime minister Goran Persson's comments that they were not adventurous enough. I cannot imagine Tony Blair making a comment like that. The worst performance was by the English referee Mike Riley (he is as bad as this every Saturday).


The Dutch team is called ORANJE (=orange), named after the House of Orange. People decorate their house, whole streets have been decorated with orange plastic, flags, anything orange really. (Nico)

It was very impressive to see such a large number of Dutch fans in orange at last night’s game. The fans were much more impressive than the team (maybe the problem is the manager who seems to create fear in his own players – he did the same at Rangers).

My team GAIS (of Gothenburg) has since I was a very young boy taken up an important part of my life. My father was a supporter as well as my grandfather and my children often goes along with me to the games. Some of my earliest childhood memories is deeply connected with the green field, cheering people and the team... After every season a feeling of emptiness and after a relatively short period longing to the next season would (and will) occur - so it's definitely more than just a game. (Anders)

As you say, football is much more than a game. I was also brought up at a time when supporting your local football team was one way you were part of the community. The way your team performed had an influence on the way you saw yourself. It is said that when Liverpool lost in the 1970s (which was not very often) the whole city was depressed until the team achieved its next victory.

Football seems to be much less of a community game now. Youngsters seem to prefer to support the team at the top of the league rather than their local team. They then go around boasting about how their team is top of the league as if they are in someway responsible for this success. This seems to be too easy. I was brought up to believe that pleasure only comes after a long period of hard-work (Protestant work ethic and all that). Although I have only had the pleasures of watching my team (West Ham) win anything of any importance three times (including one European competition), I am sure this has more emotional significance than watching Arsenal or Man Und win something every season.

I teach in an all girls school. My tutor group's main comment on the England v France game was the French teams socks were a fashion nightmare

I enjoy football but not international matches so much. I will be on the golf course tomorrow during the "big match" which with any luck will be deserted bar me and my golfing partner.

Who will win?? I will win the golf and France will win Euro 2004

Who will win the 2004 tournament?

I think that one of the "bigger nations" will be successful as usual; Spain, Italy, England, Germany and France, but I hope that one of the smaller nations (like for example Sweden...) will surprise me...

Spain plays well at times, but they seem to have a hard time finishing what they started - nerves? They barely beat Russia and tied with Greece. They look like a better team than Portrugal but I don't know if they will be able to defeat them...

Italy seems to be "lucky" in several championchips, still they are nearly always among the top teams when the tournament is over. Italy's performance against Denmark was not very good, but they have a very efficient defence which we will face tomorrow. Our forwards will have a much harder time than they did against Bulgaria... Another concern of mine is the ability of Italian players to play the "dying duck" in the penalty zone... I would not get very surprised if we got at least one penalty kick against us for one of those performances. So in the end I'm quite sure that Italy will be among one of the top four...

If England stays calm and play as a team I'm sure we will find them among the top once. I would like to see some of those forwards step up and do what they are supposed to do - score. It will be very interesting to follow this afternoons game.

Germany is usually a very efficient team in tournaments. I'm not sure about this years team but they have a tradition of doing well and that means a lot in this kind of competition.

France has the best individual players but I'm not convinced about the team. If a team play as disciplined as the English - more than 90 minutes I'm sure France will get problems. So a strong defence, lots of patience (and physical strength) and France will not be the Champions.

One team that I think deserved a better result was Russia. Several injured players and other problems... still they manage to play very well. I was especially impressed with how fast they turned the play around - very quickly from defence up to the top forwards. To bad that the offensive was so weak - amazing that they didn't score on all those great plays they got from the defence and lower midfield.

Well it's another day in "football land" - the seat is booked for this afternoon. I keep my fingers crossed for the English team and I'm looking forward to another evening full of "popular culture" and probably the greatest entertainment invented - football! (no time for upper class hockey - golf...)

I originally said that the last four would be: England, France, Italy and the Czech Republic. Although all four have not always played well I am not yet ready to change my mind. However, three other teams, Spain, Sweden and Greece have all shown good form.

Last night’s game against Croatia shows that France is vulnerable against teams willing to attack them. Despite their recent good record, I am not convinced by France’s defence. However, France’s attack is always likely to score goals. History shows us that it is teams with good defences that win European championships.

I am interested in seeing tonight’s game between Sweden and Italy. It is possible that the winner of this game could be the winner of Euro 2004.

When I was watching the game between England and Switzerland yesterday I saw the recemblance of the Sweden-Bulgaria game a few days before. England played nervous and the defence left lots of chanses to the Swiss that they fortunately didn't use in a more effectice way. I don't think this kind of play will be efficient against Croatia. I hope that the defence will recover, that the midfield will be better connected and more aggressive so they can feed the English forwards with the kind of game they deserve. I was impressed by young Wayne Rooney, but I was also impressed by Darius Vassell - how come he wasn't in from the beginning. He seems to have the ability to induce energy...
You probably realize that you are playing quite "Swedish" now... I don't know if that's a good thing or bad...

Croatia will be tough opponents for England. Rooney was impressive against Switzerland, but his aggressive play ealier on in the game made me wonder how long it would be before he gave away a penalty.

England did not play well against Switzerland last night. It might have been nerves but I suspect it had more to do with the heat. As with in the game against France, the problem was with retaining the ball. This will have to improve in England are to make further progress in the tournament.

Anders, you are right to be impressed with Wayne Rooney. I am in favour of playing young strikers in big matches. They have no fear and don’t appear to suffer from nerves. Rooney performances are in direct contrast to that of Michael Owen. Unlike when he first arrived on the scene, he appears nervous and anxious. Even if he does get chances, I fully expect to miss them. I agree that Darius Vassell should replace him in the starting line-up. However, it will not happen, Owen, like Beckham, is beyond criticism.

Rooney’s problem is he lacks self-discipline and is likely to be sent off before the end of the tournament. However, such is his ability and self-confidence, he will perform well, whatever the level.

I think that David Beckham was quite poor in his performance against Switzerland. Several of the more dangerous attempts against the English goal started on his side of the field and I think that maybe he should have been replaced in the second half... Is it possible to critisize his performance?

Another nervous game. Sweden was extremely lucky to get one point against Italy. Italy came to play football this time (compared with the uninterest they showed against Denmark) and they do have a lot of great players. It was far to obvious that we have a big problem with our defence, especially on the right side (since our ordinary right defense player is injured we played with two midfielder on the right side; Mikael Nilsson - he always plays in the offensive midfield and another offensive midfielder Christian Wilhelmsson). Italy obviously knew about their inexperience in this role so they attacked on that side over and over again. These problems together with a team that backed up far to much and lacked the aggressitivity that's necessary we were in deep .... It was our goalkeeper that saved us in the first half!!!

The second half started a bit the same way but then Italy did the ordinary mistake - they backed home playing on the result. I can't understand that a team that has such a good grip on the game allows the other team to get back into the game. As I said before - you can not make that mistake against players like Zlatan, Henrik Larsson and Freddie.

Sweden moved the team up and the coaches put more offensive players in. Kim Källström finally came in (most people don't understand why both our coaches let Anders Svensson continue to play when it's so obvious that he is not in shape...) and soon after Mattias Jonsson. Both these players have great offensive abilities. The Italian goalkeeper is excellent and it took a typical unorthodox Zlatan kick to score. That player must be a nightmare to meet since you never what he will do next...

Once again a young hungry player (like Rooney and Panucci) without any fear scores. It seems like we witness a lot of tomorrows dominants in the mastership (or should I say todays since they obviously already dominate). Now we have to get prepared for the most important game - if we tie or win against Denmark we will qualify for further games. These are two teames that know each other very well. I think Denmark has an advantage since they play more like a team and they have a fairly good defense. They have also showed that they can play aggressively - man to man - which will confuse and frustrate the Swedish players. On the other hand - we have one of the best offensive lines right now so it will definitely be an interesting game...

A few observations so far;

More young players seem to be fearless (showing no respect what so ever). They show an incredible focus and add to their teams strength a lot - while we see other established players fall back - due to nerves? or the fact that they are to established (not hungry enough)? I still believe that a healthy mix of young hungry players and older established dominant players is the best mix... With other words you probably wouldn't do to well with a team with just young hungry players...

Ball possession means very little today. It use to be equaled with victory - not so anymore. We often see a lot of good defence and the other team pushing and pushing trying to score just to see a very swift counter attack which makes the team with less ball possession victorious...

Rough ugly play and intimidation is more or less part of every national teams strategy today. It's sometimes amazing that the players can stand up after being victims of the more serious attempts to play "rough"

What a great competition this is turning out to be. I thought the Italy-Sweden contest was special but it could not compare with last night’s Holland-Czech game. It was one of the best games I have ever seen. For most of the game Holland lost their fear of losing and played some tremendous football. Then, as in the Italy game, the manager made a terrible tactical error by taking off the exiting Robben and replacing him with the dour Bosvelt. The change resulted in the Czechs taking the initiative getting the victory they needed to qualify. Hopefully, Holland will still qualify (Germany are a terribly boring team).

No team so far has been able to show it has the right balance between defence and attack. Countries like the Czech Republic, France and Holland have the potential to score lots of goals but will also let too many in. Italy, Spain and England seem to have the best balanced teams.

Looking forward to the Spain-Portugal game tonight. I suspect an over-anxious Portugal to be beaten by the Spanish.

I haven't seen too many complete games, (apart from the pretty average performances of the English) but did really enjoy watching both the Sweden games and the parts of the Holland-Czech Rep game that I saw was very entertaining. Like most viewers I am still not sure about this variation of the offside laws. I was sure that both the Dutch goals were offside, especially Van Nistleroy - how can a player standing in front of the goal keeper NOT be 'active'. I really don't think that the law needed to be changed, there were enough goals being scored, which was presumably the motivation for changing the rule.

I personally do not find myself anywhere near as engaged in International matches compared to the intensity of following my team (I guess there is no surprise there). I often watch England games in a pub in order to get involved in the atmosphere that is created, but I don't tend to watch Arsenal games in a pub as I prefer to watch in my own home and inch closer and closer to the screen as the match develops.

I have tried to work out why I get so much pleasure from football and why I become so emotionally involved in the game. I guess that it has been very much part of my socialisation. Like others have mentioned my connection with football has meant a close connection with the (male) members of my family. My grandfather took my brother and myself to our first football match (I think it was Arsenal v Aston Villa in 1977), most of the conversations that I have with my father involve some discussion of the footie. I wouldn't say that it has had an impact on my social relationships (although I have missed family occasions to watch matches before) but I am glad that my partner enjoys watching football too, and the fact that she is a Tottenham supporter hasn't caused lasting damage!

The Netherlands_ Czech Republic 2-3

I am still in shock about the game from last night. Well it was better then the one the Dutch played against the Germans. Then again, they could not play much worse then that...

When Beckham invited Croatia into the game in the beginning of the match I thought they would continue to play a more aggressive game with lots of pressure on the boll holders - high up on the English defense and midfield. Instead Croatia committed the mistake of backing up - and once again it did not pay off! I really don't understand how one team after the other one makes the same mistake...
Well, once again I was very impressed with Wayne Rooney (it's hard to not be impressed...). What an extra ordinary player you have!
Meeting Portugal in the quarterfinal I think actually is a better deal for England than Greece (remember the game you nearly lost in England not to long ago...). The reasons why I think Portugal fits England better is;
England plays more like a team (even if several parts of the team can become better). This is something very valuable when you meet teams that have some individually good players but lack the discipline to play like a team
Portugal has the "disadvantage" of being at home. It's an enormous pressure on the players...
Portugal managed to defeat Spain which means that some players might think that they done what they came for. No matter the results at least one game was won with honour...
Sven-Göran Eriksson was the trainer of Benfica several years and he knows Portugese fooball well

I think (and hope) that the English team will improve with every game they play. The first game they played was one of the few good defensive games we seen in this tournament and it was so close to succeed - not a beaty for the eye though... The game against Switzerland was the weakest one so far (for the English team) - nervous with an open defense and a fairly poor midfield, still England won. Yesterdays game was an improvement, but several players have quite a bit moore to give. One thing that made me believe in further advancement for the English team was the fact that they did not back up in the second half - in the same way as Croatia (before them the Netherlands, Italy...) did. That was quite reassuring. Will the great play come in the next game (next games)?

Tonight is our nervous night - will it be Danish dynamite or will it be Swedish "coolness" ?

Sweden 2 Denmark 2

It's a nordic fix-up!!!!!!!!!!

Only joking, what a great game, both teams easily deserved to be in the next round. Forza Italia, seems like a spit in the ocean at the moment!

Pleased that both Sweden and Denmark got through. However, I was not very impressed with Sweden tonight. They looked very tired and should have lost by a couple of goals. As an England supporter I was pleased by the exit of Italy. Like Spain they had the players to win this. I would rather meet Sweden or Denmark in the semi-final than Italy.

I really don't know what to say - but for us it was not a very good game (even if the result was good). I don't understand why we start so very slow (even if it was a little improvement in this game). The defensive on the left side (Michael Nilsson) does not get any help (as I said he is a midfielder) and he obviously doesn't feel comfortable at this position. The coaches must do something before the quarterfinal. Once again we see the midfield backing up - weak today. I don't know how many games we will get away with this kind of play, but maybe the team can relax now and know that they will not be favourites in any game that follows... that can make them better! Now I need another drink...

The Italian team ought to be fined / reprimanded by UEFA for suggesting that the Swedish and Danish teams would 'fix' the result. Making that allegation is unsportsmanlike in itself and has painted a very sour image of the competition. Tournaments are better off without management teams such as this, the behaviour of the management and some players is a disgusting example of the underhand tactics that some teams employ to try and undermine the mental state of their opponents.

On another note. One of the Croatia players failed to sign a declaration form relating to drugs he was given by the team doctor. In theory a failure to sign this form is as serious an offence as failing to attend a random drugs test. Can anyone explain why the player was then allowed to take the field against England whilst Rio Ferdinand is still banned for his, apparently similarly serious, indiscretion?

The dissapointment as well as accusations from some Italian players, leaders and papers were expected. I understand the frustration - but Italy lost their place in the quarterfinal against Denmark (by playing bad!) and Sweden (by backing up and letting the Swedes back into the game). The result between Denmark and Sweden was just a confirmation of the inability of the Italian team before this game!

Denmark had quite a firm grip on yesterdays game - with maybe the exception of 15 minutes before half time and 10 minutes after (until the second Danish goal). They were closer to 3-1 than Sweden was to 2-2. I'm quite worried about the very open (or non-existing) defensive midfield of Sweden as well as the weak left-side (Mikael Nilsson). The players are not aggressive enough. The Danish players as well as the Italian players before that gets all the time they need to deliver good passes undisturbed. We have to move the midfield further up and close that gap and put a lot of pressure on the ball holder so they don't get the time to deliver good passes. In the game yesterday you saw Swedish players back up - running backwards with 2-3 meters distance to a player attacking. Not only does the attacking player have the advantage of being left alone he also has much more speed and it's quite easy to pass the defending player. This was a pattern that was repeated again and again...

The only positive things I bring along from yesterdays game (except the fact that we actually qualified for the second round and won the group) is the fact that our goaley is very stable (he is only 22 years old - he's born exactly the same date as Zlatan), the offensive can create chances even if the midfield doesn't work very well (they often back down and get the ball themselves) and the moral - Sweden does not give up - they will play to the very end (the coaches have reinforced the idea of giving everything. Their favourite expression is "into the tiles" - refering to swimming...).

At the same time I must admire the Danish play. Denmark knew exactly how to play, they were the better team and they play like a team! Czeck Republic will not get an easy game against the "Danish dynamite" !

I must say I found the Italian calls of "fix" this morning hilarious. Their goalkeeper has been quoted as saying "someone should be punished" (for the alleged fix). Well someone has been punished - the Italian team for their dreary defensive style of play

Never mind Italy, perhaps they could enter their football team into the "synchronised diving" event at this years Olympics

We all knew that this conspiracy theory would come up if the score would be a draw 2-2, 3-3 etc... Before the game the Italians had made it very clear that they would not accept this result. They talked about filming every part of the game, following the different players attitude etc...

Now it happen anyway - even if both teams knew that the majority of Italy would believe in a Nordic conspiracy. What should we have done to please the Italians - kick the ball in our own goal the last minute so that we couldn't be accused of conspiracy? Then the world would have said "Isn't Sweden the most fair playing team in the world"? I don't think so.

Over the years we have played against Denmark many times and it's a game that both teams always enjoy winning - it's a lot of pride in this. I believe in fair play and I think that I saw one yesterday (except the last minute and a half). UEFA had a special observer at the game - he made the comment that he had nothing to complain about. I don't find it hard to see a goalie miss. This happens at every tournament. The Danish Goalkeepr also did some quite remarkable savings (as well as the Swedish goalie).

There is another dimension in this - if this game was rigged than how many of the other games in this mastership have been rigged? A lot of the beaty of the game would go away - and I would definitely lose interest if I believed it. It would also take away the joy of cheering for the team if I went around thinking it's all a fix... I choose to believe "innocent until proven guilty". With other words I'm not going to let you and the Italian papers ruin my joy of the Swedish team effort. We did not play very well, but we struggled through the game trying to compensate the lack of good football with hard labour. I believ that it paid off.

If there would be good proofs which supports the conspiracy theory I expect the team (or both teams if both are involved) to be disqualified. I also expect UEFA to fine the country (or both countries) and later decide on further punishments (like life-long exclusion of players involved, excluding the team from the next mastership etc...). The punishment should be so serious that no country or player would even consider doing it in the future.

I repeat what I said before - Italy did not lose the place into the second round in the last game they lost it against Denmark (by playing bad!) and Sweden (by backing up and letting the Swedes back into the game). The result between Denmark and Sweden was just a confirmation of the inability of the Italian team before this game!

I enjoyed a 'father-son' weekend with Thomas my 11 year old son. Together with 35 kids and their dads we watched the Holand vs Czech Republic game. You can imagine 60 people watching a big screen. 1-0, 2-0. Halftime 2-1

Then the second half: an excellent game but spectators didn't understand Bosvelt coming in as a sustitute for Arjen Robben (Chelsea 2004-2005) Arjen was one of the best on the pitch. The substituition turned out to be a mistake of Dick Advocaat, trainer of the Dutch team (former Glasgow Rangers).

A good game it was despite the 2-3 loss.

I never complain about the referee, but the referee in this game made some terrible mistakes. He should not be qualified to lead another EC game!

Italy vs Sweden was nice: but I couldn't see Dalibor in the yellow-blue crowd. I hope for Dalibor that the game vs Denmark is even better for him!

Nico (June 21st)

Today a horror scenario for either Germany or the Dutch team will come true. With Spain and Italy out another great football nation will leave Euro 2004.
Dutch media blamed Dick Advocaat, the trainer of the Dutch team, for the 3-2 loss vs the Czech Republic.

As I understand Arjan Robben will appear tonight and Willem van Hanegem (a respected ex-player, now assistant to Dick Advocaat) said in a news briefing that if Advocaat was going to make another fatal mistake that he would 'knock him down'.
Frank de Boer is now in the team instead of J. Heitinga (red card). Winning from Letland however won't be easy, but even then the Dutch team depends on what Germany is doing with the Czechs.

Bookmakers give the Dutch team 38% chance. Not much, but 10.5 milion Dutch are expected to watch the game on the tele. The other 5 milion are probably disgusted with the 'oranje madness' sweeping the country!