04/16/24
June 24, 2004
England vs Portugal.: If this isn't the match of Euro 2004, I don't know what is. England (SpoFi's team of choice I think), current joint top scorers (with Sweden), and Roonaldo, joint top scorer (with Ruud v N), kick off the first quarterfinal against underperforming hosts Portugal. There will be great emotion at the game, and right here, too. Join us at 1130am PST/230pm EST for live text commentary and some online hoopin' and hollerin'.
posted by worldcup2002 to soccer at 11:41 AM - 92 comments
I'm buying this match...i don't care! 24.95!
posted by StarFucker at 11:57 AM on June 24, 2004
Yes.... they should stick with 4-4-2. It's worked in the past why change now? Of course Hargreaves should come in (assuming his stomach problems have passed). I'm biased since he hails from my hometown, but I think he will add some speed to the midfield.
posted by camcanuck at 12:00 PM on June 24, 2004
England look like fielding an unchanged team. Loads of reports are suggesting that England fans have somehow snaffled 40,000 tickets and so will outnumber their hosts. It could be a hell of a night. Portugal have the flair, pace, wit, imagination and control of Figo, Ronaldo and Deco, whereas England have Rooney and muscular organisation . with which to counter it. A clash of cultures and a clash of styles, with Portugal's timidity in front of goal to count against them. I can't wait.
posted by Fat Buddha at 12:22 PM on June 24, 2004
Czechs in the final... England will lose tonight, and Rooney will be sent off.
posted by StarFucker at 12:24 PM on June 24, 2004
You mean Czechs win the final right? I think England pull out a close one here (Portugal have been up and down).
posted by trox at 12:28 PM on June 24, 2004
The Czechs look strong and balanced and have quality players everywhere, but they may have shot their bolt. Tournaments are usually won by improving teams, which would suggest England, Portugal or maybe France to win this one.
posted by Fat Buddha at 12:49 PM on June 24, 2004
come on england! for what it's worth, us yanks can watch the game online, complete with korean commentary! go to soccerstreams.com (you probably have to register - give them a bogus mailinator.com email acct if need be), click on "upcoming", and then get the MBC stream #2 (this is the only one that works for me, and i can't figure out how to give the direct stream). this, coupled with the bbc audio broadcast, is pretty nice, although i think the audio will be a few seconds ahead of the video..
posted by blarp at 12:51 PM on June 24, 2004
Try bugmenot for the purposes of stress free registrations.
posted by Fat Buddha at 12:55 PM on June 24, 2004
blarp, you are so da man. Hope it works for the rest of you guys. I don't think I could do this undetected at work, so I'll have to settle for the text or, at best, Five Live.
posted by worldcup2002 at 12:58 PM on June 24, 2004
Damn Blarp!! NOW you tell me! I just spilled 24.95 for this bitch... Looking for a VHS tape, and getting my computer ready to record too! It better be a classic...
posted by StarFucker at 01:11 PM on June 24, 2004
It'll be shit. (I'm none too confident at the moment)
posted by dng at 01:17 PM on June 24, 2004
Hey, there's a chance I could be wrong.. I'm watching MBC link 2 right now, and they're showing the Mets/Reds game, which is only in the 4th inning. I would assume that they'll cut away to the England/Portugal game when it starts, but I'm not sure. Oh this will suck if they don't show England. Ugh. Gotta cross those fingers. For what it's worth, I _have_ watched Euro2004 games on this channel before.. like the Holland/Latvia game yesterday. If MBC link 2 has baseball, then try out the other links. One of them has to work (I hope).
posted by blarp at 01:20 PM on June 24, 2004
I wonder why you're so down on Rooney, Fooker? You'll stand up and fight for louts like Alan Smith and other Leeds hooligans, but not for Rooney, who actually has the skill and staying power (and loyalty!) to match his aggression. My curiousity is piqued. Go England!
posted by worldcup2002 at 01:43 PM on June 24, 2004
At long last Owen scores a Goooooooooooal. That didn't take long.
posted by camcanuck at 01:50 PM on June 24, 2004
Owen on 3 minutes. 1-0 England! YES!
posted by worldcup2002 at 01:58 PM on June 24, 2004
Half time 1-0. What a brilliant, fast, open , attacking half. Pity the ref is such a clot.
posted by Fat Buddha at 02:37 PM on June 24, 2004
1-1. Postiga has equalized with six minutes to go. Why did England sit on their lead? Why? Why? With Rooney, Gerrard and Scholes off, who can come up with the magical winner? Owen? Vassell? Beckham? Will it all come to nothing?
posted by worldcup2002 at 03:32 PM on June 24, 2004
Campbell scores a last minute goal! - DISALLOWED! It's extra-time, and probably penalties. Unless Portugal scores a heartbreaking goal. Start biting those nails.
posted by worldcup2002 at 03:36 PM on June 24, 2004
oh shit.. 2-1 portugal
posted by blarp at 04:04 PM on June 24, 2004
oh no. Both substitutes have scored for Portugal today. What about England's subs? Vassell? Hargreaves? Phil Neville? Never mind.
posted by worldcup2002 at 04:06 PM on June 24, 2004
Woah! This extra time and the last ten minutes of regulartion make up for the boring 60-70 minutes prior to that!
posted by mkn at 04:08 PM on June 24, 2004
regulation, even.
posted by mkn at 04:09 PM on June 24, 2004
Holy f*in' a! Lampard makes it 2-2 with five minutes left. GOOOOOOOOOOOOOAAAAAL! GOL! GOL! GOL!
posted by worldcup2002 at 04:09 PM on June 24, 2004
I'm having to get the details of this match via text updates and it's still intense. We're going to penalties.
posted by camcanuck at 04:15 PM on June 24, 2004
Graaargh. Beckham does an Owen with the first penalty. Deco doesn't. 1-0 Portugal.
posted by worldcup2002 at 04:22 PM on June 24, 2004
Oh my god this is crazy
posted by chaz at 04:23 PM on June 24, 2004
If I hadn't had a great lunch of cayenne fried chicken and corn and cole slaw washed down with strawberry lemonade, my stomach would be churning now. As it is, my hair is turning white.
posted by worldcup2002 at 04:24 PM on June 24, 2004
rui costa missed too!
posted by chaz at 04:26 PM on June 24, 2004
I can't believe they let Owen take one. Looks like he did crap all with it but the goalie obligingly dived out of the way. Still, 2-1 Porties. Crap. Now the Guardian is hanging up on me. Quit hitting Refresh, camcanuck!
posted by worldcup2002 at 04:26 PM on June 24, 2004
4-4. My nails are pretty much gone by now. If I'd been biting them.
posted by worldcup2002 at 04:28 PM on June 24, 2004
NO!
posted by chaz at 04:30 PM on June 24, 2004
nnnghhghghghhgh. yet again.
posted by etagloh at 04:31 PM on June 24, 2004
Portugal wins......
posted by camcanuck at 04:32 PM on June 24, 2004
No.
posted by worldcup2002 at 04:33 PM on June 24, 2004
As a hockey fan, I have to say: shootouts are stoopid.
posted by mkn at 04:34 PM on June 24, 2004
I'll second mkn thoughts.... shootouts suck. It's no way to end a team game. That being said.... damn it! If Beckham could've found hit the net all would be good in the world. Now I'm left cheering for the Netherlands.
posted by camcanuck at 04:37 PM on June 24, 2004
Because I didn't actually see it can anyone comment on whether or not the disallowed goal was a good call?
posted by camcanuck at 04:41 PM on June 24, 2004
OH MY FUCKING GOD!!! COMCAST turned off their fucking feed right after the Ricardo save!! I had to come on the fucking internet to see who won!!!! SON OF A BITCH!!!
posted by StarFucker at 04:41 PM on June 24, 2004
FUCK CUNT FUCK CUNT FUCK CUNT FUCK CUNT
posted by dng at 04:42 PM on June 24, 2004
Guardian crapped out on me at 4-4. It's still crapped out.
posted by worldcup2002 at 04:45 PM on June 24, 2004
We lost. Fucking hell. Ricardo actually took the last Portuguese penaltiy and scored. Fucking hell. That man has some fucking nerve. FUCK
posted by dng at 04:49 PM on June 24, 2004
Camcanuk, there was nothing, absolutely fucking nothing, wrong with the goal that got disallowed. The referee is a grade a cunt.
posted by Fat Buddha at 04:50 PM on June 24, 2004
The goalkeeper scored the winning goal? That's some balls right there. MAN!
posted by worldcup2002 at 04:51 PM on June 24, 2004
I wouldn't know!! FUCKING COMCAST!!!
posted by StarFucker at 04:52 PM on June 24, 2004
Now I know how the Italians felt in Japan. Cheated.
posted by Fat Buddha at 04:55 PM on June 24, 2004
There was no interference with the goalie whatsoever on that goal. It was perfectly legitimate. As far as I can tell, Terry got a foul for standing still. That ref was absolutely horrendous. Great game to watch, too bad about the end result
posted by sauril at 05:18 PM on June 24, 2004
The goalkeeper scored the winning goal? That's some balls right there. MAN! It was one ball actually old chap, right in the bastard corner.
posted by Fat Buddha at 05:19 PM on June 24, 2004
FUCKING COMCAST!!! Amen. They removed Fox Sports World from my package entirely! I tried to call, got tired of waiting on hold and decided to do my bitching on their site. After typing up a long complaint, I got an error message that stated that the "Comments" section of the web site was not available in my area. I think one person works there, and the rest is all smoke and mirrors.
posted by usfbull at 05:25 PM on June 24, 2004
shootouts be damned. england looked to be on their heels for the entire second half and really showed very little forward effort until they were behind. ouch. the only thing that might have caught the eye of the ref on the campbell goal is that Terry's arm was sort of over the keeper's shoulder or some such. perhaps making it look like he was impeding the effort of the keeper to jump. but terry and campbell had the position and the keeper would have been trying to impede on THEIR space to get the ball. and the BBC announcers pointed out that the linesman called it a goal and he had a better position to see it (right side of the field and closer) than the ref did. one of the bbc pundits called the ref a homer. i hate to see a game end on penalty kicks. it has nothing to do with the ebb and flow of the game. I guess I am left pulling for sweden cause Larsson played down the road. and i really don't want to see portugal win.
posted by gspm at 05:31 PM on June 24, 2004
Come on the Czechs now. Fucking I hate everyone left, pretty much
posted by dng at 05:39 PM on June 24, 2004
To be honest I don't feel too bad tonight. England were shit yet again. Why do they persist in trying to defend a one goal lead against any team of note? The referee was a tad biassed as well, but I'm not going to moan about him. England lost the game because they simply weren't good enough. They invited wave after wave of Portuguese attacks and a goal was inevitable. Gah.
posted by salmacis at 05:40 PM on June 24, 2004
Certianly, salmacis. I was hoping the France game would have taught us something...
posted by dng at 05:43 PM on June 24, 2004
That's not quite true Salmacis old chap. I agree that England were bloody clueless again and had Portugal won it inside 90 minutes I would have had no complaint. They didn't though and we had a good goal disallowed. I am generally rather dispassionate about England, but the result tonight and the performance of the ref sticks in the craw. After disallowing the goal he indicated a push, clearly, there was no push, plus he ignored his linesman, who had indicated a goal. He was a berk all night, at best incompetentent, at worst corrupt.
posted by Fat Buddha at 05:46 PM on June 24, 2004
I need triple bypass surgery - what a game! It really could have gone either way, although I thought Portugal probably had the better team. A draw would have been a fair result. It was all down to luck. We were lucky. You weren't. Sorry about that - but somebody had to win.
posted by Miguel Cardoso at 05:49 PM on June 24, 2004
Damn you, Miguel Cardoso! So magnanimous in victory. Can't you lord it all over us or something. Thats what you're supposed to do...
posted by dng at 05:52 PM on June 24, 2004
Miguel, the truth is Portugal played the beautiful game, always attacking always probing, challenging, causing us problems. We as ever, and as Salmacis has pointed out, played too deep, too tentatively, scared to commit to attack. Even after Portugal went 2 up they were marauding into the England half with 6 attackers; I don't think England committed 6 men forward in the whole game, apart from set pieces. Once England equalised, they went back into their shell and were happy to settle for penalties. On at least 2 further occasions they had the opportunity to run at the Portugese defence, but chose not to. Good luck to Portugal, I hope they go on and win it. The bastards.
posted by Fat Buddha at 06:06 PM on June 24, 2004
Yes, where are the balls? Portugal gambled and won. Looks like they had four strikers upfront at one point. They brought on two attackers as subs. They both scored. For the game-winning penalty, they had the frickin' goalkeeper kick it. The keeper! Where is the imagination? Where is the flair? Where are the BALLS? England brought on three substitutes, one striker, and the other two, defenders. Where are the balls? Is Wayne Rooney the only one who's not afraid? Soccer is the beautiful game, dammit, not the scared, play-the-odds game. This is a knockout tourney, dammit, play it for all it's worth. Dammit! It's one thing if you're a really crap team and don't have the options and skills to really get things together. But you wouldn't be at this level if you were. When you have the skills and experience that all these teams have, it's just a screaming shame to play the way they play, results be damned.
posted by worldcup2002 at 06:40 PM on June 24, 2004
btw, Good luck, Portugal. I'm going with Holland or the Czechmates.
posted by worldcup2002 at 06:43 PM on June 24, 2004
I would root for Italy but... There was a nice Swedish family in front of me boarding theplane yesterday, so GO YELLOW AND BLUE!!!
posted by billsaysthis at 08:23 PM on June 24, 2004
I would root for Italy but... they're out? I had to cope with a choppy stream of Radio 5, as there was a fuckup somewhere along the feeding chain from Setanta to InDemand to Charter and thus no TV coverage. (The bastards wouldn't even let me pay $180 for the entire package, so it's pick and choose at $25/pop from now on.) My wife's former roommate and her fiancé are Portuguese, so the phone is currently off the hook to evade any gloating. (Not that I expect any, because they're sufficiently passionate about the game to appreciate that penalties are a lottery.) As for Figo and co, nice players, but not a championship team. They won't get to the final, that's for sure, unless they get lucky.
posted by etagloh at 11:18 PM on June 24, 2004
posted by justgary at 12:29 AM on June 25, 2004
bah. I'm annoyed we lost. But, we didn't deserve to win that game - Portugal played us off the park for 120 minutes. If we can't keep the ball at that level, then we don't deserve to win, and I'm not bothered if there was an unfairly disallowed goal. Props to the portuguese goalkeeper for having the balls to take the final penalty, and big props to Ashley Cole and Sol Campbell who were England's best players by a mile.
posted by BigCalm at 03:04 AM on June 25, 2004
posted by BigCalm at 08:44 AM on June 25, 2004
I've seen that photo 6 times in my email this morning. Didn't take long did it...
posted by trox at 09:07 AM on June 25, 2004
And the joke: Henman and Beckham should train together. Beckham can teach Henman to hit the ball over the net. Henman can teach Beckham to hit the ball into the net. ba-dum tchhh!
posted by gspm at 09:13 AM on June 25, 2004
Well i saw the whole game...except for the fucking absolute last penalty kick by Ricardo!!!! I got my money back from Comcast...those idiots! England played well until they scored...the first 3 minutes! Beckham was useless...as he always was. I was looking forward to seeing some Rooney magic as thats all i have been hearing about, but alas he gets injured. It may have been a different game with him playing. Campbell and Cole played well. Lampard was a ghost until he poached another goal. Owen was my Man Of The Match. He had a great game. Vassel came in and did the most he could. Anyone have ANY FREAKING IDEA WHY THE NEVILLE BROTHERS ARE ON THE NATIONAL TEAM?!?! Terry played his usual...pushing, shoving and stepping on opposition players. Scholes and Gerrard should have stayed in... England deserved to lose. They played defense for 80 minutes after the Owen goal...quite pathetic, and bewildering. Terry WAS at fault on the Sol Campbell header...he was holding the keeper down...if you think that was a goal, you don't know how to play football. But if that happened at any time earlier in the game, i think it may have stood. James played well too, he did all he could i think. Portugal kept attacking...they took the chances...they should have won in normal time or after the extra time. I'm just glad i don't have to hear about Lampard's equaliser anymore like i would if England had won on penalties. Lampard is in the same category as Beckham in my opinion without being able to take free kicks with any skill. And is it just me, or does Silver Goal fucking rock!! Golden Goal is the stupidest idea i have ever witnessed in football...worse than Penalty Kicks.
posted by StarFucker at 01:31 PM on June 25, 2004
Fat Buddha: After disallowing the goal he indicated a push, clearly, there was no push, plus he ignored his linesman, who had indicated a goal. Er, FB old chap, how exactly does a linesman indicate a goal? I'll tell you: he doesn't flag, he just runs back to midfield. (Trust me on this, I've been a linesman.) Is that what the linesman did last night?
posted by salmacis at 02:41 PM on June 25, 2004
Holy shit StarFucker, I can't believe Comcast refunded your money even though they fucked up so bad! I'm sincerely surprised they didn't tell you tough shit. I saw only the first two goals then had to leave for a prior engagement. So who should I root for now?
posted by vito90 at 02:46 PM on June 25, 2004
England are the Fucking Red Sox. I'm sooooo sorry to our English mates - that was some heartbreaker. But what a fucking game. Oh my god - this is some of the best sports I've watched in forever. Go Greece today.
posted by WeedyMcSmokey at 02:50 PM on June 25, 2004
France were fucking fucking awful. Which was nice.
posted by dng at 03:45 PM on June 25, 2004
Salmacis, I don't know, is that what the linesman did? I am going on just about every report I have read that said the linesman indicated a goal. Starfucker: Anyone have ANY FREAKING IDEA WHY THE NEVILLE BROTHERS ARE ON THE NATIONAL TEAM?!?! Because of their sweet soul voices?
posted by Fat Buddha at 04:26 PM on June 25, 2004
I don't know what the linesman did. I was looking elsewhere. But seeing as this is being commonly quoted, and 90% of the public have absolutely no idea what the correct signal for a goal is, I find it hard to believe.
posted by salmacis at 05:00 PM on June 25, 2004
If England is out, I'm thrilled that France are as well. And did you all notice how quickly Saenz resigned and Trap was replaced? But Sven is staying, for what, more crap defensive play? SWEDEN SWEDEN SWEDEN
posted by billsaysthis at 05:06 PM on June 25, 2004
I take your point Salmacis, and readily admit I could be wrong as I neither knew what the signal was nor was I looking for it. I was linesman once at Black Patch Park in Winson Green. I was lucky to get out alive! Never again.
posted by Fat Buddha at 05:21 PM on June 25, 2004
Bill, Sven has denied that we played defensively, he says that you have to accept that technically gifted players with good feet will keep the ball for long periods, which of course, suggests that in 2 of 4 games we were up against better players and there is nothing we could be expected to do about it. So Svens excuse is that basically, we are crap.
posted by Fat Buddha at 05:29 PM on June 25, 2004
i don't recall the linesmen ever appearing onscreen in the disputed goal incident. Like i said - the BBC announcers pointed out that the linesman called it a goal and he had a better position to see it . I'll take their word for it that this was true despite their obvious pro-england bias.
posted by gspm at 06:41 PM on June 25, 2004
Not everyone is prepared to give Sven an easy ride over this. And for the record, I agree with every word. David Baddiel was pretty scathing on Fantasy Football tonight as well. I think this might be the beginning of the end of the Sven era.
posted by salmacis at 06:44 PM on June 25, 2004
I think this might be the beginning of the end of the Sven era. Just after the FA gave him a nice new expensive contract, too...
posted by dng at 06:12 AM on June 26, 2004
Mr Meier is going to learn first-hand what it means to enrage the British tabloids.
posted by squealy at 08:37 AM on June 26, 2004
France lost to Greece, goalless, and we're supposed to accept that they're a better team than England? I blame Rooney for breaking his foot, otherwise he gets two more goals and there is no OT or PKs. Speaking of which, how many million pounds are Chelsea going to offer now that he's out until Sep./Oct.?
posted by billsaysthis at 10:37 AM on June 26, 2004
On the end of Sven, I would expect he has a clause in his contract guaranteeing him untold riches if his contract is terminated before it's course has run.
posted by Fat Buddha at 01:25 PM on June 26, 2004
btw, Stevie is reportedly off to Chelsea for 36mil pounds and a 120K-pounds/week salary. And Liverpool want Duff in exchange?
posted by worldcup2002 at 03:56 PM on June 26, 2004
I'm sure England aren't going to sack Sven. On the other hand, I'm sure Sven will be given every encouragement to choose to return to club management. England were no better than, and no worse than France and Sweden. We're among the best teams in Europe (and thus, the world), but we've a bit to go before we're going to win anything. A more positive outlook would help.
posted by salmacis at 04:36 PM on June 26, 2004
Once again, though, we go out to the first decent team we play. And as bad as we were, France were worse. Fucking hell, they couldn't even be arsed when they were 1-0 down.
posted by dng at 05:30 PM on June 26, 2004
I welcome Duff in exchange for Gerrard... Not a problem with me.
posted by StarFucker at 06:15 PM on June 26, 2004
I just hope Duff stays healthy.
posted by StarFucker at 06:15 PM on June 26, 2004
So WHEN are you guys going to give me credit for saying that the Czechs will be in the final?!
posted by StarFucker at 04:13 PM on June 27, 2004
When they're in the final? You hardly need to be a football genius to surmise that the Czechs are going to do well.
posted by squealy at 05:11 PM on June 27, 2004
Wow. How about that Baros? Five goals and current top scorer at Euro 2004. Wonder if Liverpool will keep or sell him.
posted by worldcup2002 at 06:28 PM on June 27, 2004
Selling Baros would be a huge mistake--could we at least wait and see if Cisse will survive three EPL months? The kid apparently has a worse temper than Rooney, which is at least a big part of the reason for his absence in Portugal, and even though Gerrard is staying (at least this week), that doesn't mean Mr. Owen will.
posted by billsaysthis at 11:51 PM on June 28, 2004
Just dropped by to deliver StarFucker's credit.
posted by squealy at 06:12 PM on July 01, 2004
I say they stick with 4-4-2. And, please, no Heskey. Should Hargreaves come in for Terry or Campbell? Will it help them tighten up the defence at setpieces? Or does the whole team just need to come back and cover better?