UEFA Euro 2008
 

GFF Euro 2008 betting game

Participants (7): Denicalis, Shin http://forumimages.somethingawful.co...ot-britain.gif, juanzen, Djinova, Omagnus Prime, Aardark, Musharraf

Current betting game sheet (Day 13)[/b]

I am most definitely in. Picks sent.

Oh, I forgot to add: You need to send me the exact results you're betting for since you will get three points for any correct result (e.g. 2-0, 1-1, etc.), and one point if you bet for the winner (e.g. you bet 3-0, but the game ends 2-1)

I heard there was some football tournament or something on this year. I'm not sure there's any decent teams though. England decided not to bother after thoroughly embarrasing the rest of Europe in the Champions' League this season.

:(

I will participate, what will I get for winning? Also, what happened to England?

Other than Shin being born? A loss to Croatia knocked them out of qualifying.

It's okay, Shin. We all know England just didn't care because they knew France was going to be balls anyway. And what's the fun for Engerland if they can't beat them up some baguette-toting surrender monkeys when it actually means something?

Actually, we all know that the current generation of England internationals have had far too easy a ride in recent years, getting picked on reputation rather than talent and their loyalties have all shifted to their clubs over their countries. To blame the influx of foreigners to the Premiership is ridiculous. There were enough English players in the semi-finals of the Champions League to field (Almost) a full 11 and from the quarters onwards it didn't look like the trophy was going anywhere except Manchester or London. We have two of the greatest club teams in the world at the moment (And Liverpool and Arsenal) who are full of quality English players but they just don't care about playing for England any more. I'd rather see Paul Ince and Stuart Pearce get recalls to the squad than see sicknote Owen or Fat Frank getting picked again. They might be old but at watching them play made you proud to be English and really put you in the mood for smashing up some continental pavement cafes which lets face it, is what supporting England is all about.

I'm backing the Czech Republic and Croatia this time out. The French are all too old and play for Arsenal, the Italians just play ugly football that nobody wants to watch, being English I wouldn't ever support the Germans or Spanish anyway, the Dutch team still all hate each other, the Portugese are in with a chance but I can't support them since the last world cup and I don't really see anyone else winning it. I certainly don't think we'll have another Greek upset or anything like that.

my list has been sent, so I am in already. Just confirming, taking Deni's e-money is going to be so easy.

http://www.filmblog.ch/files/images/...1201344702.jpg
You stand to win everything.

Jack Republic won't matter shit since their captain Tomas Rosicky won't be able to play. Croatia has a good team, though, I guess they have a big chance to get very far in this tournament. Additionally, I hope that Romania will survive group C because that would be ultra cool :cool:

Haha, that's good!

I'm backing the Portugese pony this time out. There's a lot of good teams out there, but also a lot of possible dark horses. No matter how you slice it, it's going to be a great tourney.

I have no idea whom I should support this time. Germany's team sucks ass in my opinion (relatively). Not that I wish they fail this contest, but if they do, it's going to be hilarious listening the experts analysing, debating, denialing. I love the ones that have this face: "Oh I don't care crap, but I get paid for the job so yeah." The only worthwhile comments are going to be from Lothar Matthäus anyway, who according to SZ (Süddeutsche Zeitung), will escort this event with individual critique on the german team.

If anything, I'll root for Italy to a certain degree. They have Luca Toni and he's probably going to own this contest. Cristiano Ronaldo is going to be responsible for failed penalty shots, general comedy and drama lulz.

I guess that's because he's still angry that they didn't choose him to be successor of Klinsmann as the teamcoach.

I reckon he's grown up a bit now and is likely to be a major challenger for the Golden Boot in the tournament. He's been a scoring machine all season with United and coming off the back of winning the Premiership and the Champions' League he's likely to be well up for the Euros.

I mean, he's still a cunt but I reckon he'll have a good tournament.

Utter berke. Can't stand the kid.

But he's a great player, no doubt.

I guess that's why most people (including me) don't really like him. It was the same with Beckham (what an idiot).

Also including me. Figo is a legend, and CR will probably surpass him in stats, but he'll never be the caliber of Captain as Luis is. Same with Beckham. The guy had unbridled talent, but he was a complete fucking asshead. Yes, you're tremendous, but if you're a cunt, I just can't adore you as a player. Zidane, Figo, Gerrard... these are players I can get behind.

It's not just about the plays, it's about how you play.

Gerrard? He plays well against poor opposition sure but other than that, he's strictly a big game player. That's been Liverpool's problem all season, that and the hilarious squad rotation. Gerrard is a great player on his day but I'd rather have Scholes or Hargreaves on my team. Agreed that Ronaldo will never be Figo though. I see his career following Maradonna's more than anyone.

Curly mullet?

Hahahaha, all the best footballers have one.

http://englishfootballpost.com/news/..._in_love_s.jpg
http://www.uglyfootballers.com/conte...s/mullet10.jpg
http://www.uglyfootballers.com/conte...s/mullet09.jpg
http://www.uglyfootballers.com/conte...s/mullet06.jpg

"Here's your captain's arm band.... and here's your mullet."

I've placed my first couple of real life bets on the tournament now. I went with accumulators on group winners, Portugal, Italy, Spain and either Croatia or Germany. £2.50 each bet (I only had £5 in my Betfair account and don't get paid until next week =( ) and Germany wins me £46, Croatia £94.

Some German newspaper published one of those stupid public opinion polls today. They asked people on the street which team will win the Euro 2008. 4% (I am not kidding!) said that they believe England will win the tournament. It's sad, it's so sad.

You say sad, I say hilarious.

Can you find a few more ways to say England didn't qualify, I don't think it's quite clear yet (bastard). :(

I may well throw my hat into the ring with this one, for shits and giggles. I'll work on some guesses and send you a PM.

Final list of participants (7): Denicalis, Shin , juanzen, Djinova, Omagnus Prime, Aardark, Musharraf

--> Official Betting game sheet <--

Please check your bets. NB: I will send you a PM on Wednesday, June 18th concerning the quartier final bets. You MUST reply to that PM with your bets until Thursday, June 19th, 7 PM GMT / 2 PM EST! Thank you and good luck, everyone!

What we've learned from the first half of Switzerland vs Czech Republic: If you breathe hard enough on someone from Switzerland, their knee breaks.

Bollocks. Missed the score by a right wide margin. Ah well, at least I picked the winner on that one.

Here is the betting game sheet for day 1:

Betting Game Sheet (Day 1)

I think Switzerland would have deserved a tie, it's not like Jack Republic played absolutely amazing. The team who DID play absolutely amazing was Portugal. I really thing they're ready to get very far in this tournament.

My impressions of the teams so far:

Schwitzerland: Good fighting spirit, but the whole team appears still too disorganized. Second half it looked like they were better and pressing and stuff, but a really good team would have made more out of it. Too bad for them, Alexander Frei is out. That's really pitchdark-black luck.

Zeckenrepublik: They look like an organized, calm team, but also revealed definciency in offense. If they are under pressure nothing goes, see second half of yesterday's match.

Christmas Turkey: A solid, slightly above average team. Resisted the attacks of the Portugese for a long time and had half-decent football construction on opponent's ground. Karim was good, Tuncay was not.

Port Ugal: Oh yeah, they have quite the stars in their team and also played like a team. They will probably go far, but it depends on how stable they are if they meet equally good teams and are under pressure. That's usually when you see whether a teams falls apart or has what it takes for the trophy.

Pretty convincing win by Jerry today. I thought the Poles might have put up a bit more of a fight but that was pretty much 1939 all over again. Good couple of goals though, I reckon Croatia will struggle to beat the Germans in that group.

So it pretty much was Poland - Poland: 2-0. Good job Germany.

Missed the score on the second game, but nailed it on the first. Haven't missed a winner yet and I've got two winners with score. Not a bad start.

Things I learned on day two: "Poland continues to be winless against Germans" is the funniest banner headline I've ever read, deliberate or not. And the Germans have power in their boots. Not one soft touch the whole game. Every shot was just a cannon.

Yesterdays two matches were pretty good, Croatia was VERY lucky since Austria (which can be found in the FIFA team list somewhere around rank #90, behind Mocambique) played really good.

The German victory wasn't that obvious, either. Poland had a very good defense and it was difficult to play against them. I except Germany and Croatia to win group B. Everything else should be a surprise.

Betting Game Sheet (Day 2)

The writing on the wall is clear. Juanzen must be killed. It's the only solution.

Holy cow, did you see Klose's second fateful pass to Podolski? He faked a shot and gave a millenia arclamp ball to Podolski, BAM, goal. Too bad his performance was so authentic the press didn't see it the same way.

Certainly one of the best missed shots ever, that's for sure.

Mush, all I'm getting from that link is a banner ad.

Yeah, I was like "thank God Klose missed (once) again".

Have you tried to download the sheet?

Good idea, that worked fine. Cheers matey.

Well, this match (France-Romania) sucked. There have been too few goals so far, I hope we will see more goals later on when Italy and Holland play against each other.

Holland whooping Italy atm, 3-0 after the first half. Putting Rosso on the bench sure was a smart move :tpg:

2-0, not 3-0.

Still I'm having a good feeling about this. Go Netherlands!

Can't believe I was right about that first match. I was betting on France having no heart, and it looks like I was right. 3 points from doubt. Nice.

Also, currently inline for a good call on the second. If the Netherlands stays quiet and Italia manages one tally, I'll be a very happy man.

AFTER GAME EDITAN:

Well, so far I'm consistent, if nothing else.

Match Day 1: 4 points.

Match Day 2: 4 points.

Match Day 3: 4 points.

Wow so definitely a couple of surprises today. It's not like the Dutch team played totally amazing, but Italy was just very very bad.

Only two points for you today, but you're still pretty good!

Betting Game Sheet (Day 3)

Which doesn't make it any less enjoyable to watch Italy get beaten like a drum.

Being German, I must say that I can't really approve any Dutch victory, but on the other hand, I can't deny the fact that it was well deserved. Yeah.

I CAN SEE DA FUTURE!

great game by holland.

Congratulations Netherlands! What a match! It was really fun to watch after Romania - France was ... exists an English word below boring? I mean it was really hard to keep my eyes looking to the TV and I'm sure I was not the only one. But Netherlands - Italy rescued the whole day (except you're Italian).

NOW I want to check this topic. Fuckin' WOO, fuckers!

It couldn't have started any better for the Dutch, honestly, but I do feel we deserved the win in the end. And with France and Romania looking pretty meek, we have a pretty decent chance now. Plus, the fact that Italy needs to win against them to go onto the next round is another huge bonus. Basically, if we can tie against one other team in our group, we're almost sure to go on.

I don't think Italy played that badly to be honest, they were just outclassed, and a teeny bit unlucky at points as well. But if the Netherlands had made every outright chance a goal, it would've been something like 6-0.

Woo!

Oh, damnit. I thought I'd called nil-nil, but apparently 1-1 upon checking.

BLAST.

No discussion, you totally deserved!

Wonderful, fast counter-attacks, very strong at 1vs1s, mostly standing right and the one jump from van der Sar! Great! By keeping up that performance it could be a very good tournament for the Netherlands! :)

Yeah, I have to say the Dutch looked much better than I expected them to. Although they were certainly given a hand up by Italy playing like the load of greasy popped collars they are.

I read this as 'Netherlands > Italy'. Thank you Deni, that has been your first compliment since two years ago, when we also kicked ass without anyone expecting it.

Oh, massively Netherlands > Italy.

Let's be friends while this competition lasts.

Temporary Best Friends Forever? TBFF? Sure, I'm down.

Yesterday, I was most impressed by van Nistelroy's action not to go for the penalty shot when it's most likely that he would have gotten it. It's simply, let's call it justice for first goal, the offside regulation of which is not even known by most experts. But Italy didn't play that bad, they were just forced to be on the move after the first goal, allowing more rooms and then the Netherlands played just a PERFECT counter-attack.

Romania vs French was the most boringest match so far. The French team totally put their best player in the wrong position. Ribery belongs to the left side.

All Italy are capable of is grinding out single goal victories, it's been that way for years. That's why I predicted 1-0 to the Italians. If you score first against them they pretty much go to pieces. They're also suffering from an attack of proper refereeing in that throwing themselves on the floor all the time might impress Serie A refs but the rest of the world will tell you to play on and stop diving. I fucking hate Italian footballers and seeing them get beaten is always a pleasure.

Today is a sad day for comunist nations

Haha, does anyone follow Greece-Sweden? This is a disaster match, I am about to switch off my television

Yeah, especially after the earlier match. I've relegated the match to background interest only; turning my head sideways only when the commentators' voices reach a suitably excitable level.

About Spain-Russia though. Despite the obvious dominance of the spaniards, Russia looked fast and threatening on the attack and were generally entertaining to watch. I'd favour both of those teams to progress.

Oh and I really want to see Greece twatted right out of this contest, without delay.

What the fuck is Greece doing...

Additional Spam:
Betting Game Sheet (Day 4)

Hell yeah!

sweden played like shit tho, good win.

It wasn't a good win, it was a pretty much lucky win. Sweden played like shit and their second goal was just too weird to even discuss. Greece played even worse though. What ever became of the '04 team?

I'm glad I only saw the last 15 mins of Spain - Russia, since I got to see the 3-0, 3-1 and 4-1. I wonder why the corner wasn't allowed though. A 5-1 would've been fun, just for kicks.

Spain - Russia was a pretty entertaining match, although the difference in quality was pretty big. Russia played pretty solid attacking play, but they were absolutely pathetic on the defense, so whenever the Spaniards intercepted a ball on the midfield (which was all too easy as well) half the time it would lead to a huge chance, or a goal.

Sweden did play badly, but they were playing against a team that was doing absolutely everything to make playing football impossible. It was disgusting to watch, and I'm super glad they didn't get away with it. Honestly, after seeing that I think there should be a rule that you can't keep the ball on your own half for more than one minute or something, it was just so stupid. Sweden deserved to win purely on the basis that the Greeks deserved to lose.

But yeah, the second goal... Bloody hell. Certainly one of the most pathetic goals I've ever seen. How did Ljungberg manage to miss that chance, alone in front of the goalie who was already on the ground?

I think there's more potential in the Swedish team than what they showed in this match though, I'm giving them the benefit of the doubt for now. Hopefully against Spain they can play a little more freely (with the 3 points in their pocket and all).

I still feel justified in my 0-0 bet on Greece - Sweden. That team was not the Greeks we've seen in qualifying. Bah!

well Greece doesn't surprise me, this is what they have been doing all along, also I've noticed something, the kick takers aren't as good as they should be(I mean corner kicks and free kicks) they all seem so off, could it be that the ball is so different than usual? I hope if it is, the teams get it together, so far set pieces plays have been utter crap.

I have an important thing to comment that no one here seems to have noticed, spain's seemed really tired around the time Russia score, they showed a close-up of Puyol, he really seemed tired along with his team, against a team that didn't pose that much of a challenge, that causes worry.

Only if you like Spain.

Well, I certainly enjoyed the match between Sweden and Greece, but on a different level. At one point I couldn't stop laughing at how bad it was. Look, it's the magical defense triangle with overwhelming ball possession and perfect short pass play, yet the spectators are booing. The second goal was the icing on the cake.

Nicely done, Portugal. Ronaldo looked fantastic in this match, and what the fuck, Simao? Twice you've called off Ronaldo on dead ball situations, and twice you've kicked it right at the wall like a complete git.

No more free kicks for you.

Also, the best thing about the Swiss playing Turkey is that the networks keep showing clips of that gay-as-Shin slap fight they had in the tunnel. They should have handed down suspensions due to not knowing how to fight for shit. Like watching two dancing gangs fight while they sing songs from My Fair Lady.

Anyone following Switzerland-Turkey? This seems to be waterball, not football :-)

This hasn't been -fantastic-, Mush. I love weather-ball.

The best bit so far was the ball going across the line and just stopping dead. Right foot tap. Goal.

Edit:

Nice goal from Turkey. Now just... no more goals. 1-1 draw. We all go home happy. Most importantly, -I- go home happy.

Edit 2:

Stoppage time? Oh god damn you, Turkey. GODDAMN YOU. Couldn't just settle for a tie, could you?

Okay so I had the updated sheet uploaded already, but apparently Turkey decided to score in the 94th minute :mad:

Bunch of dicks. I wanted my three fucking points.

Juan has the devil's own luck, I swear to christ.

Betting Game Sheet (Day 5)

Bye, bye, Switzerland

Man. Mush. Having a rough tournament there, buddy.

Can't believe how close I came on that Portugal game score. Damn it.

94th minute, damnit. I won't hear your complaining.

Ha ha, fair cop. :p

Fucking 3 point swing between Juan and I, too. 92 minutes into the game, and I'm up by 3. 94 minutes in, and he's up by 3. BAH!

Additional Spam:
*SIGH* Croatia? Really? Man, NONE of us saw that one coming. And if this Poland-Austria game ends 1-0, I'm going to feel guilty taking those points. It should be 4-1 for Austria if they had, you know, someone who could finish.


Edit:

What. WHAT. TWO STRAIGHT DAYS WHERE I GET ROBBED OF 3 POINTS IN THE 92nd MINUTE? WHAT THE HELL? Man, I've done something to piss off God.

Betting Game Sheet (Day 6)

Germany can be pretty lucky, although they lost, they only need one point against Austria on Monday to reach the quarter finals. They showed a terrible performance today nonetheless.

Unbe-fucking-lievable.

Six points gone in extra time in two days. Seriously, Juan. I'm coming for your knees, boy.

Germany is pathetic. I was astonished to discover that the British commentators considered Germany top pick for the title. Have they not seen Germany play at the World Cup? Did they never see them play a qualifyer or a friendly match? This didn't come as such a huge surprise to me, their defense is a shambles.

Two shady decisions by the officials in the match of Poland vs. Austria, so I think it about evens out. The Poland goal was offside by a mile, and the penalty was strange, cause that kinda stuff happens literally every corner and every free kick. Austria seems to be a bit unlucky in these games so far, they deserve better really for the way they play.

poor deni can't accept defeat, you are so down below you can't reach my knees "boi". On a more serious note I am impressed by croatia, when they try to they can really pull together, it also shows just how good really Austria is, to practically seal off a team this good during the first game. Tomorrow is going to be interesting I really want to see what the netherlands bring against france... Italy I guess those slimy greasebags can pull together.

Boy, I can't imagine what you of all people could have done to anger The Almighty.

But, anyway, watching EuroCup all day is fantastic. I'm used to being forced to sit through Drew Carey pretending to care about spaying and neutering my pets, so this is a huge step in the right direction. Hell, I'd happy watching Croatia's coach dance along the sidelines for a couple hours.

Not making up any point on you tomorrow, either. We have the exact same picks and score choices.

I can't even decide whether Croatia was playing absolutely well or whether Germany was playing absolutely disastrous. Maybe both, I dunno.

We can all agree: Jerry looks shaky.

Oh, I also forgot to tell you guys that I think most referees are a fucking joke in this tournament. Just take the Belgian guy yesterday. He sends Schweinsteiger off with a red card that really wasn't a red card, ten minutes later, he gives Modric just a yellow card that should have been a red one at any fucking rate (not to forget that Mordic was elected player of the match later on).
Poland's goal should not have been given, Austria's penalty should not have been given. Etc.

A buddy of mine is an official here in Canada, and I was watching the Austria-Poland game with him. Poland's goal goes in and he just goes: "what." All flat and shocked. Couldn't believe it.

Yeah, you pretty much could see it without the replay that it was offside. Oh well. I guess the given penalty had something like "poetic justice" written all over it.

More like the Euro gestapo are watching the boards and rigging games to fuck me.

Well I'm clearly no good at predicting football results. With Jerry losing though it looks like Croatia will win the group so all I need is the Italians to stop fucking about and win their last two matches and I'm £100 richer which will soften the blow of losing this somewhat.

I've been making some pretty decent stacks of paper off this tournament. I don't know how the whole thing will work out for me, but I took Netherlands and Portugal as winners tickets, but I've been betting individual games outside of that and doing quite well. The over-under picks have been very, very kind.

I don't know. I think there are days where playing football is impossible, and yesterday was such a day for Germany. It's the first minutes that usually determine how motivated a team is and what you can expect from the match. Unfortunately, yesterday both team went into a state of staticness and chess football pretty fast. I can't particularly fault anyone for this.

I am impressed by rumania right now, they are showing a really good spirit when playing italy(even if a second ago a goal that wasn't offside got called off for italy) even if I predicted italy winning I somehow just wish that they lose.

Yeah, Romania is doing pretty well, but I dunno whether they are able to play like that for another 45 minutes. I expect Italy to win this match, but they would be extremely lucky. It would be so absolutely funny if Romania and the Netherlands would send Italy and France home.

Wow, Holland. Three goals against the world champion, four goals against the vice champion, that's pretty impressive. Who will stop this team?
That means that either the world champion or the vice champion will have to go home next week. Who would have thought.

Betting Game Sheet (Day 7)

Ah, Deni, you were looking at three points for twenty seconds there. Yet again.

Sorry, I couldn't resist. I should be quiet, I didn't get any points at all today :-(

Don't care. Wasn't in the 92nd minute. Also, OP, Juan and myself were joking about how I was going to lose it in the 92nd minute again. And got about halfway through jokes before that counter-strike.

Holland looks scary.

And don't feel bad, Mush. I think only Juan and I picked up any points today.

I'm fucking amazed by the performance of our team. I thought it might have been a one-day fly, but we are just really good this time. Glad to have Arjen Robben back on the field as well.

Couldn't -believe- that shot. I didn't even see the gap he hit. It was just laser into the back of the net. FREAKISH.

Also, why couldn't you get a PS3 bundle, TBFF?

The only problem is when you play your best football at the beginning of the tournament like Spain and Argentina in 2006 and run out of steam later. But what helps is having a good bench and the Dutch certainly have that. I still think a good attacking side such as Portugal or a holding midfield such as Germany's will test them properly. France have been piss poor, and Italy's shape has been shocking at times, they are playing a 4-3-3 but looks more like a 4-3-2-1, with poor finishing.

You want to gradually play yourself into the tournament and keep fresh and confident which I think Portugal are doing simmering nicely they have alot better football in them but are still playing smoothly. My worry is the Dutch will get over confident, when they come up against a side that counter attacks back. I think people discount Croatia a little too much, Slaven Bilic is a very good coach and are my 'dark horses'; I think they will grow in confidence as the tournament goes on; they didn't beat England twice out of sheer luck.

They were right to think that as Germany are in the top half of the draw which means the only big team they can meat is Portugal on route to the final. Whereas in the bottom half of the draw you have Spain, Italy, France, Netherlands with competent sides such as Romania and Russia under Hiddink. So you fancied the Germans who have kept continuity in their ranks with Ballack and Fringes 2 excellent holding midfielders and Klose and Podolski to bang them in. The major problem I feel is playing Podolski as a left winger instead of a striker where the useless Gomez is playing and plonk Bastian onto the wing.

Some shocking decisions by some referees and even more shocking how FIFA are trying their best to agree with all of them. Italy have had 2 shockers.

It won't come out until the 20th. I just realised you can't read my entries. Instead I got a regular PS3, GTA4 and MGS4. I was planning on playing MGS4, but then I got an invite for GTA4 and we've been playing that for a while online now.

What's your PSN? Mine's *SHOCK* Denicalis.

GrawlNL. I'll add you later, I just booted GTA up.

Sweden earned this loss, it's their fault for falling back that way after being able to keep up with spain during the first half, it's like they didn't know whoever gets second on this group will be up against the dutch, it didn't seem they really wanted to win it... even sitting zlatan down. Anyways 3 points for me 0 for deni I might add in the last minute.

I am glad that Greece is out. They played disastrous football. Spain got very lucky in the stoppage time, both teams deserved one point (and I deserved three points grrrrrr)

Betting Game Sheet (Day 8)

Six points for Shin today, not bad, sir!

It was more a question of the Spanish falling back after their goal, allowing us to keep possession more and to create some chances, than the other way around. And the substitution of Zlatan was due to his injured knee, by the way.

Fuck me. The first day I miss watching the games and I get blanked. Ouch.

Haha, this was a great day for football! I hope for you that you didn't miss that awesome match!

Betting Game Sheet (Day 9)

Not ONE of us collected a point today :tpg:

How the hell do you card someone sitting on the bench?

Well today was a washout all round: double zero points for everyone.

Errm its not as uncommon as you think, cards can even be given after the end of a half even after the final whistle to any squad player this includes the bench and the manager and staff can also get red carded in that they can be banned from the dugouts.

I loved the Turkish team of 2002, but they have been really poor since then, I'm glad to see a little bit of the flair in the last third of the match. But Nihat's finish for the third goal, my word that was a beauty to curl it from 25 yards rather than slide it past Cech, takes bottle!! that finish I tell you now.

And the biggest Girl of the tournament award goes to Jan Koller, he's been going down so easily all match with barely a touch, so no wonder he feined being shot when Volkan merely shoved him.

Portugal didn't even look like they wanted to go out and play in their match, a nice consolation for the Swiss but Portugal knew they didn't have to do a thing and played lazily.

Wow great, Turkish celebrations on the streets outside (including cars and firecrackers). I won't be able to sleep tonight :mad:

And Portugal, I didn't watch that game, but I assume they played with their B-team again, yes?

That was such a good game. I wanted Turkey to win, they're a great team. I like your guys' captain that scored the two goals at the end.

Congratulations to Turkey and yes, I didn't see the Portugal game either but I know Ronaldo and Deco were given a rest at least.

I was happy to see the Czech Republic get beaten, they represent the worst in football as far as I'm concerned--just no imagination, incredibly conservative and just devoid of any love for the sport. Putting a striker whose only skill is to be tall really seals the deal for me. It's like they looked at the Italian team and went "how can we make this even more lifeless?"

So it was satisfying to see them lose in the last minute to a team that had almost nothing except passion. Turkey to be this Euro's Greece? :erm:

My money's on Croatia; Bilic has them setup nicely. They'll be happy to draw Turkey, who now have no Volkan nor Aurelio but I'm a fan of both teams.

Seeing Nihat's goal again really shows a nerve of steel to bury that one, a beaut.

The attacking has been sizzling but the defending by the centre backs this tournament has been shocking. The only real world class centre back in this tournament I feel is Ricardo Carvalho of Portugal. No Ferdinand (easily the best in the world at the moment), Terry, Canavarro or Vidic to show the sides how its really done. But this bodes well for us goal lovers.

This is developing into a lovely tournament. Need one out of France or Italy to qualify to help make the final stages a little more exciting.

No. Greece won nearly every game with 1:0 and a good portion of luck. In my opinion it's a different thing to change a nearly 0:2 loss to a 3:2 win (and before 0:1 to 2:1).

Concerning Swiss - Portugal: It was a good game! When I remember right seven of the eleven players of Portugal's usual start team were substitutes in this match but that fact made it more interesting. Swiss played well and its win was a nice good bye gift for Jakob "Köbi" Kuhn. I'm looking forward to the team's performance when Ottmar Hitzfeld is coaching them.

Concerning Czech - Turkey: Oh my...

Yeah absolutely, Greece won on free kicks, corners and luck. But if Turkey wins this tournament, they will be this year's Greece, just sayin'.

Hey guys, look here:

Betting Game Sheet (Day 10)

Germany-Austria was a pretty bad game, but I am glad that Germany made it :-)

Both coaches between Germany and Austria were sent off for "constant bickering". LULZ

Yeah I know, it was pretty fun, but I think the decision was a bit too harsh. I mean, I didn't see everything, but the referee should have given them a warning before he sent them off.

I'm a bit surprised by the players we're using tonight. Not even Van Der Sar as goalie. Let's see how this goes.

Betting Game Sheet (Day 11)

So the French are out without having scored a single goal. Who would have thought.

Please be aware that tomorrow, after the last matches in group D, I gonna send you a PM requesting you to send me your bets for the quarter finals!

Ha ha ha, seeing France go out without even scoring makes me feel not so bad about England not qualifying. Fuck Italy though, if they'd put some effort in and won their group I'd have won close to £100. As it is, a safe bet on Croatia winning the other night has brought me back to a financial break-even point for the tournament so far so I can blow it all again on the quarter finals.

Hate to piss in your cornflakes, but France did score. Henry put one past Holland.

We all know that, but just let him have this one, yeah? His team didn't even qualify. That shit is embarrassing.

Oh yeah, that's right, I totally forgot about that.

Considering the fact that both Holland and Croatia won with their absolute B-teams (which are pretty much the equivalent of German second league or English Premier League teams), I already got my predictions for the final match, since I expect Spain to fail in the quarter finals as usual and Germany... oh just forget about Germany.

My Goodness the French were poor, there was no central unifying and leadership force at all in that team, Domenech had the worst team selection of the tournament I've seen. It goes to prove that people like Henry as good as he is just aren't cut out for the big stage.



I don't think a second league German team is on par with an English Premier league team sorry.

Personally I think English premier league teams such as Manchester United, Arsenal, and Chelsea have better teams than more or less all the countries in this years competition because they can actually defend and rip you apart at the same time. I've never seen such bad defending at an international tournament.

Funny, I didn't see many German teams in the semi-finals of the Champions League this year.

I think international viewers can view videos on the BBC euro 2008 site.

Just for a laugh here is Van der Faart

And the comedy of errors called France

I wish they had Adrian Chiles doing the hosting in conjuntion with Linekar as he's really good with this sort of stuff. His commentry on the swearing granny when Giggs took a corner was priceless.

Fuck. Another stellar day on my part.

Mid-tourney collapse of EPIC proportions. Thank christ my money bets have been better.

Betting Game Sheet (Day 12) - First Round finished

Ranking after 24 of 31 matches:
1 juanzen 29 (!!!)
2 Aardark 17
2 Shin 17
4 Denicalis 15
4 Djinova 15
6 Omagnus P. 13
7 Musharraf 12

Please do not forget to submit your bets for the quarter finals until Thursday, June 19th, 7 PM GMT / 2 PM EST!

Betting Game Sheet (QF)

Aardark decided not to submit his bets.

Not like it overly matters at this point. Everyone but Juan is playing for second anyway. Kid is like fucking Kreskin.

What the hell. Today morning I said Portugal wins with 1:0 and after 30 minutes Germany leads the game with 0:2. Seriously I'm surprised.

EDIT: Okay, 1:2 now.

I called Portugal 3-1. Needless to say, my housemate's been laughing at me as I sit on the couch and curse at my TV for 20 minutes straight. Fucking cocky Colombian chicks. >8(

Great game by Germany. I was kinda hoping Portugal would score the 3-3 to see more football, and then let Germany crash Portugal.

Fuck the nazis.

That was a great match. In the end, I think Germany deserved it but seriously, in the last few minutes, I almost got a heart attack. Now either Croatia or Turkey in the half final, which shouldn't be too hard. I think Croatia is totally overrated anyway, so this would be the perfect time for a revenge >=D

Er... Mush, good buddy, I think you'll find I called 3-2 to Germany and have Croatia to win 2-0, I just listed the matches in the wrong order.

Haha yeah, indeed, I'm sorry

Can't believe you actually bet for Germany... good call though :) R*E*S*P*E*C*T

Betting Game Sheet (Day 13)

I actually dared that Russia is going to defeat the Netherlands with 2:1.

Regarding the match yesterday, I think Germany got lucky that everything fits so nicely. But they had little advantages that added to the great sum:
1. Psychological advantage: not being considered the favourite, early goal
2. Good tactical adaptation: 5 midfielders for more stability in the defense and domination
3. More praxis: Portugal's main players were resting for 8-9 days, that's too much in my opinion. Just think of an extreme value (unit:days), estimate the performance level, roll it back to reasonable values, use the continuity concept of math.

I've got a fiver on them to win the whole tournament. After the first couple of matches the odds had stretched to 8/1 on Germany winning so I thought that sounded like a good deal. After last night they're back down to 4/1 so I'm glad I acted when I did. Everyone knows that Germany and Italy both get better as the tournaments go on and I don't think even the revitalised Dutch team can beat Germany now.

Also, I can still technically beat Juanzen but that'd require me getting every result right from now on except the ones where we picked the same result. Unlikely but still technically possible.

erm Portugal was well rested, that's not a disadvantage no matter how you look at it, there is no continuity in performance just because they are "resting" for a week(they still train) doesn't mean they will suddenly plain out suck. On another note Germany at the start was just pinpoint accuarate with their goal chances, they had first 2 they had, they capitalized... that's something not many teams can do, most just keep trying and trying banging their heads with a wall, but germany was able to mantain effectiveness while Portugal just couldn't, but Scolari just went batshit... when he put nani in I think everyone noticed he was out of options, I think nani is no good, he just imitates the style of Ronaldo in every sense of the word. I was expecting germany to be a bit demoralized without their coach there, but I was completely wrong.

Also Mush even though germany can beat croatia, they are not overrated, seriously they had one of the best performances during the qualifiers, they got england out... That group during that time showed me what russia and croatia are capable of.

The way we played in the qualifiers, Moldova could have knocked us out...

This is correct, but then again, a team called "Greece" happened to be the most successful team in the qualifiers (I guess they got well over 30 points) and look how they've done in the main tournament. I just think that Croatia's performance against Austria was okay, but not excellent and the performance against Germany was not really good at all, it's just that Germany played absolute shit which, fortunately, they did not against Portugal the other day.

Haha what the fuck - Turkey did it again, equalizing in the last second. This is pretty awesome O_O

Holy fuck. 120 minutes of sterility, 2 minutes of brilliance.

My jaw is on the goddamn floor.

Croatia were my dark horses they were nervous against Austria but a 100%, but have been excellent since. Germany were poor but if Croatia do make it through I'd reackon they will do the double and beat Germany because they are organised, use the flanks and can counter attack. People write them off too much but all the pundits gave either them or Russia the Dark horse title.

Turkey what can I say I've always loved them and the passion is written all over the team, never give up is enshrined in their ethos. Who ever wins; it is a shame to have a loser. I'd love it Turkey won this tournament. In true heart I support them and want them to win.

Rustu used to be a great keeper and penalty saver not sure now that he's older.

Additional Spam:
Some absolute shockers, the goals only 12 yards away.
Rustu dived the right way on both of them too.

FUCK TURKEY!

The one thing I must say about the Turks is that they have the best fans in the tournament and not only that the team engage them with true sincerity.

However this games taken alot out of them, still no Volken and no Nihat nor Gungor by the looks of things.

This was absolutely incredible. 118 minutes I saw the worst game of this tournament, but the last two minutes absolutely made up for it.

Germany vs. Turkey is going to be an awesome semifinal. Turkey doesn't play wonderful football, but they know how to fight and they never give up. You have to give them credit for that.

Germany has a good chance to win the semifinal, I think Turkey lost three important players due to yellow cards today.

that ref was crazy, throwing yellow cards all over. Honestly I was hoping croatia to win, but that's how it is. I just hope some of my predictions hit the target soon.

Yeah dude, you're not doing too well right now. Good for you that everyone else is doing pretty bad as well, though.

I was very close to going to Basel and watch the Netherlands play (on big screen, not actually in the stadium). I'm kinda glad I didn't because it'd cost me and I need the money, but it also saddens me a bit. Would've been a kick-ass experience.

Turkey in 3th match right now they win in last mins like today in last 7 sec!!!

Shit, 0-1 for Russia. We are playing terrible.

Don't worry, you got Van The Man! Netherland played pretty bad, though, the equalized came out of nowhere.

Betting Game Sheet (Day 15)

Please fucking kill me. :(

This is incredible. After what they showed in the first round, I really don't know what the fuck the Dutch team was trying to do today. The defense was a disaster, I don't know what the hell Ooijer was thinking.

Portugal, Croatia and Netherlands (the self declared favorites) decided to give their most important players a break. Maybe that was a mistake. Because now, they're all out.

Turkey and Russia in the semi finals, who would have thought.

okay I got it wrong, but man arshavin is good I don't care losing these bets.

Haha you guys are awesome :tpg:

(was that on purpose?)

NOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO! Netherlands :(

yyeeeeahhhhh !!

i watch the game on television and wow i love it

i will go out on the street now and party in the morning

russia can win the game now !!!

You mean beating lackluster [to say the least] Italian and French teams? I thought Russia would have a good chance today, but wow, even I didn't think they'd be dominating the play the way they did. Hiddink does it again~

One word to describe the Dutch team today and that was LAZY.

They got complacement and because they had played all their good football at the start of the tournament and thought Russia would be a walk over, you have to save some of that sizzling stuff for the knockout stages. I had my suspicions and was totally right about the Dutch, I always suspected Russia to do well because along with Croatia they were the quiet bet people had on the side but I did not expect them so well in this tournament.

Personally I expected Portugal to do better but simple defending let them down and against quality players such as Ballack and Klose you get punished. I expected croatia to advance yesterday but that Turkish magic was there again.

My money on who will win this tournament has to be either the Italians or the Germans simply because they can grind out a victory when they need to, its not pretty but they have a habbit of getting a result even when they play bad football. This is exactly why Arsenal did not win the Premiership this season.

The only spanner in the works is spain but I will stick to an Italy v Germany final.

Don't you think that Spain will kick out Italy today? After what Italy presented us in the first round, I wouldn't be surprised at all :D

Italy like Portugal in 2004 and 2006 for example are one of those teams that always seem to find themselves to the latter stages of a tournament without playing that well. I always suspected that Dutch and Spanish teams would build themselves up and fall flat because they have not had a bad game yet and thats where the true test comes. Championship pedigree comes from winning games you shouldn't win when you play bad football and Italy are one of the masters of grinding out a result.

To be honest there is one word to explain why the Italians have been a bit poor and thats Totti. That midfield simply doesn't work without him.

However I suspect Spain might have heeded the warning from the Dutch result to not be so complacement but I say 1-1 and Italy on penalties. That might be totally wrong but I have one of those inklings.

Usually Italians have stonewall defences, this tournament its been Ok but too shaky without Cannavaro backing up Zambrotta when he goes forward. The thing is Torres is utterly useless against good defences; Vidic and Ferdinand with Terry also handling him superbly proved that this season; so I give the Italians half a chance if the centre backs play well.

Torres is useless against good defenses? You really don't know that player at all, he is the only reason liverpool is able to score, don't get me wrong offensively Spain is a powerhouse, Villa and Torres can come up with a goal from anything, on the other hand Toni from italy is also great at scoring but recently had horrible luck when defining, but currently italy's defense isn't good enough to halt spain's offensive. Any defene is going to have trouble with that. I honstly just don't want any more italy referee drama, I am sick with it. I really hope if both spain(sergio ramos simulated a foul horribly vs sweeden) and italy don't go around faking fouls all over... or if they do the ref is capable of noticing and punish them accordingly.

I think the Netherlands was taken aback a bit by the events surrounding Boulahrouz. (his daughter was born way too early and died this week)

But it's still not an excuse for what happened, they were not even a shadow of what they were earlier in the tournament.

Now that they're out (I'm from the Netherlands) I'm rooting mostly for Italy but also Spain and Russia.

I'm not a fan of Turkey and Germany but I'll admit, if Turkey pulls it off against Germany that would be a major achievement, as they're extremely marred by injuries and suspensions. (which is why I highly expect the final will be Germany vs Italy/Spain/Russia)

Torres was Rio's bitch this season. When Torres comes up against big defenders who can out head and out muscle him he struggles. Sorry I saw probably 65% of Liverpool's games this season (I'm a United fan lol) and every one of the 'big four and top 8 ones' where he actually struggled and was substituted off on several occasions by Rafa. Your right he was the only reason Liverpool finished fourth but his awesome displays were against the lesser defences and lower position sides.

I say that but he was the best centre forward in this years premiership easily and Sir Alex made a mistake in passing up the offer to sign him. He's got power pace and a sublime finish. But in contrast somebody like Tevez scored 19 goals each and every one so bloody important so it balances out I suppose. But he would have been a dream signing.

If the Italians defend right they'll fustrate him. If they don't he will run riot.

As a pure neutral I'll still go Italy simply because somehow they always get the job done, via penalties, red cards, sheer brilliance, diving, etc... things always work out for them.

Lets go Espana!!! That foul against Silva should have been called.

Jesus what a boring match

Betting Game Sheet (Day 16)

Bah I had the full time outcome right as a draw but the score wrong at 1-1 Villa and Toni. See I was totally right about Torres he looks a bit lacklusture against strong defensive teams. The Italians have done a team job today with men behind the ball.

Still favor the Italians especially at penalties as Buffon saves around 2/3 of them which is astonishing. However Extra time as we have seen throughout is a lottery. Can Spain dig deep whrn they dont' play well? Must agree its an awful match. If Spain do score for me Fabregas looks like the one to do it.


EDIT: Why have the Spaniards constantly been diving in the box its unlike them.

Italy has been diving the whole game and ruining the Spaniard counterattack.

Its 'squeaky bum time'. Anyone's guess.

1-1 That Grosso penalty was amazing.

2-1 superb save by Cassilias

2-2 poor penalty didn't get it in the corner.

2-2 another poor penalty.

3-2 Spain win.

Way too close.

Spain v Russia will be delicious. The way they are willing to match spain in attack makes it the semi final to watch. I will be the outsider and go for Russia 2-1.

Germany still to win it for me but they won't be beating Italy. (I thought it was between Portugal and them and the quarter final decided it).

If Italy would have gone through after their defeat against us with 3-0, I'd have kicked myself. Glad Spain got through.

Okay so now Germany will *win* the tournament.

Missing a verb there Mush.

Haha yeah I edited my post, but I guess you would have guessed it anyway ;)

Miracle! Spain Goes Beyond Quarter-Finals

Thanks Casillas, you're great!

seeing today's match and comparing with russia's performance, honestly spain doesn't want this as much as other teams do(turkey and russia for example) with that kind of drive you can't win this kind of tournaments, both teams were just horrible in all departments, one thing is that you are having a bad day as a team... another is that you don't even want to beat the team in front of you at all.

If you guys keep picking results this badly, Aardy's gonna come third despite not entering bets for the quarters onwards.

Quick update:

Betting Game Sheet (Semi-Finals)

Please let me know if you spot any mistakes.

You appear to be mistaking me with someone who cares my good man.

AUUUGGGGH... SACK THE ELECTRICITY BOARD! :tpg:

I'm finally able to steal the games at work, but the camera goes out and I miss two of the three final goals. What a freaking game though. Türkiye was robbed yo; Deutschland was terrible.

I guess go ESPANA now.

Germany were very fortunate there, Turkey played remarkably well all things considered and probably deserved the win.

Ahahaha, that game was terrible, I can't believe we actually won 3-2. Now I want Russia to reach the final as well, I want some serious action with my Russian neighbors.

Betting Game Sheet (Day 17)

well as it is I offically won this, what do I get? :(

Disdain.

Haha yeah, it seems that nobody can get you anymore.

With an average of about 20 points, I must say that we're pretty bad this year (especially me) :(

But we had the more beautiful goals. :p

However, I expect that Russia will reach the final today and if Germany will play in Vienna like yesterday... well... congratulations Russia! :D

Wow, Arshavin has an awesome hairstyle again :cool:

YES!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! espaNA!!!!!!@#!@#!@

Ah fuck, I wanted Russia to win this match :mad:

Betting Game Sheet (Day 18)

AHHHHHHHHH ESPANAAAAAAAAAAA!

Yeaaaaaa, that was awesome. I got quite worried when the Three-ya went down, but El Fabregas was a thing of beauty there in the second half. gg.

I wouldn't know... I couldn't see them. :tpg:

Okay, I got all the bets, so this is the complete Game Sheet:

Betting Game Sheet (Final)

Congratulations Spain! :)

:mad:

Final Betting Game Sheet

edit: Well yeah, congrats Spain! And congrats juanzen :)

AHHHHHH ESPANAAAAAAA!

Great day of football here. My DC United gives LA Galaxy a nice schooling, with Luciano almost getting the hat trick. :tpg:

Then ESPANAAAAAAA wins thanks to Torres the Bull! The header on Ballack made for quite a bloody weekend in sports (including the boxing matches last night).

Anyway, looking forward to South Africa 2010 since I'll be going! :3:

This final was a rather anticlimatic match, hence most of the german folks weren't too upset about the loss. On the whole this was a great tournament that shows the general trend of modern football. Sometimes I watch older games (like ~1985-1995) and think what the hell, why do they have so much space, why are the running so slowly? Not to mention ~1960-1980 football, hehe.

Yeah I must say that I wasn't too upset about the loss, either. I mean, sure, I was a bit disappointed, but we could have lost this game 0-3 as well. Spain was playing absolutely brilliant and the German team was just as bad as against Turkey. Second place is first loser, but mathematically, it's better than 3rd place in 2006!

Spain really deserved it. They didn't do too well in the previous tournaments, so it was about time for them.

The Euro 2008 was pretty good. The only thing that really surprised me that there were only two red cards, which is not that much.

Second, I'll take that. I reckon Juanzen must be clairvoyant or something though, good picks mate.

So Deni, where did you come exactly?

Inside your girlfriend.

Exactly? Precisely? The asshole.

She did mention that a small man with a micropenis was dryhumping her leg the other day. If I'd known you were in town I'd informed the local press that the incredible bearded midget and his lack of skill at predicting football results was in town.

You must have me confused with Mush. I was the pygmy with middling predicting ability that railed her in the ass after giving her the roofies.

Easy mistake to make.