WTF Turkey WON?? man, i missed from the 60th minute on.... doh... well there goes my effort in the contest, thought for sure Czech would advance here...
In-fighting grips France ahead of Italy Euro clash. http://news.yahoo.com/s/afp/20080616/sp_soccer_afp/fbleuro2008gpcfraitatension Not a surprise re: Benzema's big head, and Domenech's media obsession. The Nasri-Ribery spat is disappointing. To make matters worse, Manu Petit threw Domenech under the bus in an interview this week-end. Probable successor, Didier Deschamps also said it would be an honor to coach France in his blog. Bring out the guillotine. Also, l'Equipe writes that in the latest closed door practice, Clerc was on the right side, Abidal at centre-half, and Diarra holding. So Sagnol, Thuram, and Maka might not see the pitch against Italy. Smacks of desperation to me.
I respect France and their extremely and endlessly talented team. It seams like they could put out 4 worthy teams. But this guy Domenech is just awful. Media-obsession is an understatement. He's way too caught up in these head games. I think it was a matter of time before something like this happened to their team because of him. But then again, you never know what happens tomorrow. Italy and France always battle, and if Holland is true to their word, their gonna battle with Romania. 2nd place is up for grabs, and if France or Italy take on Spain I think all would agree that either team has a chance
I agree Eop. The analysts were saying how he dislikes playing the younger talents because he believes in the veterans. Why? When they have that much talent on that team and they can make a difference.
Just saw this lol. I like both, when we talked about it, I stated that I like to watch both and didn't mind either.
Far from awful, he's a fascinating character. Coached the U-21 side for eleven years, and molded the '98 generation. He chaperonned Zizou, Thuram, Maka, Viera. A bit of a comedian, intellectual, intuitive, insolent, libertarian, loves the theater and the arts, astrology, and neuropsychology. Before a game in Barcelona a few years back, he brought his players to the Picasso museum. On another occasion, before a game, he invited them to the theatre to see Beckett's Endgame. He was stoned after the first two games in Seoul. Media ripped him to shreds. They couldn't understand his head games, and hated having someone as unpredictable as him to write about. He came back, and led the team to the final. So whilst he's made some questionable personnel decisions since taking over, one can't fault him for being smack in the middle of two generations, or having to deal with Big Charlies like Nasri, Benzema, and Diarra. Trust me, he's twice the coach Roger Lemerre, or Jacques Santini were.
French players still missing Zidane's influence http://msn.foxsports.com/soccer/story/8250088/French-players-still-missing-Zidane's-influence
Cassano could be Italy's trump card http://msn.foxsports.com/soccer/story/8251060/Cassano-could-be-Italy's-trump-card
Czech collapse signals the end of an era http://msn.foxsports.com/soccer/story/8251082/Czech-collapse-signals-the-end-of-an-era
Pardon my ignorance, but when you say stoned, do you mean that in the "Dazed and Confused" sense, or the Biblical, "stoned by unbelievers" sense?
Bibilical sense Phil. He was run over for picking Barthez as his keeper, instead of an in form Coupet. Similarly, he trusted the old guard at the back, instead of trusting Mexes, or the en vogue Squillaci at the time. Dropped moody Trezeguet, and was flagged for it. Gave an important role to an unknown player outside of French league circles, Ribery. He managed to temper the excitement after the euphoric 3-1 against Spain to refocus his players on a Brazilian side that was the favourite. Once that was over, and people were fawning voer them for having played a "perfect" game, they had to face uncertainty in the form of a Portuguese team that could play a 4-3-3 or 4-3-2-1 with Deco and Costinha coming back. Beat them as well. So he's made some questionable decisions at times, but is also a very intuitive coach, who knows how to pull the media strings. He's just been a bit too caught up into that this time around, and has had to deal with two very different generations, which wasn't the case the last go round. EDIT: This being said, make no mistake about it, his future is on the line tomorrow. As is Donadoni's of course.
Nihat. Kahveci is the fathers family name. Nihat is his name. That's pedantic and anal of me, but hey.......
I still find it hard to believe that the Dutch are going to put up much resistance to the Romanians. Why would anyone want to let Italy or France find some form in the next 2 games and then possibly face them in a semifinal matchup. They publicly may be say they will do everything to win the match, but I just can't buy that really.
Yeah, they did, but they didn't exactly look fantastic getting through the first round. Maybe they just let up on the gas after scoring that goal, knowing that a draw would get them through as well, but I thought Austria was the better team in that second half. I'm not wild about their chances against Portugal right now. Well, as I've said before, the reward for throwing this match is probably Spain in the semifinal. That's not exactly a prize, as the Spanish are certainly playing better than the French or Italians right now. (Of course, Spain is often good for a first class choke job, so there's that.) So to that end I think they have some incentive to play well. And in any case, is it worth sacrificing the momentum they've built up to this point?
The Dutch have already said they have no intentions of throwing the game, and plan to play well. They have every right to sit their stars. We'll just have to wait and see what happens. EDIT: Plus, remember Van Basten and Donadoni are good friends as they played on a dominant Milan team together. Van Basten has also been linked to take over for Ancelotti as the coach of Milan for the 2010 season. That won't happen if he throws this game. To this day they still go golfing together.
NEWS: Milan will soon be sending a negotiating team to England for Adebeyor. They usually leave with what they want when they resort to such actions. $40M or $35M, it doesn't matter, Milan is aching for a striker, especially with the loss of Gilardino, and Aresenal knows this. Regardless, Adebeyor will be wearing Red and Black come next season.
Another good reason for the Dutch to play well. I've had my suspicions about them just rolling over for the Romanians as many speculate.
Thing is, Romania are a good side. I would think they'll rest De Jong and Ooijer who are on yellow cards, but then Johnny Heitinga who will replace Ooijer is a better player anyway. I would think RVN, Robben and Sneijder will only play a half or 55 minutes, something like that.
I too believe Heitinga to be ther better player. Also, those guys you mentioned can score 3 goals in 55 mins. Here's to hoping they do. Regardless, the Dutch squad can hassel any team without their top players, they are that deep. I personally think Robben may see extended time to condition himself to the point of being considered 100% match fit.
It will be interesting because Holland are essentially a quick strike team who play on the break. Romania get 10 men behind the ball and rarely push on to the point where Holland COULD hit them on the break. There won't be many gaps for the Dutch to exploit.
As long as they keep their attacks plentiful and frequent thus giving Romania little chance to go ahead. If Italy or France wins, a draw will put either team through.
Holland have made NINE changes. Lilian Thuram has been dropped because he said he wasn't in the right frame of mind". Netherlands: Stekelenburg, Boulahrouz, Heitinga, Bouma, De Cler, De Zeeuw, Engelaar, Afellay, Van Persie, Robben, Huntelaar. France v Italy France: Coupet, Clerc, Gallas, Abidal, Evra, Govou, Toulalan, Makelele, Ribery, Benzema, Henry. Italy: Buffon, Zambrotta, Panucci, Chiellini, Grosso, Pirlo, De Rossi, Gattuso, Toni, Perrotta, Cassano. Domanech going with the best strikeforce IMO; Henry and Benzema.
