Bizarre--so much for Lorenzo whatshisface's career. Anybody so mentally imbalanced as to attack ON THE FIELD a guy from his own team should never be trusted.
hear hear!! Does anyone know what bars are going to be televising the Euro games? I asked the new owners at Tipperary Inn and they are having problems with Setanta since Martin (old owner) still owes them money. Owner at Trinity said it was too expensive to get (10 grand for commercial establishment apparently) . But he thinks Dubliner is getting the package. Maybe Londoner will as well.
Thanks for the news - music to my ears. Now I just have to find the time to watch... Incidentally - we have anyone willing to make any predictions? France, Spain, Portugal, England, Italy?
I dont see how anyone can beat France. Henry, Zidane,Thuram, Trezeguet, Vieira, Makelele, Pires this side looks unbeatable. They are in group B with England so who knows what could happen there.
TA, Pretty much the same lineup as in WC02, yet they were proven to be quite beatable. Okay, okay, Henry has improved considerably since then, so has Trez and Makelele. They did look damn good during qualifying, but they had a joke of a group. Malta? Where the heck is Malta? And Israel was the third place team out of that group.....not really all that challenging. I also don't like how Santini already has a new job waiting for him after the tourney. No pressure to win to secure his place for the World Cup. Other national team coaches like Saez and Advocaat have that hanging over their heads. I like Spain and Italy. Both squads have underpeformed in recent tournaments and the expectations are huge. Plus this basically a home tourney for Spain. They will almost as much support as Portugal.
In this format everyone has a chance. In a three match group stage all it takes is one lucky bounce or bad call or mental mistake to make the impossible possible. Having said that, they very likely will be fighting for survival after their very first match. You couldn't ask for a worst first game if you are England. They have never had much success against France.
True that. I personally hope England has a great run in this tourney. So much so that they are overconfident going into WC06, the US gets drawn in the same group and we hang 3 or 4 on them. That would be the sweetest victory of all. I love me some Mexico beating, but sticking it to those English snobs would be even better.
Hating on the English? If it comes down to US v England Im certainly pulling for the US but other than that I root for England. I too loves me a Mexico beating anytime.
I've got no reason to be a fan of England. I wouldn't call it hating......I just don't like the attitude that many English fans have of the American game. Perhaps there are just too many Brit-snobs here on bigsoccer that consistently bash the USMNT. But you have to admit, beating the English would be a major victory by our national team. That would really get the attention of the mainstream US media who merely poked their heads around the corner when we beat Portugal and Mexico in WC02.
I agree about the Brit/Euro snobs. The US beating England would be a huge feat. I think the US being rated higher than England in the FIFA rankings is a big step forward for US soccer.
In defense of TexArse, Blue, the majority of US media have no idea that the FIFA rankings are a complete joke. Furthermore, I've seen the #8 ranking mentioned in many articles written by mainstream sports writers. Usually to point out how far we've come as a soccer playing nation.
Im not saying we are taking over the soccer world. Its just nice to have the US mentioned in the same sentence as the traditional powerhouse countries. I mean right now the US is ranked #8 and Italy is #9. Does anyone think the US is better than Italy? The answer is of course no. But we all know the US is making strides in international play. Here are the rankings by the way. http://www.fifa.com/en/mens/statist...0.html?select11=All&cmbMonth=May&cmbYear=2004
as this thread has slipped slightly from Euro 04 on TV I'll like to add that http://www.tsn.ca/soccer/feature.asp?fid=8185 for all you that can get this you'll need a sick note for something real bad now. ( otherwise its encore, and wearing headsets all day to avoid hearing the scores ) Jun 7 Euro 2004 Preview Show 8:00 p.m. et Jun 9 Euro 2004 Preview Show: Encore 11:30 p.m. et Jun 12 Portugal vs. Greece (with pre-game show) 11:30 a.m. et Spain vs. Russia (with pre-game show) 2:30 p.m. et Portugal vs. Greece (Encore) 7:00 p.m. et Spain vs. Russia (Encore) 9:00 p.m. et Jun 13 Switzerland vs. Croatia (FOX SPORTS CANADA) Noon et France vs. England (with pre-game show) 2:30 p.m. et Switzerland vs. Croatia (Encore on TSN) 5:00 p.m. et France vs. England (Encore on TSN) 7:30 p.m. et Switzerland vs. Croatia (Encore on TSN) 11:30 p.m. et Jun 14 Denmark vs. Italy (with pre-game show) 11:30 a.m. et Sweden vs. Bulgaria (with pre-game show) 2:30 p.m. et Denmark vs. Italy (Encore) 7:00 p.m. et Jun 15 Czech Republic vs. Latvia (with pre-game show) 11:30 a.m. et Germany vs. Netherlands (with pre-game show) 2:30 p.m. et Germany vs. Netherlands (Encore) Midnight et Jun 16 Greece vs. Spain (with pre-game show) 11:30 a.m. et Russia vs. Portugal (with pre-game show) 2:30 p.m. et Greece vs. Spain (Encore) 7:00 p.m. et Russia vs. Portugal (Encore) 9:00 p.m. et Jun 17 England vs. Switzerland (FOX SPORTS CANADA) Noon et Croatia vs. France (FOX SPORTS CANADA) 2:45 p.m. et England vs. Switzerland (Encore on TSN) 3:00 p.m. et Croatia vs. France (Encore on TSN) 7:00 p.m. et Jun 18 England vs. Switzerland (Encore on TSN) 12:30 am et Bulgaria vs. Denmark (FOX SPORTS CANADA) Noon et Italy vs. Sweden 2:45 p.m. et Bulgaria vs. Denmark (Encore on TSN) 7:30 p.m. et Jun 19 Latvia vs. Germany (FOX SPORTS CANADA) Noon et Netherlands vs. Czech Rep. (FOX SPORTS CANADA) 2:45 p.m. et Latvia vs. Germany (Encore on TSN) 7:00 p.m. et Netherlands vs. Czech Rep. (Encore on TSN) 9:00 p.m. et Jun 20 Spain vs. Portugal (FOX SPORTS CANADA) 2:45 p.m. et Russia vs. Greece (FOX SPORTS CANADA) 4:45 p.m. et Spain vs. Portugal (Encore on TSN) 7:00 p.m. et Russia vs. Greece (Encore on TSN) 9:00 p.m. et Jun 21 Croatia vs. England (with pre-game show) 2:30 p.m. et Switzerland vs. France 4:45 p.m. et Croatia vs. England (Encore) 7:00 p.m. et Jun 22 Italy vs. Bulgaria (with pre-game show) 2:30 p.m. et Denmark vs. Sweden 4:45 p.m. et Italy vs. Bulgaria (Encore) 7:00 p.m. et Denmark vs. Sweden (Encore) 9:00 p.m. et Jun 23 Germany vs. Czech Republic (with pre-game show) 2:30 p.m. et Netherlands vs. Latvia 4:45 p.m. et Germany vs. Czech Republic (Encore) 7:00 p.m. et Netherlands vs. Latvia (Encore) 9:00 p.m. et Jun 24 Quarterfinal (1) - A1 vs. B2 (with pre-game show) 2:30 p.m. et Quarterfinal (1) - A1 vs. B2 (Encore) Midnight et Jun 25 Quarterfinal (2) - B1 vs. A2 (with pre-game show) 2:30 p.m. et Quarterfinal (2) - B1 vs. A2 (Encore) Midnight et Jun 26 Quarterfinal (3) - C1 vs. D2 2:45 p.m. et Quarterfinal (3) - C1 vs. D2 (Encore) 9:00 p.m. et Jun 27 Quarterfinal (4) - D1 vs. C2 (with pre-game show) 2:30 p.m. et Quarterfinal (4) - D1 vs. C2 (Encore) 11:30 p.m. et Jun 30 Semifinal - Q1 vs. Q3 winners (with pre-game show) 2:30 p.m. et Semifinal Encore 7:30 p.m. et Jul 1 Semifinal - Q2 vs. Q4 winners (with pre-game show) 2:30 p.m. et Semifinal Encore 7:30 p.m. et Jul 3 EURO 2004 - Road to Gold Noon et Semifinal #2 (Encore) 3:00 p.m. et Jul 4 EURO 2004 Final (with pre-game show) 2:30 p.m. et EURO 2004 Final (encore) 9:00 p.m. et Jul 5 EURO 2004 Final (Encore) 3:15 a.m. et P.S don't worry with 300 million population you will have a world champion team one day. Or you can always import them from Africa like the french A DU.
Wow, canuck smack, you don't get that everyday. Come back here when you guys win something that isn't played with a puck.
Probably from underneath a pile of empty Molsen bottles, laying atop the dirty floor of a decrepit ice fishing cabin in some godforesaken frozen tundra in the middle of nowheresville Sasqatchawan (yeah, I know I spelled it wrong, its not important enough to bother with spelling properly).
No question that France is the prohibitive favorite (although I have serious questions about ZZ on the left instead of running the middle - not that he can't do it, but why move the best player of the last decade?). Outside les bleus, I think that Italy has the advantage of the weakest group (Bulgaria, Denmark, Sweden) - and I think that Portugal could surprise. Obviously the home field advantage is huge, but this is likely the last opportunity for the 'golden generation' players, they were embarrassed in Japorea and the domestic champions just triumphed in the Champions league. I think - they may have the momentum to push through. Of course they've been known to choke under less pressure than this. England's shot comes to how well Rooney plays. His strike v. Iceland was a wonder. If he helps Owen scoring goals, England can go far. My guess: Dissappointments: Germany, Sweden, England Impressive: France, Italy, Denmark
texgator, Canada men won a tournament that the likes of Colombia and good ol' USA wish they had won (Gold Cup? 1999?). So, by your standard, Canada HAS won something not played with a puck, and Grah, therefore, should have your warm invitation to post here any time. and that was pre-Yallop! re: FSW and Euro '04 how did Setanta fail to keep the live broadcasts exclusive? Free on FSW, $19.95 on setanta...tough choice... maybe Setanta didn't care about certain match-ups or just got outbid?
Setanta was forced to offer up a handful of games on a non-PPV basis by UEFA. I can only guess that UEFA forced to pull their rights for future tournaments if Setanta didn't do this. I believe UEFA is trying to maintain a presence on the somewhat public airwaves in the US with an eye towards the future pot of gold that might exist if this country ever embraces soccer in a big way. FSW probably got the rights on the cheap considering the position Setanta was in, the lack of other options, and the relatively poor times and match ups being offered.