OFFICIAL EURO 2008 THREAD

[K.Dub]

 

[Elevz]

 

That move Van Nistelrooy made...

[Kill]

My only concern is they may have peaked too early and how they react when they go behind.

There's no telling what might happen next. After that incredible win against Italy, people weren't expecting the Dutch to actually live up to the expectations. Well, I guess they were wrong (me included), although, as opposed to the Italy-match, this time the final score seems unfitting with the actual match.

It's not too hard to predict what will happen when an opponent scores; you've already seen what happened when the French scored. The look on Robben's face: priceless. That's precisely what's to be expected from a team which plays with such an incredible will to show and prove: you think you've got one on them, but it only motivates them.

As for the assumed defensive weakness of the Dutch... There's no walking past Boulahrouz - he's impossibly accurate with them slidings. Ooijer is proving himself to be very solid as well. Van Bronckhorst needs no further explaining. It's only Mathijsen who's being a threat to his own defense, but merely because he constantly plays on the edge of what the referee allows; he risks getting one or two penalties against him. That's about the only real weakness in the defense. You can't say the defensive midfielders are weak either; De Jong has proven to be a great replacement for Heitinga, and Engelaar has been incredibly solid for FC Twente for years now, and his talents are finally being noticed by a bigger audience. He just had an off-day against the French, which resulted in him being rather invisible during the first half, but it happens.

For the next match, the Dutch can work on the rhythm of a great bunch of substitutes. I can just see Heitinga, Huntelaar, Bouma, De Cler, Melchiot, De Zeeuw, Vennegoor, Afellay etc getting some time to shine. That may seem an unfair advantage to the Romanians, but don't underestimate the will of such substitutes to prove that they belong in the main team. The Romanians won't get away easy.

I (slightly) disagree with two things here: The result wasn't too high. Of course the Dutch were a bit lucky, that goes for both games, since both Italy and France had some opportunities they couldn't turn into goals. Still, the fact it both resulted in 3+ victories proves the Dutch system right and the fact that the French shot at goal a lot doesn't mean all that much taking into account that the large majority of their attempts was harmless stuff.

Still, what I see as the one problem in the Dutch team is not the man-to-man situations in the defense, you're totally right the Dutch defenders are very solid at that, but the fact that sometimes the opponent gets a bit more space to play in the offensive third than they should. This is something the Croatians have done so incredibly well against Germany.

[Lunatic]

I'm looking at a Portugal-Holland finals.

[eS El Duque]

Ruuud's pass was sick

[Furor Teutonicus]

Ribery was very strong yesterday, he was the only one who fought back. But the rest of the team left him alone. Besides him Toulalan was decent, Sagnol and Evra were ok but that's it.  Their attackers including Henry were a joke. Henry played in the first half like he was on narcotics. And they could only score  because Sagnol fouled RVN or whoever it was. Malouda, Anelka and that Gomis dude were a fuckin' joke. And 35 old-year Thuram against Robben was pure comedy

Holland was fantastic 

[Lunatic]

12 minutes til what should be a FANTASTIC GAME! (Spain-Sweden)

[Elevz]

12 minutes til what should be a FANTASTIC GAME! (Spain-Sweden)

I only hope Sweden doesn't disappoint...

[JAZ]

they did the 1st game.

[Lunatic]

they did the 1st game.

i disagree - how were they disappointing? penetrating that Greece defense is a tough task, they did a fine job.

[Lunatic]

1-0 Spain 15 mins in, damn

Sweden seems to be too slow to keep up with the spanish speed

[Invincible]

1-0 Spain 15 mins in, damn

Sweden seems to be too slow to keep up with the spanish speed

They are not struggling now. Ibrahimovic again.

[Furor Teutonicus]

oh Ibo scores again. Now we can see what this Spanish team is about...

[Lunatic]

1-1, glad sweden is at least putting up a fight.

[Raphael]

it's a tough game i hope we win it.