*Official Euro 2008 Qualifying Thread*

[fatshaft]

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Seriously though, how do you A) go two goals behind, then B) tie it up, only to lose again

to a team basically playing for nothing?

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They were having a good time. England were rubbish and we got what we deserve.

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What's so dreadful about this latest English footballing failure is that we couldn't have asked for an easier group. Croatia were the one quality side in a group filled with the likes of Andorra and Israel, and yet England managed not to qualify. Incredibly poor stuff. The only upside is that now McClaren will surely go.

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Sadly McClaren being clueless was a near certainty (and he still managed to disapoint).

Whose next?

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Sir Alex. Offer him 45 million Euros a year or something.

[/ QUOTE ]Why do people keep mentioning him. I thought he scotched the rumours last time when he said "yeah I'd do it, of course England would finish bottom of every group"

I can;t imagine any Scotsman ever managing England, nor for that matter, the English fans taking to the appointment.

[LuckyLloyd]

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Enough about England, lets look at the teams that made it and their seedings for the draw on Dec. 2 in Vienna:

Pot 1: Switzerland (hosts), Austria (hosts), Greece (holders), Netherlands

Pot 2: Croatia, Italy, Czech Republic, Sweden

Pot 3: Germany, Romania, Portugal, Spain

Pot 4: Poland, France, Turkey, Russia

Possibility of a real "group of death" with Netherlands, Italy, Germany and France all in the same round robin group.

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My thoughts on best team from each pot:
1: Greece
Yeah whatever, I think it's close but they play a good and compact system and are easier to "overlook" than the Dutch. I'd hate to play them.

2: Imo the strongest pot. I like all 4 teams but overall I think the Czechs are a little stronger than the rest. Italy hasn't been all that impressive after the WC but their style is perfect for tournaments.

3: This is a funny pot. Rumania, Portugal, Spain are all teams I'd concider to somewhat lack the mindset for a big tourney. Germany played strong during the WC and during the qualifiers (they dropped the tempo a little after they were through) but overall I think it's the easy pick from this pot.

4: Hard for me to judge as I didn't see many games from either team but I think France will be slightly overrated. Turkey has the ability to either implode or explode, depends a lot on how they start and if they can get the emotions going. They will definitely be one of the most present nation when it comes to fan support. I think Poland lacks experience and overall firepower. They underperformed at the WC and I expect the same to happen at the Euros. I think Russia will be the team which depends the most on how they play game 1. Overall I'd pick France.

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I disagree a little.

You are on to something with Greece. But no - one will menatally underestimate them in this competition. And they are still quite limited in terms of pure talent. The Dutch are easily the best team from this pot.

The Czech Republic are not good. They looked laboured and past it in many of their qualification games. Their group was very, very easy (I should know [img]/images/graemlins/frown.gif[/img]). I would be surprised if they progress to the quarter finals irrespective of the draw they receive. Italy are the strongest team in the second group without question.

Germany are good at tournaments. Portugal will carry a degree of threat but they are in transition. I think everyone should just start writing Spain off at these things until they actually do something, ya know, good.

France is an easy pick from the final group.


If there is a surprise in this tournament I would bank on it coming from Switzerland largely on the basis of home advantage. They will be a solid outfit anyway that would have expected to qualify - and will include players with plenty of experience from the last World Cup.

[sharkstevie]

Yeah Greece & Czech Republic are over rated, well not sure how good the Greeks are but the Czechs were pretty bad in general and unimpressive in their group, unfortunately Ireland were more unimpressive and bad [img]/images/graemlins/frown.gif[/img]

agree with everything else though

[LuckyLloyd]

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unfortunately Ireland were more unimpressive and bad [img]/images/graemlins/frown.gif[/img]


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I know. I cry. [img]/images/graemlins/frown.gif[/img]

[slickss]

I liked Eriksson (previous England coach) and hated the way the England press treated him. Because of that I find it amusing how McClaren failed completely and how he got sacked after only 16 months.

However, I would've liked England in the tournament. The players, the press, the football culture - it's all interesting and entertaining. The tournament won't be the same without England.

[TCEgor]

Website of Croatian Football Federation:
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To all Russians:

I really hope that you enjoyed last night at least as half as we did.

It was matter of fair play, and, most of all, pride, for us. England was arrogant, saying that this game means nothing for us. It meant more for us than for them. Our guys wanted to win more than England team. Because they played for money, we played for glory. They will never ever understand that.

Thanks all for coming here to show you appreciation.

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I think the are right.Main thing that get England failed - arrogance. They refused to exchange shirts with Russian players after there win on Wembley (and who knows how that game would be if referee don't canceled Zyryanov's goal that without doubt was scored within rules). McLaren after Moscow's 2:1 refused to answer questions of Russian journalists and forbid translation of his answers to Russian. And that words before match vs Croatia. So yes, English players are more skilled. But they underrate everyone - Croatia, Russia, Macedonia, Israel - and pay for it.

[mosdef]

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This is the most even groupings Ive ever seen. All 4 groups are close in quality to each other. Could be some really tough groups as pontuan mentions, could be weaklings (Austria, Sweden, Romania, Russia ftw).

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You realize these aren't the actual groups, these are the pots for the draw, right?

[DemonDeac]

I tell you what, whoever wins this next summer is going to earn it.

Gonna be great to watch, especially while being in Italy during the tournament.

[valenzuela]

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To all Russians:

I really hope that you enjoyed last night at least as half as we did.

It was matter of fair play, and, most of all, pride, for us. England was arrogant, saying that this game means nothing for us. It meant more for us than for them. Our guys wanted to win more than England team. Because they played for money, we played for glory. They will never ever understand that.

Thanks all for coming here to show you appreciation.

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LOL, this is A+

[slickss]

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You realize these aren't the actual groups, these are the pots for the draw, right?

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Do you realize that he presented 4 teams that could end up in the same group, and not one of the seeding groups?

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(Austria, Sweden, Romania, Russia ftw)

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I agree, it is a fairly weak group. It is mainly because Austria (who is one of the host nations) is the #1 seed. Austria would likely not even have qualified if they didn't co-host the tournament.

Sweden is strong.