Euro 2008 Austria-Switzerland

[DarkJourney]

Time for the Azurri to dance all over Oranje

[Seadragon76]

This could be the best match of the first game of group play in any group.

Now, as for the French: Boy, was that a piss poor performance. Don't give me that bull about Henry not being on the team, if you're supposed to be better then Romania, then you should of at least got a goal in the game. I think props has to be given to Romania for the suffocating defense. It could take them far.

[Breakwood]

This could be the best match of the first game of group play in any group.

Now, as for the French: Boy, was that a piss poor performance. Don't give me that bull about Henry not being on the team, if you're supposed to be better then Romania, then you should of at least got a goal in the game. I think props has to be given to Romania for the suffocating defense. It could take them far.

The French are notoriously slow starters. They still dominated the match and didn't alow the Romanians anything. Of course it's not a good result, but it could be worse. Remember in 2006 France drew their first 2 matches and made it to the final. Now obviously this group is tougher then the World Cup group but still they have some time to pick it up.

[TFoA]

Wow, Ruud just got away with a goal that was clearly offside. If you didn't see it live, you'll see it on the replay. Let's just say the Italians were PISSED. Luca Toni got a yellow card in protest.

But shoot, I'm not complainin. 1-0 Oranje so far.

EDIT: They scored again on a beautiful sequence a few minutes after. 2-0 Oranje!!!

[Shumway]

Quick question...forgive me for not knowing, but this is the first time I actually somewhat followed the Euros. How exactly does it work, meaning round robin, or is it just a big tourney? I'm assuming it's round robin, since they're in pools.

I should note that I generally follow Italy, which is why I ask

[WJMorris3]

Quick question...forgive me for not knowing, but this is the first time I actually somewhat followed the Euros. How exactly does it work, meaning round robin, or is it just a big tourney? I'm assuming it's round robin, since they're in pools.

I should note that I generally follow Italy, which is why I ask

You play everyone in your pool once, and the top two teams advance to a knockout stage.

Meanwhile, be it noted that it's 3-0 for the Dutch.

[TFoA]

Quick question...forgive me for not knowing, but this is the first time I actually somewhat followed the Euros. How exactly does it work, meaning round robin, or is it just a big tourney? I'm assuming it's round robin, since they're in pools.

I should note that I generally follow Italy, which is why I ask

It's the same as the World Cup. 3 points for a win, 1 for a draw, none for a loss. Top two teams in each group advance to a single elimination tournament (in this case, 8 teams will advance).

And, oh yeah, 3-0 Oranje!!! Holy crap, I did not expect this at all. They've really came out and impressed.

[Shumway]

Quick question...forgive me for not knowing, but this is the first time I actually somewhat followed the Euros. How exactly does it work, meaning round robin, or is it just a big tourney? I'm assuming it's round robin, since they're in pools.

I should note that I generally follow Italy, which is why I ask

It's the same as the World Cup. 3 points for a win, 1 for a draw, none for a loss. Top two teams in each group advance to a single elimination tournament (in this case, 8 teams will advance).

And, oh yeah, 3-0 Oranje!!! Holy crap, I did not expect this at all. They've really came out and impressed.

You know, based on uniforms alone, I think I like the Dutch. Those light blue socks are sweet. I could honestly care less who wins, although, as I said, I do root for Italy in the World Cup(they were my team in '94), but I've just recently gotten into watching football when I can...I couldn't stand it for the longest time. I don't think I could name 10 players total. Actually, let's try:

1. Ronaldinho

2. Del Piero

3. Buffon

4. Beckham

5. Trezeguet...thank god I'm always Juventus in Fifa 2004, otherwise I'd be lost

6. Christiano Ronaldo

7. Vieri

8. Nedved...again, Juventus in Fifa '04

9. Landon Donovan (he still plays, right?)

And on that note, I think I'm done thinking. I could name a handful of guys from US's '94 cup team, but I doubt any of em are still around. I haven't heard much of John Harkes or Tab Ramos in recent years.

[TFoA]

Yes, Landon Donovan still plays.

And for the first time in 30 years (!), the Dutch have beaten Italy in football. And in impressive style too.

[NEW.ERA]

YES!!

Huge win

[WJMorris3]

Not to mention that the Dutch victory moved them up to #3 in the World. France is #4, Italy #6, and Romania #10 (as of today's results.)

[NEW.ERA]

Dude this is so awesome

Italy is now in tough if they would have lost 1-0 no biggie but 3-0 is huge incase of a tie

[TFoA]

Yup. Italy's going to have to work hard to get back in it now. You can't afford to lose like this in these type of tournaments.

That being said, I'm stoked. Even though Ruud was definitely offside on that first goal, this was still a very impressive showing. My expectations have gone up tremendously now after that performance.

[DarkJourney]

Man that was an ass woopin'. No excuses. It's going to be tough to make to the round of sixteen.

[NEW.ERA]

I still think Italy might find a way to get through with 4 points but they'll have to seriously beat on Romania or France which won't be easy.

[DEAD!]

Yup. Italy's going to have to work hard to get back in it now. You can't afford to lose like this in these type of tournaments.

That being said, I'm stoked. Even though Ruud was definitely offside on that first goal, this was still a very impressive showing. My expectations have gone up tremendously now after that performance.

That looked very obvious, but I noticed, just before the goal that there was an incident where an Italian player went to ground and ended up behind the goal line near the net. I wonder if that was taken in consideration.

[NYBadshah1]

Yup. Italy's going to have to work hard to get back in it now. You can't afford to lose like this in these type of tournaments.

That being said, I'm stoked. Even though Ruud was definitely offside on that first goal, this was still a very impressive showing. My expectations have gone up tremendously now after that performance.

That looked very obvious, but I noticed, just before the goal that there was an incident where an Italian player went to ground and ended up behind the goal line near the net. I wonder if that was taken in consideration.

It was. Late in the match the commentators said that the official explanation for him not being offsides was that the other player off the field was considered "active" for offside purposes.

[O_Town_Clown]

*snipped*

(HTML FTL)

[O_Town_Clown]

Here is the incident you guys are referring to. You can definitely see Buffon push the last Italian defender over the touchline before the goal. This made Ruud onside, and meant that the goal was "legal".

http://img168.imageshack.us/img168/5223/291cn54qa7.gif

[DEAD!]

Here is the incident you guys are referring to. You can definitely see Buffon push the last Italian defender over the touchline before the goal. This made Ruud onside, and meant that the goal was "legal".

http://img168.imageshack.us/img168/5223/291cn54qa7.gif

Note the interpretation of an offside

http://www.fifa.com/mm/document/affederati...2006_e_1581.pdf

The first part is the offside position. It doesn't say anything about a defender having to be in or out of bounds. The defender may have been closer to the goal than van Nistelrooy. Not only that, the defender could have come back into play. So, I did think Ruud was actually onside when I first saw it and have not changed my mind.