Euro 2004 - First Round Wrap Up
What a wild couple of weeks. I have still not been able to see a single game. Damn U.S. But, I have been able to listen to most of the games on the BBC. Their station 5 Live has been carrying the games on the Internet for the entire tournament. Between the audio broadcast and euro2004.com's matchcentres, each game has been an exciting and fun multimedia experience. My co-workers have even gotten into the tournament!
The tone of the tournament has been perennial powers going down. Spain, Germany, and Italy did not make it past the first round. Unbelievable? Maybe yes. Maybe No. These teams had a combined 7 goals scored in 9 games. Italy scored 3 while Spain and Germany each notched 2. If you dont score, you don't move on to the next round. Overall, they didnt seem to have the passion of the winning teams. At this level, you don't win because you "deserve" to win. You have to play for it.
Disappointing for some is happiness for others. The teams left provided some unbelievable moments. From Group A, the homeside Portugal is riding high and playing well after FC Porto won the champions league. In Group B, France looks unstoppable with Zinédine Zidane and company a good bet to make the final. Plus, England is soaring! 18 year old Wayne Rooney has scored 4 goals. At one point, he was the youngest player in UEFA history to score a goal!
The drama in Groups A and B were not to be out down by Groups C and D. The scandanavian countries, Sweden and Denmark, swept Group C eliminating the Italians and Bulgaria. It is so cool that Italy went home. They are the best team in the world, on paper. They never play up to expectations. Zlatan Ibrahimovic scored one of the most acrobatic goals I have ever scene during Sweden's draw with Italy. The late goal left the score 1-1 and helped seal the demise of Italy. On a rebound, Ibrahimovic flicked the ball back into the net while facing the opposite direction in the air. Crazy. I was lucking enough to see the highlight on Telemundo.
Finally, we have Group D. I wasn't surprised the Czech Republic went through to the next round. I was surprised they went through undefeated with the best record in the tourney! Alas, my ancestor's country did not make it. Germany did not deserve to make it. The Dutch soundly beat Latvia while the Germans couldn't even score a goal. Oh well, there is always the World Cup in two years in Germany.
So now we have the quarter finals. The teams are matched up like this:
POR 19:45 ENG 24 June - Lisbon
FRA 19:45 GRE 25 June - Lisbon
SWE 19:45 NED 26 June - Faro-Loulé
CZE 19:45 DEN 27 June - Porto
I think England will win and play the Dutch. France will also win and play the Czechs. It would be awesome to see a France vs. England final, but I don't think it will happen. France will probably face the Czech Republic in the semis. That could best two teams going at it. We shall see. It's all so exciting.
