Group A

[dark_horse]

Who will go to the quarterfinals?

[Irlandos]

I think it will be Portugal (only one team can eliminate them :rolleyes: ) and... a surprising Turkey.

Switzerland are not all that strong, the Czechs are not as strong as in previous years.

[Genome]

I think it'll be Czech Republic and Portugal ... in that order :).

[plato-ny]

Euro 2008 Groups - To Win Group A (Betting odds)

Portugal 2.25

Czech Republic 3.25

Switzerland 4.00

Turkey 8.00

[The2ndMouse]

Czech Rep & Turkey

[plato-ny]

Betting odds

Switzerland vs. Czech Republic 2.80 3.10 2.62

Portugal vs. Turkey 1.73 3.50 5.00

[Lazarus]

Switzerland - Czech Republic 0-1 (0-0)

[Crazy]

Switzerland - Czech Republic 0-1

Not a bad game to start the Euro 2008.The Czechs manage to score with Sverkos on one of the few mistakes that the Swiss defence made in the 71 minute and keep the lead the rest of the way.I was also sadden by the injury of Switzerland captain Alexander Frei just before halftime.Really bad luck but that is soccer.I can not wait for the next game of the day with our 2 favorite customers countries,Portugal and Turkey.... :LOL: :LOL:

[Lazarus]

Portugal - Turkey 2-0 (0-0)

[Irlandos]

Portugal must have hit the woodwork 4 times! Incredible start! That team will go far. As for Turkey, judging by the first game, 2nd place is within their reach. The Swiss - barring a miracle - have no chance at all to advance

[Genome]

Yup, nice and entertaining to watch, but I wasn't really impressed with any sides coaching today.

@ aek66 moutinho indeed looked a lot better than when he played vs Greece during the friendly two months ago. Also, agreed 100% on the Deco remark :).

Kazim shouldn't be underestimated but it'll be interesting to see him vs stronger opposition. Btw, some pretty bad calls during the Portugal - Turkey game, like the hands by I think Carvalho and the foul in '91 by (I think) Aurelio on Nani ... which could've gotten red for sure.

[loup]

i thought the portugese looked a step and half beter tan the the other 3 teams today

tough luck for the Swiss, I really don't like the czech team, but they do have 3 points

[DUDE]

I thought Portugal were phenonmenal today... 2 goals, 1 disallowed, and 3 shots off the woodwork says it all. It could have been 6-0. They move the ball quickly and use the wings perfectly. They did lack some presence up front, but the tore Turkey apart in the middle.

Having said that I thought Turkey were very poor and contributed to their own downfall. In the first half they couldn't string 3 passes together!! This perforance by them has actually left me really worried regarding Greece... were our qualifying opponents really that weak? :blink:

The Turks gave the Portuguese sooo much space... the distance between the centre-backs and the full backs was huge and Portugal were consistently finding those holes... and even still the wingers were getting space which highlights how bad the full backs (and the defence in general was). Poor Altintop was out of his depth at right-back against Ronaldo. It really was a terrible performance... the relatively low score masks how embarassing it actually was.

The only positive for the Turks was that Aureillio was class in the 2nd half. Sooo many important tackles.

As for the first game, the Swiss were the better side and were very unlucky to lose. The first half was entertaining and played at a good tempo, with Behrami doing some great work down the right. Frei made the wrong decision on far too many occassions, opting to shoot from 30 yards when passes were on.

The 2nd half saw the game slow down and the quality of Switzerland's delivery fell dramatically... every cross, pass, free kick and corner was abysmal! Then a horrendous defensive error led to Sverkos' beautiful finish. Switzerland rallied again and missed a couple of glories chances and were hard-done-by with regards to one of the penalty claims. Thus, although the Czechs were efficient I feel as though the Swiss were unlucky not to get a point.

I think Portugal will win this group, Czechs in 2nd, Switzerland in 3rd and Turkey rock bottom...

On a side note, I hope the Greek players think back to the 1-4 defeat at the hands of this team which looked inept last night and they realise that they really do have to bring their A-game.

[Irlandos]

what did the czechs do to impress you?

Czechland had far more "substance" in their play than Switzerland. The home team may have been urged on by the crowd but when the ball went the other way, action was quicker and passes more deliberate.

Their weak point seems to be Koller who can't move for the life of him. He can be shipped home now. Milan Baros should start or that young upstart Laimos er...I mean Sverkos!

[plato-ny]

Two matches against Portugal on neutral field, yesterday and Euro 2000, ended in 2-0 losses. Greece defeated Portugal twice in their backyard 4 years ago and scored 3 goals whereas Turkey scored zero goals. Lets see how the Turks do against the Czechs next week

[Genome]

...or that young upstart Laimos er...I mean Sverkos!

:LOL:

[REY]

Group A, day 1, St. Jacob, Basle (SUI), game 1

Switzerland Vs. Czech Republic 0:1 (Sverkoš- asst. Galašek 71')

Ref. Roberto Rosetti

Formation/Line-ups:

-------------------------Benaglio----------------------------

---------------------------------------------------------------

--------------Mueller--------------Senderos----------------

Lichtsteiner------------------------------------------Magnin

---------------------------------------------------------------

Behrami----Inler-----------------Fernandes------Barnetta

---------------------------------------------------------------

------------------------------------Frei-----------------------

--------------Streller-----------------------------------------

===================================

-------------------------Koller--------------------------------

----------------------------------------------------------------

-----------------------------------------------Sionko---------

------Plašyl---------------------------------------------------

-----------------Jarolim----------Polak----------------------

-----------------------Galašek--------------------------------

----------------------------------------------------------------

Jankulovski-----------------------------------------Grygera

-----------------Rozehnal--------Ujfaluši--------------------

----------------------------------------------------------------

-------------------------Čech---------------------------------

Substitutions:

Switzerland: H. Yakin (Frei) 46', Vonlanthen (Lichtsteiner) 75', Derdiyok (Behrami) 84'

Czech Republic: Sverkoš (Koller) 56', Vlček (Sionko) 83', Kovač (Jarolim) 87'

Yellow cards:

Switzerland: Magnin 59', Vonlanthen 75', Barnetta 90+4'

---------------------------------------------------------------------

Group A, day 1, Geneva (SUI), game 2

Turkey Vs. Portugal 0:2 (Pepe- asst. Nuno Gomes 61', Meireles- asst. Moutinho 90+3')

Ref. Herbert Vandel

Formation/Line-ups:

-------------------------Volkan------------------------------

---------------------------------------------------------------

Ht.Altintop----Gokhan Zan------Servet C.---Hakan Balta

---------------------------------------------------------------

------------Kazim-----M.Aurelio------Emre B.--------------

---------------------------------------------------------------

---------------Mevlut Erdinc------Tuncay------------------

-------------------------Nihat K.-----------------------------

===================================

-------------------------Nuno Gomes------------------------

----------------------------------------------------------------

------Simao-----------------------------------Ronaldo------

-------------------------Deco---------------------------------

----------------Petit-------------Moutinho-------------------

----------------------------------------------------------------

Bosingwa-----Carvalho--------Pepe-------------Bosingwa

----------------------------------------------------------------

-------------------------Ricardo------------------------------

Substitutions:

Turkey: Sabri (Mevlut E.) 46', Emre Asik (Gokhan Zan) 55', Senturk (Ht.Altintop) 76'

Portugal: Nani (Nuno Gomes) 69', Meirelles (Simao) 83', Meira (Deco) 90+2'

Yellow cards:

Turkey: Gokhan 51', Sabri 73'

------------------------------------------------------------------

Standings:

Or.Team.................Pl...W....D...L...GS..GC..GD..Pts

1. Portugal...............1....1....0....0....2....0...+2....3

2. Czech Republic.....1....1....0....0....1....0...+1....3

3. Switzerland..........1....0....0....1....0....1....-1....0

4. Turkey..................1....0....0....1....0....2....-2....0

[Crazy]

Lovely,Portugal needs to advance from this group and then,if we are lucky and go through,meet them and beat them again.There is a banner that needs to be answered and i really love to see Ronaldo cry...... :LOL: :LOL: :LOL: :LOL:

[REY]

rey - thanx for these...this is all very helpful. schemes are spot on.

i kept calling switzerland's central midfield - gelson fernandes and the swiss-turk. now i know the swiss-turk's name is inler.

Yes, excluding some political and historic differences while saying this, it is still worth mantioning that he/Inler is another example of numerous talented Turkish central and side midfielders these days not just playing for/in Turkey, but also Switzerland, Austria etc.. A young and promising CM playing for Udinese.

PS. can one of the supermods edit my previous post here in the way that just in my formational scheme of Portugal, instead of Bosingwa on the left back, put P.Ferreira (as I made a little lapse). Let's not confuse our guests or whoever else.. ;)

[DUDE]

i kept calling switzerland's central midfield - gelson fernandes and the swiss-turk. now i know the swiss-turk's name is inler.

I know you rated Inler's performance, but personally I thought he was quite average by his usual standards. He's been fantastic in Serie A this season and has attracted the attention of some top clubs. He didn't really reflect his true ability for me. However kudos to you for recognising that he's a good player after having only seen him once. Get Demi to employ you as a scout!!!

[DUDE]

well, i've seen him more than once - not sure what you're implying. if i wanted to 'pretend', i think i would have looked him up before stating my surprise he was of turkish extraction.

i've seen him with udinese, you think i don't watch serie a football?? - i always assumed he was of swiss-german and something else extraction. inler at first glace, appears german to me. i didn't think he was swiss-turkish.

when i posted my thoughts on the match, i didn't remember his name, only the swiss-turk reference. rey reminded me of his name in the scheme post, instead of me looking it up.

- i have my notes on serie a players. inler isn't as easy to remember as is inter's balotelli's story. balotelli and oddity of it all, i can remember. inler...not really.

Re trelle, why do you always assume the worst when reading my posts?

I'm not implying anything. Because you referred to him as the "swiss-turk" instead of his name I thought it was the first time you'd seen him... a bit like saying, "you know that midfielder, the Swiss-Turk, he's great", etc. Because of this, I was merely saying bravo that you spotted his talent. It's not easy to recognise a player's abilities when they're not at their best and so because I believed you were watching him for the first time I said you should be a scout. At no point did I suggest you "pretended" to have seen him before or anything like that and the scout comment was a little joke... abit like me saying "you should be manager!" because you analysed the game well.

I know it's difficult to convey and understand the tone of statements in a written text but at least try and give me the benefit of the doubt... I'm not confrontational for no reason you know. I respect your football knowledge an awful lot and enjoy reading all your posts, and I wouldn't be sarcastic to anything you've posted.

[Irlandos]

Today's results:

Portugal - Czechland 3-0

Switzerland - Turkey 1-2

The next games are:

Portugal - Switzerland (of no interest)

Turkey - Czechland (winners go through)

[dark_horse]

Interesting article regarding to the tie-breaker

Group A decider could go to penalties

If Turkey and the Czech Republic draw their final Group A match in Geneva on Sunday, second place and a quarter-final berth will be decided on penalties.

Shoot-out chance

The Czech Republic lost 3-1 to Portugal on Wednesday evening and then Turkey beat Switzerland 2-1 – both after added-time goals. That leaves the Czech Republic and Turkey level on points, goal difference and goals scored, and according to Article 7.08 in the official 2008 UEFA European Championship regulations, in that instance, if the two equal teams are playing in the last game, their match is decided by spot-kicks after 90 minutes should it finish level.

Regulations

Article 7.08 reads: "If two teams which have the same number of points, the same number of goals scored and conceded play their last group match against each other and are still equal at the end of that match, the ranking of the two teams in question will be determined by kicks from the penalty mark, provided no other teams within the group have the same number of points on completion of all group matches." The full regulations can be read by clicking here. Whoever finishes second in Group A will play the winners of Group B in Vienna on 20 June. Portugal, as Group A winners, face the Group B runners-up in Basel the night before.

[DUDE]

Interesting article regarding to the tie-breaker

Group A decider could go to penalties

If Turkey and the Czech Republic draw their final Group A match in Geneva on Sunday, second place and a quarter-final berth will be decided on penalties.

Shoot-out chance

The Czech Republic lost 3-1 to Portugal on Wednesday evening and then Turkey beat Switzerland 2-1 – both after added-time goals. That leaves the Czech Republic and Turkey level on points, goal difference and goals scored, and according to Article 7.08 in the official 2008 UEFA European Championship regulations, in that instance, if the two equal teams are playing in the last game, their match is decided by spot-kicks after 90 minutes should it finish level.

Regulations

Article 7.08 reads: "If two teams which have the same number of points, the same number of goals scored and conceded play their last group match against each other and are still equal at the end of that match, the ranking of the two teams in question will be determined by kicks from the penalty mark, provided no other teams within the group have the same number of points on completion of all group matches." The full regulations can be read by clicking here. Whoever finishes second in Group A will play the winners of Group B in Vienna on 20 June. Portugal, as Group A winners, face the Group B runners-up in Basel the night before.

WOW! How cool would that be?!

[REY]

Group A, day 2, Geneva (SUI), game 9

Czech Republic 1 - 3 Portugal

Ref. Kyros Vassaras

Formation/Line-ups:

-------------------------Čech--------------------------------

---------------------------------------------------------------

---------------Ujfaluši----------Rozehnal-------------------

Grygera------------------------------------------Jankulovski

---------------------------------------------------------------

------------------------Galašek------------------------------

---------------Matejovsky------Polak-----------------------

-----------------------------------------------Plašyl----------

---------------------------------------------------------------

---------Sionko-----------------------------------------------

-------------------------Baroš--------------------------------

===================================

-------------------------Nuno Gomes------------------------

----------------------------------------------------------------

------Simao-----------------------------------Ronaldo------

-------------------------Deco---------------------------------

----------------Petit-------------Moutinho-------------------

----------------------------------------------------------------

-----------------------------------------------------Bosingwa

P.Ferreira-----Carvalho--------Pepe------------------------

----------------------------------------------------------------

-------------------------Ricardo------------------------------

Substitutions:

Czech Republic

68' Stanislav Vlcek (Matejovsky)

73' Jan Koller 79' (Galašek)

85' David Jarolim (Plašyl)

Portugal

75' Fernando Meira (Moutinho)

79' Hugo Almeida (Nuno Gomes)

80' Ricardo Quaresma (Simao)

Cards and Goals:

8' [0 - 1] Deco

17' L. Sionko [1 - 1], asst. Plašyl

23' YC J. Polak

31' YC Bosingwa

63' [1 - 2] C. Ronaldo, asst. Deco

90' [1 - 3] R. Quaresma, asst. Ronaldo

------------------------------------------------------------

Group A, day 2, Geneva (SUI), game 10

Switzerland 1 - 2 Turkey

Ref. Luboš Michel

Formation/Line-ups:

-------------------------Benaglio----------------------------

---------------------------------------------------------------

--------------Mueller--------------Senderos----------------

Lichtsteiner------------------------------------------Magnin

---------------------------------------------------------------

Behrami----Inler-----------------Fernandes------Barnetta

---------------------------------------------------------------

--------------H.Yakin----------------------------------------

------------------------------------Derdiyok-----------------

===================================

--------------Nihat K.---------------------------------------

----------------------------------Tuncay--------------------

--------------------------------------------------------------

------------------------T.Metin------------------------------

---------Arda Turan-----------------Karadeniz------------

------------------------M.Aurelio---------------------------

--------------------------------------------------------------

Hakan Balta-------------------------------------H.Altintop

---------------Servet C.--------Emre Asik-----------------

---------------------------------------------------------------

-------------------------Volkan------------------------------

Substitutions:

Switzerland

66' Johan Vonlanthen (Barnetta)

76' Ricardo Cabanas (Fernandes)

85' Daniel Gygax (H.Yakin)

Turkey:

46' Semih Sentürk (Karadeniz)

46' Mehmet Topal (T.Metin)

85' Colin Kazim-Richards (Nihat K.)

Cards and Goals:

31' YC T. Sanli

32' H. Yakin [1 - 0], asst. Derdiyok

41' YC M. Aurelio

48' YC H.K. Balta

55' YC E. Derdiyok

57' [1 - 1] S. Sentürk, asst. Nihat K.

90' [1 - 2] A. Turan

Standings:

Or.Team.................Pl...W....D...L...GS..GC..GD..Pts

1. Portugal...............2....2....0....0....5....1...+4....6

2. Czech Republic.....2....1....0....1....2....3...-1....3

3. Turkey.................2....1....0....1....2....3....-1....3

4. Switzerland..........2....0....0....2....1....3....-2....0