Probably only of real interest to us punters on this side of the Atlantic, but open to anyone who is lucky (or unlucky) to catch the European football championships on TV.

Post away.

It was great to see Piere-Luigi Collina's throbbing, veiny, bald head in the opening match. Pity he has to retire in December.

I told a lot of people that Portugal wouldn't run away with the competition like they thought and the first match seemed to prove that. I wandered off to the toilet and didn't even realise they'd got a goal back until a bit later.

I'm looking forward to Bulgaria vs Sweden on Monday, I've got a fiver that says Bulgaria advance out of the group stages.

There's also the France game tomorrow, which will hopefully be entertaining.

France are playing England arnt they?? Well come on france!

England's side doesnt look to strong, France's skill should easily get them the 3 points.

Portugal were crap. Given the number of their players who play for major clubs, the frantic Premier League style hit-a-cross-and-hope tactics employed by the coach were like making Stephen Hawking teach primary school kids adding and subtracting.

Mind you having Pauleta as their only striker didn't help. And the Greek defending was solid.

if I'd have been Luis Figo I'd have gone ballistic.

The head says England France will be either 1-1, or 2-0 or 3-0 to France tomorrow, but since every body with a pulse and everything with 4 wheels has 2 or more St. George's cross flags stuck to the side of them, I'll be keeping that between me and the bookie.

Didn't there used to be a time when Brazil had an amazing team?

Yes, I believe that time is now.

Geography stopped Brazil from entering the European championship, not a lack of skill.

http://www.footballbadgers.com/

FRANCE 2 - 1 ENGLAND

What a game! France were the better team, England just got lucky with their goal. France had more posession and more shots on goal but they didnt finish them like their usual style. Henry kept himself quiet which was disapointing seeing as he is a magical player.

Gerard really made a mess at the end of the game, James should have been sent off for that tackle, what happened to the whole "FIFA Fair Play"?

Victoria's thong must have been hurting Beckham, thats what put him off when he hit the penalty.

Over all, very good game!

Thoughts on it???

Wow. England-France was one of the greatest matches I have ever watched, and must go down as proof of there being a god. I don't think I have ever laughed so much.

Oh aye, truly great.

Of course, James deserved getting sent off, but so did Silvestre for his tackle. And yes, Owen, Heskey, Gerrard and Beckham are all shit.

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. And yes, Owen, Heskey, Gerrard and Beckham are all shit.

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. And yes, Owen, Heskey, Gerrard and Beckham are all shit.

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Spoken like a true Englishman.

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I wouldn't argue that the England penalty was deserved, but it was so sweet that Beckham missed it. France's penalty should have resulted in James being red carded, Bartez received the same treatement only weeks ago.

I watched the match in my local with it's French landlord and I have never been so happy, what a match, what an ending, I love football.

I was one of the few people in the pub who was actually trying to watch the game objectively and not singing lewd songs.

The actual drama was taken out of the game for me by the TV round the corner which was receiving terrestrial signals, so that you could see Beckham missing the penalty, if you looked round the corner,a good 3 seconds before he actually appeared to on the big screen showing it in digital. That was funny, but it spoilt the point of watching the game.

Oh, and it was good to see Kajun's mate Prso has all the qualities that he'll need to fit in at Rangers, namely being able to dive, throw fits of histrionics and miss by at least 10 feet of each post.

I saw some poll that said 84% of Scots were supporting England. But I haven't encountered any yet. Most of them seem to be rooting for Croatia, for some reason.

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I wouldn't argue that the England penalty was deserved...

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Sweeden 5 - 0 Bulgaria

Good Game.

Larson's Goals were good. Penalty at the very edge of the box, very dangerous place to put ina tackle. He hit it well though.

The defending was terrible for the 5th goal, some finish on it though.

Anyone else catch it?

Heeeeeenrik Laaaarsson,
Heeeeeenrik Laaaaaaaarsson,
HEEEEEEEEENRIK LARSSON IS THE KING OF KINGS!

Bit of a shame for poor ol' Stan Petrov and co, they deserved at least one consolation goal, possibly the most continuously entertaining game of the tournament so far, not a patch on the glorious France victory though.

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The defending was terrible for the 5th goal, some finish on it though.

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The defending was terrible for the 5th goal, some finish on it though.

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When you're 4-0 down and the game's in stoppage time, you tend not to care too much and just want to get off the pitch as soon as possible.

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The defending was terrible for the 5th goal, some finish on it though.

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When you're 4-0 down and the game's in stoppage time, you tend not to care too much and just want to get off the pitch as soon as possible.

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No, if your dedicated to the game you'll fight to the bitter end.

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Yesterday:

• Holland were cack until Van Hooijdonk came on. I mean, realistically, do you expect to score with one man up front and hitting wayward balls into the channels?
  
• The German number 7, the 19 year old, was frikkin' awesome. Watch out for him.
  
• Germany as a team looked mean today. rumours that this is the "worst Germman side for years" only count on paper. They worked hard and deserved to win. I reckon they could get to the semis on this form.
  
• How fricking great were Latvia?

Hasn't almost every German team in the past decade been "the worst in years," and then they usually find a way to finish second or something?

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Hasn't almost every German team in the past decade been "the worst in years," and then they usually find a way to finish second or something?

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4:00 pm BST - England vs Switzerland.

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Flat Track Bullies 3, Merchant Bankers 0

Not a great display by England by any means, but a decent one at least. The score flattered them - the guy with the Turkish name they had up front was destroying them from set pieces. But England had so much space down the left they couldn't *not* score, and the forst goal was deserved. Next two were down to the dismissal of Haas; The England players got the space which they're used to in the Premiership.

On form, I would expect them to sneak through to the next round, it depends which Croatian team show up. Which means they'll draw Greece in the next round, who I'd rather play than Spain/Portugal

France/Croatia was cracking in places.

It was a good enough game. Rooney is playing well. Michael Owen is playing shit and he knows it too. The second goal was funny;the ball hitting off the post then off the keeper's head and in.

Gerrard played well which makes up for his vital mistake against France. I dont like when England win but i kinda want them to make it out of their group as their not the worst team to watch, but they better not make it too the semi's!

So who is everyone rooting for?? :\

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So who is everyone rooting for?? :\

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- the guy with the Turkish name they had up front

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The Croatia/France game was quality - I was really hoping Croatia would beat France, and they did have a chance towards the end if they'd handled it a little better... was good to see France given a run for their money, I felt.

I haven't been especially impressed by England's performance so far, and I wouldn't be surprised if Croatia took them by surprise (i.e. England are behaving pretty complacently, and the Switzerland match has probably done them no favours in that respect) and won. I'm not saying I would want that, but I could see it happening.

I'm backing Sweden, they have a lot of exciting players to watch. Zlatan, Ljungberg and.... what's that other guy's name?

I'm rooting for Denmark (of course). I doubt Germany will win - the way they play right now, anyone will be able to win or get a draw against them. Italy also disappoints very much right now.

I'm really impressed with the Czecks, and they could be a surprise winner.

Having seen them last night I'd agree with lukket, my initial enthusiasm for Germany has fallen away. We had a good old discussion about this last night - evryone agrees this tournament is wide open.

I'd say Sweeden could win it, but Czech Republic could cause them problems.

Is it just me or is England's football very boring to watch, they don't really have much skill.

I think Denmark will go crashing out on Tuesday, Sweden only need to draw to go through and I'm pretty sure Italy can beat Bulgaria, they've been completely awful so far.

England have been fairly boring, but not nearly as boring as some of the yawn-fests so far. Denmark vs Bulgaria was worse than some of Rangers' matches this past season. Tough game against the Croats, I'm hoping Sven and co underestimate them, although I will be just as happy seeing Portugal beat them in the quarter finals.

Holland vs Czech Republic was one of the greatest games of football I have ever seen in my entire life, such drama, such skill, that's what football is all about right there.

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Holland vs Czech Republic was one of the greatest games of football I have ever seen in my entire life, such drama, such skill, that's what football is all about right there.

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I actually thought the England vs. Croatia match was really exciting to watch, definitely the best match England has played so far this tournament. The first goal scored by Croatia at the beginning was just the kick in the pants England needed to get them to do something - and they did deliver. Portugal vs. England will hopefully be just as gripping.

I was disappointed big Dado didn't single-handedly rip the English apart. He's obviously saving himself for Motherwell and Inverness Caley Thistle.

Italy is out! Yay! They were really getting on everyone's nerves with their innuendo's and spitting and whatnot. The Denmark - Sweden match was very great, and if not Denmark had those couple of off-periods, we would have won.

Exciting matches tomorrow; anything could happen in that group (yeah, I know, the Czechs will win)

On the contrary, I think tonight's football was quite gripping, Sweden grabbing the goal that merely seconds later would be so important, watching the Italians celebrate the goal they needed and being informed that it was useless, that's better than any other shitty ITV drama you get.

The only problem about the Denmark - Sweden game was that LARSSON'S A DIVING FUCKING CHEAT.

Hey, any Rangers fan with even a small amount of alcohol related mental illness will tell you that.

I'd have rather watched the Denmark-Sweden game, but Bulgaria-Italy did indeed turn out to be dramatic.

Italy's time in the Euro championships was spent like they were the kids at school who bunked off lessons and went to parties at weekends instead of studying, only to cram at the last minute and still get an A. But this time the shoddy coursework they handed in that they should have been working harder on this past couple of weeks has condemned them to a life of sitting outside the library looking broke and unshaven while the less bright but more industrious kids get to party because they got accepted to university.

Whether those industrious kids swapped answers or not is irrelevant.

Man, I missed my calling. I should have been a sports writer.

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The only problem about the Denmark - Sweden game was that LARSSON'S A DIVING FUCKING CHEAT.

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Again, a team goes out not for lack of skill but for lack of industry and invention. OK my money is now on the Czechs, they were hard working but their passing was superb - if they keep it up as well as their dynamic running they can go all the way. Plus Baros's goal was a stunner and Heinz's free kick was stupendous (I think I actually described it as "a bit crispy" at one point)

If you haven't seen it, you really need to.

Too close to call tonight, I'd like to back England but it could be another penalty shootout nightmare. I think we need to see which Luis Figo turns up though, and whether England will bother defending set pieces - I can almost put money on Gary Neville doing something stupid.

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Again, a team goes out not for lack of skill but for lack of industry and invention. OK my money is now on the Czechs, they were hard working but their passing was superb - if they keep it up as well as their dynamic running they can go all the way. Plus Baros's goal was a stunner and Heinz's free kick was stupendous (I think I actually described it as "a bit crispy" at one point)

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Gawd, it would be terrible if England won it. You'd never hear the end of it. They still brag about '66.

AH-HAHAHAHAHAHAHAHA

Oh man, I'm going to the pub a happy, happy man.

Top 5 reasons why England lost

5. What the hell was that penalty spot made of? Fibreglass? Play-Doh? It doesn't excuse England blowing yet another penalty shoot out, but it makes for a good whingy intro.

4. Sol Campbell's disallowed "goal" - I can see how the ref disallowed it, Terry and Campbell were in pretty hard on the goalie. Borderline.

3. Beckham, off the back of a disappointing season with Real Madrid and too much publicity, looked jaded. His penalty was arse and his play throughout the tournament was uninspired. I expect more of the captain who takes the first spot kick, at least Gareth Southgate hit the target when his penalty was saved in '96. Overhyped; underperformed.

2. Losing Rooney early on led to a tactical problem which Sven, again, failed to deal with. I'd have replaced Rooney with Heskey when he went off after 25 minutes - Like for like - one big strong lad for another. And I'd have kept Scholes on for another 10 minutes. Eriksson has managed the squad well, but his tactial thinking leaves a lot to be desired and I wouldn't be surprised if he moves on soon.

1. The England squad were, with the exception of Rooney and Hargreaves, grossly unfit after overly long seasons with their clubs. Having few players with real skill, england rely on working hard and being organised. When they lost their legs, usually around 75 minutes, they got dicked upon royally.

Well that's that. Maybe I won't see so many of those wank looking flags stuck to the side of people's cars. Time to get back to enjoying the games as a neutral.

PS - Kajun. What's the Gallic for Schadenfreuede

That game was like some kind of beautiful dream.