Euro 2004: the armchair fanA fan's view of the European Football Championships, by Andy Sennitt of Radio NetherlandsHolland well beaten: the score flatters them- June 30, 2004 The Dutch were somewhat fortunate to reach the semi-final, and needed to produce a good performance to beat the host nation Portugal. They didn't. In fact, the first 45 minutes produced some of the most dire football I have ever seen from a Dutch team. Portugal deservedly went in at half time 1-0 up. The second half had to be better, but before the Dutch even started to get in the game Maniche scored an amazing goal, which could be the goal of the tournament. Unfortunately, so unexpected...http://radio.weblogs.com/0121781/2004/06/30.html#a265 Danes architects of their own defeat- June 27, 2004 The Danish team can have no complaints about losing 3-0 to the Czech Republic. In a poor first half, they were the better side, and had some chances, but didn't take them. The Danes had almost two thirds of the possession, but went in at half time with nothing to show for it. It was clear that the Czechs, who have been impressive in this tournament and were the only side to get maximum points in the group stage, weren't going to play as badly after the break. And so it proved. Only 4 minutes...http://radio.weblogs.com/0121781/2004/06/27.html#a264 Holland go through by the narrowest of margins- June 26, 2004 120 minutes of football couldn't separate Sweden and Holland: 0-0. Neither could the standard five penalties: 4-4. So it was into sudden death. Sweden shot first and Edwin van der Sar saved Olof Mellberg's kick. Then 20-year-old Arjen Robben, one of the players of the tournament and bound for Chelsea next season, took the 6th Dutch penalty - and the stadium went wild. Afterwards he said he wasn't nervous, and his only thought was that he was going to score. The celebrations after the match...http://radio.weblogs.com/0121781/2004/06/27.html#a263 Greece produce the shock of the tournament- June 25, 2004 The biggest shock of the tournament, and one of the biggest in European Cup history, was produced by Greece who knocked out champions France 1-0. Greece had previously not managed to win a single match in the final stages of European tournaments, but now they're in the semi final. And it wasn't a fluke result because of a controversial refereeing decision - this was a thoroughly deserved result based on a careful plan that worked brilliantly. Pretty it wasn't. The Greek coach knew that the only.http://radio.weblogs.com/0121781/2004/06/25.html#a262 England try hard - but go out on penalties- June 24, 2004 It was a cruel way to go out - but the better team won. After 120 minutes of football, it came down to a penalty shootout between Portugal and England. David Beckham missed the first one - and the rest, as they say, is history. But the way it finished was extraordinary, with the Portuguese goalkeeper scoring the penalty that put his team into the semi-final. It's the first time I can remember seeing a goalkeeper take a penalty against his opposite number in such a high profile match, but I dare.http://radio.weblogs.com/0121781/2004/06/24.html#a261 Oh what a lovely storm :-)- June 23, 2004 There's a big storm outside, with heavy rain and high winds. But nobody cares, because against most people's expectations, the Netherlands have made it to the quarter finals of the European Championships. The final group match with Latvia was always going to be the easiest of the three, but remember that they had got just one point out of six, after the shock defeat by the Czech Republic at the weekend. The Netherlands scored three against Latvia, but it..http://radio.weblogs.com/0121781/2004/06/23.html#a260 |