The Pundit - Euro 2004

Euro 2004, the biggest football tournament since the last one! Read The Pundit's analysis and views on the tournament where Greece were the shock winners.

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Index:
19th July - Lightning strikes twice
2nd July - Reality Czech / Play it again
30th June - Quarter finals / Semi finals
23rd June - The Italian Job
22nd June - Wayne's World
21st June - Czech mate
17th June - Greece lightning
16th June - Van's the Man
15th June - Larsson steals the show

19th July, 2004 - Lightning strikes twice

Portugal 0-1 Greece - European Championships Final

Greece triumph
After losing to Greece in the opening game of Euro 2004, many thought Portugal would not be caught out again. However, in one of the biggest ever shocks in international football, Greece have won the European Championships with a header from Angelos Charisteas in 57 minutes from their first corner of the game.

Ricardo, in the Portuguese goal, was badly caught out of position and this time there was no refereeing decision to rescue him.

Portugal battled hard with Figo, Ronaldo, Deco and Rui Costa all trying to find a way through the tough Greek defence, but the same fate was to befall them as had befell France and the Czech Republic, both of whom had failed to score against Greece and lost 1-0.

The last major international surprise winner was Denmark in 1992, when they gathered a squad of players from the beaches around Europe at the last minute to take the place of Yugoslavia. Denmark however had a proven international pedigree and had star players such as Brian Laudrup and Peter Schmeichel. The tournament was also made up of only 8 teams. The Greek victory was a greater achievement in my opinion however.

This tournament had 16 teams. Out of 6 matches, Greece won 4, drew 1 and lost 1. They did not require any penalty shootouts and beat the holders, the much fancied Czech Republic, and the hosts twice. Denmark in comparison won only 2 games, drew 2 (winning one of those on penalties) and lost 1.

Not a classic
The final of Euro 2004 will not go down as a classic, but nobody in Greece will mind. Portugal were mostly restricted to chances from the edge of the box and beyond, while Greece were happy to take their goal and stick with that. Ronaldo had Portugal's best chance when he sprang the offside trap, but rather than composing himself, he rushed his shot and lifted it over the bar.

The only time the Greek goal was breached was when a fan ran on to the pitch late on and flung himself into the net, before being pounced upon by a posse of security guards. The assistant referee diligently checked that no damage had been done to the goal, but he didn't need to worry as Greece would ensure it would not be troubled.

Exceptional Greeks
Ironically, one of the themes of this tournament was that teams who tried to hold on to a 1 goal lead eventually paid for it in the end, as both Italy and England found to their cost.

Greece were the exception to the rule however, and thoroughly deserved their victory in what has been a great and entertaining tournament.

[Apologies for the delay in bringing this final Pundit column to you. I've been on holiday!]

2nd July, 2004 - Reality Czech / Play it again

Semi final review

Czech out
16 teams. 30 games. 76 goals.
1 game to go.

Portugal played Greece in the opening game. 30 games later, Portugal will play Greece again. The other 14 teams came, they saw, they lost, and they left.

In one of the biggest ever shocks in a major international tournament, Greece have reached the final of Euro 2004.

They beat the hosts, they beat the holders, and now they have knocked out the favourites from the semi finalists.

Once again I predicted their run to come to an end; once again they proved me wrong. And once again I am going to predict they will lose.

Portugal, unlike every other team that has played Greece, have one big advantage...they have already played them and already lost to them. They will know what to expect, they will have the huge support from the home crowd, and they will know that they will never have a better opportunity to win a major tournament.

Golden Generation
The last of the 'golden generation' players, Figo, Rui Costa and Couto, will be desparate to finally fulfil the promise of the young players who 13 years ago won a FIFA World Youth Championship. Figo, who I believe has had a good tournament despite the criticism, was man of the match in the semi final against the Netherlands. All of this leads me to believe that the Greeks amazing run will finally come to an end.

Perhaps the only blight on Portugal's impressive semi final victory over the Dutch was that Ricardo seems to be taking lessons from Porto goalkeeper Baia in the art of feigning injury late in a match, as Celtic fans will only remember too well.

Too tired?
Meanwhile UEFA, while happy to see a smaller country doing so well, are concerned and asking questions about whether player fatigue is the reason why big teams and big players have failed to perform.

Some of the more notable ones include the original favourites France and Italy, and players such as Beckham, Raul, Totti, Henry, Owen, Gerrard, Pauleta, Del Piero and Vieri.

For a long time there has been talk of a unified international footballing calendar. Surely it is time FIFA stopped talking and starting doing something about it. Set aside dates for internationals and international tournaments. All other matches, whether domestic or cross-country, can be arranged around these dates.

This will stop the nonsense of players leaving their clubs half way through the season, and missing important games, to travel half way round the world to play for their country.

30th June, 2004 - Quarter finals / Semi finals

Quarter final review - giants continue to fall

Favourites out
Germany, Italy, France, Spain, England. Five of the biggest teams in the tournament, four of which have won the world cup, all of which are now out.

It has been refreshing to see other teams do so well.

Germany are a shadow of the former great teams to have represented them, although Ballack had an excellent tournament.

Italy have some good players but their defensive tendencies have cost them, while Totti disgraced himself and let his country down.

France should have done better, but Henry had a poor tournament other than two goals against Switzerland.

Spain - distinctly average. Some thought this could be Spain's tournament, but when you look at their squad, they have a few quality players, such as Raul who underperformed, but lack star quality.

England - they came close against Portugal, but as was the case against France, they sat back too much and big players such as Owen, Beckham, Gerrard and Scholes failed to perform in the tournament, leaving too much to 'new' boys Lampard and Rooney.

Sol Campbell's 'goal'
Was it a goal? Yes and no. It was never a foul on the keeper, as the ref thought, but Terry does seem to have been offside when Owen headed against the bar with the initial header.

The debate will rage on, but if that was Scotland I would feel hard done by.

As for the Swiss ref, despite UEFA's backing, he made a mess of the decision and once again a keeper gets extra protection from the referee in a way that outfield players do not. Anywhere else on the pitch, or on any other player other than a keeper, that would probably not have been a free kick.

Semi final preview

Hoping for a classic - Portugal v. Netherlands
This game has the potential to be a classic. Both teams have plenty of attacking flair, although Portugal's lack of a goalscorer so far could cost them. The Netherlands, possibly the most talented squad in the tournament in terms of individuals, need to make use of their ability if they are to overcome Portugal, who will have a passionate home crowd behind them.

Possible weaknesses for the Dutch could be in defence where Giovanni van Bronkhorst, better as a midfielder, and Reiziger could struggle against Figo and Ronaldo. I predict this game will be a tight encounter, finishing as a draw with Portugal winning on penalties.

Can the Greek dream continue?
They have beaten Portugal on their home turf, drawn with Spain and defeated France, thought by some to be the best national team in the world. I predict their sensational run will come to an end against the impressive Czech team, with Poborsky, Baros, Nedved and Koller too much for them to handle.

Of course, I thought that in the last round against France...

23rd June, 2004 - The Italian Job

Nordic high as Italians cry

Italy 2-1 Bulgaria
Denmark 2-2 Sweden
After a night of high drama, it was Italy who joined Bulgaria on the next flight home as 3 teams finished level on 5 points. Italy made hard work of defeating Bulgaria, only to find out that the in the other match, Sweden had scored to take the game to the dreaded 2-2 scoreline, a score which would ensure both Denmark and Sweden would qualify and Italy could not.

The late goal from Jonson for Sweden, in the 89th minute, meant that the final minute or two of the match became a simple game of passing the ball about at the back for Sweden, with Denmark not interested in going anywhere near the ball and Sweden not interested in going anywhere with it.

The Italians were left to reflect on a poor showing at this tournament, where once again there tendency to retreat into defence once they were in the lead has cost them dear.

Quarter Finals
Denmark now go on to meet the Czech Republic in the next round, while Sweden wait to find out who will clinch the final place in the quarter finals from Group D, where Germany, the Netherlands, and Latvia could all still qualify.

Portugal meet England on Thursday in the pick of the games, while France should be too strong for the surprise package of Greece on Friday.

22nd June, 2004 - Wayne's World

Today's Links - Strachanisms

Gordon Strachan has been providing expert analysis on the BBC for Euro 2004. He is also famous for his one-liners. Here are some of his best. See the links below for more.

Reporter: Gordon, Do you think James Beattie deserves to be in the England squad?
Strachan: I don't care, I'm Scottish.

Reporter: “Gordon, can we have a quick word please?”
Strachan: “Velocity” [walks off]

Reporter: Bang, there goes your unbeaten run. Can you take it?
Strachan: No, I'm just going to crumble like a wreck. I'll go home, become an alcoholic and maybe jump off a bridge. Umm, I think I can take it, yeah.

Reporter: So, Gordon, in what areas do you think M'brough were better than you today?
Strachan: What areas? Mainly that big green one out there…

"He's a big guy and to fall like that? My grandson wouldn't have fallen like that. I don't know how you face your mates after that. They say 'What did you contribute to the game?' and you say, 'Well, I fell like a big Jessie'" - After being asked to comment on Jardel's role in Michael Svensson's dismissal.

Strachanisms 1
Strachanisms 2

Rooneymania sweeps England

Croatia 2-4 England
"The best youngster since Pele."
"We're going to win the European Championships."
"I love Wayne Rooney."

These were some of the comments coming from England and their reporters as England went Rooney mad after the 18 year old scored two goals against Croatia to take England into the quarter finals and a showdown with hosts Portugal.

It is precisely this sort of reaction that can cause us north of the border to celebrate when England fall flat on their faces.

A bit of caution and calm would do them the world of good. Portugal, like England, are improving with every game and will be a tough team to beat with Figo, Deco and Ronaldo all pulling the strings. With home advantage and a passionate support behind them, England should not underestimate their task.

The weakness down the left of England's lineup could be badly exploited by the talented and quickfooted wide men of Portugal, and they may yet regret not taking Celtic's Alan Thompson with them on the plane.

Take off for Henry
In the other group game, France, who England have decided they will meet in the final, had a comfortable victory, defeating Switzerland 3-1. Goals came from the famous baldy head of Zidane, to take him to 3 goals, and what should have been joint top scorer in the tournament if UEFA had not credited an own goal to boy wonder Wayne, and perhaps more ominously, two from Thierry Henry.

The second goal was a wonderful effort, perhaps even goal of the tournament, as he picked the ball up wide on the left, drifted past two defenders before slotting the ball home, all the time making it look so incredibly easy. With Henry now off the mark, Zidane at the top of his game, and only Greece standing between France and the semi finals, the French are looking a good shout to retain their title.

The Pundit was denied a correct prediction (I said 3-0 France) because of a goal from the Swiss kid Johan Vonlanthen, aged 18 years and 141 days, who became the youngest scorer in the history of the European Championship finals tournaments when he broke into the area and shot low past Barthez, breaking the record set by Wayne Rooney only last Thursday, ironically against Switzerland.

Tonight's matches
Tonight sees Italy take on Bulgaria and Denmark against Sweden. Italy should be too good for Bulgaria, who have been extremely poor, which will leave them waiting anxiously on the result in the other match.

Due to UEFA's complicated system of determining placings when level on points, a 2-2 draw between the Danes and the Swedes would see Italy eliminated no matter their score against Bulgaria. A 1-1 draw, which I predicted yesterday, will greatly complicate matters. However, I have decided to change my prediction to a 2-1 victory for the Swedes. Why? Larsson and Ibrahimovic might just have a bit too much class for the Danish defence.

21st June, 2004 - Czech mate

Advocaat loses the tactical battle

Czech Republic 3-2 Netherlands
In one of the greatest European Championship matches of all time, and easily the best match of these championships so far, the Czech Republic came from 2-0 down to win this match 3-2 with a late goal from Vladimer Smicer.

The match hinged on a couple of crucial decisions. First of all, Dutch coach Dick Advocaat substituted wide man Robben, who was having a great game, for Paul Bosvelt. The idea was that Bosvelt would close down Czech dangerman Pavel Nedved who was also having a great game, but the move failed spectacularly.

Nedved picked the ball up wide on the left, stepped inside Bosvelt and played a cross on to the mighty chest of towering frontman Koller. He laid the ball off for Liverpool forward Milan Baros to smash a great goal high into the roof of the net to square the match.

Two yellows make a red
The Dutch then had a man sent off, for nothing, when Nedved took a tumble as Heitinga chased him. A very poor decision by the referee and one that made a hard job for the Netherlands even harder as they struggled to contain the rampant Czechs.

In the dying minutes Nedved could have won the game with a contender for goal of the tournament, but his 35 yard effort hit the crossbar. The victory was sealed however when Poborsky squared the ball for Smicer to score the winner from close in.

Advocaat has come under heavy fire from the Dutch media, fans and his own players for his tactical blunder. Perhaps the lesson to be learned is that the best form of defence is attack?

Can anyone hold on to a lead?
The Netherlands are not the first team to fail to win a game after taking the lead. Italy drew with Sweden 1-1 after a late, magical equaliser from Ibrahimovic, and France and Croatia took turns at being in the lead only to be pegged back both times in 2-2 draw.

Other teams to fail to win after leading are Spain, Latvia, Germany and, of course, England!

Go Portugal
In the Iberian derby last night, Portugal took the honours, and a place in the next round, with a goal from Nuno Gomes. The hapless Mark Lawrenson questioned the half time introduction of Gomes in place of Pauleta, but big Phil Scolari was proved right. Lawrenson also thought Deco had a very poor game, when in reality he gave a great performance and was awarded UEFA man of the match.

Back in the studio the madness was spreading as Peter Schmeichel declared that Portugal should drop Luis Figo, who is having a great tournament, running at defenders, beating defenders and creating chances. Indeed no other team in the tournament has as many players willing to go on a dribble and take on their man as the Portuguese, and it was right that Portugal should go through at the expense of a distinctly average Spanish side.

It was left to Gordon Strachan and to a lesser extent, Alan Hansen, to talk some sense for the BBC, with Schmeichel getting lost as Strachan attempted to explain some basic tactical stuff that was occurring in the match. Not a good day for the Beeb.

Who's the Dado?
A special mention for new Rangers signing, and member of the Pundit's Scottish dream team, Dado Prso, who opened his account with a great strike against France after a mistake by Marcel Desailly, who should perhaps make way in the French defence for another new Rangers signing, Jean-Alain Boumsong.

Who's the Daddy?
Finally, congratulations to former Rangers player Gennaro Gattuso who has flown home to see his baby daughter who was born on Sunday. Gattuso should be back in time for Italy's crucial game against Bulgaria on Tuesday, although he will not play having picked up a suspension for two bookings.

17th June, 2004 - Greece lightning

Greece 1-1 Spain

Surprise package
At every major tournament, people like to speculate on who will be the surprise package. What I didn't notice was anybody mentioning the Greeks. "Group A? Spain and Portugal for sure," they might have said.

The final group matches always involve a multitude of permutations and 'if...but' situations. Basically however Greece will go through as long as they avoid defeat against Russia. Even if they do lose, they have to lose by a worse margin than a Portugal victory over Spain, or by the same margin but scoring less goals. Confused yet? What it really comes down to is that whoever loses between Spain and Portugal in the Iberian peninsula derby will probably be out.

Spain continue to flatter to deceive, and I predict this will be another tournament in which they leave empty handed, and possibly sooner than they would like. A lovely goal from Morientes, after a backheel from Raul, set them on their way, but Greece battled back to draw level and finish the day top of the group.

Themes
With 5 days now gone, a couple of themes are developing. One is that referees are dishing out an awful lot of yellow cards for minor offences, and as the tournament progresses many teams will be missing major players. It will not surprise me to see a star man miss out on the final itself, as happened to Michael Ballack in the last World Cup.

The other theme seems to be that there are no easy games at this level, unless you are Henrik Larsson and you think you are still playing for Celtic in the SPL! Many of the favourites have struggled against so called inferior opposition and many teams have failed to hold on to leads, most notably England and most latterly Spain.

Correct prediction! Russia 0-2 Portugal
You may, or you may not, be glad to know that the pundit has made his first correct prediction, with Portugal winning 2-0 against Russia, just as I thought. Can you do better? Send me an with your predictions.

Brazilian born Portuguese star Deco proved the spark that was needed to ignite Portugal's campaign, as his run and cross made the first goal.

The Russians became the first team to be eliminated and will only be playing for pride in their last game. They will do so without their captain Smertin who is now suspended along with their first choice goalkeeper Ovchinnikov who was sent off.

Did Ovchinnikov handle the ball? TV replays would seem to indicate that he pulled his arm back at the last moment, but unfortunately he was red carded and Russia's challenge left with him.

Totti - clearly a disgrace, but what was the bigger crime?
Finally, a word on Francesco Totti, Italian golden boy and Roma captain. UEFA are set to take disciplinary action against him following a disgraceful incident in Italy's first game against Denmark, a 0-0 draw, when he spat on an opponent. If UEFA hammer him he may have played his last game in the tournament.

End of story right? No. Something isn't right here. What Totti did, when he spat on the Danish midfielder Poulsen, was disgusting and showed a total lack of class. It is deserving of punishment and has rightly been condemned, but this was not his biggest crime in this game.

That moment came when he went in, studs up, nowhere near the ball, and caught Danish defender Rene Henriksen in the side of his leg near the knee. I am yet to see a man being injured by being spat upon, but as John Kennedy of Celtic will testify, reckless tackles can put you out of the game for months at a time or even threaten your career.

The fact that this challenge merited only a booking, yet spitting could likely be anything from 3-8 games, shows that sometimes, things don't always add up.

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16th June, 2004 - Van's the Man

Germany 1-1 Netherlands

Pierre makes the difference
Ruud van Nistelrooij will grab the headlines, but in reality it was his team mate and ex-Celtic star Pierre van Hooijdonk's introduction in the 74th minute that finally swung the match in the Netherlands favour.

Gary Lineker once famously remarked, "A game of football lasts 90 minutes and at the end of it, the Germans win." For a long time last night it looked as if that would be true. Other famous sayings include 'never underestimate the Germans' and 'never write off the Germans'. While this German team is far removed from the greats of the past, they do possess good teamwork, organisation and a smattering of very good, if not great, international quality players.

1-0 to Germany
The Netherlands, for all their star quality, struggled badly to break them down apart from an early van Nistelrooij chance which he failed to connect with. The Germans then took the lead when Torsten Frings' free kick, a 'cross cum shot' in the style to give Magnus Hedman nightmares, was missed by everyone and bounced in off of the far post. It has been a good couple of days for Frings who clinched a 3 year deal with Bayern Munich this morning, leaving Borussia Dortmund.

The Dutch kept playing their nice passing football in their 4-2-3-1 formation without ever looking as if they could break down the tough German defence who were succeeding in making van Nistelrooij look decidedly ordinary. Further up Micheal Ballack was pulling the strings in the midfield. A couple of changes at half time improved things slightly for the Dutch but there still seemed to be no way through until big Pierre, there's only one, was introduced to the action.

"Pierre, there's only one Pierre..."
Remarkably, van Hooijdonk helps behind the scenes to keep the peace and ensure this squad of highly opinionated players function together as a group. Supporters of Celtic and Nottingham Forest will remember only too well the trouble and strife he brought to their clubs. Indeed, one observer commented that Pierre is about as welcome in Sherwood Forest as the Sheriff of Nottingham.

With the massive frame of Pierre to aim for, it was lovely to watch as the Dutch defenders scrapped their total football and started to launch high balls on to his head. For the first time the German defence were under pressure and the ball was staying in the attack.

The pressure eventually paid off when the ball was won in the corner and a low cross put in. As the game had progressed I had increasingly wondered whether van Nistelrooij really was a top class striker able to do it at this level, and perhaps whether he would keep his place in the team when Patrick Kluivert, with 40 international goals (more than anyone else in the tournament), was sitting on the bench.

Top quality from Ruud
I was proved wrong in an instant when, with German defender Christian Worns attempting to put some form of WWE wrestling move on him from behind, van Nistelrooij acrobatically swiveled and volleyed the ball home from the cross. Brilliant.

There were no more goals and the match ended 1-1. Special mention goes to Alan Hansen, who did himself no favours with the Scottish public when he committed the cardinal sin of referring to England as 'we'. Come on Alan, you should know better!

Czech Rep. 2-1 Latvia

Plucky underdogs unlucky to lose out
With Scotland missing out on the tournament, someone had to take on the mantle of gallant losers. Our congratulations and commiserations go to Latvia.

Playing against the 'relative Goliaths' of the Czech Republic, they took a first half lead just before half time with a goal from Maris Verpakovskis. They couldn't hold on however and the Czechs eventually won with two late goals from Baros and Heinz. Unlucky Latvia, you did us proud!

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15th June, 2004 - Larsson steals the show

Larsson double in 5-0 victory!
The headline could come from any Scottish newspaper from the last 7 years, reporting on yet another convincing Celtic victory against inferior opposition.

This time was different however. This is the European Championships, Sweden v. Bulgaria, football at the highest level. If anyone still had any doubts about his ability they were firmly dispelled as Larsson put Bulgaria, along with their captain and Larsson's former team mate Stilian Petrov, to the sword. My only complaint was that a good competitive game was now over as a contest after Larsson's deadly double. If Barcelona are still unsure of whether they want Larsson, I'm sure many other clubs will gladly accept his services.

Before the tournament many other pundits predicted that the Czech Republic are good outsiders to do well. After this performance you have to think that it will take a good team to stop Sweden.

Special comment for English referee Mike Riley - I thought he had a very poor game, blowing for too many fouls and giving too many cards. This isn't Christmas you know.

Back in the studio the conversation inevitably turned to England as Des asked his guests how England could really do with a player like the tall, skillful Ibrahimovic, who scored a penalty for Sweden, up front alongside Rooney. What? Instead of Micheal Owen?

"En-ger-lund"
Anyway, what of England? For so long they looked to have secured a brilliant 1-0 victory over France, who along with Brazil are thought of as the best team in the world. This was certainly no world beating performance from France, but when it mattered, Zinedine Zidane showed his class and composure to slot home a free kick and a penalty, leaving England to lick their wounds.

Afterwards England complained of France singing songs of victory, but this was nothing more than sour grapes from a hurting team who only have themselves to blame. First of all Beckham had the chance to seal the match with a penalty, but this was brilliantly saved by Barthez, and to be fair to Beckham, the penalty was well struck and all players miss them from time to time, so no real blame could be laid at his cultured right foot. If only Johnny Wilkinson played football...

Sven Goran Eriksson then decided to replace Rooney with Heskey, a decision that led to much criticism of the manager from English fans, along with much criticism of the new Birmingham forward who fouled Makalele on the edge of the box to allow Zidane to step up to the plate.

There was more sympathy from England fans for the player to commit the next mistake - Steven Gerrard - driving force of the team and Liverpool inspiration. With two minutes of injury time played, he inexplicably decided to pass the ball back to James without looking. Quick as a, well, a Thierry Henry, Henry raced on to the loose ball only to be clattered by James. Step forward Mr Zidane for part 2 of the rescue act.

While much of Scotland celebrates the demise of the auld enemy at the hands of the auld allies, I couldn't help but feel sympathy for Sven's men. Anyone who has played or watched the game for any length of time knows the agony of a heartbreaking defeat; certainly anyone who has watched Scotland expects it. At least Beckham, Scholes, Butt and the Nevilles now know how Bayern of Munich felt after the 1999 Champions League final.

Italy in 0-0 shock!
What of the rest? Portugal proudly began the campaign on home turf only to be humbled by the mighty Greek warriors, while Spain were unconvincing in a 1-0 triumph over Russia.

Rangers' new signing Dado Prso marked his entrance into the tournament with a booking for diving, he'll be popular in Scotland, as Croatia failed to get the better of 10-men Switzerland in a 0-0 draw, while Italy also battled to 0-0 scoreline against the Danes. All round a good day for Scandinavia.

Today's action
The last of the 16 teams to play their first games are in action tonight. The Czech Republic, with world player of the year Pavel Nedved, will be too strong for Latvia, while the Germany v. Netherlands game should be a cracker. Will the Germans come good as they so often do in major tournaments, or will Dutch flair be too strong for them? What team from the Netherlands will turn up? The one that was outclassed by Scotland at Hampden, or the one that demolished Scotland 6-0 in the return? Dick Advocaat, him with the special hair, will hope that his big name, big ego players work together to bring him success.

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