[swagatsinha]

Link for all the teams participating. Their final squads, that is.
euro2008.uefa.com - Final squads announced for EURO

[ankitknp]

It seems there are many Oranje fans out here. Still a week to go for the tourney and euphoria is already here.

There is another team which is rooting for the cup and is the greatest rival of Holland. Germany.

After 2006 disappointment they would be looking to go one step furthur. Coach Low has picked a well balanced and experienced side.

Their 23 squad.

Goalkeepers:
Jens Lehmann, Robert Enke, Rene Adler

Lehmann will surely start all the games. Not played much for Arsenal this season but still is class act.

Defenders:
Arne Friedrich, Clemens Fritz, Marcell Jansen, Philipp Lahm, Per Mertesacker, Christophe Metzelder, Heiko Westermann

Their 1st choice centrebacks Mertesacker and Metzelder are back after some injury issues. Lahm will be 1st choice fullback. But it is to be seen who will be the another one.
It will be one from Jansen and Fritz.

Midfielders

Michael Ballack, Tim Borowski, Torsten Frings, Thomas Hitzlsperger, David Odonkor, Simon Rolfes, Bastian Schweinsteiger, Piotr Trochowski

Ballack and Frings combo was suberp during WC. But Frings was out of the team due injury. If he is fit, he'll start for Germany.
Schweinsteiger has made left flank his own. Right flank will be covered by Odonkor. They will miss Scnieder.

Strikers:

Mario Gomez, Miroslav Klose, Kevin Kuranyi, Oliver Neuville, Lukas Podolski

Germans are spoilt for choices in this department. My pick will be Klose and Gomez. Klose raises his game whenever he plays for Germany. Gomez is leading goalscorer in bundesliga.


Prediction

At present form, they should reach Semi Finals. After that it will test of characters.

[fire_kris]

Originally Posted by swagatsinha

Shocking decisions to say the least. Picking Thuram will definitely hurt France. Anelka might still be OK, as Trezeguet hasn't really been that shining light at country level.
No Clichy, no Sagna. One of Evra or Clichy had to sit out. Tough call. So, it's OK.
Flamini excluded. Who'll they play? Vieira I suppose. But then, picking Maka to sit on the bench, could have picked Flamini as well, who is definitely better than Maka right now.

My XI
Frey
Evra-Gallas-Squillaci-Sagnol
Vieira
Malouda-Nasri-Ribery
Henry-Anelka/Gomis

I dont know how I would do as a manager... But I can atleast pick a better squad then domenech...

Swagat bhai theek hai anelka Chelsea ke liye khelta hai... But I wont have that sulker in place of trezeguet, no neva...

Also moving away from Anelka-Trezeguet topic...

Gomis ahead of Benzema .. Yeh kya Domenech wali tactics apply kar rahe ho

L.Diarra is in the squad.. bechare ki mehnet to safal hui, did so much shuttling between the clubs to get a nod for the french squad... Arsenal, Chelsea then portsmouth in one season :whatthat:

Also I think Domenech might just go for experience and pick Sidney Govou ahead of Nasri...

Though I have my doubts over Malouda selection (maybe Govou can play as a right winger)...

P.S. Isnt Domenech a bit short as far as wingers is concerned... but you never know with france.. Is he expecting to play wingbacks to do all the byline job... We have seen France famously employ a sweeper in case of Desailly WC 98...

Formation can also be like

-------GK-----------
---CB-SW-CB------
-WB-----------WB--
----RM-CM--LM----
-------ST--ST-------


Just that in the french formation the sweeper can be a more deep lying CDM... and CM can also have bsic defensive duties and the role of a distributer... These french are crazy



Ciao..
Kris

[alagati]

England win 2-0 USA...in a friendly.....Terry n Gerrard score..!!

England 2 - 0 United States | Footytube.com - Latest Football Video Highlights

Now Terry can go off vacationing in a better mood....!!

[murty001]

Time to jump into the discussion .EURO 2008

My teams

ITALY , Holland and of course Portugal

Would love to see all 3 in the semi finals..

Cheers..

[coolroy]

Originally Posted by rushivasani

I am a hardcore ManUTD fan. I don't know why but, all the ManUTD fans that I have come across, generally all are England Fans.

I am no different. But courtesy Mr Steve Mclaren, the best of Europe will be resting there heals when the rest of Europe will be fighting for glory.

In England's absence i will be cheering for The Netherlands. Agreed theirs is the toughest group in the competition. But I see them getting through the group along with France.

Then let me tell you of an incident.

Its a fact that most English Manchester United supporters hate England. Period.

The incident I am referring to will further point to that fact. When West Ham came to Old Trafford to play United in the league, the WHU supporters began to sing the English national anthem to rile up and wind up the home crowd, since its a well known fact that the local English Manchester United supporters have never, and I mean never been great admirers of their national team.

Guess, what happened next ? After Tevez scored the 3rd goal for United, the home crowd began chanting "Ar-gen-tina", "Ar-gen-tina", "Ar-gen-tina", "Ar-gen-tina".....

Just goes to show how much the United supporters loath England.

[swagatsinha]

England's performance on the biggest stage have always left a lot to be desired. Is it pressure, or is it bad execution of skills, god knows! But they have never managed to get my support despite being one of the most popular teams world-wide.
I think that the England team is over-hyped, is badly managed, has lots of egos, and has big time selection issues!!

[rushivasani]

Originally Posted by coolroy

Then let me tell you of an incident.

Its a fact that most English Manchester United supporters hate England. Period.

The incident I am referring to will further point to that fact. When West Ham came to Old Trafford to play United in the league, the WHU supporters began to sing the English national anthem to rile up and wind up the home crowd, since its a well known fact that the local English Manchester United supporters have never, and I mean never been great admirers of their national team.

Guess, what happened next ? After Tevez scored the 3rd goal for United, the home crowd began chanting "Ar-gen-tina", "Ar-gen-tina", "Ar-gen-tina", "Ar-gen-tina".....

Just goes to show how much the United supporters loath England.

"I don't know why but, all the ManUTD fans that I have come across, generally all are England Fans."

Guys focus on the bold words....It was never meant to be a generalized statement. I was referring to all the people I have come across...

BTW, I never knew that ManUTD supporters are so much against England. At least I gathered a very valuable information out of all this confusion :wink1:....

[Mahip]

Poll is now up!

Vote ! Vote ! Vote !

[joel1702]

Originally Posted by sir roy keane

that was the greatest wrestling match the world ever saw

i would like to see a spain - portugal face off in the business end of the competition , preferably the SF.

one screw up during the game between the 2 teams with ronaldo being in the midst of it all , and madrid will never bother CR7 again

That game wasn't so violent as people believe..its just that the referee kept handing out Yellow cards for anything & everything.

the irony was that the most violent incident..a headbutt by Figo went unpunished

dunno abt Madrid & CR7..after all the Man Utd fans forgave him quite easily after WC 2006..remember the winking incident after Rooney was sent off? Everyone said the English fans would make life hell for him & he would be forced to leave Man utd...never happpened