Real Football 1, Pampered Poodles 0!

[attila]

Well done Greece. Another team in blue and white who prove that you don't need to spend millions (or even thousands) on players as long as you have a good manager, supreme self belief and guts and loads of supremely committed, noisy fans!

It was just like watching the Albion!

 

[Zebedee]

Here, here. And so say all of us.

 

[mona]

Retsina all round.
Bring back Stavros !!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

 

[London Irish]

A great day for the unfashionable nations of Europe, and a great day for international football.

With the rise of the African nations, the emergence of the likes of East Asia and Turkey at the last world cup, it goes to show that football is the world sport with some kind of strange in-built bias towards equality.

Ireland for the World Cup! (Doesn't sound so laughable after watching the Greeks, now, does it? )

 

[Gwylan]

Ireland for the World Cup! (Doesn't sound so laughable after watching the Greeks, now, does it? )

Maybe not. I think Hansen was clutching at straws when he said that it offered hope to Scotland though.

 

[Tom Hark Preston Park]

Maybe not. I think Hansen was clutching at straws when he said that it offered hope to Scotland though.

As Ally McLeod used to say (with depressing frequency, usually after Scotland had just suffered yet another embarrassing defeat at the hands of yet another set of footballing 'minnows'): 'There Are No Easy Matches At This Level Of Competition'. Not for Scotland, there wasn't

 

[The Large One]

Agree. Mind you, half of that Portuguese side do play for the European club champions. Wouldn't say they were Pampered Poodles - more Diving Divas.

 

[Shizuoka Dolphin]

I woke up at 3:30, turned on the box, sat down again and the next thing I knew it was 8:30 am... Bollocks.

Never mind - well done Greece!

 

[Lammy]

Good to see the refs clamping down hard on the Portuguese diving!! The ref was signalling for players to get up and just waving the play on. Now I thought diving was a bookable offense? If the player is on the floor begging for a free kick but the ref knew that no offense had been commited then is it not a booking for a dive.

 

[CHAPPERS]

Indeed, congratulations to Greece, they deserved it for the exelent football they played. A lot has been said about their defensive capabilities but when they did go forward I thought they looked full of pace and flair.

One decent striker away from being a 'world class' team.

 

[Icy Gull]

One decent striker away from being a 'world class' team.

Winning Euro 2004 makes them World class already

 

[CHAPPERS]

Winning Euro 2004 makes them World class already

No it doesn't.

 

[attila]

My reference to 'pampered poodles' wasn't just directed at Portugal but at so many overpaid, overrated donkeys of different nationalities made to look totally ineffective by Greece's no-nonsense bunch - two ex Sheffield United and Leicester, a Bolton reserve, a few Bundesliga bench warmers....

That's why Abramovich's approach, as well as being totally unacceptable (check how he got his money) is also doomed to failure. I bet Chelsea will win bugger all again next season. You don't need twenty five of the 'best players in the world' to rotate as they squabble and fall out with each other in a continous egofest. You need a squad of about 16 who will die for each other, with your best 11 playing week in, week out and some solid replacements who can fill in as needed, plus a manager who gets them playing to a system and a captain who will annihilate anyone who doesn't give 100%.

Just like the Albion!

 

[CHAPPERS]

Amen to that.