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Well it was tough to see England go out like they always do... but as a Manchester United fan i am right with Holland as they have RUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUDDD Van Nistelrooy!
I'll be wearing my Van Nistelrooy jersey with pride on Wednesday when they beat the Potrugese.
But wow do the Czech's look dominant!
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You're right Irish friend, the Czech's are a great team. Would like to see Holland play them again in the final. What a first round match that was...I think the best match so far of the championship.
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That was a highly entertaining game.... you just had the feeling that when Holland when up 2-0 that it wasn't even close to being over.
Koller is an intimidating force for the Czech's and who would have thought that Barros would be as dominant as he has been
Hopefully Holland will get their revenge in the final with Ruuuuuuuud getting the winner.
Most surprising player of the tournament for me other than Wayne Rooney has to be Arjen Robben ... man can he ever dribble the ball. He is calm and cool under any situation.
CW
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Alright footy fans, answer me this: Is David Beckham really the greatest player in the world, or is he the Anna Kornikova of the pitch?
I tuned into the England-Portugal game expecting him to Gretzky-ize the game as his hype would suggest. Yet, I saw him go through the motions and then totally botch a key pnealty kick (Which I take it, he's done before.)
So, is he really that good, or does he just look good in shorts?
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Beckham is a totally different player than he is made out to be. From all the press he gets you would think he is an amazing goal scorer..like the Gretzky of football.
He is far from that. He is an amazing player but what he brings to the game is perhaps more valuable than what others do.
He lives and breathes for England... playing for his country is the utmost honor for him.
Back in 2001 when England needed at least a tie against Greece to get into the World Cup. Beck had a freee kick with virtually no time left and he nailed it from 30 yards out. No one in the world is better at free kicks then Beckham. Penalty kicks are a different story...although he did score a key one against Argentina to beat them in the 2002 World Cup.
He is the best passer in the game by far.
For everyone that though he had a bad tournament here is an interesting fact from <!-- w --><a class="postlink" href="http://www.euro2004.com">www.euro2004.com</a><!-- w -->
"The England captain may be emerging as a scapegoat of sorts for England's elimination but the statistics do not bear this out. Beckham completed 18 crosses, more than anyone else, and is fifth in the listings for passes successfully completed"
On his Penalty Kick it wasn't as though he just had a horrible shot. He slipped up a bit as he kicked...it even looked as if his left foot may have touched the ball just before he struck it with his right. But i refuse to watch the replay since it happened so i aint top sure of that.
A player doesn't receive runner-up honors as Footballer of The Year or is named captain of his national if he isn't good.
And it's not as if he hasn't won major trophies .. "The Treble" - F.A Cup - Premiership Championship & The Champions League.
Those are my thoughts on Becks... as a Man United fan i would love to see him back with us but that will never happen.
It seems like he just can't win .. he is either the Golden Child or The Goat to everyone in England. That is a lot of pressure and every time he has dealt with adversary he has done it with class.
Those are my thoughts ...i would love to hear what others think.
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Indeed, Robben is a great player. We already knew that, he played fantastic with PSV before his injury. The entire nation was upset when Advocaat took him of the pitch against the Czechs. I think Robben will do nice things for Chelsea. Also Barros has been great, hard to believe he is often on the bench with Liverpool.
Beckham is a very good player, as Irish Hip Guy says, probably the best passer in the world. But he isn't Maradona, who could win matches by himself. He depends on good forwards he can pass to. He didn't play very well this EC, he looked tired. It's interesting to see that the countries which have the best leagues have already gone home. France, Spain, England and Germany were disappointing, i think that has something to do with the players being tired after a tough competition with their team all year.