Qualifiers for the European Championship 2008.

[Original_AAA]

Seedings:
1st: Austria, Switzerland, Greece, the Netherlands
2nd: Italy, Sweden, Czech Republic, Crotia
3rd: Romania, Germany, Portugal, Spain
4th: Poland, Russia, France, Turkey

I see many of you are wondering why the seedings are this way, so since I'm home on sick leave I thought I kill some time by explaining it those who are curious.

The seedings are based on coefficient system like every other seeding and the math is quite simple: points per game in the qualifying phase to the coming EC + the previous World Cup qualifying. However the host(here hosts) are always seeded in the top group to increase the chance of the host(s) qualifying to the knock out stages. The same applies for the reigning champions.

In other words Austria and Switzerland are top seeded because they host the EC, Greece because they are the reigning champions and the Netherlands are top seeded on basis of having the best points tally per game with 32 points in the last WC qualifiers and 26 in the EC qualifiers that we just finished.(IE 58/24=2,42)

McLaren was just fired btw.

As for myself, I'm not sure if I'm happy or disappointed that Norway and England didn't qualify. On my hand I feel obligated to support the two as an "Angofil" Norwegian as they call us fans of English football. However another part of me is happy that I don't have to watch any of these teams play this summer. The tournament is probably better off without.

 

[nidza7]

finaly they sacked him.

 

[henry79]

Alan Hansen has a take....

England got exactly what they deserved, which was absolutely nothing.

They were out-thought, out-played and out-fought and this really is a real low point in English football history because they were abysmal, truly abysmal.

You stand and fall by your decisions and Steve McClaren got it wrong. The keeper, the formation, it was all just plain wrong.

The first-half was probably the worst 45 minutes you'll ever see from England right across the board.

Croatia played in a system that all of their players understood and they looked so good, so comfortable as a result.

England, on the other hand, have not stopped chopping and changing. The players like playing a certain way and yet they go into a crucial match in an unfamiliar system.

The left-back was poor, the centre-halves were way below par and I can't believe how poor Steven Gerrard was.

But all in all, with the exception of Peter Crouch, from one to 11 England were devoid of class, devoid of organisation and most of all they were devoid of fight.

No-one can argue England deserved anything from this game, and no-one can say they deserved to qualify from the group.

They didn't deserve a thing.

that guy is a muppet before the game he said England are going to win this game and win comfortably, and that there is no doubt about it he thought croatia wer there for the taking and that theywere not good enough to win.

have you lot seen his face at half time complete shock

 

[nidza7]

Hansens an old ****.

 

[number_0]

Alan Hansen has a take....

England got exactly what they deserved, which was absolutely nothing.

They were out-thought, out-played and out-fought and this really is a real low point in English football history because they were abysmal, truly abysmal.

You stand and fall by your decisions and Steve McClaren got it wrong. The keeper, the formation, it was all just plain wrong.

The first-half was probably the worst 45 minutes you'll ever see from England right across the board.

Croatia played in a system that all of their players understood and they looked so good, so comfortable as a result.

England, on the other hand, have not stopped chopping and changing. The players like playing a certain way and yet they go into a crucial match in an unfamiliar system.

The left-back was poor, the centre-halves were way below par and I can't believe how poor Steven Gerrard was.

But all in all, with the exception of Peter Crouch, from one to 11 England were devoid of class, devoid of organisation and most of all they were devoid of fight.

No-one can argue England deserved anything from this game, and no-one can say they deserved to qualify from the group.

They didn't deserve a thing.

that guy is a muppet before the game he said England are going to win this game and win comfortably, and that there is no doubt about it he thought croatia wer there for the taking and that theywere not good enough to win.

have you lot seen his face at half time complete shock

funny how before the game there was talks about finishing top of the group like it was a breeze.

lets have a look at the table again......

tahahahahaha

 

[Alfonso]

Apart from a less interesting Euro 2008 from a media/hype point of view(with England being in it the overal excitement of the tourment will be greater), England not qualifying has two other bad points in my mind:

1)Theo Walcott will not get a chance to be in the England squad and get some useful experience playing in a major tournment. This is of course based on the assumption Theo will be brilliant by the end of the season. Oh well.

2) In terms of next season it could be a bit bad for Arsenal. Half of our squad will feature in Euro 2008, and could possibly suffer from side effects like some of players did after the World Cup last year, i.e fatigue. Whilst our rivals have their important players rested, e.g. Rooney, Rio, Gerrard, Terry etc, this means our competitors could start next season in a better condition than us, physically and mentally. Unless some of our players become the stars of Euro 2008, i.e. RvP and/or Cesc, which would turn them into superstars and this would obviously be benefical for us.

Anyway, that draw sucks. My tip is Italy to win it. France may flop, although they are the team I will support next summer. Holland or Croatia may be dark horses. Cant wait for Russia Poland!

 

[awooga83]

Exactly Alfonso and in the past the United players who have had setbacks with England Fergie has often got them to respond strongly in the next season so alot of our rivals get a nice summer off.

 

[Asterix]

You guys who are getting upset at Tam need to lighten up.

ps - us Aussies managed to hang on to a 2-2 v Croatia - it's not that hard....

 

[number_0]

A look into Mcclowns great reign as the english maneger

http://www.skysports.com/story/0,19528,11096_2896266,00.html

RUSSIA 1 ENGLAND 2 (October 17, 2007)

Rooney put England within touching distance of Euro 2008 with a first-half goal in Moscow but they were left on the brink of elimination after Russia hit back with a Roman Pavlyuchenko double.

they wish

 

[entropy13]

 

[RocktheCasbah]

It was only when I sat watching the last ten minutes thinking "please don't score", I realised how much I hate this England team. Really glad they didn't go through, maybe it will wake a few of these over hyped clowns up as to what's required on the international stage.

 

[number_0]

watching the game again, it was like croatia was the team 2-0 down.
i guinenly think that they have a decent shout for the euro, and the only way they will go out is off a dodgy ref decision.

 

[Thommybhoy]

At Zagreb airport 6am today. Fans were there since before 3am, beacuse that time it was announced that the plane will land.

"We switched off Wembley, 88.000 spectators can be happy because they saw one of the best presentations of one small, proud nation, witha big heart. We didn't steal this victory, we didn't allow them to pressure us, England was saved from a bigger defeat only because of goalie and our striker that were not concentrated, because they were exhausted. We showed character, it is not easy to resist against England when they were back in game. We definitly deserved this victory, even English players admited that..."

Did McLaren help You by putting Carson on goal?
"Actually, he rescued them on couple occasions, but I dont' like goalies that put You into trouble and then save You. Save me all along. They say that he should put Beckham from the start, and my oppinion is that Shaun Wright-Phillips was one of England's best players.

Who was partuicualry good?
Everybody! We defended well on sides, they played as we agreed, they added something of their own, what God gave them. We alowed Lescott and Campbell to lead the game, we kept Crouch away from goal, we did good counterattacks..."

You favourite victory?
"One of and a big day for Crotia! There is a little big of rebellion in our joy, because of what they did to Zorislav Srebrić (FA threasurer), and even us. We were kept for more than an hour in Immigratioon office at Gatwick. Respect us just a little bit. We treat them like Gods, we pick them up at the airport landing track...."

Did You forgive Šimunić for that penalty kick?
"Joe played a big game, he fought with Wright-Phillips, later with Beckham, and he even had to look out for Crouch."

Now we can hope for a big result on Euro?
"I know that Croatia will get bigger appetite, but I assure You that we will not lose our mind. At Euro You can get eliminted in group, and You can win it! We are first in the most difficult qual group and because of that we can hope for a big result. We know exactly what we still have to do, and this team will only grow. Everybody will have a hard game against us, we are among best..."

Are You expecting Hiddinks' phone call?
"We didn't play neither for Russia or agains England, we played for Croatia and this 6000 fans to whom we arranger a great joy!"

" This is my favourite goal of my whole career and my favourite victory also! I would liked if I could start, but I'm over the moon even for beeing on the bench. Bilić just told me give Your best before I entered the pitch. I have confidence for a shot, I scoredfew simiral this season for Borussia D from far away. I was aiming for that angle and nobody is happer than me."

"This victory is not my biggest, but it is my favourite! To beat England on Wembley, that is something that will live forever! We thought about this victory all along, as if this game was our best preparation game for Euro. We have excellent atmosphere in the team and excellent staff members, we can go far on Euro, on second thought, we can be Euro Champions!"

I read on one Croatian webportal that newspapers called "Daily Star" invited fans to take the picture of a war criminal and show it to Croatian players to provoke them. They apperently also said that they suggested some offensive provokative shouts. They took this story from Serbian newspapers Kurir, about which I don't know much.
I'm not trying to provoke something here, I was just really dissapoined to read that. I like to believe this is not true, so can anybody deny this?

 

[Double_H]

Hahahhaha

thats a funny picture

 

[Mostarac]

CROATIAN VENUM: The Football Association must have felt as if their move to give members of the British military a chance to parade on the pitch prior to kick-off was a guaranteed winner, yet the hoards of visiting fans greeted them with a torrent of abuse and single finger salutes won't have gone down well.

.

 

[albakos]

England really did not deserve to qualify, as they are a bunch of over-hyped players. They were scared as hell last night. You could see them panicking from Carson, back four and up. Crouch and Becks were the little bright sparks.

Simply put, Croatia "owned them" with their great play last night.

I hope englishmen here will not deny that, as being an Arsenal fan from abroad, does not mean that I need to worship English national team as well.

A series of pics.
Let's have some, caption this "game"


False hope:

Ooops, we screwed it. But hey, its, not our fault, the pitch was wet.

Damn, the prizes for qualifying, will not let me buy a new Aston Martin

omg, i can't believe i scored again.Gerro will be mad at that.

Well, i played good, so ramos needs to put me in..

Need I say more..

 

[True Gooner]

So..Micah Richards and Lescott are going to write an autobiography now?

 

[Captain]

I read on one Croatian webportal that newspapers called "Daily Star" invited fans to take the picture of a war criminal and show it to Croatian players to provoke them. They apperently also said that they suggested some offensive provokative shouts. They took this story from Serbian newspapers Kurir, about which I don't know much.
I'm not trying to provoke something here, I was just really dissapoined to read that. I like to believe this is not true, so can anybody deny this?

Don't read the paper, but it is likely to be a true story. That paper is awful and pretty much sums up everything that is wrong with British society in it's crappy pages.

 

[tam1886]

omg, i can't believe i scored again.Gerro will be mad at that.

'Despite Ibby's protests, Lampard can't hide his disappointment at the general view on him in the Eduardo Da Silva thread on Arsenal-Mania.'

 

[N!]

A series of pics.
Let's have some, caption this "game"

False hope:

"Ahh God!! There's something in my eye!! Gedit out! Gedit out!"