Greece vs. Portugal.
In the 57th min, Greece just did a CLASSIC corner kick with a head butt into the goal. PERFECT!!!! First goal of the game and it's Greece's!
I have to say I've been annoyed by their (Greece's) playing tactics - more defense than offense in the first half and always flippin' waiting to kick the ball - BUT, it's working.
Now they're REALLY playing soccer.
75th min: Ronaldo for Portugal just tried a goal and went WIDE of the mark. However, here's the part I don't understand....why wasn't offsides called? He was the ONLY Portugese player there and the Greeks were way back. I thought I understood off sides, but two situations in the last two games (an offsides called because a ball was PASSED to somebody behind the other team - but he NEVER touched the ball) have me wondering.
86th min: Stupid fan. Or publicity stunt? A guy just ran on the field with a flag, threw it down and then raced the police for the Portugese goal.
90th min: Five more minutes (because of stupid fans and injury's) for the Portugese team to tie it up. Otherwise it looks like the unbelievable has happened - Greece has won. And I picked them!!
95th min: Greece won!!!! The little team that could, that NOBODY thought would win, has WON!!!!!!!!
I think all of Greece will be celebrating tonight!
Greece won in the LAST second in first 15 min of over time. A head ball from a corner kick. What a game! I don't think anybody would have thought Greece would get so far. I hoped, but with my luck at rooting for teams, I wasn't so sure. But my luck has turned it seems.
So Portugal vs. Greece on Sunday. Pretty much everybody seems to think Portugal will win. However, Greece is playing pretty good. Their offense could use some work though.
Ha! The jinx is no more! :) Holland didn't even score at all - their one goal was put in by a Portugese!
Woo hoo! Let's see if the non-jinx works for tomorrow.
Sorry Neil, you're going to have to find another sure fire way of winning money. :)
Neil over at German for Beginners is asking me to pick teams to root for in the semi-finals so he can go make bets on the opposing teams. Which leaves me in a quandry - do I root for who I really want to win or do I root for the opposing team hoping my jinx works and the team I really want wins? Or does the jinx know my true feelings and therefore would work against my real favorites?
Ow, my head hurts.
Anyway, straight from the gut, the teams I really want to win. In the Netherlands vs. Portugal game tomorrow, I choose Portugal. They're the host nation and I think they should move forward to the final game. In the Greece vs. the Czechs on Thursday, I choose Greece. They're the surprise underdog team this year. It would be extremely cool for them to make it to the end. And if they do, then I'm rooting for Greece in the final game.
So, expect a Czech vs. Netherlands game on Sunday with the Netherlands winning because I would root for the Czechs if that came about. :P
So, Neil - do I get a commission on your five Euro bet if you win? ;) Oh, and your template doesn't work in Firefox - the sidebar is pushed down to the bottom underneath the entries. I actually thought there wasn't a sidebar anymore until I read a comment talking about it. That's okay, I go there for the entries anyway, not the sidebar. Oh, and I like the new banner. :)
As I said in this entry, Sweden lost because I supported them. I can't claim to be responsible for Denmark though, I didn't pick anybody in that game.
I haven't decided who I'm going to root for (to lose, of course) in the semi-finals. I have until Wednesday to decide.
Oh, and Neil (scroll to his Saturday, June 26, 2004 entry) has figured out a good money making scheme - bet on the team I'm not rooting for. I'm wondering if should ask for a commission.....
Even though I didn't openly support France (see comments on this entry), they lost anyway last night. To tell the truth, I wasn't impressed with Frances playing at all. I saw no reason why Zidane is supposedly such a great player.
Yesterday evening was a relationship role reversal: I was glued to the TV while Bill was just there. Poor guy, our pizza came out well done because I was so involved in the game. :)
As for going forward, I'm supporting Sweden. So expect them to lose tonight against the Netherlands. Our team at work put together a little pool (all seven of us, in for 1 Euro), and I arbitrarily chose Sweden. Which might work. Who knows. This European championship is turning out all wonky - none of the big "powerhouse" countries are going to the semi-finals. England, Germany, Spain and France are all out.
I just watched the last 10 minutes of the English : Portugal game via a German late night show (I didn't know the game was on, and then I couldn't find it until it was over). Portugal won, which is good for them because their country is the host country this year. But England is out. Which means I have to find another National Team to root for in the Semi-Finals.
Germany is not advancing to the next round of the European Championships. :( They played a good game, just couldn't get the ball in the goal another two times. But they tried really really hard! Came close a couple of times too. If they had played half as hard as they did yesterday on Saturday, they would have won that game. And this game wouldn't have been soo important. Sigh.
Now I have to find another team to root for in the semi-finals. Maybe England.
I'm watching the Croatia/French soccer match and it's around the 53rd minute. Croatia just scored two goals - a really NICE second goal - within the last five minutes, making it 2:1. Which is really funny because during the half time commentary, the German commentator said that the Croatian team just didn't have the skills to competently compete against the French. "Sie haben nicht die Kraft (oder Bock)" ... or something VERY similar.
Hmmm....guess they just showed HIM, huh?
Update: It was a close game all the way to the end. France managed another goal, but it was a little controversial. The French player kicked the ball, the goalie kicked it out, it jumped up, hit the hand of the French player, and then he kicked it into the goal. They decided that his hand didn't drop down to the ball, the ball came up to his hand, so it was okay. Very good game over all, I thought.
Also, I've changed the title to reflect the final score.
Portugal just won against Russia. For the longest time (over an hour), they were 0:1, and in the 87th minute, Portugal scored their second goal. For me and the German announcer it was clear that Portugal had won. It was very unlikely that Russia would score two or three goals in the last three minutes.
So why did they go three minutes into overtime? I didn't understand that.
Deutschland tied their first game against Holland. Which isn't too bad. They were winning 1:0 until the 85th min. Bwah.
I met my upstairs neighbor and her boyfriend tonight. She's American, he's German. And through them I've met another neighbor, the guy under me. Anna and I (she has the same first name) are probably going to hang out a lot this week. Which is cool - after living here for almost a year and a half, I've met nobody. In one night I've met three new people, with the possiblity to meet more in the coming parties. :) They've lived here six weeks, had four parties, know the owner of the cafe, half the people in the stairwell, plus all their friends from Frankfurt.
So, I've drunk a bit of wine, talked a lot, watched a German Fussball match, I smell like a chimney (French people have NOTHING on German smokers), and I'm tired from the return train trip from Paris. Sorry, no Paris blogging adventures tonight. [Bill and I had a GREAT time.] I will post a photo though. Another Ducky one. :)