Good afternoon folks. I’m coming to you from an undisclosed location in the Western part of the United States and while I promised myself I would stay away from SBI today, I just can’t. SF is doing a great job holding things down today, but I still had to check in and see how the SBI Mafia is doing today.
The Netherlands is about to face France in what is arguably the best Euro 2008 match-up so far (okay, one of them) and I’m pretty pumped to see how it goes.
I will do a running commentary for the match, or at least the first half. Feel free to follow the match. If you’re watching, or wishing you could watch, then please feel free to share your thoughts on the match below.
Enjoy the match.
—————————
49th minute- Okay folks, I’m done with the commentary for the day. I may check back in and post in the comments, but those of you participating can take it from here. Thanks for following along again and for making SBI your place to follow Euro 2008.
—————————
HALFTIME– Netherlands 1, France 0. The Dutch got off to a flying start with an early goal, but the French took over the last 25 or so minutes of the first half. Will they find an equalizer? It looks like they’ll have their chances to.
—————————
42nd minute– It’s very strange to see the Dutch sitting back and defending. Is it the French pressuring or the Dutch actually trying to protect this lead.
—————————
37th minute– France has taken complete control of this match. They’re moving the ball around, but haven’t found the golden chance to beat Van Der Sar yet.
—————————
36th minute– France finally plays some good attacking soccer, creating a beautiful sequence that leads to a shot that is saved. France comes back with another attack but Ribery’s shot is smothered by Van Der Sar, who is on great form.
—————————
32nd minute– Makelele gets a gellow for a nice smack in the face of Rafael Van Der Vaart, who is making a meal of it.
—————————
29th minute– Still waiting for France’s attack to show up.
—————————
23rd minute– Govou forces a save from Van Der Sar, not a bad shot and not a bad kick save by Van Der Sar.
—————————
21st minute– The French are on their heels so far. One thing that seems interesting is France’s inability to hold onto the ball.
—————————
15th minute– The Dutch look a step quicker than France early on. France looks a bit old, sort of like Italy did against the Dutch.
—————————
12th minute– Nigel De Jong with a crunching tackle. He’s had a strong tournament.
—————————
10th minute– Kuyt beats Malouda in the penalty area to power home the header from close range. The Dutch are cruising.
—————————
10th minute- GOAL NETHERLANDS!!!! Dirk Kuyt with the header!!
—————————
7th minute– It still boggles my mind that David Trezeguet didn’t make the France roster. How does that happen? He should be there and should be starting.
—————————
5th minute– The French attack looks a bit off early on as the Dutch look like they’re giving France some space to operate.
—————————
2nd minute– Thierry Henry is back in the lineup for France, with Karim Benzema going to the bench. Benzema looked a bit overmatched in the opener against Romania.
—————————
1st minute– And we’re off.
@ Ives:
Let us know if you’ll be at the HDC for US/Barbados tomorrow. Perhaps we can convene the SBI mafia pre-game.
Cheers
Thanks for the heads up, Joe. I knew the rule was different for the Euro than the World Cup (although I can’t fathom why).
Cheers,
Hey Mig22,
In that situation, Italy would advance with 2 points. It is goal differential and then goals for amongst the three tied teams. Since the France-Romania game was 0-0, Italy would be the only one to score against both teams and advance.
But that doesn’t matter because it won’t happen. The Netherlands and Romania will make an “agreement” so they both advance.
@cindy: thank you! I’ve been a Dutch fan since the 1974 World Cup when I was just a small boy.
That was two scary good performances by Netherlands. Jeez. So, Romania loses to the Dutch reserves next week 1-0, and France-Italy is a 2-2 draw with 6 red cards issued. In the 70th minute, Zidane rushes the Italian bench and sucker punches Materazzi, earning an honorary 7th red card for the game. Romania becomes maybe the first team to advance with 2 points on goal differential. Tee hee.