Dear WSC
I thoroughly enjoyed your blow-by-blow review of Euro 2008, noting with some reassurance that I’m not the only one driven to distraction by the so-called expert input of BBC and ITV pundits. However your assessment of the Holland-Italy game surprised me somewhat. The furious and defiant ignorance of the laws of the game displayed by Clive Tyldesley and David Pleat with respect to Ruud van Nistelrooy’s goal were surely worthy of comment, indeed arguably the most damning condemnation of their failure in their roles in providing insight and explanation. Instead, you bafflingly seem to support their case and argue, in effect, that an official ought to base an offside call on whether he believes a player is faking an injury or not. Actually he’d already made that call by not stopping the game to permit treatment to the Italian defender in question, who had in effect left the field without permission and thus had to be playing the Dutch striker onside. One shudders to imagine the Machiavellian tricks that some domestic managers would concoct were it possible to play an opponent offside by tumbling off the pitch in a writhing heap. Next you’ll be condemning cliched and inappropriate English attitudes to the German team alongside an anglicised spelling of “dummkopf”…
Matt Rowson, Watford
Search: ' Clive Tyldesley'
Stories
With no home nation to cheer on, we could have been spared the usual jingoism. But to Taylor Parkes's fury, the BBC and especially ITV missed no opportunity to scrape a reference to good old Blighty
As the most promising international tournament for years got under way, the pundits tried to look on the bright side. “When your own teams are in it,” suggested Andy Townsend, “you don’t really watch the other teams.” Well, anyone who remembers the TV coverage of the last World Cup can vouch for that. So did this mean England’s absence from Euro 2008 would spare us that obsessive Anglocentricism which makes international football on British TV so uniquely aggravating, such an insult to the intelligence (not to mention the Scots, Irish and Welsh)? Hardly. It just meant our patriotic pundits had to try a little harder.
Euro 2008 was a success on the pitch, but off it, the quality of the media coverage was poor and appears stuck in the past
Euro 2008 will be remembered fondly, not just in Spain. There was a lot of good football as a series of teams discovered the virtues of positive play over cautiousness, and there was some glorious drama. Russia disappointed in the end, but were deserved semi-finalists. Turkey’s progress to the same stage was more remarkable; they ran out of luck while putting in their best performance, against Germany, but that 3-2 defeat was the most memorable of a series of fine games.
Exclusive chats with Cristiano Ronaldo, insider gossip from the Italian camp and tactical analysis from a host of expert coaches will be among the things we won't be doing over the next month. But we will be putting together daily European Championship updates, while also preparing comprehensive coverage of the tournament for the next edition of WSC. Will Euro 2008 live up to the claim we made during World Cup 94 that major championships are better when England aren't involved? Find out over the next four weeks.
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Comment
Spanish lessons for England 30-06-08 ~ England can learn from the champions, apparently
Teutonic efficiency? 29-06-08 ~ Why you don’t have to be a great team to get to the final
On the transfer trail 27-06-08 ~ Likely movers from Euro 2008 and within the UK
Arshavin v Aragones 26-06-08 ~ The men getting attention prior to the Spain v Russia semi-final
Englishmen abroad 25-06-08 ~ The anglo-centric build up to the Germany v Turkey semi-final
New ground for Spain and Ince 23-06-08 ~ The day after the final quarter-final
Spanish expectations 22-06-08 ~ The surprise today would be if Spain beat Italy
Dutch masters 21-06-08 ~ Guus Hiddink sends out Russia to face his native country
Turkey test for confident Croatia 20-06-08 ~ The second quarter-final confounds commentators
Phil's final fling? 19-06-08 ~ Portugal face Germany in the first quarter-final
Russia's time 18-06-08 ~ Group D has more than one team with something to prove
Italy and France fear a fix 17-06-08 ~ Anyone could go through from Group C
Austria's big night 16-06-08 ~ The co-hosts invoke the spirit of 1978
Host story 15-06-08 ~ A poor show from Switzerland and Austria
Seeing the world in negative 14-06-08 ~ Great teams don't always win
Tangled Webb 13-06-08 ~ English impact on the tournament
Phil the gap 12-06-08 ~ Portugal's manager has a new job
No pain for Spain 11-06-08 ~ Easy for Spain; Turkey v Switzerland unearths unpleasant memories
Offside? 10-06-08 ~ A dodgy decision in the best game so far
Still no shocks 09-06-08 ~ Results are as expected, and the Dutch are rowing
Anglo angles 08-06-08 ~ The obsession with England continues as the other hosts take to the field
And they're off – but do we care? 07-06-08 ~ One of the hosts starts it all off
Euros not accepted 06-06-08 ~ The British press struggle to get excited about the tournament
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Message board
Join in the debate on WSC's Euro 2008 message board. Current busy threads include:
Euro 2008 report: England triumph
Why I like the German football team
Why I hate the German football team
I almost felt sorry for Clive Tyldesley…
Tournament Anti-XI
Löw Will Tear Us Apart
Euro 2008 report: England's progress thus far
Anglicise Foriegn names here
Quarters, Semis, Final
Raymond Domenech
I Love Martin O'Neill
New discoveries
Let's get superficial
Anyone but Italy
Euro 2008 Lookalikes Thread
Euro 2008 checklist
Things about Euro 2008 you're pleased about
Things about Euro 2008 you're already annoyed by
British bookies
Panini Swap Shop
Match by match threads:
Final
Germany v Spain
Semi-finals
Germany v Turkey
Russia v Spain
Quarter-finals
Holland v RussiaSpain v Italy
Croatia v Turkey
Portugal v Germany
Group stage
Spain v Greece
Russia v Sweden
France v Italy
Holland v Romania
Austria v Germany
Poland v Croatia
Czech Republic v Turkey
Switzerland v Portugal
Greece v Russia
Sweden v Spain
Italy v Romania
France v Netherlands
Austria v Poland
Croatia v Germany
Switzerland v Turkey
Czech Republic v Portugal
Greece v Sweden
Spain v Russia
Italy v Netherlands
Romania v France
Germany v Poland
Austria v Croatia
Portugal v Turkey
Switzerland v Czech Republic
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Team guide
Find more about the participating countries with our handy team-by-team guide
Group A
Czech Republic Portugal Switzerland Turkey
Group B
Austria Croatia Germany Poland
Group C
France Italy Netherlands Romania
Group D
Greece Russia Spain Sweden
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Wallchart
To help you follow the games, download our Euro 2008 wallchart that was given away with WSC 256 (and if you want a proper version click here to buy the issue). Download is a 1.1mb pdf
Dear WSC
Who made the biggest blunder on the second weekend of the Premier League season? Rob Styles gave a dodgy penalty for Chelsea against Liverpool, but was this the worst example of a paid professional making a basic error that affected the outcome of a game? What about Jens Lehmann’s rubber wrists against Blackburn? Tony Warner at Fulham flapped at a daisy-cutter, while in the same game Clint Dempsey missed a gaping net from six yards out, a goal even Styles could have scored. Yet these players weren’t endlessly lambasted by the pundits and will not be forced (by their professional body at least) to sit out a game or two until they’ve learned their lesson. This strikes me as a double standard that fans and managers alike should be ashamed of. Either that or Carlos Tévez should be made to sit in the naughty chair at next week’s game for missing a simple far-post header in the derby game
Mark Lewsey, Glasgow