Euro 2004 Playoff first leg

[iceblizzard69]

Russia 0 - 0 Wales
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Spain 2 - 1 Norway
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Scotland 1 - 0 Holland
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Croatia 1 - 1 Slovenia
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Latvia 1 - 0 Turkey
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Wales put themselves in a very good position to go to Euro 2004 by getting a draw in Russia.

Spain needed a late own goal from Henning Berg to get the win at home.

Scotland shocked the way more talented Holland and got a win at home. Holland is now in trouble of missing out on Euro 2004, which would be the second straight missed tournament for the Dutch. They also failed to qualify for the 2002 World Cup. It's amazing how such a talented side can play so poorly.

Croatia and Slovenia had a draw in Croatia.

Latvia pulled off a major upset by beating Turkey at home.

These are all two leg aggregate series, so you advance based on goal differential. If both teams score the same amount of goals, then the winner is whoever scored the most away goals. If that is also the same, then it goes to penalties.

The second leg of each series will be played on Wednesday.

[Prime Time]

I am shocked at how bad Holland has been playing. They have too much talent to play this poorly. They have Kluivert, RVN etc. This is unacceptable, but I like it sinc they eliminated my Argies in the 98 World Cup...but I dislike it because I am missing out on some qulatiy football that RVN and the crew play.

[iceblizzard69]

Holland continues to use RVN and Kluivert up front which just doesn't work. Makaay should be playing. He has been really good for Bayern Munich and I believe he won the Golden Boot last year when he was with Deportivo La Coruna.

[Prime Time]

Kluivert should be playing Mid...end of story.

[Dolfan02]

So is Netherlands out of qualification for Euro 2004? If so, thats really really odd because they had the 3rd best record (6-1-1) out of all the 50 teams in the qualifying rounds only behind France and Czech Republic. They have one of the most exciting and creative teams, they're one of my favorite national teams. Could it be the coaching perhaps? Certainly in my opinion it couldn't be the players with the likes of Van Nistelrooy, Davids, Overmars, Kluivert, and van der Meyde. I would have thought they already qualified for the Championship with 19 points in the qualifying, 3rd best? Thats really weird they might not go.

[iceblizzard69]

They aren't out yet. The second leg in their series against Scotland is on Wednesday. However, Holland is in trouble since they lost to Scotland in the first one.

They didn't qualify because they finished second in their group (Czech Republic finished first). If you finish first in your group, you automatically go to Euro 2004. If you finish second, you have to play in a playoff. There are 10 groups, so 10 teams get in automatically, 5 get in through a playoff, and Portugal gets in automatically because they are the hosts.

Holland has a lot of talent but they aren't a good TEAM. Also, they usually use bad lineups which doesn't help. There is no reason to keep Makaay on the bench.

I want to see Scotland advance to Euro 2004. They just deserve it more than Holland does.

[Dolfan02]

I've never seen the national team of Scotland play. They have been the lost wonders in the soccer world for being in a huge market and in central Europe. I imagine their style is identical to Ireland and England. It sure would be great to watch the Scotsmen advance to the Euro, and finally step up in international competition. Now, Wales and Northern Ireland are going to be on an island of their own.

[iceblizzard69]

Originally posted by Dolfan02
I've never seen the national team of Scotland play. They have been the lost wonders in the soccer world for being in a huge market and in central Europe. I imagine their style is identical to Ireland and England. It sure would be great to watch the Scotsmen advance to the Euro, and finally step up in international competition. Now, Wales and Northern Ireland are going to be on an island of their own.

I've never seen them play either. However, from what I have heard, they have a lot of heart. They don't really have any stars, their top players are 19 year old Darren Fletcher (Manchester United), James McFadden (Everton), Barry Ferguson (Blackburn), and a few other guys.

[Prime Time]

Didn't Scotland play USA in a Friendly this past summer? Or was that Wales...I believe it was Wales. BTW, IMO, Holland's coach sucks.

[iceblizzard69]

Originally posted by Prime Time
Didn't Scotland play USA in a Friendly this past summer? Or was that Wales...I believe it was Wales. BTW, IMO, Holland's coach sucks.

We played Wales but they didn't bring any of their top players. The whole USA side for that match was players from DC United and San Jose because those were the only two MLS teams that had that weekend off. The USA won but the friendly was a waste of time.