Euro 2008

Barcelona's Xavier Hernández has been named the Player of the Tournament for this year's Euro's.

With that here is UEFA's squad of the tournament:

Goalkeepers: Buffon (Italy), Casillas (Spain), van der Sar (Holland).

Defenders: Bosingwa (Portugal), Lahm (Germany), Marchena (Spain), Pepe (Portugal), Puyol (Spain), Zhirkov (Russia).

Midfielders: Hamit Altintop (Turkey), Modric (Croatia), Senna (Spain), Xavi (Spain), Zyryanov (Russia), Ballack (Germany), Fabregas (Spain), Iniesta (Spain), Podolski (Germany), Sneijder (Holland).

Striker: Arshavin (Russia), Pavlyuchenko (Russia), Torres (Spain), Villa (Spain).

Les Bleus

Didier Dechamps may be on the verge of taking over a squad that needs massive changes and lots of work before the next World Cup.

Euro 2008

Congratulations are in order for Spain after their deserved 1-0 victory over Germany yesterday.

Online Videos by Veoh.com

Footie Fun!

Remi Gaillard

FOOT 2008 (REMI GAILLARD)
Uploaded by nqtv

The Scoop

Barcelona are in talks with Arsenal for Alex Hleb.

Arsenal are also making a £10M move for Russian playmaker Andrei Arshavin. Samir Nasri is also in London for a medical. What in the world is Arsenal going to do to satisfy all these midfield players?

Redknapp tells Roma Niko Kranjcar isn't for sale...unless it is ridiculous money.

Aston Villa want Anton Ferdinand.

News of the Web

"Fuggedabowdit", would be the headline in the New York Post, but this in the UK Sun and they put it "Ron: I'll quit Utd for Real"

Personally, given the chance, and everybody knows I'm no fan of Manchester United, but to move from England to Spain?

I personally feel that England has the best teams in the world not to mention the most competitive league. On the other hand he's won everything there is to win in England and perhaps he's looking for more accomplishments? Obviously that is up to him, but, my feelings for United aside, I think he owes a debt of gratitude to Sir Alex for his past support? No? Perhaps they will sort all this junk out and he'll still be in the Premiership next year...that is what I want.

Test Post

Holy Smokes, after hours I got my little image to work. I like that, hope you do too.

I made it for the suburb job the Oranje are doing at the moment. I'll use it when appropriate, but for now it's just a test image.

Euro 2008

France gets pummeled out by the Italians today.


Oranje get the deal done as well

The Scoop

John Arne Riise is on his way to AS Roma after being left on the fringe of the Liverpool squad...not to mention a few memorable nightmare performances. To be fair though, he has served us well and wish him the best. I'm happy he'll be making a move though.

Frank Lampard is Jose Mourinho's number one transfer target for Inter Milano.

Bolton have signed Fabrice Muamba from Birmingham for £5M

Oi, oi, oi!!! Roy Keane wants to bag Aiden McGeady for a cool £10M

For some unknown reason our gaffer, Rafa Benitez is still on the hunt for James Milner??? Yeah that's what I'm saying...anyhow he's now put forgotten Liverpool midielder, Danny Guthrie into the mixture.

Martin O'Neill wants to add David Bentley to the Villa roster to a tune of £15M.

A Day Late and a Dollar Short

Wow! I wish I did the "Live Commentary" during this Turkey vs. Czech Republic match yesterday. I watched it 50 minutes in and thought Czech Republic had the matched locked. I arrived for a Father's Day BBQ at my Uncle Jack's place and found out that the Turks had come back and the score was now 3-2! That is the scoreline that they won by as well! I wish I had DVR'd that muthatrucka now! I'm sure I can DL it on the internet though, so no big deal.

One thing really has to be said publicly, so I'll do it, "JOB WELL DONE, TURKEY!"

I saw the highlights afterwards and it was a pleasure to watch. I smiled the entire time. Whether out of surprise/amazement or pleasure I couldn't tell you (some of my old friends are Turkish...Hey Ozge, Hey Songul!) I have to say that deep down, I think it was from football itself. Sometimes just football itself makes me smile.

Goals of the Week

Well since we are engulfed in the Euros at the moment I figured I'd nick some highlights from one of my favorite footie sites and give them some traffic!

TOP FIVE GAOLS OF THE WEEK

1.Wesley Sniejder vs. Italy


2. Zlatan


3. Wesley Sniejder...YET AGAIN!


4. Aaish vs. Oman


5. Arjen Robben doing Lilian Thuram and putting the ball where he could only hope it would go...

The Scoop

Manchester United are back in for Tottenham striker, Dimitar Berbatov. They have also pipped AS Roma for the Italian youngster, Davide Petrucci.

Gareth Southgate has been told to up the ante on his bid for PSG midfielder, Didier Digard.

AC Milano are confident of getting Emmanuel Adebayor from Arsenal.

Live Commentary Euro 2008

FRANCE 1 - 4 HOLLAND

Ok, here we go again!!! We are back with you live (although, not from Stade du Suisse in Bern, Switzerland) and excited about this match. Whoever wins this gets a big boost in the table. France needs a victory today or really risk getting bounced from the competition. On the other hand, if Holland win, they will have the luxury of resting their best players during the next match as they will have sealed up the group.

France:
Coupet, Gallas, Makelele, Malouda, Govou, Henry, Evra, Thuram (C), Sangnol, Toulalan, Ribery

Holland:
Van der Sar (C), Ooijer, Mathijeson, Van Bronkhorst, Engelaar, Van Nistelrooy, Sniejder, DeJong, Kuyt, Boularhouz, Van der Vaart

Kick-off 20:45

After taking a quick look over the starting line-ups, I see that the FFF must have called upon Domenech (a useless coach if there ever was one) to juggle up his line-up a bit. Thierry Henry is back in the side with Nico Anelka on the bench. Benzema is sitting and Govou has stepped into the mix. Patric Evra is also fit to play.

1mins. The French kick off from playing from right to left. They are wearing the full blue strip and the dutch are wearing Orange, White, Baby Blue.
2mins. Malouda gets fouled and Ribery takes the free kick from the left side of the pitch. Cleared by the Dutch.
2mins. Van Nistelrooy tried to take the French defense by storm, but ends up mis-firing. Easy pick up for Coupet.
5mins. OOOOOhhhhhh, Malouda crosses from the left side to a leaping Ribery who heads it wide. That could have been dangerous if the little elf was a bit taller.
9mins. GOOOOOOOOAAAAAAAAAALLLLLLLLL!!!! Dirk Kuyt gets in front of Florent Malouda (who was ball watching) and heads home from the corner kick. Poor defending on the set peice I have to say. Nevertheless, the Dutch have taken a !-0 lead for the moment.
14mins. The French play it safe for the moment, and Ribery tries to unlock the defense only to lose the ballon in the process.
15mins. OOOOOhhhhhh, Wesley Sneijder lets a rocket shot go high and high after DeJong steals from the French.
18mins. The Dutch play some lovely one touch footie between 7 players and have a go only to be blocked away. Nice football from the Dutch.
20mins. OOOOOhhhhhh, Thuram mistimes a header to clear and actually heads it behind only for the lurking Dirk Kuyt to jump on it first and touch it over. He didn't have much time to react but he did get a touch toward goal. That could have been dangerous if Kuyt had anticipated a bit sooner.
22mins. OOOOOhhhhhh, Sagnol puts a cross into the box and Govou does well to take the cross down and get a shot off. Van der Sar shows why he's the European Champion goalkeeper and saves well. This was the real first chance for the French. They need much more of this to be effective as the Dutch are playing very well today...again.
26mins. Some more nice one touch passing to break through the French defense only for the last and most deadly pass to fall to Boularhouz who puts it across goal for nobody to pounce on. In case you were wondering Ruud was out on the wing where the play started.
30mins. at thirty minutes the French are yet to settle down in this match. They are chasing alot more than creating. Here is a French spell of good posession then Sagnol loses it on the right side.
32mins. Govou tries to shake his defender and gets blocked. Claude Makelele get a Yellow Card for poking Van der Vaart in the head.
34mins. OOOOOhhhhhh, The French are attacking in full force at the moment with two very good chances within seconds of each other. One popped straight out in front of goal for Govou to knock it hard but directly at VDS. The second Ribery came down the left side with Makelele alongside. He tried to beat his defender and hit his shot on the ground directly at VDS again.
37mins. The ball comes across the Dutch goal and Henry tries to redrect it into the net, but doesn't get enough on it. Back on the otherside of the pitch Sneijder takes a crack at a long-range highlight shot. Coupet has no problem covering.
41mins. Some good play from the French through the middle middle. Sagnol puts a cross into the danger zone, just high for Thierry Henry. He should do better with those crosses.
43mins. OOOOOhhhhhh, Thierry Henry beats his man with one touch, back to goal and shoots it just wide on the right side.
45mins. Some more good play from the French and Malouda tries to find Govou in front of the Dutch goal. Van Bronckhorst tracks back well and sees the ball out for a goal kick. 1 minute added.
Half-Time

The Dutch were playing very well for the first 30 minutes but the French have found themselves, finally, and since have been in control of the match. The French have had four or five very good chances in the last fifteen minutes to level.

The second half should be a good one if the French actuall go for the the win. One thing I noticed, ALL of the French chances have come from Malouda today. He is having a hell of a game (except for his defensive display on Kuyt's goal...Ahem!) Let's see if he can create an equalizer or bag one himself.

45mins. Here we go with the second half. Arjen Robben has come on for Engelaar.
46mins. OOOOOhhhhhh, Henry absolutely skins Ooijer and crosses into the box. Ribery is a millisecond too late to put it away. Good play making from Thierry Henry there.
49mins. OOOOOhhhhhh, there should have been a penalty there on Ooijer! Malouda missed his chance to put it away then Henry takes a shot and Ooijer stops it with his arm. Unlucky there for the French.
51mins. YELLOW CARD for Ooijer. Not for the handball but for tussling with Henry in the center of the park.
53mins. OOOOOhhhhhh MY GOD, Thierry Henry misses a sitter alone against Van der Sar. He tries to pop it over the Dutch goalkeeper and proceeded to pop it clear over the net. I thought for sure that was a goal. It really should have been. Especially by Henry standards.
55mins. Goal scorer Dirk Kuyt is being replaced by Robin Van Persie.
59mins. GOOOOOOOOAAAAAAAAAALLLLLLLLL!!!! Ooooh weeeee, Ruud Van Nistelrooy does a bit of a spin move to save the ball from going out, up to Arjen Robben who takes it down the left side and crosses to Robin Van Persie who puts it home off a helpless Coupet! 2-0 Holland from the substitutes and a brilliant play from Ruud!
60mins. Malouda off, Gomis on
66mins. OOOOOhhhhhh, Van Persie strips the ball from the French defender on the left side and goes in alone on goal only to play a centering pass to nobody. He should have cracked that ball given the left foot that boy has.
68mins. Sagnol has a chance to put in a Cristiano Ronaldo type strike but he not that clever and loses the ball. He really had to one time that ball.
71mins. GOOOOOOOOAAAAAAAAAALLLLLLLLL!!! Thierry Henry puts home a at full stride from Sagnol on the right.
72mins. GOOOOOOOOAAAAAAAAAALLLLLLLLL!!!! Ooooh weeeeee, Arjen Robben does Thuram left and right then puts one top shelf on Coupet with no room to move!!! What a match! What a match! What a goal! What a goal!
74mins. Govou off, Anelka on
77mins. OOOOOhhhhhh, Ribery puts his free kick into the box and onto le tete du Henry, only for him to mis-time his jump and make a mess of it. Poor play from Henry.
78mins. Van der Vaart off, Bouma on
81mins. WOW! Makelele goes to put his shot away and...slips. Oh Mon Dieu!
83mins. OOOOOhhhhhh, DeJong put one over the French defense onto Ruud Van Nistelrooy's head and he puts it high over Coupet's reach but the French goalkeeper just gets back to slap it out of play. That was brilliant from Horseyface! Just brilliant! Pure goal poacher play there. Take your notes kids.
87mins. Ribery has a free kick in the danger zone and puts it over. No danger in that one though.
89mins. OOOOOhhhhhh, Arjen Robben has a go from the top of the box and hits his shot just wide right. All of Holland are singing now. Can you hear them? They are going to cause an earthquake in Switzerland.
90mins+. GOOOOOOOOAAAAAAAAAALLLLLLLLL!!!! Ooooh weeeeee, Ooooh weeeeee, Wesley Sneijder with a scud missle into the top left corner...on the turn! 4-1 to Holland! ENCORE SON, ENCORE!
90mins+. The referee blows the whistle.

Yet another thrashing for Holland. Van Basten has formed a team to be reckoned with I tell you! Look out Europe! After a spell sorting things out, there is a new kid on the block and he is wearing bright orange so you can't miss him!

The Scoop

Is 'Arry going to turn his eyes from Peter Crouch to Eidur Gudjohnsen?

Real Madrid's, Sergio Ramos as flattered by roumors of a move to Premiership Champions, Manchester United.

Juande Ramos is ready to splash out more cash on PSG's Brazillian goalkeeper, Heurelho Gomes.

Roy Keane is prepared to offer out of favor Tottenham striker, Darren Bent, a chance to play for £12M.

Euro 2008

France will turn to Thierry Henry to boos their chances at this years tournament.

Poland coach, Leo Beenhakker has accused English referee, Howard Webb of knocking them out of the tournament. It had nothing to do with the ripping down of the Austrian striker in the box tough...

The Scoop

Liverpool have had an improved offer of £15M rejected from Aston Villa for their skipper, Gareth Barry.

Arsene Wenger is looking toward Roque Santa Cruz as a possible replacement for Emmanuel Adebayor, if he leaves for AC Milano.

Patrice Evra has penned a new four-year deal with Manchester United.

Whoa!

New Chelsea boss, Luiz Felipe Scolari has been given a Roman size check book to build his new Blue team. £108M, or so to be exact or speculative?

Can I Get An "AMEN"?

Fernando Torres wants Liverpool to rival Arsenal for his Spain strike-partner David Villa.

No Soup For You!

A Polish Politician (of course) has threatened Lukas Podolski with revoking his Polish passport for scoring...twice against his motherland.

Lukas responds
"The funny thing is, I don't even have a Polish passport"

So much for due diligence?

The Scoop

Mexican youngster, Giovani Dos Santos has signed to Tottenham Hotspur for £4.7M from Barcelona

Arsenal have beaten Manchester United and Everton in the battle to sign Aaron Ramsey after the teenage prodigy insisted he wants to play for the Gunners.

Is 'Arry looking to bring Patrick Viera over to Pompey for his swan song?

Live Commentary EURO 2008

HOLLAND 3 - 0 ITALY

MAN OF THE MATCH: Giovanni VanBronckhorst

Match Highlights Here

9mins. After a chili dog and a quick thought, I figure I'll do this one too!
10mins. Sneijder has a great chance to break the deadlock and he hits in directly into Great Wall of Italy.
12mins. OOOOOhhhhhh, Camoronesi, to Gattuso, to Luca Toni with the header....wide.
15mins. A bit of Dutch keep-away at the moment and Italy is happy to sit back and let them kick it around.
17mins. OOOOOhhhhhh, Dirk Kuyt to Ruud VanNistelrooy through on goal and Buffon comes out. RVN has to try to go around and the chance is lost. Great goalkeeping! He could have easily taken RVN out for a penalty or even nicked him a bit and got called for a foul. Good stuff from the Dutch.
19mins. OOOOOhhhhhh, Sniejder fancies his chance on goal and takes a swipe with his left foot high and wide.
21mins. Good stuff from the Italians now, but it looks like they don't like to use Ambosini in the middle. He's running around like he's lost with his arms stretched out...
23mins. OOOOOhhhhhh, Luca Toni wishes he was a bit taller as the free kick goes begging just beyond Toni's reach. Meanwhile, Materazzi gets a touch to avoid VanNistelrooy from putting one home. VanNistelrooy would have definitely put that away if Materazzi get a touch.
25mins. Goooooooooaaaaaaallllllll!!! Ruud VanNistelrooy! Buffon punches clear only for Sneijeder to drill a shot back into the box and the off-side goal poacher, Ruud VanNistelrooy redirects it past Buffon into the Italian net.
30mins. Goooooooooaaaaaaallllllll!!! Giovani VanBronkhorst clears off his own goal line, a bit of passing play and back to Gio on the left who switches play to Dirk Kuyt, on the right, who deftly heads back to Wesley Sniejder who touches it ever so slightly past a sprawling Gigi Buffon. Look for this one on every highlight reel tonight folks! WHAT A GOAL! WHAT A GOAL!
33mins. OOOOOhhhhhh, DiNatale shoots between Boularouz's pegs and VanDerSar smothers the ball with only a fraction of a second to react. Great save from the Manchester United stopper.
40mins. Ugh, Dirk Kuyt passes directly to Camoranesi who slots a pass behind Luca Toni's run. Wasted chance from the Italians. Poor play from Dirk Kuyt.
42mins. OOOOOhhhhhh, Vandervaart splits the Italian defence in two onto the boot of Ruud VanNistelrooy who tries his shot and Buffon comes up HUGE! FANTASTIC save from Buffon on VanNistelrooy. FAN-TAS-TIC!
44mins. OOOOOhhhhhh, DiNatale takes a chance and misses high above the target.
45mins. Half time whistle goes in Bern, Switzerland with the Dutch taking a 2-0 lead over the Italians.

Holland are kicking some Italian booty today. I do have to say that the first goal was totally offside on VanNistelrooy but, on the other hand he really should have scored his last chance. So let the cards fall where they may. Let's see if Italy can get an early goal and make this a match or if Holland come out in full attack mode and seal the deal? Let's get ready for some more end-to-end footie!

45mins. Second half kick off. Here we go.
46mins. Italy try to make something out of nothing and end up with a corner.
47mins. Are any of you wondering to yourselves how in the world Boularouz and Ooijer could be Holland Internationals? I'm just sayin'!
48mins. Ruud VanNistelrooy gets taken out in front of the Italian box but the referee keeps his whistle to himself. Poor refereeing in this match.
50mins. Impressive one touch passing game by the Dutch. The Italians are watching in shock and awe. They are not playing like 'World Champions' today.
52mins. Dirk Kuyt chases down the right side of the pitch and Materazzi stumbles over himself and inadvertently guides the ball out for a goal kick.
53mins. OOOOOhhhhhh, Gianluca Zambrotta skins Dirk Kuyt, who was tracking back, and brings the ball to a shooting angle and launches his shot over the target. Nice play from Zambrotta, even if it went begging. Kuyt is still looking for him...
54mins. Jerk, oh I mean Materazzi out and Grosso in.
58mins. Yellow Card, DeJong gets a booked for smothering Ambrosini.
59mins. OOOOOhhhhhh, Luca Toni brings the ball down on the turn and shoots right to Van Der Sar.
62mins. I wonder how much the Italians are paying Holland for this clinic?
63mins. OOOOOhhhhhh, Andrea Pirlo takes a free kick into the side netting. Van Der Sar
was caught out of position on that one.
64mins. DiNatale out, DelPiero in.
65mins. OOOOOhhhhhh, Immediate impact from the Italian veteran, Alessandro Del Piero, with a quick shot through the Dutch defence as Van Der Sar make routine diving save. With that shot I believe he may have doubled Italy's shot total? Don't quote me on that though.
68mins. A good spell for the Italians right now, but then again a broken clock is correct twice a day too, right? Ahem, I digress...Now the Dutch are entertaining their fans and myself with some more one touch play out of trouble and get a free kick. Nothing comes of it.
70mins. OOOOOhhhhhh, DelPiero has another go at goal but comes up with nothing. Missed chance there. Ruud VanNistelrooy out, Robin VanPersie in.
72mins. Cassano is waiting on the sidelines to come in.
74mins. Italy attacking but the Dutch put out the fire. Then, Robin VanPersie was free after springing the Italian defence only to be mis-judged offside. That would have been the proverbial 'nail in the coffin'
75mins. OOOOOhhhhhh, Luca Toni beats the Dutch defence but can't get the ball under control. I bet he wished he had that chance again. Boularouz out, Heitinga in.
77mins. OOOOOhhhhhh, Van Der Sar with a brilliant save on Pirlo from an angle.
77mins. OOOOOhhhhhh, Pirlo hits a great shot on a free kick only for Van Der Sar to save then, if that wasn't enough we have another OOOOOhhhhhh moment at the other end of the pitch as they break and catch Italy out of sorts.
80mins. Goooooooooaaaaaaallllllll!!! Giovani VanBronkhorst heads one home! With the Italians watching Kuyt, after having his initial shot saved by Buffon, finds Gio all alone in the middle of the box and he makes no mistake with the cross.
81mins. Dirk Kuyt off, Affelay on
83mins. OOOOOhhhhhh, No sooner does Affelay get on the pitch does he take a shot and it skims the top of the bar. He had some pace on that shot.
88mins. OOOOOhhhhhh, Robin VanPersie does a training ground trick between three Italian defenders and makes his way out AND gets a venomous shot off to boot. Good play from the Arsenal striker.
90mins. 3 minutes added
90mins.+ If you put your head out of the window my bet is that you can hear the Dutch crowd clearly from Bern!
90mins.+ OOOOOhhhhhh, Luca Toni leaves a pass for Ambrosini 2 meters from the goal and he launches it over with a deflection from a Dutch defender. Same story for Italy again today.
90mins.+ And so the story goes. The referee has blown his whistle to end this thrashing.

Well, I see now that Panucci was off the pitch behind the goal line so he may have been in play on Van Nistelrooy's first goal. Therefore, he was actually onside in the play. Either way, the goal stands and that's what he does. The Italian papers should be fun to look through tomorrow! Heh heh heh...

Live Commentary EURO 2008

FRANCE 0 - 0 ROMANIA

MAN OF THE MATCH: ehhhh, I'll give it to Dorin Goian

Match Highlights Here.

Bienvenue madame et messiers.....ahem, today we have FRANCE vs. ROMANIA. As the squad lists are released we have as follows
France:
Coupet, Abidal, Gallas, Makalele, Malouda, Anelka, Benzema, Thuram (C), Sagnol, Toulalan, Ribery
Romania:
Lobant, Contra, Rat, Tamas, Chivu (C), Radoi, Mutu, Cocis, Goian, Nicolita, Nuculae

Stand by for a the real kick-off of this tournament.

Here come the players onto the Zurich pitch. Les Bleus are wearing the traditional, well, Blue and Romania is wearing their traditional yellow strip. Now for the respective National Anthems. First, La Marseillaise then the Romanian one.

Unfortuately, we here at Football Roundable do not have the budget to get techie so you have to click 'refresh' every few minutes for updates.

Kick-off 12:00pm EST
1mins. And we are off.
2mins. A bit of sloppy play from France at the moment. It seems Romania are fired up for this tie.
3mins. Just as I criticize France, they pull out some pleasant one touch play to move up the pitch and Anelka gets fouled within Romanian territory. With that Sagnol gets forward with a cross into the Romanian goalkeepers hands.
7mins. France are playing some safe keep-away at the moment. Romania manage to get the ball and promptly pull an "England" and hoof it all the way forward into Coupet's hands.
9mins. OOOOhhhhhhh, Anelka beats his man on the right side and tries to one time a shot into the Romanian net. He didn't really get ahold of the ball and he strikes wide.
12mins. OOOOhhhhhhh, Mutu tries to get a strike but mis-fires and the ball rolls wide of the French net. It really wasn't a "Oooohhh" moment but since I c/p from the previous post. I figured I'd leave it.
14mins. Anelka is playing as a lone striker today. I don't understand that? Although, France does have a good attacking midfield. OOOOhhhhhhh, Romania play another long ball forward and it bounces right to Nicolae who one times his shot wide of the target.
17mins. OOOOhhhhhhh, Malouda makes his way through the Romanian defence from a fine through ball and the goalkeeper, who made the good decision to come out, knocks the ball away with his legs while trying to make himself 'big'. Good decision and good save.
22mins. Not too much happening at the moment on either side. One thing I do notice is that Ribery is nowhere to be seen.
22mins. OOOOhhhhhhh, just as I say that, Ribery skins his defender and crosses into the Romanian box and wins a corner.
25mins. Adrian Mutu tries to make his way down the left wing, but Toulalan says "NON". Then Anelka beats his man down the left side and crosses into the center where Goian clears.
27mins. Yellow Card to Nicolae for an intentional handball.
29mins. Benzema darts through the middle and wins a free kick in the danger zone. Malouda takes it and blasts it directly into the Romanian wall. Wasted chance.
31mins. Good build up from France only for Sagnol to kick it long and to nobody. Well maybe Peter Crouch if he was trying to push off of, well, Peter Crouch?
33mins. OOOOhhhhhhh, Ribery crosses from the left side to Anelka who just misses with his head. He usually doesn't miss those...I tell you what. Then again most people wouldn't miss that chance.
36mins. Ribery is 100% more effective since he's moved to the left side of the pitch. He's owning that part of the park. Making all the plays from there. OOOOhhhhhhh, Nicolas Anelka beats Rat on the right side and fires into the side netting. That would have been a hot one to handle if he made the keeper work for it. He should have crossed that ball.
40mins. Yellow Card to Contra for kicking the ball away so France couldn't take a quick throw. Sucka!
42mins. OOOOhhhhhhh, a quick one-two with Benzema flicking it into the Romanian goalkeepers hands. Good play but no finish.
43mins. Yellow Card to Goian for hip checking Franck Ribery. Manuel Mejuto Gonzalez is taking no rubbish from anybody. He's got the match under control.
45mins. There goes the half-time whistle.

It's been a good half all in all. Lot's of attacking play from France, but they are lacking numbers up top. Domenech did make a good switch when he moved Ribery to the left but I still think they need another striker for Anelka to link up with.
Romania are playing a long ball game and trying catch France upfield and out of position. If Romania nick a goal they could then sit back and make France really work for a goal. Romanian gaffer, Victor Piturca will be worried for the second half as three of his players are on yellow cards. Romania will be very lucky to finish the match with 11 men on the pitch the way they are playing.

45mins. Here we go. Second half is underway. Let's hope for some more attacking play with results.
46mins. No changes to either side during the half.
47mins. OOOOhhhhhhh, Mutu puts a free kick right into the danger zone but a bit too far for his striker to make anything of it.
48mins. OOOOhhhhhhh, Florent Malouda does the business himself. He takes the ball down the left side, inside and out to his marker then takes a shot just a bit high. That was a chance!
50mins. Yellow Card to Sagnol. Chivu to Mutu and Sagnol took Mutu out from behind. Free kick in a dangerous ares.
55mins. France on the back foot at the moment. Romania turned it up a notch.
57mins. OOOOhhhhhhh, Karim Benzema was all alone in front of goal when he gets a rush of blood to his head and sends the ball directly at the keeper. Sheeesh! Talk about a wasted opportunity! France should be up 2-0 by now. Thierry Henry would have had that chance for breakfast!
61mins. France are on the attack but nothing coming from their crosses. Romania are gobbling them up quite easily and getting rid of the danger.
64mins. Cocis out Codrea in for Romania.
64mins. OOOOhhhhhhh, Anelka heads down to Benzema who turns his marker and mis-fires yet again at point blank range.
68mins. A bit of shared play at the moment. Back and forth with nothing much coming out of any chances. Samir Nasri is warming up on the sidlines. That would be a good addition to the French midfield. They need some more creative attack to carve out some more chances.
71mins. Young St. Etienne stiker Gomis is coming on the pitch for Nicolas Anelka. He should have taken Karim Benzema out if you ask me. But you aren't so I should keep my comments to the play at hand.
75mins. OOOOhhhhhhh, left back, Eric Abidal licks his lips and goes for the glory shot only for it to slowly curl wide of the Romanian net. He got the sweet spot with that shot.
77mins. Hey look at that, what did I say, Samir Nasri has just come on for the poor Karim Benzema. Today wasn't his day. Let's see what the young Olympique Marseilles playmaker can do for les Bleus?
79mins. OOOOhhhhhhh, Romanian striker Nicolae springs the French defensive line only to be called offside. Wrong call after looking at the replay.
80mins. Rat squanders a half chance off a Romanian corner kick.
83mins. Gomis shows his age and tries to take on 3 Romanians when he had about 2 other options. Heads up boy, heads up!
85mins. Some good play from France, starting with Nasri in the center of the park only to end with a French corner. Nothing becomes of the corner.
87mins. France are poking and prodding at the Romanian defence but no clear chance to fire one home. Seems to be one of those days for France.
89mins. France have Romania stretched at the back as Nasri crosses only for Goian to clear again. Goian has had a very good match. Actually the Romanian defence has been all around very solid.
90mins. 3 Extra minutes
90mins.+ Romania with some solid play and gain ground on France. They win a free kick deep within the French half. Can they grab a late winner?
90mins.+ Nope.
90mins.+ The Spaniard blows his whistle for the end of the match. Well, both sides share the points.

France, with a very lackluster performance today. Domenech is going to have to sort his strategy out if he wants to go far in this tourney. Romania did quite well and earned their point. I don't think anybody expected them to get this result against a side like France.

A New Level

Michael Ballack is at the center of a row concerning a picture in a Polish daily depicting him as the headless horseman. Now THAT'S not very nice!

The Scoop

It looks like Chelsea are the front-runners for Samuel Eto'o services next season.

Gilberto Silva launders his visa!

Real Madrid are not only tapping up Cristiano Ronaldo but they are showing interest in Porto winger, Ricardo Quaresma (who have now been kicked out of next season's Champions League)

Xabi Alonso has agreed to personal terms with Juventus. Putting him one step closer to leaving Liverpool FC.

Manchester City are closing in on Ronaldinho (Stay tuned for more on this transfer.)

I Can Hear the Manchester United Coffers Now

Real Madrid are upping the ante in the Cristiano Ronaldo 'tapping up' process by raising his salary to a whopping £300,000-a-week salary after tax.

"The deal is a once-in-a-lifetime offer that any player would find virtually impossible to turn down. Real have also made it clear that the huge offer would not be on the table in a year's time. It is now or never if Ronaldo wants to move to Madrid."

UPDATE: The offer is going to his head now. It seems he wants to go there.

Spain 1 – 0 USA

Xavi walked through the American defense comically and slotted past a lonely Brad Guzan for the only goal in this International Friendly match.

Naughty Naughty

Porto have been kicked out of next years UEFA Champions League after allegedly bribing referees four years ago, when Jose Mourinho was their coach.

The club say they intend to appeal to the UEFA appeals body. Disciplinary action was taken last month against Porto by Portuguese soccer authorities over the case.

They were docked six points and fined 150,000 euros (£120,000) after a lengthy investigation that became known as 'Golden Whistle'.

The Scoop

Since Manchester City seems to be taking up all the print these days...Why stop now! Joao Alves de Assis Silva has put pen to paper and will now wear the powder blue of Manchester City.

Gareth Barry seems to be one step closer to wearing the legendary red kit of Liverpool FC after Peter Crouch has been thrown in to the mix along with £8M.

AC Milano have opened talks with Chelsea over the futures of Didier Drogba and Metrosexual™

Arsenal defender and my choice for "Find of the Season", Bacary Sagna, has signed a long-term contract with the club.

EXLUSIVE

No not Football Roundtable, but The Daily Mail's SPORTSMAIL has an EXLUSIVE with Dr. Thaksin Shinawatra and his vision of his new plaything, Manchester City.

The "Nuova" One

The FootballRoundtable favorite, Jose Mourinho has now signed on to manage Internazionale Milano and he wants some old friends to join him in the Italian fashion capital. I wonder if he'll have the Inter Tailor outfit him with a nice light grey suit?

Ouch!

Fabio Cannavaro has been ruled out of the Euro 2008 tournament after tearing ligaments in his ankle during a training session.

The Scoop

City have landed Mark Hughes from Blackburn for £4.6M! Down goes Blackburn.

Cristiano Ronaldo feels the best way to repay Manchester United is by throwing them under the bus...apparently. For some reason he sees his future in a sub-par league. So be it. I'm sure Manchester would be glad to cash that check.
UPDATE: Portugal tell the lurking press to F-Off with their questions about Ronaldo's future.

Word on the street is that Rafa is to up his bid for Aston Villa skipper Gareth Barry to £15m. I have no comment about this at this time, as I'm not too sure in my own mind, what to think of it.

Carlo Ancelotti tells Roman Niet!

Meanwhile, across the Mediterranean, much sought after Spanish yValencia striker extraordiare, David Villa is up on the auction block at a cut rate £17M price tag.

Gianluca Zambrotta has left Barcelona for AC Milan for an undisclosed fee.