OT: Euro04

[minipol]

What a game england - france was. It reminded me of the game Man u played against Bayern when they pulled off a come-from-behind-to-win game.
I never expected the french to win. The english kept everything pretty closed and played solidly. Beckham should convert a penalty NO excuses. Everybody misses a penalty from time to time but it didn't look like a good effort to me.
Badly placed.

Anyway, since the Belgians are at home playing cards and pool, i'm looking forward to the Netherlands - Germany game.
A lot of controversy about this game and Van Nistelrooys comment about WWII surely added to the tension. This game could easily end up in a card drawing festival.

Originally posted by minipol:
Beckham should convert a penalty NO excuses. Everybody misses a penalty from time to time but it didn't look like a good effort to me.
Badly placed.

I don't think Beckham's penalty technique is very good. If you look at Sunday's one, or the one he scored against Argentina in the World Cup, they're all power and no placement. Michael Owen is (or was) technically much better.

But since Owen missed five in a row for Liverpool, it seems that there's nobody in the England team apart from Beckham who's prepared to take on the responsibility.

[minipol]

Yeah, taking penalties in important games can be very stressing even for professionals.
The Netherlands are a team that have been "cursed" when it comes to penalties. They still seem to drag that along with them.

Anyway, a long time ago when i still played soccer, i wasn't a good penalty kicker but i could kick a decent free kick. I scored a lot of goals on free kicks.

But back to Beckham: would nobody else have considered taking the penalty?

[Rollo]

I agree, the penalty kick was not a good one. I am even surprised that they let Beckham make the attempt. He missed the Last one against Turkey.
But the more important reason somebody else should have kicked is that Beckham and Barthez played for many years in the same club. Thus they know each other, giving an advantage to the goalie.

[Ruatha]

Originally posted by Rollo:
I agree, the penalty kick was not a good one. I am even surprised that they let Beckham make the attempt. He missed the Last one against Turkey.
But the more important reason somebody else should have kicked is that Beckham and Barthez played for many years in the same club. Thus they know each other, giving an advantage to the goalie.

Why advantage to the goalie, doesn't Beckham know as much about the goalie?
I'd belive it'd give none of them any advantage.

[oleg]

Because it is for striker to score, not for goalie to save. Striker bears more responcibility and expectations. He must strike well and accurate. No mistakes are allowed. But all goalie should do is to guess the direction correctly and hope for the best.

[primitive]

When the striker and the goalie know each other, the smartest one will usually win.

Now Bartez might not be of rocket scientist material, but Beckham

The blame for this miss must go to the Swede (not you Ruatha, the other one). He should have known better