Friday, July 02, 2004
The One With The Semi (part 2)
It was a hot night.. electricity was just being restored.. Astro still down, may be due the power-lost.. I had to watch the game via normal VHF-only-not-so-clear-although-on-32th-floor centralized antenna.. (luckily on TV3)
Czech Republic walked into the pitch as the Favourite while Greece, never won a single match in major tournament before Euro 2004 clearly was the Underdog, although they already defeated France and Portugal on their way to the Semi. Fairly, it was a well-balanced game. though in first few minutes of first half, it was all Czechs'.. they almost went ahead when Rosický's powerful strike just hit the crossbar.. Jankulovski had 2 shots on goal but keeper Nikopolidis managed to keep those out.. Czechs were unfortunate when their playmaker cum skipper had to be replaced by Smicer due to injury, before half-time.. Greece also got few opportunity through Vryzas and Karagounis..
Biggest upset for the Favourite when world best referee Pierluigi Collina,whom officiating his international match for the last time before retiring, failed to respond on Czechs' penalty shout when Koller appeared to be pulled down by a Greek defender. A cheecky 1-2 combination between Koller and Rosický should have end the game in full time. Only the former fired it wide. Tournament top scorer Baroš' solo effort to beat 3 defenders also ended the same. The stalemate forced the game into Silver goal extra-time.
Czechs looked all weary and their opponent took the advantage to hold most of ball possession in the first half of extra time. Greece nearly went ahead (2 times actually) through sub Giannakopoulos, but Cech blocked it well. Late on the 105th minutes, Greece won a corner, swung to the near post by substitute Tsartas, Dellas headed it in. Time was just enough for Czechs' kick-off. Greece won on a Silver Goal. They gonna meet host nation Portugal on Sunday.
Czech Republic 0
Greece 1 - Dellas (105+1')
Greece won via Silver Goal
(MoM :Dellas)
It was a hot night.. electricity was just being restored.. Astro still down, may be due the power-lost.. I had to watch the game via normal VHF-only-not-so-clear-although-on-32th-floor centralized antenna.. (luckily on TV3)
"Begitulah, dalam pertandingan-pertandingan besar sebegini pastinya ada kejutan-kejutan yang akan dilakukan oleh sesetengah pasukan. Pada malam ini kita telah saksikan bagaimana pasukan yang dianggap underdog berjaya melakukannya.." - mimicking ABAHeh.. That's not what he really said..
Czech Republic walked into the pitch as the Favourite while Greece, never won a single match in major tournament before Euro 2004 clearly was the Underdog, although they already defeated France and Portugal on their way to the Semi. Fairly, it was a well-balanced game. though in first few minutes of first half, it was all Czechs'.. they almost went ahead when Rosický's powerful strike just hit the crossbar.. Jankulovski had 2 shots on goal but keeper Nikopolidis managed to keep those out.. Czechs were unfortunate when their playmaker cum skipper had to be replaced by Smicer due to injury, before half-time.. Greece also got few opportunity through Vryzas and Karagounis..
Biggest upset for the Favourite when world best referee Pierluigi Collina,whom officiating his international match for the last time before retiring, failed to respond on Czechs' penalty shout when Koller appeared to be pulled down by a Greek defender. A cheecky 1-2 combination between Koller and Rosický should have end the game in full time. Only the former fired it wide. Tournament top scorer Baroš' solo effort to beat 3 defenders also ended the same. The stalemate forced the game into Silver goal extra-time.
Czechs looked all weary and their opponent took the advantage to hold most of ball possession in the first half of extra time. Greece nearly went ahead (2 times actually) through sub Giannakopoulos, but Cech blocked it well. Late on the 105th minutes, Greece won a corner, swung to the near post by substitute Tsartas, Dellas headed it in. Time was just enough for Czechs' kick-off. Greece won on a Silver Goal. They gonna meet host nation Portugal on Sunday.
Czech Republic 0
Greece 1 - Dellas (105+1')
Greece won via Silver Goal
(MoM :Dellas)