Wednesday International Friendlies and Euro 2004

[Guest qlpol]

Euro 2004 ----------- Andorra - Estonia 30/04/2003 17:00 Georgia - Russia 30/04/2003 17:00 Latvia - San Marino 30/04/2003 18:00 Malta - Slovenia 30/04/2003 20:30 Israel - Cyprus (Neutral Ground) 30/04/2003 20:30 Friendlies ------------ Finland - Iceland 30/04/2003 16:00 Sweden - Croatia 30/04/2003 16:00 Bulgaria - Albania 30/04/2003 17:00 Lithuania - Romania 30/04/2003 17:00 Slovakia - Greece 30/04/2003 18:00 Denmark - Ukraine 30/04/2003 19:15 Czech Republic - Turkey 30/04/2003 20:05 Hungary - Luxembourg 30/04/2003 20:15 Belgium - Poland 30/04/2003 20:30 Ireland - Norway 30/04/2003 20:30 Holland - Portugal 30/04/2003 20:30 Germany - Serbia & Montenegro 30/04/2003 20:40 France - Egypt 30/04/2003 20:45 Switzerland - Italy 30/04/2003 20:45 Scotland - Austria 30/04/2003 21:00 Spain - Ecuador 30/04/2003 21:30 Mexico - Brazil 01/05/2003 03:00 Since I'm from Belgium, i'm not unbiased but i'll do my best to see this game in an objective way. Belgium plays at home against Poland wednesdaynight, and i can't see nothing else than a home victory here. Since our ashaming defeat in Croatia last month, public and press all want a win from the young belgian team to prove they are still a good team. This is not a try-out friendly for Belgium, our basic squad will play. Squad will probably look like this : goalkeeper : De vlieger (Willem 2) Defenders : Deschacht( first call-up, Anderlecht- youngster, lots of class) Valgaeren(Celtic) or Vanbuyten(Marseille) Simons ( Club Brugge) Van der Heyden( Club brugge) Midfielders :Goor ( Hertha Berlin, out of form) Mudingayi( first call up, 21 years old from Gent) Basseggio ( Anderlecht,on fire in the league) Englebert or Mbo Mpenza(Brugge-Mouscron) Attack : Sonck (Genk, desperatly to prove himself) Buffel ( Feyenoord, in form striker) Both Buffel and Sonck are wanted by some big names(Juventus, Ac, Inter, Valencia, Betis, Bayern) in Europe according to the press and are aiming for a top-transfer next season. Questions are how the new players Deschacht and Mudingayi will perform. However, I can honestly say that Belgium has some more class than a handicapped Poland, without Olisadebe and a lot of other first team players that refused to play this game. (read it on another board) To me it seems the perfect game to get the team back on the rails, i will be shouting them to a win in Brussels tomorrow :evil With a decent price being quoted by most bookies(around 1.75) I'll put some big money on it also :) Other matches that pop into mind, just a quick overview Georgia - Russia 2 (1.75) nice price because it is a tensed game between Russia and a former Russian state. Russia wil probably taking this match seriously and have absolutely more class... Some nice value on home wins also : Finland - Iceland 1 (1.55) Denmark - Ukraine 1 (1.66) Czech Republic - Turkey (1.77) Germany - Serbia and M (1.48) Comments welcome :)

[Guest Da Hannanah]

.. I've got a comment for you - don't pick Denmark!!! Dunno bout our lineup yet, but I simply do no see us winning this game. We've got a few rookies set up for their debuts here, and I am not convinced this will be treated as a mut win game...

[Guest Dimich Kyiv]

Re: .. The way Ukraine played last friendly against Latvia, we will definitely concede a couple goals. Bet on over 2.5 since Shevchenko and Voronin should score at least once between the two of them.

[Guest mattsthebest]

Re: .. Yes Over 2.5 looks good here when considering the attacking capabilities of both sides. With Rommedahl and Gronkjaer rampaging down the wings, plenty of chances should be created. Provided Shevchenko plays, you would expect him to put one away, but you never know, as Ukraine played out a boring 0-0 draw in a friendly with Turkey just recently.

[Guest deancreus]

Re: .. IMO possible OVER matches are France-Egypt 1.59 Holland-Portugal 2.04 Ireland - Norway I am unsure about but 2.25 has some appeal. In terms of victories thanks for the tip on Belgium. As for any others I fancy Sweden, Holland and Germany but need to find out team news- anybody know wheres best to look? Thanks

[Guest crowie1969]

Re: .. I usually have a look here for international team news. It points to Euro 2004 but gives team news on the friendly games as well www.euro2004.com/competit...index.html

[Guest raven]

Sweden. Definitely no Larsson or Mjallby for Sweden.

[Guest Dimich Kyiv]

Re: Sweden. Ireland - Norway Shay Given will win his 50th cap on Wednesday. A clean sheet perhaps? Remember Ireland's last friendly was 0-0 (with Greece... right?) and so was their last qualifier away to Albania. France - Egypt France routinely ruins opposition with 4-5 goal difference. Provided Henry & Co. all play, I can't see past a huge home victory - their last home game was 0-2 to Chezh Rep. I believe... Who else to take it out on if not their own ex-colony? Taking France to win by 3+ goas @ 2.8

[Guest deancreus]

Re: Sweden. 2.8 :eek wheres that available mate? Best I can get is 1.6

[Guest crowie1969]

Re: Sweden. dean, I think your talking about 2 different bets. Your over/under, the other lad is France to win by over a certain amount of goals (3+).

[Guest deancreus]

Re: Sweden. lol, thanks for that crowie- I think too much revision is blurring my vision :) Thought there must be something up at those prices! I guess ill stick to my >2.5 as it looks pretty good to me.

[Guest kojic2003]

Re: Wednesday International Friendlies and Euro 2004 Only one pick from Int. Friendlies: Sweden - Croatia X@3.25......Stake 5/10 Sweden will be without some key players,and Croatia usualy play on draw these medium matches,especialy when they play friendlies.Also this game looks like UNDER.But it's not worth to make any previews for Friendlies.Many teams will not take them too seriously,because they have other problems in clubs.I will put some money on this pick just for fun. Anyone thinking that Italy can win tonight?I know they will play with second team,but I believe this team will be much more motivated.Also these players aren't bad!

[cluelessG]

Re: Georgia - Russia Many Russian punters are worried about their striking power and say Russia will not score more than 2 goals. The match will be very tense indeed, there are hints that a draw will be the only politically correct score that will keep Russians in the competition and at the same time will prevent turmoil in Georgia (there will be many ugly scenes if Georgia loses today). No bet for me. If I have to bet, with 1.75 for away win, I think I'll go for the draw. If you'd like to bet on away win, you can bet on 0:1, 1:2 (and maybe 0:2) to increase the odds a bit.

[cluelessG]

Re: Israel - Cyprus I think Israel will win this one, one thing that worries me is where will the game be played? ISRAEL Vs CYPRUS EURO-2004 Qualifying Rounds 30-April-2003 FIFA Ranking : Israel # 583 FIFA Ranking : Cyprus # 468 Betting Odds Isreal home win - around 1.45 Israel recent matches World Cup Israel 2 - 0 Liechtenstein 03-09-2000 World Cup Spain 2 - 0 Israel 07-10-2000 World Cup Israel 3 - 1 Bosnia-Hz. 11-10-2000 World Cup Austria 2 - 1 Israel 28-03-2001 World Cup Liechtenstein 0 - 3 Israel 02-06-2001 World Cup Israel 1 - 1 Spain 06-06-2001 International Lithuania 2 - 3 Israel 15-08-2001 World Cup Bosnia-Hz. 0 - 0 Israel 01-09-2001 World Cup Israel 1 - 1 Austria 27-10-2001 International Germany 7 - 1 Israel 13-02-2002 International Denmark 3 - 1 Israel 17-04-2002 International Lithuania 2 - 4 Israel 21-08-2002 International Luxembourg 0 - 5 Israel 05-09-2002 European Championships Malta 0 - 2 Israel 12-10-2002 International Macedonia 2 - 3 Israel 20-11-2002 International Israel 2 - 0 Armenia 12-02-2003 International Israel 0 - 0 Moldova 05-03-2003 European Championships Cyprus 1 - 1 Israel 29-03-2003 European Championships Israel 1 - 2 France 02-04-2003 Upcoming European Championships Israel vs Cyprus 30-04-2003 European Championships Israel vs Slovenia 07-06-2003 Cyprus recent matches World Cup Holland 4 - 0 Cyprus 25-04-2001 World Cup Portugal 6 - 0 Cyprus 06-06-2001 World Cup Estonia 2 - 2 Cyprus 15-08-2001 World Cup Cyprus 1 - 3 Portugal 05-09-2001 World Cup Ireland 4 - 0 Cyprus 06-10-2001 International Greece 1 - 2 Cyprus 14-11-2001 International Cyprus 1 - 1 Switzerland 12-02-2002 International Cyprus 3 - 4 Czech Republic 13-02-2002 International Greece 3 - 1 Cyprus 15-05-2002 International Northern Ireland 0 - 0 Cyprus 21-08-2002 European Championships Cyprus 1 - 2 France 07-09-2002 European Championships Cyprus 2 - 1 Malta 20-11-2002 International Cyprus 1 - 2 Greece 29-01-2003 International Cyprus 0 - 1 Russia 12-02-2003 International Cyprus 1 - 3 Slovakia 13-02-2003 European Championships Cyprus 1 - 1 Israel 29-03-2003 European Championships Slovenia 4 - 1 Cyprus 02-04-2003 Upcoming European Championships Israel vs Cyprus 30-04-2003 European Championships Malta vs Cyprus 07-06-2003 All time results Israel wins - 6 draws - 3 Cyprus wins - 2 Head to head 2002/2003 European Championships Cyprus 1-1 Israel 29-03-2003 1999/2000 European Championships Cyprus 3-2 Israel 05-09-1999 European Championships Israel 3-0 Cyprus 28-03-1999 1997/1998 World Cup Israel 2-0 Cyprus 30-04-1997 World Cup Cyprus 2-0 Israel 10-11-1996 1994/1995 International Israel 4-3 Cyprus 29-11-1994 1993/1994 International Cyprus 2-2 Israel 05-10-1993 1991/1992 International Israel 2-1 Cyprus 03-03-1992 1961/1962 World Cup Israel 6-1 Cyprus 27-11-1960 World Cup Cyprus 1-1 Israel 13-11-1960 1946/1947 International Israel 3-1 Cyprus 30-07-1947 Qualifying Group 1 Table 1. France ..........5...5...0...0...19 - 2...15 2. Slovenia.........3...2...0...1....7 - 6.....6 3. Israel..............3...1...1...1....4 - 3.....4 4. Cyprus............4...1...1....2...5 - 8.....4 5. Malta...............5...0...0...5....1 -17... 0 ------------------------------------------- Results of the Games Played : - Sep 7, 2002.......Cyprus - France....1 - 2 Oct 12, 2002.....Malta - Israel.........0 - 2 Nov 20, 2002.....Cyprus - Malta ......2 - 1 Mar 29, 2003.....Cyprus - Israel.......1 - 1 Apr 2, 2003.....Slovenia - Cyprus....4 - 1 Apr 2, 2003 .....Israel - France ........1 - 2

[Guest deancreus]

Re: Israel - Cyprus Game is in Palermo, Italy

[cluelessG]

Re: Israel - Cyprus That lowers Israel's chances a bit but I still think that they will win by a single goal. However the odds doesn't look that attractive now :rolleyes While I'm on the low odds subject, let me mention that I don't like the odds for Bulgaria win today. The atmosphere before the match suggests a really friendly game with no particular obligations on either side to win. Both coaches will try fringe players and new tactical schemes. Albania proved to be a decent side against Russia and Ireland so they won't go down that easily. The match could easily go either way and the draw looks good with prices around 4. Some Albanian players have predicted 1:1 so I suspect that's what they are playing for today.

[Guest system13]

Re: Sweden - Croatia I don`t know about other countries,maybe its about the same,but here in Croatia you have a interesting point of view concerning international friendly matches. After a lost or even draw at home,fans are of course unsatisfied regardless the opponent but coaches tend to say:"oh,well,it was only a friendly,we learned something new,never mind,it wasn`t important,blabla..." BUT after a win or draw away,same coaches now play another record:"oh,sure,it was a friendly but we played great,mind you that we beat(draw) xyz representation that has such stars like x, y, and z in their team,this is a great success,blabla..." Now,the general opinion here is that Croatia takes very seriously these friendly matches especially when playing against reputable countries with lots of stars which Sweden indeed is and they tend to give the best shoot they have. If I add to this that some Sweden top players are not in for this match,DRAW seems to me like a perfect scenario for both sides,maybe even X2. Note that I`m not biased at all because I only study here and for myself I`ll be shouting today for Albania not to lose against Bulgaria,not betting on it though... Cheers

[Snowman]

General comment I read quite a few previews for todays matches, and generally it seems that all the teams will play some "B" line up without important players. That gives us a situation where the "traditional" differences in class between the teams still hold. Another point is that those reserves that will play do have the motivation needed, in order to prove their quality and maybe earn a place in the strongest line-up. The bottomline is that with some more draws than usual, I expect the results to be more or less as expected. My personal choice is Belgium to beat Poland, mostly due to what was written in this thread, and I will maybe add something like France (explained already) or Slovenia to beat Malta. FormerYugoslavia teams usually win easily those matches, due to the highly technical and slow type of football that they play, that makes zonal defence of those weak teams inefficient against multiple dribblings (:o sounds like science). I am also considering Estonia away to Andorra. The Estonians are used to not very well prepared pitch (cos their own is of that quality;) ), so they will easily find their way over the hillocks of Andorran stadium :p

[cluelessG]

Re: General comment Agree about Estonia - not only are they used to playing on a "not very well prepared pitch" but I believe they are a class above their opposition in terms of tactics. Estonia has a solid defence and they will not allow Andorra any space. Nor will they run away from hard challenges for the ball. That's why I think that Andorra will hardly score a goal here. Meanwhile Estonia may just pop in a goal or two on counter-attack.

[swampster]

Re: General comment correct scores: Latvia v San Marino 1-0, 2-0, 3-0 Andorra v Estonia 0-1, 0-2, 0-3 Malta v Slovenia 0-1, 0-2, 0-3 27 doubles, 27 trebles.

[Guest Irish TW]

Re: Fair play Georgia for opening up Ireland's group further. I thought they hadnt a shout without all their knife throwing fans/lunatics but no they beat the Russians 1-0. Read about it here

[Footie Addict]

Re: Fair play Georgia :rollin Whoever gets through this group will get drubbed when they go to Portugal - every team in Ireland's group are brutal - still we could be going to Portugal with Estonia and Albania proving to be the graveyards of the other teams, and weve played away to both of them..... Trust me lump on Ireland to massacare Russia at home - I will be. C'MON IRELAND!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

[Guest davidcampbell]

nice one swampster so far... on your correct scores...2 up with slovenian winning 1-0 well done

[Guest crowie1969]

Re: nice one swampster so far... Well, thats the Scotland game switched off. Pish :(

[Guest deancreus]

Re: nice one swampster so far... Dont believe it Someone on another forum convinced me Egypt would defend so OVER wasnt so likely and I listened! 3-0 half time :rolleyes

[Guest toshibakid]

Re: nice one swampster so far... The Iraqi Information Minister also told us they would sit back and defend and would not be defeated heavily,but did you ever think it was gonna work deancrus ;) :lol !!

[Guest davidcampbell]

Re: Fair play Georgia -------------------------- correct scores: Latvia v San Marino 1-0, 2-0, 3-0 Andorra v Estonia 0-1, 0-2, 0-3 Malta v Slovenia 0-1, 0-2, 0-3 27 doubles, 27 trebles. ------------------------- 90th minute goal from malta :rolleyes unlucky mate - that was brutal

[Guest boro boy]

Re: italians ?? its a late posting i know but i was unable to get to a machine earlier today looking back at everyones selections did nobody fancy the italians playing in switzerland @2.50 - theres not even a mention of them in any thread. i think that strange to be priced that big against a lowly team - any ideas why? I apologise in advance and im not into after-eventing, but im so thrilled i beat the b"£$%^d bookies on this one - the mac iz back - all i can say is thank u very much my italian friends u just made my season !!!! :hat cheers ian mc kojic2003 - sorry mate only picked out ur bold type game never picked up the italian line - anyway hope u were on too

[Guest crowie1969]

Re: italians ?? I assume you won on them but you didn't go into much details about any bets, more a sort of discussing the game so its not strictly after eventing therefore!:) But getting close to it;) To answer your question - I actually had a fancy for Switzerland because I had read that the Italians were missing a few players. I also think Switzerland haven't been that bad of late and I wasn't overly surprised when I had seen them go 1-0 up. Still Italy came through in the end. Mind you with all the uncertainties over players etc its another good reason, IMO, to never touch Intl friendlies. Cheers.

[Guest Dimich Kyiv]

Results Denmark - Ukraine *over 2.5* - rain, wet pitch, terrible game to watch (unless you are Danish) and to bet OVER on.. :\ Ireland *clean sheet* - nice! France (-2.5) - very nice, they beat the handicap in the first 45 minutes! Three picks, 1.95 no good and 2.5 plus 2.8 came in :D Would be a jackpot if I bothered to check the weather conditions in Denmark.