Stolen by the Ref

[CornwallRover]

How can you take a penalty like that in a sudden death shootout? Crikey.

[Flopsy]

we're out

[tcj_jones]

Ricardo didn't have any gloves on when he saved that?...

[Flopsy]

well played england, well played portugal

especially Ricardo

please dont riot

COME ON SWEDEN

[Grabbi Graeme]

I hope the Portugese F.A send the ref a nice Christmas present this year.

[tcj_jones]

You gotta feel bad for Vassell. He gives his all every time he puts on that shirt and he had to take a penalty on that crap piece of mud they called a penalty spot. I wont take anyone blaming this on Vassell.

[Oklahoma]

Great game.

Wish it was the final!!!

and yes, ricardo wasn't wearing any gloves.

[tcj_jones]

Great game.

Wish it was the final!!!

and yes, ricardo wasn't wearing any gloves.

Why was that Okla?

[Flopsy]

He was taking the winning penalty

[Oklahoma]

Great game.

Wish it was the final!!!

and yes, ricardo wasn't wearing any gloves.

Why was that Okla?

don't know.

Maybe superstition.

[Grabbi Graeme]

I dont think anyone can blame a player for missing a penalty, it takes some bottle to go up and take it especially on sudden death.

The spot was terrible in a ground that was holding a Euro championship quarter final

[tcj_jones]

Flopsy - but he saved Vassells penalty with no gloves on as well, before he took the winner

Edited June 24, 2004 by tcj_jones

[Morph]

Bugger. French connection united kingdom-ing bugger.

England to go out on pens

Any thoughts on this weeks lottery numbers MC?

[Kandevil]

John Terry where were you for a header for the Portugal goal.

Referee what game were you watching for the goal that you wrongly disallowed.

Vasell where were your balls to take a penalty in the first 5? Your a striker? Well I wasn't surprised that you missed your penalty.

Enough excuses and questions. Horribly disappointed.

[American]

HMMMMM, should I start quoting all who predicted England to win and ask them about eating crow???

[Morph]

HMMMMM, should I start quoting all who predicted England to win and ask them about eating crow???

Not if you value your good reputation on the board American, at least not yet. Some of us may still be a little sore...

[Lathund]

HMMMMM, should I start quoting all who predicted England to win and ask them about eating crow???

Maybe you should A couple of them did the same towards those who predicted they'd get knocked out in the group stages.

Entertaining game, quite even too. Had Rooney not been forced to go off it might have ended differently. But I think that overall, Portugal deserved it.

However I'd have prefered England to go through, since I think we'd have a much better chance vs them in an eventual semi final.

[Grabbi Graeme]

We looked good, scored a early goal then we lost Rooney, people say were not a one man team, but after we lost Rooney we seemed lost,

We defended very deep in second half conceded the goal, we have to feel we were cheated/robbed over the disallowed goal, we came back well to bring it to 2-2 and as we have experienced before going to penalties we just cant seemed to do it.

Come on The Czech Republic

[Manchester Blue]

RDrake,  WTF ?? explain yourself.

Don't like the team.

Don't like the country.

So why support them?

Because I was born here?

I want revenge for being born in the first place..

No.

Edited June 24, 2004 by CornwallRover

[Exiled_Rover]

Does anyone have the address to FIFA's headquarters? What a blatant fix - we weren't watching football we were watching ballet. Now even if you can look past that poor refereeing throughout the match you surely can't warrant an unsighted referee overturning the decision of the linesman for the last minute goal, can you

We weren't at our best, but deserved the win. No blame Darius, that took bottle

[The Blunderer]

Conspiracy theory time....

Which team won the toss and said you take the first one down that end?

Which keeper was stood over the penalty spot, arguing with the ref. till the last possible moment?

Which English player would have been expected to take the first penalty having fallen over taking one in a previous tournement, and who may fall foul of an interfered with penalty spot?

Why did the penalty spot become quick sand?

and..

Was it me or did a cunningly disguised JCB digger appear in the box for a couple of minutes, before the penalty shoot out?

The public, and the voices in my head have the right to know..

[Tango]

Guess Meier must have been bitter 'cos we beat the Swiss 3-0, because that is the worst display by a referee I have seen for many a year.

He wasn't the only factor behind our defeat but he's the easiest target.

In truth our performance didn't merit a win, losing Rooney was a massive psychological blow and we just retreated into our own half for the next 70-odd minutes. Beckham was, in a word, terrible. How much longer can we carry a player who is only useful for set-pieces? (I'm sure I'll review this statement tomorrow when I've calmed down, but right now it feels good writing it)

[through gritted teeth] I hope Portugal win it now.

Gutted. Absolutely Gutted.

[Manchester Blue]

HMMMMM, should I start quoting all who predicted England to win and ask them about eating crow???

Maybe you should A couple of them did the same towards those who predicted they'd get knocked out in the group stages.

Entertaining game, quite even too. Had Rooney not been forced to go off it might have ended differently. But I think that overall, Portugal deserved it.

However I'd have prefered England to go through, since I think we'd have a much better chance vs them in an eventual semi final.

As you must well know you've got little chance of getting there.

[sumps]

We were robbed by the most blatantly biased refereeing decisions in the tournament. Looked like he'd been looking at videos of how to referee when playing at Old Trafford!

[78]

We looked good, scored a early goal then we lost Rooney, people say were not a one man team, but after we lost Rooney we seemed lost,

We defended very deep in second half conceded the goal, we have to feel we were cheated/robbed over the disallowed goal, we came back well to bring it to 2-2 and as we have experienced before going to penalties we just cant seemed to do it.

Come on The Czech Republic

Even if Rooney was in the team, it would have been the same. It was the same against France. In my opinion what this match showed was-in how poor condition the English players were in. The Portuguese ran and ran and ran while the English players stood in their position trying to recover from the last attack.

I remember how our players reacted when Hodgson brought in that Italian fitness coach and we trained twice a day. All the training the players do throughout the year- it's in situations like this that it shows and I felt the English players looked tired far quicker than you would expect from a strong squad.