By Myles Palmer
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GREECE play Czech Republic in Thursday’s semi-final.
Portugal play Holland on Wednesday.
Two of the four coaches are foreign.
Portugal needed to be less Portuguese-and Big Phil has given them that.
Greece needed to be less Greek, so they hired Otto Rehhagel, who used to coach Rudi Voller at Werder Bremen before Wayne Rooney was born.
BIG PHIL SCOLARI is a man’s man who thinks deeply, talks passionately, and trusts his judgment on big calls.
He never hesitates to makes big decisions
Sven, so cerebral and detached, can never feel a game or read a game or sense a moment – he is not spontaneous enough, so he can’t roll and flow with a game
To Phil, a game is a live opera in which the story is inventing itself, not following any script.
Sven can only write a script and hope it works. He can’t rewrite an opera during the performance.
Phil can change a game, Sven can’t.
That’s why Sven must go.
We needed Defoe, Wright-Phillips and a holding midfield player.
BIG PHIL HAS stirred a nation, made them dare to dream, made them cast aside their inferiority complex.
Vasco da Gama went out in a small ship to find the world in 1497.
Big Phil Scolari arrived in a big jet in 2002 to give them the world – and he can do that in two more games.
If Portugal get to the final, Scolari will win it because he can re-write operas during the show.
A Portugal -Czech final would be compelling entertainment.
If only Portugal had Baros they would sweep all before them. Baros would fit in perfectly with Figo, Ronaldo, Deco.
FRANCE WENT PHUT because Santini is smaller than the players.
Aime Jacquet made the players big in 1998, and Roger Lemerre made them bigger in 2000.
But Santini did in 2004 what did Lemerre did in 2002 : stuck with old guard.
I heard that in 2002 Desailly was in a casino at 4 am and was accosted by French fans who bawled him out.
I heard that Trezeguet was specifically told NOT to book any of his Argentinian mates into the team’s hotel, but he booked ten of them in anyway.
If those stories are true, and they come from an impeccable source, neither player should have been near the 2004 squad, let alone in the team.
LES BLEUS had become a monster in love with itself.
As Thuram said, “In ’98 we still thought we could lose.”
As I said before a ball was kicked, Zidane-Vieira was a juggernaut, the axis of the tournament.
Vieira is a big part of what makes Zidane great in that team.
With Vieira out injured, Greece was going to be tough.
Dacourt is average, Trezeguet is a wimp, Gallas had a mare at right back, Pires was not used in the right way, the fiery Lizerazu was beaten once and the cross perfectly headed in by Charisteas, who showed Henry how he should have done it.
Thierry did some good things, had a smart volley which hit the centreback’s bum and should have been a corner.
But the team was not set up for him.
Barthez was excellent in all four games.
But even Zidane seemed to give up in the closing stages as France went out with a whimper to the Greeks.
France can only come back when they have a manager bigger than the players : Tigana, Deschamps or Blanc.
Wonderful to see Platini, henchman of the appalling Blatter, looking so glum.
HOLLAND have given up playing football, so they drew 0-0 with Sweden and had to win the penalty shoot-out.
Robben did well, but Damian Duff is a better left winger : faster, stronger, more skilful, more versatile.
Dumping the Ajax players, taking Davids off after an hour, Advocaat showed where he was at : feed Ruud !
Edgar Davids can ignite a team, get it playing football, but Holland are now terrible, not playing any football, so they take Davids off because he does not supply Ruud van Nistlerooy.
Seedorf stunk the place out. His touch was awful and he made so many mistakes.
Did Seedorf have an off-night, or was he cheesed off by the worst football Holland have ever played?
Why are Holland so bad?
Because they don’t trust their defence, in which the full backs are very poor.
TONIGHT I STARTED WATCHING Czech Republic v Denmark and realised I had not had a bet on any of the quarter-finals.
They were all too close to call.
I fancied England,France and Sweden, but they all lost, two of them in penaltiy shoot-outs and the other by one goal.
That is what I call three close games.
After watching for 20 minutes I had a live bet on the Czechs and after that the Czechs played badly and could have conceded.
But the Czechs have two qualities no other teams have.
1. Vivacious support runs from attacking midfielders who can all beat a man.
2. An ability to switch to turbo, to go up a gear, in the last 20 minutes.
Also, they were so poor in the first half that they had to improve.
Koller headed in Poborky’s corner in 49.
After 60, Gronkjaer cheated, twisting in midair, even though Nedved never touched him.
Bad karma to do that.
After 63, Poborsky played a lovely pass down the right and Baros lifted it sweetly, neatly, decisively over the advancing Sorensen for 2-0.
After 65, a clever, early pass by Nedved, terrific turn of pace by Baros, perfect right foot touch placing the ball into his explosive run, and a flashing shot past Sorensen , who moved too early.
3-0, game over.
Bruckner’s Czechs do not score one goal and then defend with eight men.
They score and then attack with five and score another and, while you are reeling, a third.
Their first goal was from a set-piece, the second and third from open play
FULL DISCLOSURE : I made four negative predictions to friends on the day before the France-England game.
I said that Italy would not do it in this tournament, Holland would not do it, Michael Owen would not do it, and Thierry would not do it.
So I got three out of four right.
And if Portugal beat Holland, I’ll claim four out of four.
27th June 2004.