Features news coverage of Portugal and its players, including match reports and general football news.
In recent seasons, we have witnessed (and continue to witness), slowly but surely, the elegant destruction of what we know as the ‘big’ teams. Spain, Italy, France, England, Scotland, Germany, Holland, Russia, Greece, and Turkey have all fallen to the inevitable rise of the ‘middle’ teams. Let’s review the movers and shakers:
Written by GT. 5 comments
Comparisons can be a pain in the backside. My dad says that nobody was ever better than Tom Finney or Puskas, my older brother says George Best and Pele have no equals, I believe Maradona to be the best ever and my son says that Cristiano Ronaldo has more than the lot of them put together.
It has always been this way. We always think that the top players of ‘our generation’ are the best of all time. It is impossible to compare these great players because they are all from a different place and time. Of course George Best wouldn’t be as quick, as fit or strong enough to play in today’s Premiership and Ronaldo would have been even more of a phenomenon than he is now if you transported him back thirty or forty years.
You can only judge them by how good they were amongst their contemporaries. It is no good listening to anecdotal evidence because the fans of each player will only tell you why their particular favourite is the best of all time. The only way to judge this fairly is to look at the facts and figures. So let’s do it:
Written by Graham Fisher. 58 comments
Euro 2008 kicks off on Saturday 7 June 2008 and Soccerlens will be covering it every step of the way, from the on-pitch action to team news to the wonderful fans that will be traveling to Austria / Switzerland.
Here’s the full list of Euro 2008 fixtures, bookmark and share away. Once the tournament starts, we’ll use this page to list results as well.
Written by Marco Pantanella. 4 comments
Euro 2008 promises to be massive - with or without England. Along with team beer and several exciting stars expected to leave a mark on the event, there’s also the small matter of football fans (if anyone forgets, this is what we had in Germany 2006).
I know a lot of bloggers will be covering Euro 2008, so this post is for them - while preparing Soccerlens for Euro 2008 coverage, I realised that there was no one place to get all the team flags (we already have the Euro 2008 kits, if anyone’s interested). Don’t know about you guys but I like to have images on my posts and flags / team crests are quite useful to have when you’re covering an event, even if some of them look the same (damned Europeans).
Alright then, here we go:
Written by Ahmed Bilal. 2 comments
In June, 16 of Europe’s best national sides will descend upon Austria and Switzerland for the 2008 UEFA European Football Championship, or as most people call it, Euro 2008. While many of the continent’s top teams will be on display, some of Europe’s - and the world’s - best will be as well, so even if your team isn’t in it, you still have plenty reason to watch.
With that in mind and before the tournament begins, we (as in I) have conjured up the juggernaut of juggernauts, an All-Star Euro 2008 Starting XI.
There are several players you won’t see on this list, like Francesco Totti, Fernando Torres, and others, but I compiled this list with one major rule - no more than two players from one country, for the sake of diversity. Keeping that rule in mind, I did try to include the best players, both promising youngsters and experienced stalwarts alike. So, while all of the names below are recognizable, you may not agree with all of the selections. Then again, you’re not supposed to.
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Written by Eddie Griffin. 18 comments
In today’s video roundup we look at yesterday’s friendlies.
Written by ifutbal. One comment
Whilst the whole world and his mother are hypothesizing about Don Fabio and his crew, I thought it might be a good idea to look at some of the other fixtures in what looks like a (dare I say it) appetising week of international friendly football, with fifteen of the sixteen Euro 2008 qualifiers in action, including six ties between the Euro 2008 competitors.
Here’s hoping that there are no injuries to top players, and no compensation paid out – although these days, so tight is the dialogue between club and national managers (a perquisite not available in days gone by) that players may be rested or asked by royal decree to play just half a match. That said, as a Spurs fan, I wouldn’t be too miffed if some divine force threw a lightning bolt or two at Cesc.
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Written by Hugo Steckelmacher. 5 comments
For many teams across Europe, the second biggest tournament to qualify and win would be the Euro. Behind the World Cup, of course. So it is a big time for all teams across the continent to unveil kits that will be worn for this event only, or for a couple years following. Though some of the kits have not changed since the 2006 World Cup, there are some that have, so I have created a collection of the kits here.
However if you want a brief synopsis of the teams kits, here you go:
Written by Brad Barnett. 3 comments
