Author: Hafiz Noor Shams

It was a total heartbreak to see Portugal advances to the Final at the expense of de Oranje. A newly born golden generation of Oranje succumbed to a fading great Portuguese generation. However, the worst disaster is still the loss to the Czech Republic. De Oranje fans may argue who the blame is due to but I believe, all of us will agree that it is the worst disaster for de Oranje in Euro 2004 nonetheless.

And then, the unexpected happened. The home of a once great Greek empire beat the new favorite of the tournament, the Czech in the Semifinal. Before everything went astray, the biggest surprise was seeing the Greek making through pass the group stage with Spain as a sacrifice to Zeus.

And then, it was seeing the Greek at the Semifinal.
And then, it was seeing the Greek in the Final.
Now the Greek, a total outsider, stormed Lisbon and there they are, currently leading the conqueror of de Oranje, the host of the tournament, by one goal.

Of all teams, it is the Greek!

Who would have thought this is possible?

How is this possible?

Even Einstein’s Theory of General Relativity is easier to comprehend.

Reality is certainly weirder than fiction. I thought the last World Cup was crazy but at least, in the very end, order was restored. God must have slipped into slumber for a few moments

But now, God must be sleeping throughout the tournament!

I pray to God, let sanity reinstate itself. Enough madness. Enough lunacy. This is too much for the real world.

I pray to God, Montserrat, currently taking the last place in FIFA’s ranking, would not make it to the 2006 World Cup Finals in Germany.

Mercy I say. My sanity is almost gone. Mercy milord before my sanity is blown apart.

God, awake thy must!

But all is too late. It is already the fifth minute of the stoppage time. Greek, as they had in history, is victorious.

In any case, this is the most catchiest football (yes, again, it is football, not soccer) related phrase, “Ancient Greece had 12 gods, modern Greece has 11“. Allow me to rephrase that. Ancient Greece had 12 gods, modern Greece has 11 llamas. Maybe minus Nikos Machlas because he was an Ajacied.

1. The final whistle has been blown. I read the stats and I could only feel dismay. This is an injustice.

2. The Greek is more italier than the Italian. Unbelievable how the statistic shows great domination by the Iberian and yet, the statistic does not conform with the result. Therefore, I am adding a new team to my hate list. Greece, say hi to Italy (all Italian teams included), Manchester United and Selangor.

p/s – it is fourth of July. Happy birthday to the idealists of freedom and liberty. Sadly reality does not seem to reflect ideal. Nevertheless, to liberty and freedom.

I guess everybody has heard the news. The Portuguese deserves it.

I hope the Czech will win against Denmark and eventually seize the trophy. I am saying this because the Czech Republic is the only team with Ajax’s players; they are Galasek and Grygera.

There is nothing more to be said.

Next stop, World Cup 2006 in Germany.

Hup Holland Hup.

Earlier today, Dick Advocaat has hinted that he might step down as the Dutch national team manager after the current ongoing tournament. He cited that fans’ criticism on the substitution of Robben with Bosvelt during the arguably the most exciting match of the Euro 2004.

I have said “fuck Advocaat” in my earlier post. In fact, the word “fuck Advocaat” was written live as the match went on badly after a marvelous start. And I myself have received a few criticisms from my visitors; even more strangers when Google ranked me number one for the search phrase “fuck Advocaat”.

Well, I admit. I had been too harsh. Therefore, I will bow to some of my visitors’ demand for an apology and this post is dedicated to just that.

I apologize for saying the F-word.

Nevertheless, I still believe the replacement of Robben was a huge mistake. Even Kluivert had said last week that Advocaat deserves the fans’ abuse. In my opinion and many others de Oranje supporters, a removal of Arjen Robben is similar to removing Zidane from the French squad.

This is because de Oranje essentially depends on wingers. With wrong-minded wingers (read defensive wingers, like Bosvelt), the whole team will implode, just like what had happened during the Czech game. I could certainly see how the match changed. Many others, including some of my Dutch friends, hold the same opinion with me.

Yet, I admit, without Advocaat, de Oranje would probably be a terrible team with world class talented players, just like Spain. For almost 8 long years, de Oranje had been struggling to perform as a team and failed. The greatest embarrassment is de Oranje failure to qualify for the last World Cup. But Advocaat at least, somehow, managed to rebuild the team and right now, at least the Dutch is performing if you put a blind eye on the Netherlands – Germany match and a few other games during the qualification stage.

But, Advocaat should not feel threatened by fans’ criticism no matter how personal it is. Criticism is part of the game. When you in a stadium, or anyway, of course you will hear some bad words but that what makes the game as a game. Criticism, no matter how harsh it is, is just part of the game. There is no need to quit the manager post just because the fans’ insulted you.

Heck! The Barca’s fans booed their own club a few years back but that does not mean they hated Barcelona. It was just criticism; a demand for a better performance, just like what happened in Aveiro. In fact, this criticism probably helped Advocaat to manage de Oranje. Notice how Robben was not removed during the Sweden match.

Again, I apologize for the F-word directed at Advocaat. However, I will only do the Advocaat banner thing if de Oranje wins the tournament. And nope, I will not delete it. I am somewhat against censorship.

Alright. Let’s stop disputing. Support de Oranje!

Let’s harass the Portuguese in return.

And Advocaat, you should stay, at least until World Cup 2006. Do not do a Voeller; do an Eriksson.

p/s – I hope Ibrahimovic is okay.
pp/s – read this. Thank God I have no relationship with Portugal.

Currently, the penalty shootout is about to commence.

After full regulation time and 2 extra times, the score is tied at zero all but there were unbelievable millions of chances.

Pray people pray!!!

Go van der Sar! This is the time to erase the Ajax – Juventus game in 1996 from your mind!

1. Ibrahimovic missed!

2. OMG! Cocu hit the post!

3. THE DUTCH ADVANCES TO THE SEMIFINAL!!! YEAH!!! YEAH!!! YEAH!!! VAN DER SAR SAVED THE DAY!!! GO VAN DER SAR!!! GO DUTCH!!! DE OJANGE!!! GO HOLLAND!!! YEAH!!!

4. Bye people! I’m going to celebrate this by having a dinner in Chicago. GO DUTCH!!!
AND I LOVE YOU ADVOCAAT!!! MUAH!!! BUT I LOVE VAN DER SAR MORE!!! See you guys later tomorrow!!! IM SORRY FOR THE PREVIOUS HARSH WORD BUT NOW I LOVE YOU ADVOCAAT!!! GO VAN DER SAR!!! AJAX RULES!!! DE ORANJE!!!

p/s – I apologize for the word fuck in my previous post. I’ll do a Advocaat + the Dutch’s tricolor later. I need to watch this game!

Two quarterfinals, two winners, two losers and one whinner.

Portugal and (surpise, surprise!) Greece made it to the Semifinals. I am sure everybody does know that England lost to the Portuguese due to penalty shootout, no thanks to Beckham. Greece on the other hand surprised the whole world by beating the defending champion France by one goal.

In reference to the Portugal – England game, it is such a shame to see the English falling out of the championship. The English team and the sensational Liverpool player, Micheal Owen played well from the finish to the last. It would be exciting to see England in the latter stage but oh well. And Owen’s goal for England in the game, in my opinion is sizzling hot despite the fact he merely capitalized on a Portuguese’s defensive lapse. His footwork and the way the ball was shot passed the goalie is stunningly elegant. But all is lost, no thanks to Beckham, again.

About France and Greece, before the game started, I said somewhere to a few people, “Is there ever a doubt?”
It turned out, France did another, well, France.

And tomorrow will be the third quarterfinal. It will be between the Netherlands (YEAH!) and Sweden and it will be a close one as both teams seem to be attacking-minded. What is better, both teams have at least an Ajax player. In the de Oranje side, they are Rafael van der Vaart, Wesley Sneijder and Johnny Heitinga; the Swede on the other hand has the Italian killer, Zlatan Ibrahimovic. The Dutch of course has tonnes of former Ajax players (van der Sar, Reiziger, van der Meyde, Davids, Kluivert, de Boer, Overmars and Seedorf)

Hup Holland Hup!

And oh, I forgot – one whinner, Italy.