NationStates Jolt Archive

http://soccernet.espn.go.com/euro2004/headlinenews?id=303802&cc=5901


Tuesday, June 22, 2004


Italian FA chief: It's a fix!


LISBON, June 22 (Reuters) - Italian FA president Franco Carraro said he believed Denmark and Sweden had aimed to draw 2-2 in their final Euro 2004 group game, a result that guaranteed Italy went out of the tournament on Tuesday.
'There is no doubt that the way the Denmark-Sweden game developed shows that the two teams were aiming for a draw. Of course, proof of that is hard to find,' Carraro told Italian television.


Before the match Carraro had dismissed talk of a possible fix, saying both teams were 'serious'. Italy beat Bulgaria 2-1 in their final Group C match but the victory was in vain because of the Sweden-Denmark draw.

Italy coach Giovanni Trapattoni said he did not think the two sides had colluded. Asked whether he would contact UEFA, European soccer's ruling body, about the result, he said: 'Absolutely not.'

Denmark coach Morten Olsen refused to discuss talk about any possible collusion between the teams which he called a 'ridiculous' idea.

'Anyone who saw the game knows that no one tried to go for that result,' Olsen said reporters.

Swedish coach Lars Lagerback supported Olsen. 'We heard now and again the result from the Italy game but I didn't hear about the final result until the end of our match,' Lagerback said.

'I think we were lucky to equalise otherwise we would no longer be in the tournament. I think if Trapattoni goes through this match on video he will see it was a tough fight at least until we had drawn.'

The two teams played out time after the Swedish equaliser. 'Every team in this situation would have done the same, I think we can go away from this match with our heads held high,' Lagerback said.


Well? Was it a fix or is the Italian FA Chief just bitter?

Bah...silly Euros with your silly "football"

Bah...silly Euros with your silly "football"


Ignore that fool.

Ignore this fool as well.

Soccer is boring.

Football is less boring. Real football that is.

Heh-heh. Maybe that'll Totti not to spit at other team's players. Or freakin' Trappatoni -- not to replace his best players with defenders in an attempt to hold on to a 1:0 lead.

2 Cold Hard Bitch,
Please add an option to the poll: YES! Italy got screwed AND THEY DESERVED IT!!! :lol:

Football is less boring. Real football that is.

Oh.

You mean entertaining football.

Football is less boring. Real football that is.


You mean soccer? That is real football.

Heh-heh. Maybe that'll Totti not to spit at other team's players. Or freakin' Trappatoni -- not to replace his best players with defenders in an attempt to hold on to a 1:0 lead.

2 Cold Hard Bitch,
Please add an option to the poll: YES! Italy got screwed AND THEY DESERVED IT!!! :lol:



Thank you for staying on topic.

Football is less boring. Real football that is.


You mean soccer? That is real football.

no....

Soccer is boring.

We've already been over this.

Football is less boring. Real football that is.


You mean soccer? That is real football.

no....

Soccer is boring.

We've already been over this.



That is only your view, so keep it to yourself please! It is also the most popular sport in the world by far.

I'm talking about American Football. You know...the superbowl...the most entertaining, most watched show on TV in the entire world...watched by more people, broadcast in more nations, in more languages than anything else....

Football is less boring. Real football that is.


You mean soccer? That is real football.

no....

Soccer is boring.

We've already been over this.



That is only your view, so keep it to yourself please! It is also the most popular sport in the world by far.

Wich just goes to show....

People LOVE boring games.

I'm talking about American Football. You know...the superbowl...the most entertaining, most watched show on TV in the entire world...watched by more people, broadcast in more nations, in more languages than anything else....


I know what you are talking about.



GO RAIDERS!

Football is less boring. Real football that is.


You mean soccer? That is real football.

no....

Soccer is boring.

We've already been over this.



That is only your view, so keep it to yourself please! It is also the most popular sport in the world by far.

Wich just goes to show....

People LOVE boring games.


Not everybody thinks its boring. Understand?

I like football (soccer in US) much more than the American wimpified version of rugby, that's for sure (and I have seen a lot of games in both sports).

Anyway, on topic:

Olsen, is right; Denmark were really close to making a third goal a number of times. This game was certainly not fixed.

Italy has only itself to blame for sucking so much. They could barely even defeat Bulgaria! (Why in the hell were there 5 extra minutes, anyway? They should never have had that last goal!)

Seems to me that if it were a fix, the best way to guarantee it would be a 0-0 tie, not a 2-2 one--too many chances for something to go wrong if you start letting each other score. Now maybe when the game was winding down and it was tied there wasn't as much incentive for wither team to break the tie, but that's hardly collusion.

Seems to me that if it were a fix, the best way to guarantee it would be a 0-0 tie, not a 2-2 one--too many chances for something to go wrong if you start letting each other score. Now maybe when the game was winding down and it was tied there wasn't as much incentive for wither team to break the tie, but that's hardly collusion.


Do you like soccer or are you just saying this to get a post?

I saw the game. I was close to tears when they won. And then I checked out Denmark-Sweden's match. It was unbearable.

Did anybody watch the Italy game? I thought that Russian ref. made some horrible, horrible calls. Cassano should have gotten that penalty! :evil:

I like football (soccer in US) much more than the American wimpified version of rugby, that's for sure (and I have seen a lot of games in both sports).

Anyway, on topic:

Olsen, is right; Denmark were really close to making a third goal a number of times. This game was certainly not fixed.

Italy has only itself to blame for sucking so much. They could barely even defeat Bulgaria! (Why in the hell were there 5 extra minutes, anyway? They should never have had that last goal!)

Buddy, they wouldn't have needed those 5 extra minutes if the stupid ref. would have called a penalty for Italy.

Seems to me that if it were a fix, the best way to guarantee it would be a 0-0 tie, not a 2-2 one--too many chances for something to go wrong if you start letting each other score. Now maybe when the game was winding down and it was tied there wasn't as much incentive for wither team to break the tie, but that's hardly collusion.

In order to kick Italy out, Denmark and Sweden had to have a 2-2 (or more) draw.

Seems to me that if it were a fix, the best way to guarantee it would be a 0-0 tie, not a 2-2 one--too many chances for something to go wrong if you start letting each other score. Now maybe when the game was winding down and it was tied there wasn't as much incentive for wither team to break the tie, but that's hardly collusion.

In order to kick Italy out, Denmark and Sweden had to have a 2-2 (or more) draw.Ah--that changes things. Maybe there was some collusion then. It's certainly curious.

Seems to me that if it were a fix, the best way to guarantee it would be a 0-0 tie, not a 2-2 one--too many chances for something to go wrong if you start letting each other score. Now maybe when the game was winding down and it was tied there wasn't as much incentive for either team to break the tie, but that's hardly collusion.


Do you like soccer or are you just saying this to get a post?I watch it when it's on, but I'm not a hardcore fan. I was just trying to join in and, as my last post illustrates, obviously didn't know what I was talking about. I'll go away now. :oops:

I watch it when it's on, but I'm not a hardcore fan. I was just trying to join in and, as my last post illustrates, obviously didn't know what I was talking about. I'll go away now. :oops:
Ya, that's right! Walk away!
*Tears trickles down cheeks*
*Sniff...

Fixed games might be a problem in Italy, but not in Sweden or Denmark, because there are none.

The Italian players are looked upon as gods at home, so the Italian FA president are just saying it to make his team look a little better in the Italian press. An external scapegoat is better than an internal...

Btw. I saw the game with other Europeans, and none of them called the game fixed.

I liked the last 30 seconds or so, where the teams just waited for the match to end.

If there was a collusion, the Swedes and the Danes didn't even need to get together to fix it. -- Each could simply decide for itself to play hard until either one scored two goals and then ease up a bit to let the other team get back on level terms.

At any rate, with Totti spitting at a Danish player in game 1 and Trapattoni's unsporting (and monumentally stupid) substitutions against the Swedes, neither team owed the Italians any favours.

Excellent banner in the stands:

2 : 2 = Nordic Victory
Bye-bye, Italia

It's the same basic excuse Italy used in the 2002 World Cup when they crashed out. They just can't handle their exit.
And by the way, the British manage to cope with 4 types of football (Association, Rubgy, American and Australian Rules) without having to resort to 'soccer' I don't think I've ever been tempted to believe that "soccer's coming home"
Lastly, calling us 'Euros' is a bit of a sore point to many at the moment, with UKIP and the Constitution etc. :lol:

Fixed games might be a problem in Italy, but not in Sweden or Denmark, because there are none.

The Italian players are looked upon as gods at home, so the Italian FA president are just saying it to make his team look a little better in the Italian press. An external scapegoat is better than an internal...

Btw. I saw the game with other Europeans, and none of them called the game fixed.

I liked the last 30 seconds or so, where the teams just waited for the match to end.

They are gods I tell ya! :cry:
...And I'm from Canada!

Unfortunately, I never got to see the SWE V DEN match. Was it any good?

Coming from Denmark I thought the game was a bit too exiting. It was an ok match but the rain made it hard for the players to show what they can do.

Btw. one must not forget that Italy needed a win, and 2-1 with the final goal in overtime, just dont convice me that they really tried hard enough.

I like football (soccer in US) much more than the American wimpified version of rugby, that's for sure (and I have seen a lot of games in both sports).

Anyway, on topic:

Olsen, is right; Denmark were really close to making a third goal a number of times. This game was certainly not fixed.

Italy has only itself to blame for sucking so much. They could barely even defeat Bulgaria! (Why in the hell were there 5 extra minutes, anyway? They should never have had that last goal!)

Buddy, they wouldn't have needed those 5 extra minutes if the stupid ref. would have called a penalty for Italy.

Perhaps, I'll admit I didn't see the match, since I was too busy cursing at the Swedish team for playing like morons much of the time. Still, shouldn't such a grand nation as Italy have managed a little better against a team like Bulgaria?!

Coming from Denmark I thought the game was a bit too exiting. It was an ok match but the rain made it hard for the players to show what they can do.

Btw. one must not forget that Italy needed a win, and 2-1 with the final goal in overtime, just dont convice me that they really tried hard enough.

Well, like you said, the rain prevented them from "showing what they can do." Also, the Italian team had injuries and suspensions to deal with. I thought Christian Vieri played quite well, even with his injured leg. Too bad they didn't start him.

But I have to agree, I thought Italy didn't stand up to their name in their last 3 matches. I was disappointed indeed.

Italy represent everything that is wrong with football:

- Racist, violent supporters
- Bribery of officials
- Finances spinning out of control & overpaid primadonnas
- Negative, soporific football
- Cynical cheating, be it the 'dark arts' of the defenders or the diving
- False accusations of cheating levelled at other nations: rank hypocrisy!

I know other teams and nations ar guilty of one or more of these faults but Italian football are the overall crown princes of darkness.

To conclude: hahahahahahahahahahahahaha! I nearly wet myself howling with laughter whn they scored and four seconds later realised that it didn't matter.

Perhaps, I'll admit I didn't see the match, since I was too busy cursing at the Swedish team for playing like morons much of the time. Still, shouldn't such a grand nation as Italy have managed a little better against a team like Bulgaria?!

True. But Bulgaria had nothing to lose. They weren't going to qualify anyways.
Italy on the other hand were much more pressured. You should have watched the part where Italy had like, 5 guys up on forward. That's how desperate they were.

I watched the game and the fact that Italy could have won 10:1 and still would have to go home was somewhat sad. 2:2 from Denmark and Sweden and no number of goals Italy could haved made could have saved them. They lost against Sweden, which paved the way to defeat for them. No matter how the referee decided, the game was "worthless" from the beginning due to the result of the Denmark/Sweden match.

(Btw I think American Football sucks major ass and I doubt that it is more watched than lets say the Soccer WM or Olympic Games)

Fixed games might be a problem in Italy, but not in Sweden or Denmark, because there are none.

The Italian players are looked upon as gods at home, so the Italian FA president are just saying it to make his team look a little better in the Italian press. An external scapegoat is better than an internal...

Btw. I saw the game with other Europeans, and none of them called the game fixed.

I liked the last 30 seconds or so, where the teams just waited for the match to end.

They are gods I tell ya! :cry:
...And I'm from Canada!

Unfortunately, I never got to see the SWE V DEN match. Was it any good?
It was quite feisty (although obviously not as amasing as Czech Republic - Holland). If you're in the US and have cable, Fox Sports World is showing SWE v DEN again on Wednesday, 8 PM EST. And Jon Dahl Tomasson's first goal was really one of a kind.

Coming from Denmark I thought the game was a bit too exiting. It was an ok match but the rain made it hard for the players to show what they can do.

Btw. one must not forget that Italy needed a win, and 2-1 with the final goal in overtime, just dont convice me that they really tried hard enough.

Well, like you said, the rain prevented them from "showing what they can do." Also, the Italian team had injuries and suspensions to deal with. I thought Christian Vieri played quite well, even with his injured leg. Too bad they didn't start him.

But I have to agree, I thought Italy didn't stand up to their name in their last 3 matches. I was disappointed indeed.
Well, the Italians had an excellent first half against Sweden (not having Totti on the pitch must've helped a lot). And then Ole Fart Trapattoni took off Cassano and Del Piero... :shock:
It was almost as strange as the Spaniards' perennial self-destruct button :lol:

I watched the game and the fact that Italy could have won 10:1 and still would have to go home was somewhat sad. 2:2 from Denmark and Sweden and no number of goals Italy could haved made could have saved them. They lost against Sweden, which paved the way to defeat for them. No matter how the referee decided, the game was "worthless" from the beginning due to the result of the Denmark/Sweden match.

(Btw I think American Football sucks major ass and I doubt that it is more watched than lets say the Soccer WM or Olympic Games)

Just want to point out a couple of things:

Italy didn't lose against Sweden, they played 1-1 (of course, to us Swedes, that was a victory in itself). Also, it was the goal difference that decided who advances. Denmark's was 4-2, while Italy's was 3-2. Thus, had Italy made more goals against Bulgaria, then they could have advanced instead.

I saw the game. I was close to tears when they won. And then I checked out Denmark-Sweden's match. It was unbearable.

Did anybody watch the Italy game? I thought that Russian ref. made some horrible, horrible calls. Cassano should have gotten that penalty! :evil:

:D i saw the last 10 minutes and i was roflmao! (i was thinking of you of course) i just thought it was so funny how the sweden-denmark score came through just as they were celebrating that last goal, all their faces suddenly dropped!


Anyway, i don't think you can fix a score to be 2-2, i might have been suspicious if it had been 0-0

I watched the game and the fact that Italy could have won 10:1 and still would have to go home was somewhat sad. 2:2 from Denmark and Sweden and no number of goals Italy could haved made could have saved them. They lost against Sweden, which paved the way to defeat for them. No matter how the referee decided, the game was "worthless" from the beginning due to the result of the Denmark/Sweden match.

(Btw I think American Football sucks major ass and I doubt that it is more watched than lets say the Soccer WM or Olympic Games)

Just want to point out a couple of things:

Italy didn't lose against Sweden, they played 1-1 (of course, to us Swedes, that was a victory in itself). Also, it was the goal difference that decided who advances. Denmark's was 4-2, while Italy's was 3-2. Thus, had Italy made more goals against Bulgaria, then they could have advanced instead.
No. The rule used this year was that in case of 2 or more teams being tied on points, the goal difference in games between teams that are tied was to be used before overall goal difference was to be considered. the upshot of this is as follows: had Denmark, Sweden and Italy all had 5 points after three games, their goals against Bulgaria would not have been considered. So... so long as Denmark and Sweden drew 2:2 or higher (3:3, 4:4, etc.) they would've gone to the quarter-finals regardless of the goal difference in the ITA-BUL game.

Excellent banner in the stands:

2 : 2 = Nordic Victory
Bye-bye, Italia
There was another good one
"2-2 - Spaghettis out

I'm talking about American Football. You know...the superbowl...the most entertaining, most watched show on TV in the entire world...watched by more people, broadcast in more nations, in more languages than anything else....
No sorry the world cup.
You know where the whole world can compete not just North America.
You know a sport played by more nations than any other.
You know a sport with pace, skill and one team on each side.
pha! American Rugy.

Italy represent everything that is wrong with football:

- Racist, violent supporters
- Bribery of officials
- Finances spinning out of control & overpaid primadonnas
- Negative, soporific football
- Cynical cheating, be it the 'dark arts' of the defenders or the diving
- False accusations of cheating levelled at other nations: rank hypocrisy!

I know other teams and nations ar guilty of one or more of these faults but Italian football are the overall crown princes of darkness.

To conclude: hahahahahahahahahahahahaha! I nearly wet myself howling with laughter whn they scored and four seconds later realised that it didn't matter.

I had the same feeling when England lost their first match against France eventhough they were leading 1-0. Mostly because four of the accusations you made against Italians goes for English too.
And if any of you did see the Denmark-Sweden match you know for sure it wasn't planned. Denmark certainly wanted to win. Swedens first goal was given though...

I'm talking about American Football. You know...the superbowl...the most entertaining, most watched show on TV in the entire world...watched by more people, broadcast in more nations, in more languages than anything else....
No sorry the world cup.
You know where the whole world can compete not just North America.
You know a sport played by more nations than any other.
You know a sport with pace, skill and one team on each side.
pha! American Rugy.

After a brief search on Google, I got the following:

Largest global TV audience for American football: 138.5 million (Superbowl XXX, 1996)
Largest global TV audience for football: 1.1 billion (World Cup final, 2002)

Football wins. By a long, long, long way. It's almost ten times as popular internationally. (I'm not even sure if the Superbowl is broadcast in the UK any more. There was a brief vogue for the sport in the 1980s and 90s -- well, a weekly programme on Channel 4 on Sunday afternoons -- but that fizzled out long ago.)

As for Italian claims of a "fix": yeah, right. Maybe if they'd played better in their games against Denmark and Sweden -- if they hadn't done their usual stunt of trying to sit on a one-goal lead -- then they wouldn't have been eliminated by two more positive teams. They're just a bunch of whiners who want to dodge the blame for their own shortcomings.