Car company capture spirit of cheating in Euro 2008 advert

If Les Bleus are attempting to befriend their Dutch cousins so that they may show them some mercy in their final group game tonight, they’re going about it the wrong way.

Why have Toyota chosen to pick on the Oranje in this advert anyway? Sure, Arjen Robben goes down like a sack of shit when the breeze blows, but no one hates the Dutch. (Well, except Michael Caine in that third Austin Powers film.)

It’s the Italians they should be accusing of foul play. If you need to know why, check out Alberto Gilardino’s beaut of a fall against Celtic after the jump…

Dutchman forced to choose between country and future club career

Dutch boss Marco van Basten is perfectly within his rights to field a weakened team against Romania tonight (”It’s not against the rules, it’s a fact of life,” said UEFA spokesman William Gaillard), and eliminating the possibility of meeting France or Italy in the semi-finals would appear to be a wise move. However, former Italy gaffer Cesare Maldini has claimed the Dutchman can forget about coaching in Milan if he rolls over Portugal-stylee tonight:

“Van Basten has a two year contract [with Ajax after the Euros] but I know that after he wants to come to coach in Italy.

“Will it be at Milan? We will see. But for sure he will want to arrive in Italy with a clean slate, and he cannot do this by losing to the Romanians on purpose.”

The word ‘vendetta’ comes from Italian (I know, I was surprised too), so there’s little chance the boot-shaped nation will forgive and forget the coach if he fields a weakened side against Adrian Mutu and co tonight. But will he succumb to Italian pressure? Is he even interested in the AC Milan job? Let us all know your thoughts with a comment below.

[Goal.com]

Raymond Domenech subscribes to chickendinner’s theory

France boss Raymond Domenech has started to crack under the pressure of being pretty rubbish, and has admitted he fears Holland will conspire to cost Italy and France a place in the next round.

Holland have been cleared to play a weakened team against Romania and if they lose, Romania progressahead of Italy and France as runners-up, with the Dutch still topping the group, which could prove convenient for Marco Van Basten’s side when the semi-finals arrive.

Domenech, rambling like a madman consumed by paranoia, said:

“Our game against Italy will not be decisive. It’s the other match that matters. My opinion is Holland will make wholesale changes for the game on Tuesday night and it is already written that Romania will qualify with them from the group.”

Of course what he neglects to mention is the only reason Romania control their fate is that France were awful against them and had they actually beaten Romania, then their destiny would be in their own hands…

Fancy a punt on tonigh’s Euro action? Head over to chickendinner for the best stats and betting information first

chickendinner make an excellent call on Holland’s run so far

Apart from that whole thing about Paul McCartney dying in the sixties and being replaced by a doppelganger, The Spoiler isn’t one to believe conspiracy theories. However, we couldn’t help but take notice of the chickendinner bet blog, which correctly called the second Group C games, last Thursday night:

Picture this perfectly plausible scenario for a second. Tomorrow, buoyed by victory over Italy in the opening game, Holland defeat a France side struggling to find their feet.

In the other Group C game, Italy are low on confidence after their shock loss and Romania are able to take a point by “playing to their strengths” as they did against France.

That would create a situation where Holland would have the group sewn up with six points, Romania would be second with two points and Italy and France would be struggling with one point.

At first glance, it’s hard to imagine Romania beating Holland, which would mean a straight shootout for the final place between Italy and France, with the winner qualifying.

But what if Holland, already having the group won, gave Romania

Oranje prove too strong for World Champions

After the sheer boredom of watching one not-my-fault shrug of defiance after another in the France/ Romania game, we really needed something to stop Group C becoming the ‘Group of Dull’. Without the two best keepers in the tournament, this classic game would have had a much bigger scoreline. Great stuff.

After last night, the Netherlands’ odds on winning the competition were slashed to 11/2, putting them just behind Germany and Portugal as third favourites. Italy and their shaky defence (!), on the other hand, are all the way down at 12/1.

Also, it was great to see that Materazzi was the first player to be pulled off at the Wankdorf.

Netherlands/ Italy, Euro 2008 Group C, 7.45pm, ITV1, bet here

In addition to their reputation as divers, cheats, boring and old, Italy are known for being slow-starters when it comes to the big tournaments - a strange fact considering they have won their opening game at three of their last four international tournaments. Today they’ll make it four out of five. Here’s why:

1. Italy have not suffered defeat in their last ten competitive fixtures, winning nine and drawing one.

2. And they have won seven of their last eight international outings, scoring two or more on all but one occasion.

3. Italy have have not lost their opening fixture in the last three European Championships.

4. Holland have twice been beaten in their last four competitive outings - against Belarus and Romania in qualifying.

For the other compelling reasons and to lay a few cheeky bets, head over to chickendinner post haste

Bringing a smile to Romanian faces in the Group of Death

With Italy, the Netherlands and France in their group, Romanians can’t be too hopeful of making it to the knockout stages of Euro 2008. Their departure may not make a great deal of difference to the neutral observer, but for WAG fans it will be devastating news, for it means Adelina Elisei will be going home early. The Romanian model and TV personality is the current ladyfriend of Inter Milan defender Cristian Chivu, and she’s awful pretty.

Bayern Munich stars give expert class in one-upmanship

The final game of Group C, aka the ‘Group of Death’, will see hunky Luca Toni’s Italy take on not-so-hunky Franck Ribery’s France. As a precursor to this hotly anticipated match, the Bayern Munich stars have filmed a bizarre football-based slanging match at the Allianz arena. It all kicks off when Ribery’s French national anthem ringtone causes Toni to display his patriotic T-Shirt, and it escalates into a display of athletic prowess all around the Allianz Arena, peppered with mildly xenophobic comments. If you want to know what they say, someone has translated it in the comments here.

It’s a slow news day when we post a video in French (with a little German and Italian), but hey, what do you want us to talk about? Women’s softball? Baby racing? Actually, baby racing looks pretty awesome…

[Sexy video source: The Beautiful Game]