Euro 2008 seeding format - total farce

[Craig_H]

Are you implying that Croatia are an 'inferior' team?

Compared to the likes of Italy, France and Germany, yes they're inferior.

[Craig_H]

LOL. DJS you know fine well this is the EUROPEAN CHAMPIONSHIPS. And the deserved champions of europe are????

The FIFA world cup is a totally seperate tournament

Your argument gets more and more laughable...

Italy won a MORE prestigious competition and only last year.

Yet, Greece should be seeded ahead of Italy?

[Craig_H]

No your saying that Greece shouldn't be seeded even though they won the last one. You were mentioning they didn't even make it to the world cup, and I was just saying England were probably seeded in 96 and they didn't make it to US 94 so would you be pissed off if England were seeded in 96?

I wouldnt be saying England should've been seeded because they were the host nation...

And no, i wouldnt have been pissed off if England hadnt been seeded.

Your comparison of Greece and England is a bit silly, england were seeded as the host nation, greece are seeded as holders.

[Craig_H]

At the end of the day the hosts are seeded to try and keep them in the tourno as long as possible so FIFA/UEFA make more money out of it, I mean Switzerland and Austria are not the hot beds of football are they? They are trying to get more people intrested in the sport. Remember when England had the womans Euro championship? We got good media coverage of it until England went out of it. They are just trying to do the same over there. Also anyone who thinks that the previous winner doesn't deserve to be seeded needs to think about it a bit more carefully.

The seeds should be the top four sides. Neither Greece, Austria or Switzerland are in the top four sides.

[-V-]

Oh whatever. I give up explaining this to you

[Craig_H]

Oh whatever. I give up explaining this to you

you hadnt even started to.

[El Jefecito]

Oh whatever. I give up explaining this to you

The sassenachs aren't worth it

[-V-]

I know. There must be atleast 1 Greek on here who could explain it to him

[Craig_H]

No, you should keep trying to convince me that Greece, Austria and Switzerland are three of the best sides in europe...

In all seriousness, being Scots, it's hardly a surprise that you're pulling for the underdogs.

[JohnDoe]

Greece earned their right to be top seeds by winning the tournament, however I do not agree with the rule of "hosts must be top seeds". It's ridiculous, what if they're complete wank and didn't do anything to deserve it? It happened before with England hosting it in 1996, now that was a huge farce.

[Guest]

Never said it was anything new, just a shambles. Especially with 2 host nations.

So countries hosting such tournaments can't be qualified by default because they're crap, by your definition ?

It's good to have an opinion, as odd as yours, but you look stupid when you act like being right every time you emit one.

So Greece, winners of the last Euro Championships didn't deserve to win it because in your opinion, they're crap ... But by whatever means, they still won that tournament.

And England certainly deserve to be there, albeit being very lucky, because they boast some of the best players in the world ... by your definition , and France and Italy being there is better than having a country like Scotland, who would have merited it by virtue of their performances.

Ffs DJS, get a grip mate and try to be progressive in such discussions. Nobody is 100% right, we just formulate opinions and debate like adults.

[El Diego]

Your argument gets more and more laughable...

Italy won a MORE prestigious competition and only last year.

Yet, Greece should be seeded ahead of Italy?

Greece should be seeded as they won the Euro championship and this is the the Euro championship, not the world cup. I don't see what the arguement about it is?

[Ritchi3]

Silly thread. The home teams and the winners should always be seeded in the group stages. It should make for more interesting groups too, I hate it when you already know who's going to qualify.

[Craig_H]

So countries hosting such tournaments can't be qualified by default because they're crap, by your definition ?

It's good to have an opinion, as odd as yours, but you look stupid when you act like being right every time you emit one.

So Greece, winners of the last Euro Championships didn't deserve to win it because in your opinion, they're crap ... But by whatever means, they still won that tournament.

And England certainly deserve to be there, albeit being very lucky, because they boast some of the best players in the world ... by your definition , and France and Italy being there is better than having a country like Scotland, who would have merited it by virtue of their performances.

Ffs DJS, get a grip mate and try to be progressive in such discussions. Nobody is 100% right, we just formulate opinions and debate like adults.

The non-adult stuff is coming from you lot. I AM expressing my opinion and just because i dont change it in the face of your disagreements, you conclude that i'm insisting that i must be right.

For the record, all of you think YOU'RE right too, that's the nature of an opinion. You dont say "I think this..." and believe you're wrong, do you???

IMO, the seeds should be the top four sides, that's the whole objective and nature of a seeding system. That's what they're designed for. If the top four sides are seeded, it increases the chances of seeing the big guns going head to head in the latter stages. I'd rather Italy v France and Holland v Germany, than Austria v Italy and Switzerland v France in the semi finals.

As for Scotland, i dont subscribe that they deserved to qualify as you do, they did very well, but the teams who finish 1st and 2nd are the ones who deserve it because thety amassed the most points over 12 or 14 games. Those who qualified are there on merit.

[Craig_H]

Greece earned their right to be top seeds by winning the tournament, however I do not agree with the rule of "hosts must be top seeds". It's ridiculous, what if they're complete wank and didn't do anything to deserve it? It happened before with England hosting it in 1996, now that was a huge farce.

I think in hindsight, england justified their seeding as they reached the last four. If Austria or Switzerland reach the last four, i'll eat humble pie. Cant see it though.