Spain and Portugal both disappointed with some rather unconvincing football on the first day, while there where loads of drama and emotion in the England - France showdown.
Greece stun Portugal
Group A:
Portugal 1 - 2 Greece
The opening match between Portugal and Greece, marked the beginning of Euro 2004. All the local fans were expecting their team to go past Russia in this match. But against all odds, Greece came up with a fabulous performance to shock the home fans. Taking an early lead....they held on to it.....doubled it...and then hung on to it. Though Louis Figo, god to people in Portugal, had a really bad game, the only bright spot was the introduction in the second half of Manchester whiz kid Cristiano Ronaldo, who managed to score a consolation for Portugal in the dying minutes of the game. A lackluster game left Portugal now needing to win both their games, and as for Greece, just one more win and they could be the surprise entry into the next round!!
Spain scrap through
Spain 1 - 0 Russia
Spain on the other hand, was tipped to be one of the favourites before the start of the championsips. With a strike force consisting of Raul and Morientes, goals galore is what we all expected. But the game turned out to be very tight with the Russian defence holding on very bravely and giving up few chances. It took an inspired substitution from Spain to break the deadlock. Valencia's Valeron came on and almost his first touch on the ball gave Spain the lead, which they held on to until the final whistle in a rather unconvincing manner. A rather disappointing performance from Spain but they wouldn't mind it much had they got all the 3 points they aimed for. Russia fought very well but there was just bit of lack in class and quality as compared to the Spaniards, which finally let them retire.
A dull draw
Group B:
Croatia 0 - 0 Switzerland
Croatia, who finished third at World Cup 98, were the favourite going into this encounter. But again it turned out, as it prominenlty did on the first day, that the underdogs gave a real good fight to the favourites. And so, Switzerland battled bravely and the Croatian team looked out of sorts for most of the game. Switzerland deserved the point they got out of the game and Croatia would be now looking to stop a first round exit, as this is one of those "Group of Death". With France being certain of making it through, it's a race for the second spot in the Group!!
France truimph
England 1 - 2 France
The big one in the early stages of this tournament, it didn't fail all the pre-game hype that surrounded it. Drama all the way to the very last seconds of the game kept the fans of both sides on the edge of their seats. England's David Beckham would be unhappy with himself for not having sealed the match for his team, while his counterpart just showed the world once again, why he is considered the best player in the world. Luck is said to have played its part in this game and unfortunately for England, it favoured the French. Still, England can take heart from their performance (at least the first 89 minutes) and still believe they can make it through. And after this result France looks certain to make it through to the next round.
Predictions:
Group A:
Spain 2 - 1 Greece
Portugal 2 - 0 Russia
Group B:
England 2 - 0 Switzerland
France 3 - 1 Croatia
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