- 12 Jun 08, 12:20 PM
Vienna
So Switzerland have already bowed out of Euro 2008 and Austria could follow them tonight, but does anyone but the co-hosts care this morning? The big news today is Portugal and, in particular, coach Luiz Felipe Scolari.
As the Swiss were crying into their beers following their team's dramatic 2-1 loss to Turkey at a rain-drenched St Jacob-Park in Basel, it was emerging that Scolari, a Gene Hackman lookalike, had been appointed as the new boss of Chelsea.
The news caught most people by surprise, including the Portuguese media. In Lisbon, television shows were frantically flicking through the pages of Chelsea's official website live on air as they digested the sudden development.
Back in Switzerland, Scolari's appointment prompted some hasty alterations to travel arrangements, as newspapers and broadcasters set their compasses for Neuchatel, the Portuguese team's home away from home. But no sooner had trains and hotels been booked than an email from Uefa informed us that Portugal had cancelled their media commitments for the day.
As for their fans, one shell-shocked supporter in Geneva told my fellow blogger Fletch that he was hugely disappointed that Scolari was on his way. "He is a great loss for Portugal," said a downcast Joao Soares. "I'm very surprised. I don't think the people of Portugal were expecting this." Wistfully, he added: "Maybe Jose Mourinho can coach the national team now." Sorry, Joao, I don't think that's going to happen.
Just how big an impact the news of Scolari's imminent departure will have on Portugal's chances of success at Euro 2008 remains to be seen. But their decision to go to ground indicates few in the Portuguese camp are willing to talk about it right now. If they do, Fletch, who is currently hot-footing his way to Neuchatel, will bring you their reaction.
As for the Swiss media, well, they don't seem to be coming down too hard on Kobi Kuhn - help me here, does he look more like Henry Fonda or Jack Lemmon? - and his team for failing to make it past the group stages. Words and phrases like "heroic" and "champions of the heart" have dotted newspapers and websites following last night's game against the Turks that national newspaper Blick called a "water fight".
I'm not sure the Austrians will be as forgiving, although that largely depends on what kind of show Josef Hickersberger's side put on against Poland at the Ernst Happel Stadium tonight. There certainly seemed to be little sympathy for their co-hosts doing the rounds. "Switzerland Flop" was the headline in the first paper - the Vienna Kurier - I picked up this morning.
The Austrians will certainly need to play with the kind of passion they showed in the second half of their defeat against Croatia if they are to have any chance of progressing.
And I'm not sure I'd start with Ronald Gercaliu at left-back again. He may look a bit like John Arne Riise - a theme seems to be developing in this blog - and have a sweet left foot like the Liverpool defender, but he didn't play like him. Ponderous on the ball and with little pace, the Poles will target him if he plays.
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Kobi Kuhn is more a dead ringer for the big fella who plays the leading alien in 3rd Rock From The Sun.
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Alanovich,
Do you mean John Lithgow? He also voiced Lord Farquad from Shrek if i am correct.
http://www.imdb.com/media/rm2756680448/nm0001475
He also looks like my Uncle Alan although there isn't a picture available on the internet unfortunately....
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I think Chel$ki would do better employing Gene Hackman. He did good in that Hoosiers film...
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hey guys
i hear this young talent is one of manchester uniteds major targets
n other major clubs av been keepin a close eye on him too
chek him out....
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=At9kk8jEcJk
cheers
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Lookalikes?Now there's a topic close to my heart. For a start, because he startes it on this thread, Phil Gordos is a dead-ringer for Howard Jacobson. A bit less angry-looking, though and that'll be HJ about a decade ago but believe me-it's all there.
The big one , however, involves EuroRef Howard Webb. Imagine him as Brian Eno's slightly disappointed younger brother. While Eno Senior gets to make records with Talking Heads and Bowie[among others],'Howie' has to earn a crust attending to the discipline of sweaty millionaires who are all younger and fitter than him.He is a member of the Eno family,after all...or so it appears.
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Look, Scolari is not casting a shadow, you, the BBC and every crap British journalist is doing that. Some of us, the real football fans, are only interested in what is happening on the field of play.
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Agreed #6.
English journalists seem to love to create this mentality that everybody in the world is only interested in what happens in England.
They're not, so what that Chelsea got a new manager? The news of Switzerland being out is of far more worth and importance.
Do you know there are other countries in the world than England? I can guarantee that the Germans, Dutch, Italians, French, Austrians, Turks, Greeks, Swedes etc. will not care what is happening at Chelsea.
Utter Crap.
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It only 'casts a shadow' because you like to think everyone's talking about what's happening in the premiership.
I don't think the rest of europe, especially the teams that are competing, are remotely interested.
My god, can't you let others enjoy what's happening without banging on about the premiership or england. I thought the bbc was accussed of not focusing enough on the uk when it comes to reporting news, surely not sport?
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I take your point about this often healthy obsession with all things English but I'm not sure you're right in this instance, geoffgarside and DaveWalnut.
Portugal are one of the favourites to win Euro 2008 and their coach has - with just two games gone - signed for Chelsea.
Tell me that doesn't have an impact on all the nations competing over here?
It's not the 'Chelsea' angle I was highlighting here anyway. I was coming at this from a Portuguese/Euro 2008 point of view.
There are a lot of Portugal fans worried that Scolari may not have his mind totally focused on the job in hand.
And I'm sure there are supporters of Germany, Netherlands, Italy and the like hoping that is exactly the case.
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Sounds to me like Roland Gercaliu is very much like John Arne Riise! In fact if he starts putting the ball into his own net I might start believing they are the same person.....I'm mean have you ever seen them in a room together?
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#9
If that is the case, would the story have been preached on the bbc in exactly the same fashion had Scolari been going off to couach a Brazilian club or even say a German or Italian club?
I don't think so.
Remember, the Portugese have known all along that Scolari would be leaving after the tournament, likely to rivals of Portugal or Portugese clubs.
I don't see how they would be worried anymore now than they were already.
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I think the story would still have the same significance irrespective of where Scolari heads. Sure, there is extra "meat" in the story with the fact he is joining Champions League runners-up and one of the biggest clubs in Europe (irrespective of the country they are from), but the story is still that with a tournament very much still in play, he has decided or somebody has decided that it was right to announce where his future lay, which is bound to have implications somewhere.
History shows it could go one of two ways, in that he could flop given he now has one eye definitively on the future, or the players could raise their game even further to give him a true send-off.
Either way I think there is nothing wrong with the story above, and as highlighted in #9 the story does cast some shadow over Euro 2008.
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#11
If Portugal aren't worried about the impact that the Scolari announcement may have and are pretty relaxed about him going, why did they cancel their media commitments today?
And why are Portuguese journalists surprised by the timing of the announcement?
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"Portugal are one of the favourites to win Euro 2008 and their coach has - with just two games gone - signed for Chelsea."
Whose favourite?
Genuine question.
I can see them being favourites amongst those who tout the EPL as the best in the world; ie. those who tout Ronaldo as the best in the world due to his season's exploits.
What's the score in the rest of Europe tho'?
How does one find out?
I don't know many Dutch bookies... but the person on the streets around my way would say the favourites are wearing orange (well, possibly Turkey may come up as an answer too ;) )
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Portugal is not in the least worried about the announcement that Scolari will go to Chelsea and this will not have any influence on the Euro 2008.
Scolari is a good professional who knows his (present) team very well. He could spare more than a couple of minutes per day to think about his future, if there was a need for that.
The insinuations that Scolari might put less enthusiasm in his present job are dishonest accusations worth only of the worse gutter press.
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There is a conspiracy by several people and countries to disrupt the Portuguese team as much as possible. First we had the Spanish and Real Madrid and their constant rumours in their propaganda newspaper "Marca". Now someone in Cheslky decided to reveal Scolari's future and now the whole world (the annoying journalists especially the ones from countries like Spain, Holland, Germany and France which are our main rivals) is in Neuchatel and Scolari and the Portuguese players will struggle to keep entirely focused on reaching the ultimate aim of winning Euro 2008. Despite all this conspiracy I'm sure we can still go all the way thus showing the world that distractions, rumours and speculation won't stop us from winning.
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#13
I'm not saying that the Portugese have been relaxed about the situation until now, rather that, the British press would have us believe that this news is dominating everything football related in Europe. Reality is that this news would have little effect and isn't having on the rest of Europe.
I'm sure media commitments were cancelled as the British press have a reputation, I'm sure you can remember back in 2006 when news of Scolari linking him to the England job leaked. Fleet Street's finest turned up and camped on his front lawn, in the end ruining any chance of him becoming the England manager (in his words anyway). As the rest of Europe is well aware of the talents of the British media, they are trying to stifle any attempts the British have on turning what isn't big news in to some kind of circus.
This isn't big european football news. It might be big news to Chelsea fans or football fans in England, but I can't buy the title that it is 'casting a shadow over Europe'.
If anything journalists will be using the story of Scolari over coming days to try and keep English fans interested in the Euro's, to replace the abscence of England.
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Whats the odss on Chelsea bidding for Ronaldo now??
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As the great Sir Alex Ferguson has said Ronaldo is going nowhere till his contract at ManUtd expires and if it's not renewed.
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#17, I'm pretty sure Scolari going to Chelsea is also big news in Portugal and that every one (the Portuguese) were shocked proves this. .
But I do agree that the rest of Europe don't really give a **** ;)
#14. It took only one match to see a return of Dutch arrogance, last time I've seen it was in 2000 (when it came to football the Dutch were bloody unbearable after that 6-1 win against Yugoslavia ) If you read his comment more carefully he said that Portugal was ONE of the favourites, I'm sure many agree that the favourites so far are Portugal, Germany, Netherlands and Spain.
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Over her in Holland big Phil has not cast a shadow over the Euros. He was mentioned in a byline in the tv programmes last night, people laughing about it, not being mightily impressed.
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It,s big news in th UK and this is a BBC web site.
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Do you know there are other countries in the world than England? I can guarantee that the Germans, Dutch, Italians, French, Austrians, Turks, Greeks, Swedes etc. will not care what is happening at Chelsea.
________________________________
That being said this is the BBC (British) and alot of us dont really care that Switzerland are out and it certainly isnt a big story. I dont know anybody who thought they MIGHT qualify from their group.
As far as the Euro Championships are concerned, one of the favourites to win the tournament have just lost their manager midway through the tournament which imho makes it a pretty big story!
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Now that Phil Gordos - if you mix Pete Townsend with Paul McGann - dead ringer.
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I have to agree with the author here, that Portugal being one of the favorites are definitely going to impacted as a camp by this news.
Even professionals can lose focus sometimes. Those professionals are the ones that usually don't deliver at the most crucial times.
If the Greeks and Austrians cares that might be good for them, considering where there teams are going to end up. Maybe the French too :-P.
Get over it, the author made a good point. This is big news, and complaining that BBC would not have made it sports headline news if Scolari was headed elsewhere is pure bull-spray. I've followed BBC Sport for long enough (10 years now) to know that.
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It is absolutely not true that a team "has just lost its manager".
Everybody in Portugal knew for at least 6 months that the contract with Scolari would end at the end of the Euro 2008.
So the only surprise about this announcement may have been Chelsea, not that he was leaving.
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Thanks #21
#22 and #23
I completely agree that this might be big news to Britain. My issue lies just with the initial comment:
'So Switzerland have already bowed out of Euro 2008 and Austria could follow them tonight, but does anyone but the co-hosts care this morning? The big news today is Portugal and, in particular, coach Luiz Felipe Scolari.'
It is this kind of attitude that asks Michele Platini if England will be missed and is surprised when he responds with no.
There is a general feeling in England that the world evolves around us, it doesn't.
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#11
Remember, the Portugese have known all along that Scolari would be leaving after the tournament, likely to rivals of Portugal or Portugese clubs.
===========================
Really??!!! Then you're in on some insider information. All that was heard from Scolari was that he might renew with Portugal and there may be other possibilities.
Now even if the Portuguese camp knew this, there is a big assumption on your part that that knowledge would not affect their performance.
Somehow I feel this conversation about their professional or lack thereof is one to be conducted in hind-sight, aka after the tournament.
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#27
There is a general feeling in England that the world evolves around us, it doesn't.
===========================
Totally agree with that comment, the Tim Henman and David Coulthard days were infuriating.
At least with Big Phil and Hamilton or Manchester United they have their hands on something worth your 2 minutes of reading time. And that game 39 overseas, thats just pure nonsense from so many different points of view.
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geoffgarside.
You call yourself a real football fan, yet you have no interest in the way a football club is run? i think you will find that a true football fan likes to know how the game is controlled and the financial info for teams etc etc
If you are not interested in the stuff that goes on in the background then how can you call yourself a real football fan?
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Phil G,
I personally think that the guys had a point when they say the focus was more to do with Chelsea than Euro.
I agree that there should be some interest in this and that this has worried the Portuguese as well. No doubt they were hoping to keep Scolari in the future.
Those are points you are entitled to argue.
That said, the BBC is well and truly guilty of having an underlying bias and in an international community such as England this is wholly inappropriate.
Now, I read what you said very, very carefully and to me it just seems that your using your knowledge and understanding of the English language to argue your case when in fact you haven't actually addressed the point they were making.
Personally, I think you and many of the other BBC journalists take it as a personal attack when someone criticises the style of writing.
Your ultimate failing though is your failure to address to the fact that this kind of thing is a common complaint of the 606 readers.
It is still my understanding that the licensing fee's the UK public pay go to the website and as an employee of the company your obligation should be to note these concerns and take them to your management.
As I said, we are interested but it's really not the be all and end all.
AC
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On several days during Euro 2008 the BBC Sport website has run top football stories speculating on players or managers who may move to an English Premier League club, and has given these speculative stories bigger prominence than the coverage of Euro 2008 games. Euro championships only happen once every 4 years. We have transfer windows twice a year and you can speculate away as much as you like in the 'gossip' section.
Scholari won't be renewing his contract at the end of the championships and will take up a post with Chelsea... sorry but most people would rank this as a less important story than the 2 matches played that day and the fact that Portugal have qualified for the next round and one of the hosts are out.
Please keep your mentions of english football out of your headline coverage of Euro 2008.
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Krudley, I'm in Vienna to cover Euro 2008, not the Premier League. And I don't mind criticism. I just wanted to set the record straight.
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DaveWalnut - Give it a rest mate!
Chelsea, one of the top 5 richest clubs in the world and Champions league runners-up have just got a new manager.
It also happens that he is a very big name who is currently managing the first team to have qualified from their group at the Euro's and one of the favourites.
If he had signed for another club from Brazil etc it wouldnt have been as big news (clubs with less followers and less money aren't as big in the world wide news as the big European clubs by definition!). The fact is the timing casts a shadow over Portugals preparations because its just something else for players, coaches and staff to think about.
The author didnt say it will be huge news in Holland or Germany etc - he said it will affect one of the favorites and therefore indirectly affect those teams ie. cast a shadow!
Had the title been - 'Euro's thrown into turmoil by Chelsea's appointment' then fair enough but it didnt.
Stop the Britain bashing - the BBC is just covering the news. As said earlier it is also called the British Broadcasting Corporation and is well within its rights to cover stories pitched towards Britons. Usually however and certainly in this case it didnt.
Its big news and worth an article - get over it.
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Can't help but laugh at #20 - having the hypocrisy for an English fan (I presume) to accuse other nations of footballing arrogance is the pot calling the kettle black pure and simple. Can you imagine the reaction if England had pulled off the same result?? According to the English press they'd have one hand on the trophy despite it being the first game in.
As for the article, yes it's completely newsworthy on the BBC - as stated, one of the best teams in the English premiership appoints the current coach of the first team through the group stages and one of the favourites. Agreed.
However, my point, and that of many others posting here I'm sure, is the way that it's reported with this delusional, self-centred attitude: 'does anyone but the co-hosts care this morning?' - yes, of course they do - what a completely ridiculous comment. You say you're there to cover Euro 2008 yet you apparently don't care about the co-hosts fortunes and them being the first team out?
The Scolari story is a big one, but due to England's lack of activity in the Euros it's suddenly 10 times bigger. Had he gone to a Scottish/Welsh/Northern Irish team (however unlikely) it certainly wouldn't have received as much coverage.
It may be a big story in England, but to say it's cast a shadow over the competition and that no one in Europe cares about other bigger stories is what makes the BBC's reporting look so ridiculous to those not south of the border.
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#35 I'm not English nor do I live in England (or UK for that matter) and yes English "Its our divine right to win this tournament" is also unbearable (The Dutch at least concede defeat). Based on my comment #20 its pretty easy to guess where I'm from. :)
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Bizarre...
Complaints about the BBC, a British institution paid for by the British taxpayer (the majority of that from England) focusing on an English angle of a story.
Personally I'd be worried if they didn't.
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It's not just that Switzerland lost, it's also that Turkey WON putting them back in contention to advance from the group. Which is quite a bit more interesting than whether Scolari is as ugly as Hackman. Anyhow, it's nice to see you've finally raised your gaze from peoples' legs long enough to notice their visage, We all await with baited breath the pronouncement on Josef Hickersberger's lookalike. Josef Hickersberger! Wow, what a name! He must be German or something!
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replica kit makers must hope he has a blinder and gets really popular...
charging by the letter they'll make a fortune :P
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#28
http://news.bbc.co.uk/sport1/hi/football/internationals/6210009.stm
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