The first victim was Russia. Behind the tandem of Ibrahimovich and Elmander, Sweden dismantled the upstart Russians 6-0 at home. This clinical dismantling of the Russians was just a warning shot; by the time the first round was over, they advance with 11 goals for, and only 2 against.

The first team to clinch their way to the second round, Sweden faced off againt Group C’s runned up – Romania. Romania itself was an impressive team in its own right, advancing from the tournaments Group of Death, including the Netherlands, France and Italy. Clearly, this would be a team to contend with. And so they did. In a close game, Sweden turns on the engine in the final 20 minutes to down their Romanian opponents 4-2 at home.

A tough, defensive Greek team awaited in the semifinal. In the pouring rain, both teams created chances in a defensive minded game. It took a goal in the 58th minute by Ibrahimovich and some creative defense for Sweden to reach the finals.

Croatia stood tall at the other end of the brackets. Phil M. tore through opponents, ranging from Portugal, the Czech Republic and Germany. Clearly proving his prowess and defensive ability (letting in only 2 goals in 4 games, until the “slobber knocker” win against the Czechs, 6-5), Croatia was considered an early favorite. But Sweden once again defied the odds, holding on to a 2-1 lead behind Ibrahimovich and Elmander.

Ibrahimovich was named MVP. Who can argue that?

Congrats to Charles Snyder. And read up on his victory on the front page : Click Here!

Who would have thought? The checkered Croats against the land of snow and hot women.

Here is how they did it –

Sweden 1 - Greece 0

As reported by Mauro Morena –

……it was raining and Greece hit a post around minute, 12 then Ibrahimovic scored around the 58th minute. Greece then hit the top post, (minute 89) hit the floor and went up again on the air for Sweden to throw it to the corner…Greece took the corner and almost scored with a header by Gekas which went behind the goal for a goal kick that ended the game…..

Czech Republic 5 – 6 Croatia

As reported by Phil M.

CROATIA 6-5 WINS IN A SLOBBERKNOCKERRRR!!! Down 5-2, what a come back!

CROATIA:
Eduardo 11′ 79′ Srna 25′ Olic 65′ 68′ some where in there Olic kicked it but Czech slide tackles it in for own goal around 50 something min or somewhere in the 60s strange play but the ball was def goin in..

Czech:
Koller 09′ Barros 14′ 23′ 45′ Jarolim 52′ Rosicky 55′ Czech (OG) 50-65??

And so we advance to the most unexpected, none 5 star team final.

Who will be our big winner? Deadline is Sunday at midnight.

CROATIA 3 – 1 PORTUGAL
CROATIA
Eduardo 39′ 64′ Olic 59′
Portugal
Cristiano Ronaldo 57′

SWEDEN 4 – 2 ROMANIA

GREECE 3 – 0 NETHERLANDS

Czech Republic 6 – 1 Poland

Jan Koller scores 5 and assists on 1.

This all leads to some exciting matches coming up in our semifinals! Greece is looking to make up for realities problems, while the Czech look to steam roll the competition.

DEADLINE IS FRIDAY AT MIDNIGHT FOLKS! Best of luck!

I would like to congratulate all of you one your fine play.

If someone were to have told you that FRANCE, ITALY and SPAIN would not advance in this tournament, you would have taken the bet immediately. But here we are. And they are not.

And interesting seeding for this tournament, highlighted, I think, by a Portugal v. Croatia clash.

Groups will be emailed out tonight. Sign in, and lets things started.

DEADLINE FOR THIS ROUND WILL BE MONDAY @ 12am MIDNIGHT!

And this round is a simple one and done format – so get online, play your game, and maybe we can advance this tourney fast enough to catch up to real life!

Again, congrats to all the players.

Get your games in today!

Hey all,

Here are the brackets for the tournament so far.

I need participants who havent played their games (I think only one remains) to get moving!

And to those groups who are depending on a game to decide the brackets, remember – If someone plays MORE games than you, especially if you have only played one game, you may actually lose your qualification.

PLAY TWO GAMES to be on the safe side.

And remember, this deadline is FIRM. No extensions! Eventually, I would like this tournament and the real life one to conclude around the same time (especially since the next round is purely one game knockouts).

Please remember to play your games before the Wednesday, 12am Eastern deadline. There is still alot to be decided so lets get crackalackin!

First off, great job to everyone involved. The tournament has hit the road running, and the majority of games have already been played.

Remember – deadline for this round is Wednesday at 12pm Midnight! We will then immediately move onto the next round.

9 Games remain to be played – and off to the Elite Eight we go!

=====================================

Here is a small sampling of some of our results.

GROUP A

TEAM——————GMS——-W——-L——–T——-PTS——-GF——GA

Czech Republic–3———-2——-0———1——–7——-12——6

Portugal————–3———-1——–0——–2——–5——–8——-2

Switzerland———–2———-0——–1——–1——–1——–4——-4

Turkey—————2———-0——–2——–0———0——-0——-12

Czech Republic 6 - 0 Turkey

Czech Republic 2 – 2 Portugal

Czech Republic 4 – 2 Switzerland

Portugal 0 – 0 Switzerland

Portugal 6 – 0 Turkey

Ronaldo scores a hat trick, and Queresma nets two as Portugal shows Turkey the door out of the tournament.

GROUP B

TEAM———GMS——-W——-L——–T——-PTS——-GF——GA

Croatia———3———-2——-1———0——–6——-5——1

Poland———2———-2——–0——–0——–6——–4——2

Austria——–3———-0——–2——–1——–1——–5——-8

Germany——-2———-0——–1——–1———1——-3——6

Austria 0 – 2 Croatia

Austria 3 – 3 Germany

Linz and Ivanshitz score for Austria in this stunning tie of Germany.

Germany 0 – 3 Croatia

Croatia 0 – Poland 1

Austria 2 – 3 Poland

GROUP C

Romania 4 – 2 France

An unthinkable win and probably the upset of the tournament so far

Holland 5 – 0 Romania

Chivu earns a red card in the 12th minute of play, and Holland runs wild. “Ruud” scores 4 goals in this running riot over Romania.

GROUP D

TEAM———GMS——-W——-L——–T——-PTS——-GF——GA

Sweden——–2———-2——-0———0——–6——-11——2

Greece——–1———-1——–0——–0——–3——–3——-2

Russia———2———-0——–2——–0——–0——–2——-8

Spain———-1———-0——–1——–0———0——-2——-5

Russia 2 – 3 Greece

Arshavin scores two but Greece power past for the win.

Sweden 6 – 0 Russia

Sweden 5 – 2 Spain

Some games were already played over the weekend – a full update of scores, and even some recap stuff, will be available.

REMEMBER: I will be updating scores here – so if you would like for me to mention your goal scorers, please, feel free to send me your game summaries, and I will add them to the reviews.

We officially kick off Wednesday – but the participation already may actually push the deadline up. Keep it going everyone. Great job!

Check your email. Password and league names have all been given. Any problems signing in, contact me.

And as an added bonus, if you sign in early, you may begin the tournament early as well. And if everyone completes their games, we may then advance the deadline.

Ladies and Gentlemen, best of luck!

And, for those who do not know, here are your Groups:

GROUP A

Portugal
Czech Republic
Turkey
Switzerland

GROUP B

Germany
Croatia
Austria
Poland

GROUP C

Netherlands
Italy
Romania
France

GROUP D

Spain
Sweden
Greece
Russia

Now, before we do anything, read the information below carefully.

The Rules:

1. The Tournament starts Wednesday, June 18th, @ 12am. Deadline for the group stages will be June 25th at midnight. The deadline is firm. From todays announcement, you will have till Wednesday to sign onto your groups online. With your supplied emails, we will give you your passwords and league names and so on.
2. Tie breakers include (in order of importance) head to head results, wins, goal differential.
3. Games will be scheduled as per your groups availability. Everyone must supply a valid email.
4. Time Zone issues must be resolved as soon as the tournament kicks off.
5. If you lose connection in a game, and were winning, won, losing, or some other haphazard occurance occured, I will take only the result I read online, UNLESS I get word from BOTH match participants in protest to this. If I have conflicting stories, I will only go with the online result.
6. Deadlines will be firm.
7. Group stages will feature one game against every opponent in your field. Top 2 qualify for the next round.
8. Brackets will mimic the true Euro format (check out this link to learn more about the EURO format – http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/UEFA_Euro_2008 )
9. All rounds after the group stage are one game playoffs, winner take all.
10. You are allowed only ONE entry into the tournament
11. If by some chance there are participants that do not finish nor start the tournament, your team will either be replaced or dropped from the tournament.

Ok – check your emails later tonite for your passwords and so forth. Please sign into your league by Wednesday or you could endanger yourself to disqualification.

Any questions? Email me – daveredbulls@hotmail.com