Can’t see why Italy are winging about the whole thing. At the end of the day they weren’t good enough and they don’t deserve to go through. They look ordinary as a team. Italy will always do well if there star players play together and attack, which they never do. The star players play for themselves and not the country and they always defend. Ok, so you get five points and expect to qualify, but overall I would prefer to see teams like Denmark and Sweden, who both have shown how to play positive attacking football. Sweden scored five against Bulgaria and Denmark was unlucky not to win against Italy. Italy now are accusing the other two teams of “fixing” because of there well below average contribution to the tournament. I flicked between both the games last night and I did watch more of the Denmark v Sweden game as it was much more exciting to watch. There was no way what so ever the Denmark game could have been fixed. Both teams went out for it and what happened, happened. Sweden's conscience clear Italy angry at rivals' draw Danes dismiss 'fix' claims Uefa will not investigate

To be honest I’m not really bothered that there out. It’s been happening for some time now, the style of Italian football. It works at club level and Champions League as they have enough games in the course of the season or competition to sit back defend and then hit the side on the counter attack and get an away goal. In International Tournaments such as Euro 2004 they can’t. The invite pressure onto themselves and know that they have to attack. I’ve seen two of their games and Zambrotta to me has looked the threat. Anyway, it’s another big nation out and it’s opens a bigger chance for England to win it, let’s hope the Dutch are out tomorrow night. Italy 2-1 Bulgaria

LeChuck – You’ve got me there. At the time I thought we had no chance. From the friendlies that we played in the build up to the European Championships, we looked less than average with performances against Japan and a win against a poor Iceland team. I was surprised by the way how we performed heroically against France, very unlucky to come away with nothing. I also thought that Switzerland or Croatia would prove to be a bit more of a test than they actually were. Croatia at times did pose several threats, without Rooney we might have only just scraped through. I admit and hold my hands up that I was very wrong, which I’m glad about now. But I still think that we aren’t good enough to win the competition and I’ll continue to stick by that as there are many other countries that have under-performed so far, although I would love it if we won it.

I agree with you there Blueboy. People are a little too critical of James; at times he does show a sign of madness. James wasn’t at fault for either goal. He made a good reaction save to the first one, which could have fallen to anyone. Unfortunately for us it fell to a Croatian. Croatia’s second goal was poorly defended. You could see James’s reaction from the poor defending, the header, free header, went right in the corner of the net. However there was one moment in the second half where James attempted to claim the ball from a cross, which he missed resulting in an effort on goal from the Croatians. James did make up for his mistake by saving it. James isn’t the best keeper, but he’s very athletic for a keeper and is often criticised unfairly. The defence at times doesn’t help him and isn’t tight enough in defending.

Overall a great victory however I don’t think we have seen England at there very best yet. The headlines will go to Rooney for his goals and a great all round performance and rightly so. Whilst players such as Neville, Cole and Lampard were again equally as good in what they do. My only concern from the games was the defending at times, especially set pieces. Croatia were physically strong and always posed a threat from dead ball situations, shown from there second goal. Thank God that Scholes managed to score, finally it came for him. We’ve scored eight goals in three games, which half of them have been from wonder-boy Rooney. Conceding four goals in three games may sound bad; however three of them have been from set pieces, two which were brilliance from Zidane. Gerrard looked as if he was trying to prove a lot and looked as if he was trying too hard at times. He was average but I’m sure he’ll get better. It’s going to be sooner or later before Owen scores, his positioning`s brilliant and only needs a pass threaded to him to get that goal he needs. Rooney was sensational. His first goal, a clinical drive, too powerful for the Croatian keeper to handle with his second showing the composure of the youngster. Overall a performance which can only spur confidence. Portugal is the next test, the host nation will prove a test, however I think with the pace that we have through the forwards, with the powerful midfield we will beat them. The home crowd will be well behind Portugal and I’m sure the large contingent of the English fans will be too. With Spain out and other teams such as Italy and Germany under pressure to qualify, it could be the year for anyone to win it now. Croatia 2-4 England

??? Oi, RIML, what the flip are you on about?! Have you been going down the pub or a nursing home?! They tend to sweat a bit more than the younger people I’ve noticed. Well, they did in the Bulls Head when it was a pub.

At home with a few mates coming along. Even though pub atmospheres are brilliant. I hate it; the smell of older people as well in a confined space doesn’t help either. At home, with mates each bringing a few beers is what we’re doing.

De Pedro OOOoooooooooooooOOOOOOOooooooooo De Pedro OOOooooooooooooooOOOOOOOOOOooooooo He comes from sunny Spain More tricks than David Blaine De Pedro OOOOOOooooooooooooOOOOOOOOooooooooooo Tune the tune of that irritating Paddy Vieira song Arsenal sing. Actually no that's @#/? I like it Dave. Over the last few days I've been busy working on a slightly different version. Spoken to McCartney, John, Dylan, Kilmister, the usual types I often turn to at times like this. Basically they reckon if you substitute "He comes from sunny Spain, More tricks than David Blaine" and add.... "He came from Sociedad, He's got a Spanish Dad" We'll be onto a winner. Or maybe not. The David Blaine chant is by far the best suggestion I think for a chant for him. Catchy and easy to get everyone singing it. I thought that the deal to sign De Pedro had died down, delighted we have got him, to see some magic again down the left side of the midfield. On a free as well, great bit of business.

The win is what we needed. We were nothing special and either were the opponents up against us. The passing was poor for the majority of the game, but we got the three points and that’s all that counts. Rooney was the star again. His confidence is brilliant for someone of his age and at the stage of his career. The build up to the first goal was brilliant. Pin point cross field pass to Owen, great chipped cross for Rooney to head home. Croatia I feel will be a much tougher test and will cause us generally more problems than Switzerland did. Poor game, the win was needed and we got it. England 3-0 Switzerland

This is the first that I have actually heard of the transfer coming through. I’m really pleased that we have got him. He’ll bring a balance to the team now and allow another option to the midfield. His skill is top class; he will be a star in the Premier League from what I have seen on him, clips from La Liga, brilliant. He isn’t getting any younger though.

My step brother has gone to the championships, just been chatting to him on the phone and he said from what he saw last night was that a minority of the English fans who went on the rampage. But he said that there are some foreign fans that are aware of the bad reputation of the English fans and from his opinion said that there were many other nationalities of football fans at the time that were encouraging the English to fight with police. It isn’t helped by the media at all, however the people of our country should no better, but some don’t. I can’t understand the temptation of some fans to cause mayhem and mess of a place, why? Waste of time and energy. I’ve always thought that when you are in somebody else’s country you respect their traditions and get on with the local people. Will something similar happen again? Very probably.

Well said. Ok so I’m disappointed that we haven’t got the transfer funds to spend on a few new players to the squad. And obviously I’m disappointed that it could yet be another year of seeing the same football as we just have done. But we’ve got to get on with it. Players will come back from injury, Thompson, Ferguson, Mceveley who are three players who have a big future with the club and all three are keep players. The club have been honest and that’ll all you can ask. They haven’t lied, spent huge amounts of money, big cock up and then after all that they come out that we didn’t have the money and end up like Leeds. We’ve no money, so looks for loans, players on bosmans. Like Souness chased Larsson on a free contract. There’s no harm in asking.

Same here. Isn’t looking good at all. I don’t know what UEFA will do. It looked as like several bars had been broken, windows smashed, chairs all over the place. I can’t see the point myself, why these “fans” want to go out and do it. It’s the minority who spoil it for everyone else. Possibly could result in England’s allocation being reduced for a game. No wonder foreigners tar English fans with the same brush. And I bet the “fans” complaining that we don’t get enough tickets because we have been given a reduced amount because of the trouble, will be the ones who caused chaos last night, or at least a small number of them. I hope they feel better about themselves now.......

I didn’t notice Rooney getting tired at all. I thought he had a brilliant game and as the game went on Rooney got better. I can see why Heskey was brought on and did link up rarely with Vassell well together. However Heskey, being the clumsy fool he is fouled Vieira stupidly outside the box. Defoe should have gone as he has the ability to stretch defences as the game goes on and surely with France chasing the game, the pace of Defoe could stretch the game and perhaps have created more goal scoring opportunities that we had. I can’t think of many actual chances that we had. It was his determination to win the ball and then go on one of his pace runs to try and create a scoring opportunity. A more experienced Rooney could have had the vision to have laid it off to Vassell who could have taken a shot or approached Barthez on a one on one situation. Rooney did remarkably well, he was strong, came short to give the midfield another option instead of hoofing a useless ball up to Owen to win in the air. He was unlucky not to go on and score if it wasn’t for the bad defending of Silvestre who should have been sent off. Ok, we lost the game and after listening to many, different opinions on Sky it’s not the end of the world. We still have two games to play in total six points to win. It’s up to us now to make sure we win our next game and not draw; otherwise it’ll be even harder to get through. Rooney will make his mark on the competition at some point; he has to with his ability as long as he keeps a cool head.

Spot on, Paul. There is a massive gulf between the way England play and the way France play. The best team were losing 1-0 for 45 minutes tonight. I had hoped for a 1-1 draw at 87 minutes (before Heskey commited the foul which led to Zidane's free kick and goal) but, though gutted, cannot complain about the result. The French people, through their government's policies over several decades, have produced QUALITY footballers; as well as a quality rail network and other quality stuff. WHEN OH WHEN will a British government start to do similar?? I know England are not Britain but you get my meaning? sorry but i think you know f all we defended the game, AS ANY country would in our situation, france never really looked like scoring, and anyone who says differently know sweet fa luck luck luck That’s the thing, all we did in the second half was defend. No matter how well we played that’s all we defend, mind you we did defend brilliantly at times with King and Campbell. My point is that we allowed France to dictate the play of the game. It was only a matter of time before they scored; they passed the ball whenever they wanted in the second half. We didn’t pressure them enough; we stood of them and got the tackle in round our box. Which is too close to the goal, if a foul’s conceded through this, it’ll lead to a goal scoring opportunity like Zidane`s free kick. We looked dangerous through Rooney and that was about it. His run at the French defence was brilliant, if Silvestre walks it could have been a different story and it certainly would have been a different story if Beckham would have converted. We played well, but allowed them to play, watching the highlights on BBC, at times France were allowed to string 8/9 passes together without being challenged or put under pressure. France didn’t look like scoring up till about 70minutes. Where we sat back, they’re a quality team on their day and it only took a bit of brilliance from the man in the number ten to punish us.

I don’t think you can blame James for the free kick. The incidents building up to it, Heskey had no need to foul Vieria. From behind the goal it showed James slightly move to the left before Zidane struck the free kick. James also didn’t see it until it was up and over the wall. The free kick was World Class and I doubt any keeper would have saved it. The penalty, Gerrard showed his lack of experience there. The easy option was to let Ashley Cole hit it up the field. The penalty by Zidane again was class, unstoppable. You can’t blame James for both the free kick and the penalty. Both were class. He did foul Henry however at least he made an attempt in trying to stop Henry one on one, which probably resulted in a goal. Gerrard was at fault and from his personality he’ll be man enough to admit to it I’m sure. Eriksson remains upbeat

Just got home and I can’t describe how I actually feel. Stunned, dejected, disillusioned. We did play well enough but we didn’t play well enough to win the game, perhaps a draw was a fair result but to concede the goals both late on was a sickening blow. Beckham – Didn’t pull of a captain’s performance for me. He didn’t look in the game, his penalty wasn’t good enough. Not near enough the corner and at a reachable height for Barthez. Events before hand showed what Rooney can do, brilliant performance from him, tormenting the French defence, how Silvestre didn’t go I won’t know. Zidane was above that different class. The free kick, I couldn’t understand why Heskey went in to challenge like he did. All Heskey needed to do was to stand his ground and if Viera went past both Hargreves and Cole were in a position to stop him advancing further. Zidane`s free kick was sensational, his penalty was impossible to stop unlike Beckham`s. Gerrard is a great player but what was he doing in the build up to the penalty incident. Surely Ashley Cole could have cleared it up the other end? James – Didn’t do anything wrong. Apart from the penalty conceding which he had to commit himself. Neville – Solid. King – Great game. Campbell – Rock Cole – Good game needs more protection in front of him. Beckham – Looked out of place. Lampard – Promising international future. Gerrard – Played ok – was at fault for France’s build up to penalty incident. Scholes – Left Cole exposed – Poor tackler – otherwise generally good. Owen – Can’t remember him doing much. Rooney – Brilliant. The main highlights were that of King, Rooney particularly, who both had good performances against a tough opposition. We did play well, for the whole of the second half apart from a few counter attacks we defended and let them come on to us, it was inevitable that they were going to create something. Zidane was brilliant. We need to win both our remaining games, if we don’t then we stand a chance of getting the first plane back home I’m afraid. However if we continue to play like we did in the next two games I’m sure we’ll go through. What I’d look to change is Scholes on the left side of the midfield. He left Cole exposed many times in the game. I’d suggest a chance for Bridge to either come in on the left wing or at left back in Cole stepping up to the left side of midfield. France 2-1 England

He is in Spain!! Not portugal!! My apologies to him then. However it doesn’t help when he tries to create something which is over the top. The local people in Lisbon have said that they have enjoyed the friendly atmosphere with the English fans and the English fans there have said they have enjoyed the warm welcome that’s greeted with them. If the locals mix with the English and vice versa, everyone has a good time together. Seems some are looking for the tiniest bit of trouble to make it sound terrible. It is sad that the minority of England fans get in needless trouble but it is also sad when people create trouble for the sake of it.

What do you think to that Soueyisgod?........ 35-50k!!! England fans expected in Portugal...... only 4 arrests and those released without charge MAGNIFICENTLY WELL BEHAVED I WOULD SAY! According to sky one England fan has been detained. Police tried to clear the road after the incidents last night. Soueyisgod England fans do have a reputation abroad and it doesn’t help when foreigners like yourself stir things up for the sake of it. Well said SIMON GARNERS 194, for the amount of England fans in Portugal, biggest away following ever apparently, only a few arrests have been made. You think that’s bad soueyisgod then you should have been in Marseille for the World Cup in 98. What I saw from a majority then of England fans was appalling. Soueyisgod – Your country is hosting a great tournament and from the Portuguese people which have been interviewed on television here all seem to be enjoying the atmosphere with the England fans. Get out there and enjoy it.

He’s taken the financial level of football to a new level where the majority of clubs now are left behind. Any player he fancies he’s likely to offer a huge amount of money and expect them to come. Recently several players across Europe have rejected the chance simply because they realise they won’t a game, players like Crespo, Mutu probably wish they hadn’t signed for Chelski. I doubt Gerrard will leave for Chelsea. If he was to leave Liverpool I bet it would be a move abroad. See Abramovich last night at the Russia game, he looked like a little kid! BLUES EYE GERRARD MOVE

Matteo is a good player. Can play in the midfield and in the heart of defence. A played who leads by example, someone who plays with passion for the game. He’s a good buy for the price he’s available at but he’s on £40k a week. As for the Van Buyten. He’s too expensive for us, our spending days are over in splashing the cash and £4m plus maybe on one player wasn’t the solution to buying several players that are needed.

Lovenkrands would be I imagine the next left winger on the list for Souness. Only problem is that I would expect Rangers to be willing to sell him at around £3M or so. I’m not sure if Souness would be prepared to spend it, however since we have added with Dickov and Matteo looks as if it’s going to happen, I don’t see why not we should have a go for Lovenkrands. I’ve never seen Pedersen so I can’t say what we’re missing out on, although reports say he’s got a terrific future ahead of him.

We all knew this was coming and it’s a major blow to England. I feel that the chance now of stopping Henry and Trezeguet up front has become slim now. Not only are they top strikers but Campbell and Terry I think could do a great job by marking them. Ledley King’s in contention to replace Terry and if King plays like he did in Portugal last February we could be ok, but I fear that they’ll rip our defence to pieces now. At least Terry will be back for the rest of the tournament. Probably the best defender we have and he’s injured. Terry fails fitness test

I thought this was a topic about discussing the best Rovers Eleven not slagging off everyone else’s views. Anyway the best Rovers players to fit in a team that I’ve seen in my time supporting Rovers are: Flowers Berg, Hendry, Moran, Le Saux Ripley, Atkins, Sherwood, Duff Shearer, Speedie

Thank God that there is some sense in footballers today. Seems as if players now would rather play football with the money of course, than not play at all at Chelsea and sit on the bench. I’m glad that Abramovich hasn’t got Trezeguet or the others mentioned in the article. Money can’t buy you everything Mr. Abramovich. Trezeguet latest to turn down Chelsea