Now, let's talk some SOCCER!

So in about 15 mins the great match between Portugal and England will start. Starplayers Christiano Ronaldo from Portugal and Wayne Rooney from England.
Both teams 50/50 chance to win. Both countries having soccer anchored in their genes.

 

0-1 for England in 3 minute!!!!!!!!! Owen scored

 

Wayne Rooney replaced because he has been hit on one of his feet, not good!

 

Half time now after 45 mins, very attractive game. To be continued in 15 minutes.

 

20 minutes to go, still Britannia rules

 

Costiga scores 1-1........................

 

Match finished, so they have to play another extra 15 minutes.

 

For Gerard and slammer:

Nog 2000 kaarten voor Oranje-Zweden

Voor de EK-wedstrijd Nederland-Zweden van zaterdagavond zijn nog 2000
kaarten beschikbaar. Ze gaan vrijdagochtend in de vrije verkoop aan
de kassa van het stadion in Faro. De tickets zijn afkomstig van de
Zweedse voetbalbond. Die heeft een deel van de toegewezen kaarten
teruggegeven. De loketten in Faro gaan om 9 uur 's ochtends open. De
tickets zijn voor iedereen beschikbaar en dus niet voorbehouden aan
Nederlanders.
Het duel tegen de Zweden wordt overigens geleid door de Slowaak Lubos
Michel. Die floot eerder in Amsterdam de beslissingswedstrijd van het
Nederlands elftal tegen Schotland, die Oranje met 6-0 won.

 

thanks for info Marianna, but I wont go

 

Ruis Costa scores 2-1 for Portugal. A beauty goal

 

sensation: Eng scores 2-2

 

match finished, it was a grande fiesta.
But......both teams have to shot 5 penalties, because there has to be a winner.

 

WOW.....Portugal wins the penalties 6-5 and will play 1/2 final against Ned/Sve

 

WOW

Ricardo saves - Ricardo scores

6:5 for Portugal

 

How fitting is that!

England's hopes dashed again.

Portugal into the semi's, who would have guessed that when this tournament started.

Now, if Greece can somehow beat France all will be right by me!

I would like to see the French gone! please!

Thanks for the stats Gerard.

I am very surprised how long ago Holland and Sweden last met.

Holland is very popular where i live. People are saying there hopes are with the Orange to go all the way, and take the Championship.




snowbound

 

I was "lucky" with Portugal

Will try it the same way for Greece

 

Well, I drove 130 miles R/T to watch the Eng./Port. match. It was at an Eng. Pub so I was careful not to cheer at the wrong time. The Portugeese played 120 min. of non stop football. Really the most impressive match I've ever seen them play. Except for periods in the second half the Brits matched them step for step. Awesome and very enjoyable to see. The Sweden/Holland game may prove to be just as exciting so I will have to come up w/an equally good excuse to give my wife. Anyone have any unused alibis I can use?

big ed

 

Sorry Ed, i ran out of those a long time ago....

Enjoy the games!



snowbound

 

Ed, take your wife with you

 

Hi Marianna, I thank you for that thought. Unfortunately sometimes us Seniors cannot be accomodated as we would like. The screen is blurry. Must be something in my eye.

big ed

 

Greeks planting seeds of doubt

If the eight quarter-finalists had been subject to Wimbledon-style seedings, the meeting of France and Greece at the Estádio José Alvalade on Friday evening would be first seeds versus eighth, the defending champions and favourites against the rank outsiders.

Experts incorrect
But Greece, enjoying the adventure of their footballing lives, have been here before: just under two weeks ago, in fact, when they faced the hosts, Portugal, in the opening game of the tournament and were given very little chance by most experts. On that occasion of course they not only won, but won well. So what price a first-ever win for Greece against France and the adventure continuing into next week?

 

Tonight France - Greece.
Theoretically France is better, but they showed so far poor performance, Greece is a very promising outsider.

 

Hi, Yeah, the usage of theory is great before and after a match. Eng,Spain, Ger, and Italy theoretically were favorites. Theoretically the Greeks should have stayed at home. Seeing that I enjoy Greek food and pastries more than I do French ones is a perfectly valid reason for me to root for Greece.

big ed

 

Cool, ok here a recipe for the weekend:

moussaka with roasted aubergines and ricotta
delia smith

450g minced lamb
2 medium sized aubergines
2 tablespoons olive oil
2 medium onions peeled and chopped small
2 cloves garlic peeled and chopped
1 heaped tablespoon chopped fresh mint 1 heaped tablespoon chopped parsley
1 teaspoon ground cinnamon
2 rounded tablespoons tomato puree
75ml red wine
salt and freshly milled black pepper

for the topping:
250g ricotta
275ml whole milk
25g plain flour
25g butter
1/4 whole nutmeg grated
1 bay leaf
1 large egg
1 tablespoon grated Parmesan nigiano Reggiano)
salt and freshly milled black pepper

ovenproof baking measuring 25.5 x 20cm 5cm deep
35 x 28cm baking sheet

Prepare the aubergines to get rid of their high water content and concentrate their flavour. To do this remove the stalks and leaving the skins on cut them into approximately 4cm chunks.
Place them in a colander and sprinkle them with about 1 level dessertspoon of salt.
Put a plate on top of them and weigh it down with something heavy then put another plate undemeath to catch the juices.
Leave them like this for 1 hour.
Shortly before the end of this time preheat the oven to its highest setting.
When the hour is up squeeze out any of the excess juice from the aubergines with your hands and dry them as thoroughly as you can in a clean cloth.
Spread them out on the baking sheet drizzle 1 tablespoon of the olive oil over them and toss them around to get a good coating.
Pop the baking sheet in the oven and roast the aubergines for 30 minutes or until they are tinged brown at the edges.
Meanwhile heat the remaining olive oil in your largest frying pan and fry the onions and garlic gently for about 5 minutes.
Turn the heat up high add the minced lamb and brown it for a few minutes turning it and keeping it on the move.
Cook the whole lot stirring all the time for 2 to 3 minutes.
Reduce the heat and in a small bowl mix the mint parsley cinnamon tomato puree and red wine.
When theyre thoroughly combined pour them over the meat season well and cook the whole lot very gently for about 20 minutes stirring from time to time so it doesnt catch on the base of the pan.
Remove the aubergines from the oven and reduce the temperature to gas mark 4/350F/180C.
Its a good idea to leave the oven door open to cool it down a bit.
Next make the topping by placing the milk flour butter nutmeg and bay leaf in a saucepan.
Using a balloon whisk whisk over a medium heat until everything comes up to simmering point and the sauce becomes smooth and glossy.
Turn the heat down to its lowest setting and let the sauce cook gently for 5 minutes.
Taste and season discarding the bay leaf remove the saucepan from the heat and let it cool a little before whisking in the Ricotta and egg.
Give it a good whisk to blend everything thoroughly.
Finally combine the roasted aubergines with the meat mixture and transfer it all to the baking dish.
Pour the topping over sprinkle the surface with the Parmesan and bake on the centre shelf of the oven for 50 minutes by which time the top will be golden brown.
Let it stand for 10 minutes to settle then serve with brown rice and a Greek style salad of cucumber tomatoes olives and crumbled Feta cheese dressed with olive oil and fresh lemon juice.

Once youve mastered the art of a perfect white sauce you can use it for any number of recipes. This one is a Greek classic but the little hint of Italy Ive added in the shape of Ricotta cheese makes the ivy best moussaka topping Ive tasted. Also roasting the aubergines is much less tiresome than standing over a frying pan watching them soak up masses of oil.

This Recipe Serves 6

Et en Francais: Bon Appetit

 

Greece: