Semi-Final Results
France 1-0 England
Goalscorers
(France)
Pires 8
1st Half
France came ut the far better team and nearly scored 6 minutes into the first half, Lizarazu took the ball down the left and swung in a dangerous ball which James came to collect but fumbled dreadfully, the ball flew in the air and Pires' header was goal bound but Campbell cleared off the line. England didn't learn from one mistake and they made another, well they didn't make a mistake, they where outclassed! Desailly sent a long ball forward which Henry headed down to Wiltord, his quick pass found Zidane who turned Campbell and threaded a great ball through to an unmarked Pires flying down the right hand side who hit it first time and sent the ball flying passed the helpless James for 1-0. England had one shot in the first half and that was from Owen who should of made it 1-1. He picked up the ball with his back to goal and turned Desailly on a sixpence, he was 1 on 1 with Barthez but the French keeper kept his composure and made a decent save sending the ball out for a corner. The England midfielders couldn't contain with the one of the greatest midfielders of all time...that man being Zidane. He ran the show from start to finish and everything about his game was pure genius. Beckham had a very controversial offside decision given against him which would have sent him 1 on 1 with Barthez, but it was just going to be one of those days for England. France where first to everything in the first half but after a dreadful start the England defenders began to do their job.
2nd Half
France where again the stronger side in the second half and created the most chances, which where mainly half chances in which was a dull second half. Henry very nearly doubled the lead on 82 minutes when he turned 3 England players on the edge of the box but james made a good save. England where awful to say the least or it could of been that France where too good for them, either way France thoroughly deserved the win and a place in the final.
Greece 0-1 Norway
Goalscorers
(Norway)
Solskjaer 39
1st Half
Greece started the game as they started every other game they played in the competition, very strongly and on 10 minutes Vryzas could've made it 1-0 to Greece but he failed to score from a 1 on 1 situation. The Greeks where playing a sublime game, closing the Norweigians down quickly and catching them on the counter attack, but Norways defence was too tough for the surprise package of the tournament. Iverson had a great shot saved after 31 minutes but that was all Norway had created up until that point in the game. But on 39 minutes a disastrous piece of defending gifted Norway the lead of which they didn't deserve. The Greece keeper rolled the ball out to Goumas whose first touch wasn't great and he was left with Solskjaer closing him down quickly, Goumas tried to clear it but his miss kick hit Carew and the rebound fell to Solskjaer who had the easy task of side footing it passed the keepr for 1-0.
2nd Half
Greece came out in the second half just as strong as they had started in the first. But the chances where very limited in the second period and it became a very scrappy game. As the game wore on the chances where flooding in for Greece, they looked very good coming forward from midfield but they lacked that little bit of creativity that may have got them an equaliser. It was a very frustrating game for Greece and a game they didn't deserve to lose. But they will go into the 3rd Place Playoff knowing that they have done alot better than the likes of Holland, Italy, Germany and Portugal.
Top 10 Goalscorers
Henry----6
Beckham-3
Rudi-----3
Mpenza--2
Carew---2
Mijatovic-2
Figo-----2
Heskey--2
Sand----2
Solskjaer-2
3rd Place Playoff
England v Greece
The Final
France v Norway