Euro 2008

Last night, Euro 2008 started with a lavish opening ceremony and followed by the first match of the tournament between one of the co-hosts, Switzerland, and Chezch Republic. The Swiss lost the match one-nil, to a goal from Vaclav Sverkos. They also had two legitimate penalty appeals turned down by the Italian referee. In the other match from Group A, Portugal beat Turkey 2-0, with goals from Pepe and Raul Meireles.

Tonight, the other co-host, Austria, willl take on Croatia and Germany will paly Poland.

My favourite team, England, failed to qualify for the Euro 2008. I will still follow Euro 2008, but probably less religiously. I would think most of the big guns in Europe, i.e. Italy, France, Germany, the Netherlands and Portugal, would go a long way in this tournament. I'll probably support Portugal this time around.

For some unfortunate reason, viewers in Brunei will not be able to follow Euro 2008 via terrestrial television. RTB was not successful to secure the right to show the matches on free to air basis. That probably meant that RTB wanted to show the matches without the viewers having to pay for it. Unlikely, ESPN or Star Sports, which subscribers have to pay via Kristal Astro services, RTB is a terrestrial television service and it does not charge any subscription fee or TV license and neither it shows advertisement on air. If RTB were to pay for the license for Euro 2008, I would imagine it would try to obtain sponsorship from the many private companies in Brunei. With the absence of Euro 2008 from RTB, that would also mean we would not be able to see Hj Malik Hj Awg Tengah (allegedly one of the top scorers in a previous World Cup!)! Read more about it here.

Bruneian viewers still can follow Euro 2008 via ESPN and Star Sports on Kristal Astro.

The official Euro 2008 website is here.

Oh, by the way the Men Single's Final of the French Open is playing now and I am rooting for Nadal to win his forth straight French Open title. Sorry Jest!