J.A.W.

I absolutely don't know what to expect from tonight's game.

Sorry to jump in on another linguistic question (such things do fascinate me). I believe that in the English language the word ”Holland” means exactly the same thing as ”the Netherlands”. It’s the same in Swedish; ”Holland” and ”Nederländerna” are synonyms. Words may mean different things in different languages even if they have a common etymological origin. For example, ”Dutch” is the same word etymologically as ”Deutsch” (and ”duits” in Dutch, I believe?), but they have come to mean different things for historical reasons. Another analogous example would be the Finnish word ”Saksa” which means ”Germany” and not just ”Saxony”. Holland is the name of the most important province of the Republic of the United Netherlands (De Republiek der Verenigde Nederlanden, 1581-1795), a world power in the late 16th and 17th Centuries, and that's probably why "Holland" is (still) a synonym for "the Netherlands" in several foreign languages. The Dutch equivalent would be "Germaans". German in Dutch is "Duits".

But that's not correct either. Great Britain is the island that includes England, Scotland and Wales. If you add Northern Ireland you get the United Kingdom. You're absolutely right! Officially it's "The United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland". My mistake

With the exception of the 1998 World Cup and Euro 2000, of course.

Good idea.

Absolutely, but the French didn't play well in this tournament and deserved to lose tonight.

The stars playing in those great competitions (Spain, Italy, England, Germany, France) are probably too tired...

What's going on?? First Italy, Spain, Germany and England out, and now France...

Full time: France 0, Greece 1 The Euro 2000 champions go home! Bad game.

language Bentsy, language!

Wish I had.

C'mon John, 6 more posts and you'll be promoted... B) can I have a beer then? Hmm, that Stralsunder you posted a while ago looks very tempting...

C'mon John, 6 more posts and you'll be promoted... B)

France 0, Greece 1! I wonder how the French will react...

I guess all these non-France vs. Greece-related posts say a lot about that game...

Yep, you'd better not call a Scot, a Welshman or an Irishman English... & vice - versa ! Oops, of course, sorry for my omission...

Yep, you'd better not call a Scot, a Welshman or an Irishman English...

Half time, France 0, Greece 0 A very disappointing game so far, with the French far below par.

It's not the British league, but the English Premiership. Sorry for the mistake!!! I could say the same about italian league: we call it SERIE A, anyway if you wish understand my poor english... I will remember it when a dutch tourist ask for the Colosseo...(in English, of course) B) I hear you. What I meant to say is, that people are often talking about England when they mean Great Britain (which also includes Scotland, Wales and Northern Ireland, of course) and the other way around. I also meant to say that there is no British League, just an English League (in fact there are two, the Premiership and the Football League), a Scottish Premier League, a Welsh League and a Northern Irish League. By the way, your English is OK as far as I'm concerned.

Nah, couw doesn't like alcoholic beverages...

I take it you just opened a bottle of Spa mineral water...

Marcus, it's not Great Britain playing, just England! The british team is not in Euro2004. Brownie, I'm afraid most Dutchmen don't know the difference between Britain and England either, and we're practically neighbours... It's just like calling the Netherlands Holland; Holland (= actually two provinces) is only part of the Netherlands.

It's not the British league, but the English Premiership.

I'm perfectly happy with my U.K. 21CD Sinatra Capitol box

Here he is!