The 10th June was an important day in my calendar, I had to get credit for my phone.. no it was because of Euro 2000 the competition if you believe the hype as the "beat ever".

I decide to switch on the telly just in time for the start of the opening ceremony. If the competition got off to a bad start, it had to be an understatement.

What the fuck was the idea of having little kiddies leaping out of orange tunnels onto the pitch, did some kid in their excitement fart in the tunnel such that they all leapt out of the tunnel in desparation for air, no wonder Belgium don't win the Eurovision!.

Anyway, after all that ridiculous shite came the opening match between the Belgians and Swedes. I really feared the worst as both sides do not play the most exciting footie on earth. However, I was pleasantly suprised at the game's excitement but sadly not with the skill.

Belgium had gone 2-0 up when Sweden decided to play football. It looked as though they might nick a point off the hosts once they pulled one back courtesy of a terrible piece of goalkeeping by De Wilde to let Mjablly score. Alas, the Swedes sang "Waterloo" once Anderson was given his marching orders after a second yellow card on 81 minutes. A win for the hosts and the footballing side of the tournament had got off to a splendid start.

After a severe night on the town after the match, I managed to get up just in time for the Italy v Turkey game. The game was an entertaining affair with Italy controlling most of the exchanges. They took the lead courtesy of Conte only to be cancelled out by Okan. The Italian winner when it came was dubious to say the least, Hugh Dallas gave a penalty once Inzaghi had dived with "pike in a 3.5 twist". Dallas gave it and a 7.5 for artistic impression to boot.

The thing about the decision was that it was in the area where all the Turkish fans were located. You don't have to be genius to find out that the Turks were incensed about the decision - hence signal the "Millwall Branch of the Turkish Supporters Club" to throw bottles, crisp bags, condoms anything they could lay their hands on to throw onto the pitch. After several minutes of picking objects from the pitch, Inzaghi stepped up to slot the ball home and secure the three points for the "Azzuri".

Next was the eagerly awaited clash between France and Denmark in Group D. However, the tight game I had expected never turned out that way once I saw the guy marking Zidane, a Sunday League player with a fine belly to boot. The French ripped the Danes apart winning 3-0 with Thierry Henri's goal the highlight of a polished display.

The Dutch tried to entertain us in the evening match which took place in the "Amsterdam Arena". A drab game saw the Czechs hit the woodwork twice in the second half before De Boer blatantly looked for a penalty on the 90th minute, the referee Collina unbelievably awarded the spot kick to the co-hosts. Frank De Boer stepped up to slot the ball home to steal the points.

The day I was waiting for, the England match. The 5pm match saw Romania and Germany play a drab 1-1 draw with Moldovan and Scholl scoring. The game was an non-event compared to England game.

England v Portugal will be remembered as one of the great games of the tournament. Keegan's charges took an early 2-0 lead after 18 minutes courtesy of Scholes and McManaman following two brillant crosses from David Beckham.

I thought that was it as regards Portugal, but how wrong I was. England started playing like Keegan's Newcastle side leaving big holes in midfield for Figo and Rui Costa to exploit. The Iberian men were levelled after 35 minutes following a wonder strike from Figo and a magnificent header from Sao Pinto.

Keegan and the rest of the England party in Eindhoven were stunned and it was no suprise when the Portugese scored the decisive third with Gomes exploited Adams lack of pace to beat Seaman from eight yards. The final whistle blew with England's dreams of Euro glory up in tatters with only one game played.

Arrogance is a word which I don't like to associate to any footballing side but it must go to Spain today for their performance against Norway. Camecho, the Spanish manager decided to leave Mendieta on the bench along with Canazaries. Maybe he was sending a signal to the other teams that Spain's year of Euro glory had arrived. How badly mistaken can one be?.

The Spaniards got what they deserved with a shock 1-0 loss to a Norway side who defended for the full 90 minutes. Their goal when it came was comedical, the Spanish keeper Molina decided to do a "David James" on the edge of his penalty area, only for Steffen Iversen to header the ball past the keeper with ease. The Norwegians could not believe their luck and held out for a historic win. The knifes were being sharpened for Camecho's head in Spain after that result you can be assured.

Yugoslavia and Slovenia game on paper looked pretty straightforward. A landslide for the Yugoslavs, but football is an unpredictable game and this proved the point.

Slovenia appearing in their first European Championship relished the occassion from the outset and took a 3-0 lead over a lethargic opposition. However, the Yugoslavs were not going to let their near neighbours off that easy and levelled the match with three goals in a six minute spell midway through the second half. At least, England were comforted by the fact that a team had conspired to lose more than a two goal lead in a match in the championship.

Only one match tonight, but an impressive one at that for Italy who won 2-0 against Belgium at the Badouin Stadium, Brussels. The "Azzuri" took the lead on 6 minutes courtesy of Totti with the clinching goal scored by the impressive Fiore. On this performance, the Italians will be a difficult side to stop.

No question about it, the worst match of Euro 2000. I hope honestly that neither Turkey or Sweden make it through to the last eight. Lacking skill or control, this game was destined for a 0-0 draw even before kick off. The only bright spark in the game was the performance of Henrik Larsson who played well considering his lengthy lay off from the game. As for the rest of the players, just why did ye become professional footballers?.

Group D played their second round of matches. France struggled to beat the Czechs 2-1 courtesy of Thierry Henri and Djorkaeff. The game will be remembered most for the sublime performance of Zidane, he was inspiring and beat the Czech midfield on his own. The second game of the day was in Holland where the hosts were entertaining the Danes. A drab opening period gave way to some sparkling Dutch football after they had broken the deadlock courtesy of Kluivert midway through the second half. Schmeichel's boys simply had no answer to the "Orange machine" and succumbed to a 3-0 loss.