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French media shows no mercy   The French press has labelled the country's exit from Euro 2004 at the hands of Greece as "pitiful". The defending champions were beaten 1-0 in Friday's quarter-final and the French media has savaged the team. Newspaper Le Parisien said "it is a severe failure which will necessitate hard questioning". And Sports paper L'Equipe described the team's display as "indefensible", adding: "Les Bleus are stark naked, they showed no desire, no ideas". Three-time world footballer of the year Zinedine Zidane bore the brunt of L'Equipe's anger. The paper gave Zidane, who is tipped to...

WAYNE ROONEY has become a cult figure in China, eclipsing David Beckham overnight as the most admired foreign player among the world’s most populous footballing nation. Shops enjoyed a rush on memorabilia celebrating the 18-year-old England player, whose name means “silly nun” in Chinese ideograms. Internet chat rooms overflowed with praise for him and the National Sports Bureau invited him to the 2008 Olympics in Beijing. “He is young enough to come to the Games,” Tian Jing, a spokeswoman, said. “Everyone hopes he will.” The Chinese have widely praised Rooney’s aggression on the pitch, contrasting it favourably with Beckham’s more...

QUARTEIRA, Portugal (Reuters) - Officers from a special anti-terrorism unit are in the Algarve seeking three men who spent several hours filming a shopping centre and the main square in Faro, the daily Publico has reported. The newspaper quoted police sources on Saturday as saying the men described as "Arabs" arrived from London and hired a car in Lisbon before driving to southern Portugal. They spent several hours on Thursday filming underground parking lots at the shopping centre and also the main square where hundreds of soccer fans turn out every evening to watch Euro 2004 matches on a big...

AN 85-year-old Swede said today he survived four days without food and water inside his stalled car thanks to Sweden's 5-0 victory over Bulgaria in Euro 2004. Soeren Gellerstedt said news of the win was all he needed to cling on to life until rescuers found him in a desolate area in northern Sweden. "The victory kept me alive," Mr Gellerstedt, a retired farmer, told The Associated Press in a telephone interview. "The Swedish side gave me the best energy I could have." Mr Gellerstedt's car stalled on Friday after it struck a rock in a rural area near his...

Players' Wives Give Team Lucky Strip Thu Jun 10, 2:27 PM ET By Sonia Oxley MOSCOW (Reuters) - If Russia win Euro 2004 the players will thank their lucky strip -- a nude photo-shoot by their wives. Nine wives and girlfriends undressed for the cameras to encourage their men to win matches at the tournament being hosted by Portugal. Only a strategically placed placard featuring a photo of their partners offered some cover. Daily newspaper Komsomolskaya Pravda is printing one of the photos on a full page every day hoping they will inspire the players at the tournament starting on...

Welcome to the official thread for the UEFA EURO 2004 tournament in Portugal! Included in this first post is a game schedule, and several links to get tournament updates over the internet. Phase 1Matches 12 June Portugal 12:00 PM Greece Spain 2:45 PM Russia 13 June Switzerland 12:00 PM Croatia France 2:45 PM England 14 June Denmark 12:00 PM Italy Sweden 2:45 PM Bulgaria 15 June Germany 12:00 PM Netherlands Czech Republic 2:45 PM Latvia 16 June Greece 12:00 PM Spain Russia 2:45 PM Portugal 17 June England 12:00 PM Switzerland Croatia 2:45 PM France 18 June Bulgaria 12:00 PM...

LISBON (Reuters) - Portuguese police arrested 15 Arabs on Friday in Porto, the city that hosts the first game of the Euro 2004 football championships on Saturday, police said. The arrests "were related to something international, but I don't know what", a police spokesman said. Private TSF radio quoted police as saying there were signs five of the people, who come from various Arab countries, had links to a terrorist cell. The arrests were a joint operation by the investigative Judiciary Police and Portugal's Security Intelligence Service (SIS). Publico newspaper reported that SIS received a warning from Dutch intelligence about...