GO FIGURE 28 June 2000 - London by Pete Gill THE numbers that mattered in Euro 2000 this week... 0 The number of players who have scored four goals in a European Championship finals match. That remains the case only because UEFA rightly stripped Netherlands striker Patrick Kluivert of one of the four goals he claimed against Yugoslavia on Sunday (it was an own goal by Dejan Govedarica). 1 The number of Englishmen (David Beckham) named in UEFA's top 50 players at the halfway stage of Euro 2000. One is also the number of minutes left on the clock when Spanish golden boy Raul fired a penalty high and wide against France - a successful conversion would have taken the match into extra time. 2 The number of players who have scored goals direct from a free-kick at the championship so far: Frank de Boer (Holland) and Zinedine Zidane (France). 3 The number of countries who reached the last eight of Euro 2000 who can be said to be 'Northern European' on the basis of the majority of their land mass being north of the 45 degrees longtitude mark: Netherlands, Romania and France. As both Romania and France are considered 'Southern European' it is clear that a new North-South divide may have been formed at Euro 2000. 4 The number of yellow cards Romanian captain Gheorge Hagi received during his three matches at Euro 2000. The first two saw him suspended for the final group match with England, two more against Italy in the quarter-final saw him sent off in what will almost certainly be his last international. 5 The number of goals both Kluivert (Netherlands) and Savo Milosevic (Yugoslavia) have netted at Euro 2000 to head the scoring charts. Yes, that's the same player who was known as 'Savo Missalot' after a less than distinguished spell in English football with Aston Villa. 6 The number of goals the Netherlands put past Yugoslavia (who only offered Milosevic's effort in reply) to create a new scoring record in a European Championship finals match and record their sixth win in as many matches. 7 The number of goals scored in each of Yugoslavia's last two matches at Euro 2000: the aforementioned 6-1 hammering by the Netherlands and a 4-3 defeat to Spain. 8 The number of players who are walking a disciplinary tight-rope in their country's semi-final as just one more yellow card would rule them out of the final: Didier Deschamps (France), Paul Bosvelt (Netherlands), Demetrio Albertini (Italy), Joao Pinto, Paulo Sousa, Rui Costa, Fernando Couto, Costinha (all Portugal). 9 The number of years it is since Portugal's 'Golden Generation' won the World Youth Cup. On present form, though, few are willing to bet against Figo, Costa and Pinto finally living up to their potential. 10 The number of men Turkey finished their 2-0 quarter-final defeat against the Portuguese with after Ozalan was dismissed. 11 The number of men Yugoslavia had on the pitch for the entire 90 minutes against the Netherlands. Nothing remarkable about that you might think; except for the fact it was the first time in the tournament that a Yugoslav player wasn't sent off during one of their matches. And they still got thrashed 6-1! 13 The number of goals Yugoslavia conceded in just over two and a half matches when Sinisa Mihajlovic played as sweeper: three against Slovenia, four against Spain and six against the Netherlands. Without him, their ten men recovered to snatch a 3-3 draw against Slovenia and Yugoslavia also defeated Norway 1-0 while he was suspended, but then it all went Pete Tong. Perhaps they would have been better off if the Lazio man had seen red in Rotterdam on Sunday! 15 The number of consecutive games Italy's Filipo Inzaghi had gone without scoring before he netted against Romania to wrap up the Azzurri's place in the last four. 24 The number of times Lilian Thuram, Marcel Desailly, Laurent Blanc and Bixente Lizarazu have played together for France and the number of times the world champions have avoided defeat in those games. 'Nuff said. 96 The number of random drug tests carried out during the group stages by UEFA. Not a single test found any illegal substances, so either football's drug free or UEFA's tests are crap. 34,113 The average attendance at Euro 2000 matches so far. 45,000,000 The number of pounds both Barcelona and Real Madrid are said to be willing to spend on bringing England and Manchester United star David Beckham to Spain. _______________________________________________________ Get 100% FREE Internet Access powered by Excite Visit http://freelane.excite.com/freeisp ---------------------------------------------------------------------------- To unsubscribe/subscribe or view archives of postings, go to the Gambia-L Web interface at: http://maelstrom.stjohns.edu/archives/gambia-l.html ----------------------------------------------------------------------------