Winners…
Holland’s Edgar Davids looks to be on the way to Spurs after impressing in Portugal and the former Celtic striker Henrik Larsson has had his performances in the Sweden shirt rewarded by a two-year contract with Barcelona. Chelsea have added Mateja Kezman to their star-studded squad, off-loading failure Hernan Crespo on loan to AC Milan.
…and losers
Following the demise of the German, Spanish, Italian, French and Croatian managers in the wake of disappointing Euro 2004 campaigns, Holland’s Dick Advocaat and Bulgaria’s Plamen Markov have been added to the list of casualties. Meanwhile, Real Mallorca’s Luis Aragones has been appointed new Spanish manager and Germany have been turned down by favourite for the post, Ottmar Hitzfeld. Things are starting to look desperate for the 2006 World Cup hosts as second and third choice candidates Christoph Daum and Otto Rehhagel have also ruled themselves out.
Prime time
RTP1, the Portuguese television station covering the majority of the Euro 2004 games, charged advertisers 14,300 euros for a 30 second slot during the half-time interval of the final. That is still cheap compared to Dutch rates. During the Portugal v Holland semi-final, the same thirty seconds cost 78,000 euros on Dutch television.
Expensive victory
Supermarket chain Feira Nova launched a campaign between May 10 and June 10, offering clients a full refund on all electrical goods should Portugal win the European Championships. Sales leaped by over 200 per cent and if Portugal had won, the Jeronimo Marlins-owned concern would have faced a 500,000 euro pay-out.
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