I have been amiss in not thanking all the regular posters and from what I have seen a good number of new ones. I am constantly amazed the number of posts the blog receives and the quality.

If it wasn't for you the blog would not exist.


Yesterday's offside decision

On the day 3 blog and on a number of other websites there seems to be a lot of folks quoting the Laws of the Game (or rules as many are stating) and Advice to referees.

As far as I can ascertain the most current Laws of the Game posted by FIFA is to be found here.

The only reference to defenders leaving the field of play that I can see in the July 2007 version (page 102) is:

“If a defending player steps behind his own goal line in order to place an opponent in an offside position, the referee shall allow play to continue and caution the defender for deliberately leaving the field of play without the referee’s permission when the ball is next out of play.”

So are the laws as posted by FIFA outdated? If so where is the current version? And finally for a UEFA official to say that the rule interpretation is not widely known by the players is a disgrace. It is up to the governing body to ensure that if a law is to be interpreted differently then the players should be told.

Day 4

Spain 4-1. Russia

It looked as if Guus Hiddink decided that the best way of hiding a porous defence was to go after the Spanish backline. Hiddink’s decision to play an open game certainly created some chances for his Russian side. However, the Russian strikers failed to take advantage of the opportunities that came their way and instead Russia were left open to the sort of swift counter attacks that Torres and Villa feast on.

The opening goal was Torres at his best. The ball played forward into space, Torres outmuscles a Russian defender and then slips it to Villa as he arrives in the penalty area. The second a killing pass from Iniesta and a wonderfully timed run from Villa.

Aragones was quick to ring the changes in the second half but it did little to change the pattern of the game. Two goals down Russia had no plan B and continued to press forward at every opportunity. The result was the same with Villa notching his hat trick and in the process adding $10M to the price that Real Madrid will pay for him later this summer.

A silver lining for Russia - admitedly a very small one - was Diniyar Bilyaletdinov who proved to be a continual irritant to Sergio Ramos. Meanwhile the rest of the Spanish back four looked none too comfortable either. But it took until later in the game for Russia to score and even then Spain countered to make it 4-1.

The Spanish off to their usual fast start while it was clear to see why Guus Hiddink has spent so much time talking down Russia’s 2008 chances. Spain cannot expect to be given as much space as they were granted today so I’m not sure that this result tells us anymore about Spain’s chances than we knew before the tournament.

Greece 0-2 Sweden

If you recorded this game with the intention of watching it later then do yourself a favour and fast forward to the 67th minute. You can see Ibrahimovic scoring a cracking goal and you will have also captured the only high point o####ame that never threatened to rise above the level of mediocre.

Greece inspired by Claude Makelele’s ability to spray immaculate 10 yard passes left and right but never forward showed no interest in making this match even remotely interesting to the neutral fan. Long diagonal “passes” played in behind the Swede’s right back Alexandersson and a few meandering runs by 2004 hero Charisteas was the limit to Greece’s attacking intent.

Sweden at least made an attempt to go forward although their execution was often poor. Just after Ibrahimovic’s out-of-nothing goal defender Peter Hansson added another to put the game way beyond the reigning champs after some comedy-defending from Greece.  

Comment of the Day

“We’ll only miss the English when it comes to penalties.” - Lothar Matthäus.

For those of you who enjoy more statistics with your game Castrol is sponsoring a web page as part of UEFA.com.

Austria 0-1 Croatia

Conventional wisdom would have had an early goal for Croatia offering up the platform for a resounding win. Conversely the Austrians would have been expected to fold given the form guide going into the tournament. As it was the early penalty kick turned into a curse for Croatia and a blessing for Austria.

The early goal (a dead-cert penalty decision) seemed to dull Croatia’s appetite for the game as they failed to string passes together in any meaningful way. Without Ivica Olic the Croatian attack would have been completely anemic with Petric utterly anonymous.

With Croatia showing little ambition to increase their early lead the Austrian’s slowly settled into the game, grew in confidence and from the 30th minute onwards they dominated large chunks of the match.

Croatia allowed Austria far too much space in midfield as time and time again the co-hosts were allowed time to look up and to pick out their targets. Modric and Srna were particularly culpable as Austria regularly found Martin Harnik on the right side with raking crossfield passes.

Substitutions by Croatia’s manager Slaven Bilic failed to turn the ever increasing tide of Austrian attacks while each change rung by opposite number Josef Hickersberger upped the pressure on the Croatian defence.

In the end Croatia played poorly but still took three points; for Austria a glorious loss.

Three games gone and no surprises - so far.


Germany 2-0 Poland

After an early goal in the first game of the day, we could have had two in the first five minutes of this one. The first chance fell to Poland after Lehmann chose to try and gather a cross under pressure rather than punching clear. The fumble dropped awkwardly to Jacek Krzynówek who shot over from just outside of the box.

Only a couple of minutes later Klose caught the Polish back four flat-footed and square and was left with a clear run on goal. Rather than shooting Klose opted to pass to Gomez who in arriving late had to stretch to make contact.  It made for a weak connection  and the ball rolled agonizingly past the post.

Both incidents were to be harbingers as the first half progressed. Krzynówek was the central focus of most of the Polish attacks, while Klose again beat a stagnant Polish defensive line to find himself one-on-one with Boruc.

Once more Klose opted to pass but this time it was Lukas Podolski who was in support and he potted the chance. By half time it could well have been 3-1 as Germans continued to press with purposeful play and although Poland continued to look shaky under pressure they still carved out a great chance for Zurawski.

Half time substitute Roger Guerreiro helped Poland to their best period of pressure in the first twenty minutes of the second half but after Podolski scored with twenty minutes left a German win was never in doubt.

Podolski produced the best individual performance of the tournament so far and it was not just down to his two goals. Starting on the left side of midfield Podolski worked hard getting up and down the park and was a constant irritant to Poland.

Germany will be happy with the result and satisfied with the performance. Poland can take something away from this game as well. The defence and midfield settled down after a wobbly start but they look to have same problem as a number of other countries at his tournament – no one to finish at the business end.




Comment of the Day

In my Spain preview I included this comment - "Spain’s soft spot might be in midfield and that in turn may put the centre of defence under stress and strain. In midfield tidy passing types pervade but they may turn out to be lightweight over potentially three weeks of competition. Ball possession may not be a problem but moving the ball quickly to the strikers could be".

Writing in The Times Gabriele Marcotti provided his thoughts on the Spanish dilemma and in the process he included some memorable alliteration.

"Cesc Fabregas may be the best foreign midfielder not named Michael in the Premier League, but it holds little stock with Luis Aragones, the Spain manager. His place with Spain is in serious jeopardy which, frankly, seems extraordinary until you look at the midfielders at Aragones' disposal. For whatever reason, Spain excels at producing pint-sized pass-happy pixies: Xavi, David Silva and Andres Iniesta are all in the same mould, creative little fellas who can pass the ball to death. The problem is, you can only fit so many of them in your team.

Already Aragones is having to deploy Iniesta and Silva wide, despite the fact that both are probably more suited to a central role. And while deploying Xavi and Cesc together in the middle is a sexy idea, Spain need at least one holding midfielder, otherwise they'll be steamrollered. And that spot goes to Marcos Senna. Which means that Aragones has two options: he can either go with a 4-5-1 formation (but that would mean leaving out the in-form David Villa) or he can make a difficult choice between Xavi and Cesc. And, in that case, Xavi would be favored by a mile. It's debatable that he's a better player, less debatable is that he's more experienced and plays his football in Spain which means that, if things go horribly wrong, Xavi's exclusion is likely to haunt Aragones for far longer."

A Harry Pearson article that is worth reading just for the first two paragraphs.

More on Jack Warner’s unsavoury allies.

Graham Hunter has a feature on Barcelona’s Andres Iniesta.

The partial resurrection of a special team – special to me that is!

A healthy potion of Giovanni Trapattoni’s stipend as the Republic of Ireland’s new coach is being funded by a Irish tax exile billionaire.

A Brazilian playing in the Israeli league who might be worth keeping an eye on.

Paul Gardner’s final column for the New York Sun.

A way of harnessing technology in order to benefit small clubs around the world – without getting to vote on the starting eleven.

A great article on two footballing generations of the McGeady family and a wee bit more.

A loss to Inter forty years ago still rankles Liverpool.

Here is a look at the last sixteen of the Champions League and who might make up the last eight.

Schalke vs. Porto
Porto may have lost a couple of games in Portugal over the last two months but they should have enough to qualify against a Schalke side that made it through from a group that turned out to be very poor.
Pick Porto.

Roma vs. Real Madrid
I’m picking this one as my surprise of the round. Real has racked up good results this season without being consistently impressive. Roma has a poor record against Real Madrid but they have enough talent to beat the Spanish Champions. Out on a limb on this one.
Pick Roma

Olympiacos vs. Chelsea
If the Greek side is to have a chance at all then they need to win the first leg. Although two or their three wins in the group stage were away from home the first win (at Werder Bremen) was Olympiacos’ first in 32 attempts. The side is strong on experience but may not be strong enough defensively to win over two legs.
Pick Chelsea

Liverpool vs. Inter
With a FA Cup defeat and a poor league showing hanging over them this is Liverpool’s last chance for silverware this season. The Champions League and the former European Cup has more meaning to Liverpool than most other clubs but they are facing a side that it out to prove that they can be considered amongst Europe’s best. In three of the last four times Inter has made it to the knock out stage they have lost on away goals. Inter was my choice back in August to take Europe's premier title but it was a choice that was made with little conviction.
Pick Inter

Celtic vs. Barcelona
Barcelona is the only side to win in European competition at Parkhead in the last seventeen matches. By the same token Celtic’s away form in Europe continues to be atrocious. A Celtic win in the first leg is very much a possibility but a visit to the Nou Camp will prove to be too much.
Pick Barcelona (They will be happy that Dundee United did not qualify)


Lyon vs. Manchester United
A side with the likes of Karim Benzema in it should not be written off but Lyon’s best chance of European glory may have come and gone. United’s movement in midfield and attack will be more than the French Champion’s defense will be able to cope with.
Pick Manchester United

Fenerbahce vs. Sevilla
Sevilla is finally beginning to generate some real momentum in La Liga after the traumatic experience of the collapse and death of full back Antonio Puerta in September. This is a side that has the benefit of two successful UEFA Cup runs, an outstanding striker pairing of Luis Fabiano and Freddie Kanoute, wide players with real pace and dash (Navas and Capel) as well as quality in almost every other area. Fenerbahce will prove to be a stiff test but Sevilla might be the team that surprises us all this season in the Champions League.
Pick Sevilla

Arsenal vs. Milan
Arsenal’s youth vs. Milan’s experience – that is how articles in newspapers and on the web are bill-boarding this one although I am not sure that is a totally fair reflection. I’ve flipped back and forward between the teams on this one since the draw was made and would not be surprised if Arsenal win's it. However…..
Pick Milan

Here is a link to Jeremy's blog that describes his trip to Barcelona.