After sixteen straight days of football we have a two-day break before the semifinals get underway. A chance perhaps to indulge in some observations?

In terms of entertainment and quality this edition of the European Championships far exceeds what was on show four years ago. It’s on par with 2000 but the latter stages of the tournament in Netherlands and Belgium had two fantastic extra time games and one that was not unlike the Spain and Italy (except this time Italy supposedly played with 11 men for the full 120 minutes) game yesterday. The last three games of Euro 2008 will decide where it will ultimately sit in the list of great tournaments.

And that partially segues to the fallout from the last quarterfinal match. Contrasting the column inches and tone of blog posts emanating from North America dedicated to Russia versus Netherlands against Italy versus Spain makes interesting reading and may give an indication of how far the game still has to go in these parts.

It seems to me that more effort has been dedicated to trashing the Italy - Spain game than celebrating and reveling in the quality of the play and the spectacle that was Russia versus the Netherlands.

There are far too many posters and writers overly concerned about the reaction from non-soccer fans and sportswriters in North America. It is if a multitude of North American soccer fans/bloggers/posters decided after yesterday’s game to strap on the cilices and whip themselves bloody before the soccer-haters of North America even had a chance to mobilize.

It is a reaction of a bullied child that would opt to inflict self administered pain rather than allowing the bully the pleasure. It is also the reaction that does nothing to grow the game in North America. It was a poor game yesterday - you get them from time to time and not only in soccer. That’s just the way it is and self-flagellation isn’t going to change anything.

Celebrate the great, praise the beautiful, rejoice that on occasion we get to enjoy 120 minutes of footballing heaven the likes of which we were privileged to see on Saturday. No one every grew anything worthwhile by wallowing in the negative and when you respond to soccer-haters gripes all you are doing at best is reinforcing the darkside. At worst it runs the risk of becoming a self-fulfilling prophesy.


As group winners Portugal, Croatia and Netherlands fell at the first knockout stage you could hear a rising crescendo of “it’s not fair.” Perhaps it’s not fair, but there is nothing that grants a right to go on and win a tournament just because a team starts well.

Tournament play is about pacing, peaking at the right time and taking advantage of the breaks when they come your way. You don’t get bonus points for artistic impression, going unbeaten in the group stage or even qualifying after only two games.

You only have to glance at the history of major tournaments such as the World Cup and the European Championships to see how difficult it is to lead from start to finish (as it is in any competition in any sport). Now and again a country will come along and be able to pull off such a remarkable achievement.

Performances by the likes of Brazil in 1958 and 1970, and France in 1984 are extremely unusual and it is easier to find examples of teams burning intensely in the early stages but flaming out spectacularly while failing to reach their overall goal.

Hungary (1954), Netherlands (1974), Italy (1978), Denmark (1986), Spain multiple times, and the daddy of them all Brazil in 1982 played memorable football in the early going only to fail in the later stages.



Comment(s) of the Day
“Previously, Daneiele de Rossi and Alessandro Di Natale had failed for Italy, while Daniel Guiza, of Italy, also had his effort saved.” –Kevin McCarra in the Guardian.

Now that I have seen that it can happen to the best I don’t feel so bad about Fernando Cannavaro!

It was later corrected to read - “Previously Daniele de Rossi and Alessandro Di Natale had failed for Italy, while Daniel Güiza, of Spain, also had his effort saved,” but as of this morning Antonio was still being referred to as Alessandro.


“European football has been at a crossroads for some time but the dull, negative style that won the championship for Greece four years ago – and let's be honest propelled Rangers to the UEFA Cup Final and to a lesser extent served Scotland well in their qualifying group – has been found wanting in the face of a new dawn.

Manchester United showed the way at club level by winning in Moscow and at least four of the quarter-finalists in the current tournament have also seen the light. If ever a tournament has rekindled our enthusiasm for the beautiful game and provided a hopeful vision of the future, this has been it. If we are honest, we must also admit that this vision has been helped by the fact that the home nations were not there to cloud the view.” – Pat Nevin in the Scotsman on Sunday.


Prediction Update
With three games to go here is a list of the top fifteen. *Indicates no countries left.

31 points – LHJS
28 points – Willisman, jekka75*.
27 points – Sangria*, SheehyCFC, alwaysinthekop.
26 points – sounderfan, jstlouis, nakleenazar*, stonefacesurf*.
25 points – ErnestoM, anti-madridista, musc01, cpinkhouse, redfan4ever.


CONCACAF World Cup Qualifying Update
El Salvador 3-1 Panama
El Salvador wins 3-2 on aggregate

Bermuda 0-2 Trinidad & Tobago
Trinidad & Tobago wins 3-2 on aggregate.

Netherlands Antilles 0-1 Haiti
Haiti wins 1-0 on aggregate.

Cuba 4-0 Antigua and Barbuda
Cuba wins 8-3 on aggregate.

Guyana 1-2 Suriname
Suriname wins 3-1 on aggregate.

Barbados 0-1 United States
United States win 9-0 on aggregate.

Costa Rica 3-0 Grenada
Costa Rica wins 5-2 on aggregate.

Mexico 7-0 Belize
Mexico wins 9-0 on aggregate.

St. Lucia 1-3 Guatemala
Guatemala wins 9-1 on aggregate.

Canada 4-1 St Vincent & Grenadines
Canada wins 7-1 on aggregate.

You can find the make-up of the groups for the next stage by following the link.

It is poorly laid out but it is supposed to indicate three groups of four with the the top two moving onto a final group round. The top three will qualify and the fourth place side finisher will play-off against the fifth team from South America.

Thank you to all the posters and readers who take the trouble to read the blog each day. A special thanks to some of the new posters who have come to the blog during the Euros. I hope you can stick around.

Quarter Final
Spain vs. Italy
Preview – Of all the quarter finals this one is the most beautifully and finely balanced. For each Italian ying, you can find a Spanish yang. Recent history in major tournaments suggests a win for Italy, but current form points towards Spain.

If Gianluigi Buffon is the best goalkeeper in the world then Iker Casillas can’t be far behind. I.D. Luca Toni as the definitive target man and scorer and Spanish fans can counter with the speed and strength of David Villa and Fernando Torres.

Cynics might even point out that the both sets of centre backs are on par – each pairing looks good when the ball is at the other end of the park. Spain is likely to be without Carles Puyol and a central defensive pairing of Valencia’s Raul Albiol and Carlos Marchena can only increase the level of confidence……if you are Italian.

There again, you also get the feeling that Christian Panucci and Giorgio Chiellini constitute a make shift solution to a defence that has lacked the composure normally provided by Fabio Cannavaro.

The full backs are another saw-off. At their best Zambrotta and Grosso (Italy) and Ramos and Capdevilla (Spain) can get forward and effectively support the attack from wide positions.

So where will this one be won and lost? Not surprisingly it will be probably come down to who can most effectively control the midfield. There is a difference in how both sides normally line up. Italy favour a 4-3-2-1, Spain 4-1-3-2. For Spain the first-choice defensive midfielder is Marcos Senna and he will prowl the area in front of the back four looking to control (probably) Cassano and Perrotta.

However, the most intriguing contest will be between Italy and Spain’s defensive and attacking midfield trios. Barring surprises Spain will start Xavi and David Silva with Iniesta (who hasn’t had a particularly good tournament so far) or Fabregas.

All three players are comfortable on the ball and are first rate passers – their problem is if it comes down to heavy lifting can they match Ambrossini and De Rossi? Ambrossini would appear to be the logical replacement for the suspended Gennaro Gattuso while Daniele De Rossi, who has enjoyed a great tournament since being left on the bench for the first game against Netherlands, will join him in the engine room.

The suspension of Andrea Pirlo means that Italy needs to find another playmaker to centre Ambrossini and De Rossi and only option is Roma’s Alberto Aquilani. The responsibility will be a test for Aquilani who at 24 next month is the youngest member of Italy’s squad.

His international experience for country and club is limited and we have become use to him being revered to as a future star. If Italy is to move on to the semi finals it may well be that being a star of the future just won't hack it anymore and the future must start today.

Referee: Herbert Fandel, assistants: Carsten Kadach, Volker Wezel (all Germany), fourth official: Frank De Bleeckere (Belgium)


Spain 0-0 Italy (Spain win 4-2 on penalty kicks)
It was a terse, tense and and a largely forgettable one-hundred and twenty minutes with the penalty kick decider providing the only moment of sustained excitement.

While the absence of Gennaro Gattuso and Andrea Pirlo did not hurt Italy defensively, they certainly missed the playmaking of Pirlo. What he would normally accomplish in one pass was taking two of three today. And when the pass finally arrived at its intended target, Spain had anticipated the danger.

Spain enjoyed the vast majority of possession but with De Rossi and Ambrosini sitting deep their midfield found it difficult to spring Villa and Torres as Italy plugged the passing lanes. And so chances for both sides were extremely limited. Even the substitutions made by both coaches failed to break the predictable pattern.

And so it came down to penalties. De Rossi’s miss gave Spain the upper hand but Buffon’s save from Guiza opened the door for a turnaround. However, Casillas got the better of Di Natale and it was left for Fabregas to sink the fifth and winning penalty for Spain.

Best for Italy on the day were Chiellini and De Rossi while for Spain Silva and Senna worked tirelessly.  Spain goes on to play Russia in the semifinal, and for Italy it is Goodnight Vienna.


Comment of the Day
“I’ve been reading what foreign journalists say about Holland. There is one recurring story: the Dutch always destroy themselves through infighting, but this time they haven’t yet. This shoddy half-truth misses the point about Dutch football. Holland are good precisely because our players quarrel about football.” – Simon Kuper.



Prediction Update
Russia’s win yesterday was more bad news for many of you who posted predictions. Netherlands was a popular pick to make it to at least the semi final stage while those picking Russia to progress that far was limited to two or three. The updated standings will be posted tomorrow at the conclusion of the quarter finals.

Netherlands 2-0 Romania

Romania took an ultra-extra cagey approach to this vital match trying to ensure that they didn’t offer Netherlands a chance to counter attack. By the end of the ninety minutes they had won the battle but had categorically lost the war.

The safety first approach worked in the first half as the Netherlands were forced to build their attacks rather than benefitting from the super quick passing that had caused Italy and France so much trouble.

However, Netherlands did have chances with the best falling to Robben but he shot wide with only Lobont to beat. Boulahrouz of all players was enjoying far too much space when attacking down the Dutch right and more might have come from a couple of his raids.

Romania’s passing was inconsistent with far too many sloppy passes or players being caught in possession. Early in the second half any thoughts Romania may have harboured about holding back and then pushing for a late winner were crushed when their sloppy play infected the back four.

The Romanian defence allowed Afellay to chase down an errant Robben cross completely unmolested. The Dutch midfielder played the ball back into the box and again the defence failed to deal with it. This time the ball found Huntelaar and Romania was in trouble.

Needing to up the tempo Romania was unable to change gears as their passing deteriorated under the pressure of now having to chase the game. Maruis Niculae who started in place of his namesake Daniel was a willing front runner but sorely lacking the skills to bother the Dutch defence.

Mutu was a sporadic presence as the two received virtually no support from the midfield. The replacement of Maruis by Daniel made no difference as the Dutch continued to deal with any Romanian threat with a minimum amount of trouble.

Another goal from the Dutch, this one from Robin van Persie, only served to highlight the gulf between these two teams on the day.

Romania go home and leave thinking of what might have been if only Buffon had been a split second slower or even a fraction of a second quicker. But even then the game against the Netherlands offered up a second chance to Romania and they bottled it.

France 0-2 Italy
The share of the play might have been even but Italy should have had France dead and buried before half time. French supporters can look to the penalty kick awarded against Eric Abidal and the red card he received as the turning point in this game but there ominous signs before that moment  for France.

The injury to Franck Ribery early in the game was another blow to France but even a fully fit Ribery for ninety minutes would not have mitigated the problems caused by a porous central defence and a ponderous in midfield.

The lead up to the penalty decision was a microcosm of France’s early problems. A free kick in the centre circle was played to Pirlo. With no pressure on him Pirlo had time to look up and clip a 35-yard pass over the head of Abidal and onto the toe of Toni. Abidal attempted a tackle was never going to finish up as anything but a dead-cert penalty kick.  

Toni was giving the French defence fits before Abidal’s sending off and he continued after the dismissal. Grosso also hit the post from a free kick and Perrotta came close to breaking through. 
French coach Raymond Domenech’s decision to withdraw substitute Nasri (he had replaced Ribery) shortly after Abidal’s red card will be a source of heated discussion amongst French fans. A more fateful decision was perhaps taken before kick off in opting to deputize full back Abidal as a centre back.

You can certainly argue about the merits of centre backs Jean-Alain Boumsong and Sébastien Squillaci.  But asking a regular full back to play centre half when Domenech had two specialist centre-backs available begs the question why did he bother picking Boumsong and Squillaci to start with?

Daniele De Rossi’s deflected free kick was the clincher and put the game well beyond 10-man France. De Rossi was excellent throughout and his performance was a reminder of Donadoni’s mistake in not playing the Roma midfielder against Netherlands in the first game.

Comment of the Day

"That is the happiest I have ever been after a match in which I didn't score," Ruud van Nistelrooy after Holland beat France 4-1.

Prediction Update

LHJS, Sounderfan, knvoetbal all recorded 100% scores is predicting the outcome of Group B. Sounderfan is the only poster with a 100% record at the conclusion of the first two groups. He leads everyone by at least two points.

Giles Smith writes about TV pundits in the UK.

Simon Barnes rips into Ronaldo.

Danny Baker suspects that FIFA has a cunning plan "TELEVISION'S PLOT TO GLAMOURISE FOOTBALL FANS" -  move to bottom of page 1 to find it.

There is a piece from Tom Dart on Italian coverage of the draw with the USA. In it De Rossi is quoted as describing himself as a "####". Anyone disagree?

Former Brazilan great and elbower of Tab Ramos, Leonardo, believes that Brazil must at least consider PLAN B.

A look at the current odds on the race for the title of tournament top scorer. I'm never sure whether it is a boot, a shoe, or even a sandal.

 

 

 

Where do we start?

The US team was more balanced than against the Czech Republic – particularly when they had 11 men on the park. Dempsey looked comfortable on the right and Donovan and Convey settled quickly.

It was a typical Italian start. Absorb pressure, bend but do not break and then take the first chance on offer. I thought the American defense was too high on the free kick and gave Gilardino far too much room to move into.

The momentum switched for a third time with the Zaccardo own goal. A poor piece of work from the Italian defender. Then seconds later De Rossi got a straight red card for something that you would be arrested for if you did it in public. Absolutely deserved.

My thoughts as we approached half time was that Mastroeni was going to be a key player in the 2^nd half to make sure that the Italians didn’t catch the US on the break.

The red card he got was the worst decision of the day by far. Yellow yes – red, no way. A slide tackle no lunge, not over the ball – a very poor decision.

The third red card of the day saw Pope sent off. It should have been a yellow card, which meant he was going to go anyway. It certainly did not warrant a straight red.

Arena did a good job of shuffling his players and Conrad plugged a big hole at centre back. At the time, I thought it a bit odd going with a back four when you only had another four outfield players but it worked out.

Beasley’s disallowed goal I would have to say the referee got right. It looked from the TV angle as if McBride was blocking Buffon’s view.

The US players ran themselves into the ground and they achieved a glorious result.

Man of the Match – It could have been one on five or six players but I am going for Carlos Bocanegra. He won tackles; he got up and down the wing and had a thoroughly good game.

Added thought - I have tried to avoid mentioning the announcers but…….there was 20 minutes left with tension rising by the second and we heard about Lippi’s son and the Italian scandal. If you cannot convey something about the game at that stage in a game can you please just be quite? It was such an absolutely pointless piece of information.