Best goal Russia’s second goal against Sweden scored by Arshavin created by Zhirkov.
Best free kick goal (possibly the only free kick goal) Michael Ballack’s rocket against Austria.
Players of the Tournament 1. Xavi Hernandez, 2. Marcos Senna, 3. David Silva, (All Spain).
Euro 2008 - the Best of (4-1-4-1) Buffon (Italy); Anyukov (Russia), Puyol (Spain), Chiellini (Italy), Zhirkov (Russia); Senna (Spain); Xavi (Spain), Ballack (Germany), van der Vaart (Netherlands), Silva (Spain); Villa (Spain).
Second Team (4-1-3-2) Casillas (Spain); Corluka (Croatia), Tamos (Romania), Simunic (Croatia), Rat (Romania); Aurelio (Turkey); Sneijder (Netherlands), Deco (Portugal), Poldolski (Germany); Arshavin (Russia), Torres (Spain).
Officiating Group stages – fair to good. Knock out rounds – very good to excellent.
Comments of the Day “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.” – Gabriele Marcotti writing back on the eve of the European Championship.
“But the limiting of his participation has not prevented the Arsenal man (Cesc Fabregas) from confirming that he is not simply the most creative architect of penetration available to his country but conceivably the ultimate practitioner of the art in all of football today. And he is as brave as he is talented, constantly displaying not just the physical version of courage but that rarer form so often lauded by Sir Alex Ferguson, the kind that makes a player eager to embrace responsibility, to think always not of what will make him look good but what will benefit the team. As it happens, Fabregas’s innate style almost invariably causes him to look good whatever he does.” – Hugh McIlvanney.
Predictions
Geniusatwork takes the prediction league with 44 points out of a possible 64 points - congratulations.
Thank you to all that participated and the cast of thousands identified by daFootbllas who were apparently responsible for tabulating the results for me.
Blog wisdom and mirror time Pride of place goes to the following posters for their insight and willingness to critique others choices without posting their own predictions.
OCbabelovesepl – “whoever seriously picked SPAIN to win, is retarded. Spain never pulls through, with or without Fernando Torres. That’s the way it is.”
Bman87 – “How funny, in your predictions Germany always beats the Czechs (by the way Czechs beat Germans twice in last three games) or Portugal and Spain are beating everyone else. Unfortunately these two losers will choke again. The final will be Holand (sic) – Czechs, Any m@ron understand that these two teams are playing the most entertaining football.”
No doubt we can look forward to more insight from these two clowns in four years time.
Next up Draws for the first two qualifying rounds of the 2008/09 UEFA Champions League will be held tomorrow, July 1.
I try to answer as many questions as possible but I know that I have missed a number over the last few days. As much as I would like to sit and blog most of the day, time is a problem and I am afraid that it is just not possible to answer every query that is posted.
UEFA World Cup Qualifying Another off day at the European Championships and an opportunity to look ahead at World Cup qualifying in Europe that will get underway in less than eight weeks when Kazakhstan plays Andorra. The bulk of the game day one fixtures go on September 6.
There are eight groups of six countries and one of five. The group winners will qualify for the finals. The eight best runners-up will be qualify for a play-off round in which there will be four two-leg ties and the winners will qualify to play in South Africa in 2010.
In deciding the best runners up spots the eight groups of six will not have the results against the countries finishing bottom counted.
Group 1 Portugal, Sweden, Denmark, Hungary, Albania and Malta
Group 2 Switzerland, Greece, Israel, Moldova, Latvia and Luxembourg
Group 3 Czech Republic, Poland, Northern Ireland, Slovakia, Slovenia and San Marino
Group 4 Germany, Liechtenstein, Azerbaijan, Wales, Finland and Russia
Group 5 Turkey, Spain, Belgium, Bosnia Herzegovina, Armenia and Estonia
Group 6 Croatia, England, Ukraine, Belarus, Kazakhstan and Andorra
Group 7 France, Romania, Serbia, Austria, Lithuania and Faroe Islands
Group 8 Italy, Bulgaria, Republic of Ireland, Cyprus, Georgia and Montenegro
Group 9 Netherlands, Scotland, Norway, Macedonia FYR, and Iceland
Based on what you have seen over the last three weeks has your views changed on who might qualify from Europe?
Prediction Update We are down to only two possible winners. LHJS currently has 36 points and Geniusatwork has 34 points. With ten points available to the tournament winner it comes down to Germany (LHJS) or Spain (Geniusatwork).
Whoever gets it wrong will drop down the standings as there are a significant number of people sitting with figures in the low 30s and with either Spain or Germany to win.
The unofficial prediction rabbit Carlos has fallen to the folly of allowing his heart to rule is head. He picked Portugal to beat Spain in the final and so he has stalled out at 42 points.
Comment of the Day “WSC statisticians are also compiling a report on behalf of a secretive but influential global organisation that we are not at liberty to name. Findings include: Simone Perotta's birth in Ashton-under-Lyne has been mentioned a total of 15 times by the two TV channels and national radio; the local TV directors have missed live action while running a slow motion replay 23 times; the BBC panel have offered truisms disguised as analysis on 65 occasions; Alan Shearer has appended “for me” to his half-time comments on 19 occasions, conclusively establishing that the views expressed are his alone rather than those of the entire BBC production team in Vienna, or Geordies everywhere.” – When Saturday Comes on television coverage in the UK.
Stat Fact The highest scoring European Championship final was in 1976 when Czechoslovakia and West Germany drew 2-2. In the penalty shoot-out Uli Hoeness’ spot kick cleared the crossbar with room to spare and then Antonin Panenka chipped the winner down the middle as Sepp Maier anticipated a shot to the corner.
True or False Uli Hoeness was the last German player to miss a penalty in a shoot-out at a major international championship?
Preview – Germany was my pre-tournament pick to win it all. Apart from a solid and sometimes impressive performance against Poland in their opening game this German team has failed to reach nights of the team of two summers ago.
Even though German coach Joachim Löw will be able to watch today’s game from the good seats he has more to worry about than the seating arrangements.
His team has a number of doubts with the injury to Torsten Frings the most pressing concern. Without Frings the German midfield will need to be shuffled with Ballack perhaps being asked to play deeper than usual. Either way the Germans need to find and execute a plan to contain Deco.
The biggest concern to Portugal might be Germany’s threat at set pieces. Carvalho and Pepe have been strangely hesitant on some cross balls in earlier games and that might be something Germany can exploit.
I’m not going to switch horses (better to be wrong once than wrong twice!) at this stage but would willingly concede that if Germany beat Portugal today it will run counter to the form book.
Misses next match if booked:
Portugal - Jose Bosingwa, Miguel, Jorge Ribeiro, Paulo Ferreira and Fernando Meira.
Germany - Michael Ballack and Jens Lehmann.
Referee: Peter Frojdfeldt, linesmen: Stefan Wittberg, Henrik Andren (all Sweden), fourth official: Kyros Vassaras (Greece)
Match Report Portugal 2-3 Germany
If you’re looking for an example of why group form doesn’t mean very much when it gets down to the knockouts stage here was a great example. Germany overcame an indifferent start to the tournament and knocked out a Portuguese side that was favored to move into the last four.
Joachim Low overcame the loss of Torsten Frings to injury by matching Portugal’s 4-2-3-1 formation. Hitzlsperger and the thoroughly impressive Rolfes took care of the defensive midfield duties which allowed Michael Ballack to support the lone striker Miroslav Klose while playing between Schweinsteiger on the right and Podolski on the left.
The move by the German coach seemed to take Portugal by surprise as they struggled in the early going to control Ballock.
The first of the five goals came after a surging run from Podolski. He held off Bosingwa (great going forward but looks very dodgy defending) and he created enough space to slide a cross to the onrushing Schweinsteiger who had lost his marker Ferreira.
Within minutes Germany was two goals to the good when Portugal got their marking all wrong at a free kick. While Portuguese markers focused on Ballack and were then distracted by a great dummy run from Rolfes, Klose was left all alone to hit home. But even then there were few signs that the scoring had finished.
Portugal was finding it far too easy to find teammates with passes and they had lots of space to operate in. More goals just had to come and another did just before of half time. Ronaldo found space behind the German back four and although Lehmann made a good save Nuno Gomes knocked a loose ball into the net.
As the second half got underway it seemed to be only a matter of time before Portugal would equalize and perhaps even to go on and win the game. But too often the final ball into the penalty box or the shot on goal was poor.
Ultimately it was another free kick that was to be Portugal’s undoing. It was almost identical to Germany’s second goal and again the Portuguese defense was culpable in their marking… or lack of. This time the cross reached Ballack and goalkeeper Ricardo was caught in no man’s land as the ball rolled into the net.
However, it was not to be a worry free last 30 minutes for German fans (and for those of us who have picked Germany in prediction pools!!). Between while dying a thousand deaths on the bench, Scolari managed to throw on substitutes Nani and Postiga and it was the two subs that combined for the last goal of the game with three minutes left.
A massive disappointment for Portugal and Germany becomes the first team into the last four. Five goals, lots of action, some sloppy defending and some excellent entertainment. Here’s hoping that it continues.
Comment of the Day
"No17 Germany – 1m98, No13 – 1m88, Klose – 1m82, No21 – 195. I have to worry about that – and that my players are 115cm, 120cm." - Luiz Felipe Scolari.
Prediction Update
Nearly 20% of posters (too many to list) got the finishing positions of countries in group D spot on. It tightened things up at the top and Sounderfan has dropped down to second place. According to my calculations here is everyone currently with 20 points or more.The highest possible total after the group stage was 32 points.
One person who did not post his predictions on the blog but if he had he would be leading by a solid margin would be FSR anchor Carlos Machado. Carlos’ only missteps to date were switching the finishing order or Germany/ Croatia and Austria/Poland in Group B.
If he had posted his predictions he would be sitting on 28 points at the moment. Quite an impressive performance from Carlos who also took out time out to complete the Manitoba Marathon last Sunday in a little under four hours.
Questions
These two questions were posted yesterday.
1. So far, is this a better tournament than Euro 2004?
2. Without checking the statistics do you think Euro 2008 has produced more, about the same or less goals than Euro 2004?
My sense is that this is a better tournament than we saw four years ago. The pace is quicker, more teams are committed to going forward and attacking and there have been a number of more memorable performances to date.
I was surprised that there have been fewer goals in the group stage than there was in 2004. Perhaps my memory is clouded by day scarcity of goals in the knockout stage in Portugal. And who knows, there is a strong chance that goals will again be hard to come by once more in the knockout stage.
The cooler temperatures (slightly warmer temperatures in Austria – 26 goals, cooler in Switzerland –31 goals) are likely encouraging a faster pace game and rewarding the countries that are willing to go out and take the game to the opposition.
The Netherlands, Spain, Russia, Portugal, Turkey (second-half anyway), Croatia and, despite what many knee-jerk stereotype dependant critics will tell you, Italy all benefited by adopting an aggressive approach.
The “what we have we hold brigade” (France, Romania, Poland, Greece and Sweden) are all on the way home. To date only Germany of the sides who have approached the tournament with containment in mind (to be fair it may be a case with Germany that they have just misfired badly) has made it to the knockout stage.
Total Football Revisited
On day eight I posted a comment about commentators who described the Dutch style of 2008 as a total football. I suggested that you should distrust any such description. Gabriele Marcotti suggests that you go a step further and punch them in the mouth!
At the 2006 World Cup Germany
threw off the chains of decades of highly effective but mind-numbing play to become
one of the most entertaining teams in the tournament. Today they reverted to old habits and
produced an uninspiring but all the same, winning performance.
Apart from both coaches
being sent to the stands the only memorable moment of the first forty-five
minutes was a miss by Gomez of Kanuesque proportions. Klose fed him a pass that
put him in front of an open goal and no more than four yards out.
Gomez contrived
to sand wedge the ball up in the air and as it spun towards the goal an
Austrian defender recovered and headed clear unchallenged. Surely the miss of
the tournament.
It is no secret that Gomez is struggling badly but it is to the point that it is cruel and unusual punishment to keep him on the field. Lowe apparently likes a more physical forward up front with Klose and that has been one of the reasons to pull Podolski deeper into midfield.
However, the Podolski move has compounded the problem because the Bayern Munich player has fitted in nicely in midfield while also scoring goals. Sticking with Gomez in the next round would be a vote of confidence bordering on the foolhardy.
Fritz and Frings (sounds like a Vegas lounge act) both had nightmare games and were constantly battling to control passes and to find team mates. Any coordinated threat from
Germany in the first half came with Lahm and Podolski linking down the left
side. And it was through a surging run from Lahm that Germany took the lead just into the second half.
Ivanschitz
sliced down the little full back as he threatened to break into the penalty and
set up a free kick 30 yards out. The ball was touched to Ballack who thumped a
shot passed Macho and was still rising as it hit the back of the Austrian net. It
was the one moment of pure class throughout the entire ninety minutes.
As the game went on a lack
of telling passes in the last third of the field allowed both defences to remain
comfortably in control through weight of numbers. Although Austria continued to
push forward they just did not the conviction or skill to both manufacture and
take a chance that might have changed the flow of the game. Germany had a
number of chances on the counter but they often looked dazed and confused and
nothing came of the numerous opportunities.
Germany win ugly and move
on: Austria finishes above Poland but go out albeit having exceeded the low expectations.
Croatia 1-0 Poland
Ivan Klasnic scored what
must surely be the most personally emotional goal to maintain Croatia’s 100%
record. Klasnic who underwent kidney transplants in the last two years and still
fought his way back into the national team scored the only goal. Given that he
has also been released by his club Werder Bremen in Germany the goal will not
have gone unnoticed by teams looking for a proven striker.
Portugal vs. Germany on
Thursday; Croatia vs. Turkey on Friday.
Comment of the Day “The Austro-Swiss flop is the first in what may be a sequence of poor performances by host nations in European and world tournaments. World Cup 2010 hosts South Africa have slipped down the rankings in African football over the past few years and suffered another embarrassing defeat, away to Sierra Leone, in an African Nations Cup qualifier yesterday.
Even if they get a helpful draw in two years' time they may struggle to advance. In 2012, the European championship will be jointly staged by Ukraine, who have qualified for only one major tournament since gaining independence, and Poland who have disappointed at Euro 2008 just as they did at the last two World Cups.” – When Saturday Comes.
Prediction Update We have eleven posters with a 100% record (8 points from a possible 8) at the completion of Group A.
Matthew 21110, Anti-Madridista, Sleeper000, Sangria, Soundersfan, SMuAnNuNy, Genuisatwork, TBoone, Willisman, realmadrista123, and Milanfan21 all nailed the exact finishing positions.
However, we already know that no one will have a 100% record once group play is complete.
But given that the winners of Group B, C and D are already decided I can tell you that we have three posters who got all four group winners spot on. LHJS, Soundersfan and frenchies.
Looks as if Soundersfan is the one to beat. I’ll try to update at the conclusion of each group.
Tiebreaker In Canada TSN and Rogers Sportsnet are sharing the coverage of Euro 2008. It is just as well that they haven't had to pay each viewer a dollar every time they have gotten the tiebreaker rule wrong over the last five days.
The latest faux pas just before the start of Group A play yesterday when we were informed (paraphrased) that if the Czechs won big and Portugal lost big then the Czechs could finish top of Group A on goal difference.
CONCACAF World Cup Qualifying Yesterday’s later games brought another couple of surprise results. Trinidad and Tobago lost 2-1 at home to Bermuda while Haiti was held scoreless at home by Netherlands Antilles. The ####mp;T score potentially impacts the next round of games for the USA as the qualification format moves to three groups of four.
Canada opposition in the next stage is a mere formality. Honduras has already qualified while Mexico has a 2-0 lead to take home against Belize. Jamaica won 7-0 against the Bahamas and will surely move on. After this weekend’s results the idea that the next stage of qualifying might be prove to the biggest hurdle for Canada to clear has only been reinforced.
The results and the format to the next stage can be found by clicking on the link.
Czech coach Karel Bruckner
recalled Jan Koller the lead the attack and it quickly paid off. A weakness in
the centre of the Turkish defence was evident in their first two group games
and in the early going Koller exploited it.
The Czech settled into a early rhythm as they looked to find Koller at every opportunity and to feed off his
knock downs and flicks. However, the Czech tactics came with a price tag and it
was the big striker who was footing the bill (I could have said writing the
cheque!) as he took a battering from the Turkish back four.
Just as Turkey seemed to
be finding their game with some tidy possession football the Czechs took a
well-deserved lead. Galloping down the right side on the overlap Grygera
whipped in a cross just behind Koller. The striker managed to reposition
himself and the resulting header flew into the roof of the net.
The Czechs rode the goal
to half time with Turkey showing little response to going a goal down. However,
it was a very different Turkish side that came out for the second half and
pressed the Czechs at every opportunity. Even when the Czechs went to up
against the run of play it only served to reinvigorate a Turkey side that just
would not give up.
The second Czech goal came
after a quick free kick was fed out to Sionko who crossed invitingly to the far
post. Plasil arrived at a rate of knots to complete a very smart move. Excellent goal.
But even
at 2-0 there were the seeds of defeat in the Czechs play. Where in the first
half the team pressed forward and allowed the likes Sionko, Matejovsky and Polak
to support and feed off Koller, in the second half the Czechs lost that shape
and large gaps started forming between midfield, Koller and the support
strikers.
Koller’s legs were the
first to go but he would not be the last. Incredibly, Bruckner stubbornly stuck
with the first half goal scorer rather than looking to the likes of the mobile
Baros or Sverkos the scorer of the winner against Switzerland. As the Czechs
failed to hold possession up front the pressure mounted on the midfield and the
defence as Turkey continued to swarm the Czechs at will.
With quarter of an hour left Arda Turan
stepped up to give Turkey hope as he reduced the deficit to one but still
Bruckner stuck with Koller. Kadlec and Vlcek came on for Plasil and Sionko but
neither moved threatened to turn the tide. Almost every Czech player was being
outworked, out tackled and out fought by a younger and much fitter Turkish team.
However, with three
minutes to go it looked as if the Czech Republic would hang on. Little did
we realize that we still had the most astonishing finish since Spain scored
twice in injury time to beat Yugoslavia 4-3 at Euro 2000 in store.
First Cech dropped a
routine cross at the feet of Nihat who gratefully slipped the ball into an
empty net.
Then just two minutes
later the Turkish captain caught Jankulovski a step behind the other defenders,
sprung the offside trap and thumped a shot over the oncoming Cech, off the
underside of the bar and into the net.
Turkey led 3-2 but there
was more still in store. A stramash in the Turkish box ended with the ball rolling
wide of an empty goal but after it had gone out of play Demirel took a pop at
Koller and deservedly got sent off. After having used all their substitutes, Turkey finished
the match with ten men and with Tuncay Sanli in goal.
The Czechs leave the
tournament after the coach who put them in a position to move on, in turn
became the coach whose decision to stick with Jan Koller killed their chances.
Portugal 0-2 Switzerland
Switzerland finish bottom
of Group A but leave the tournament with a win.
Comment of the Day
“But the pluses(for Portugal) are not merely Deco back on top form controlling midfield alongside Joao Moutinho, but also Cristiano Ronaldo, a player capable of turning games even if he is not playing especially well.
It feels like a Life of Brian “What did the Romans ever do for us?” comment, but aside from creating two goals and scoring one, Ronaldo did little against the Czechs. They almost succeeded in isolating him, but almost with Ronaldo is not enough.” – Jonathan Wilson in the Financial Times.
Other goings on It is a World Cup qualifying weekend in Africa, Asia, South America and CONCACAF.
There were a few shocks in Africa yesterday with Angola, Egypt, Ghana and Morocco all losing while
Cameroon and the Ivory Coast both drew.
However, this is only the half way point in a preliminary qualifying stage so it might be a bit premature to think realistically that some of these countries are going to miss out on the first World Cup Finals in Africa.
The prelim stage has 12 groups with the winners and 8 best runners up moving onto a final; group stage of four teams in five groups. Winners will then join the host nation South Africa in 2010.
World Cup qualifying in Africa also doubles up for the African Cup of Nations Finals and that is why South Africa is involved.
An update of the current group standings in Africa can be found by following the link.
One country that will not be in South Africa in two years time is 2002 qualifiers China. Consecutive losses to Qatar and yesterday to Iraq put paid to Chinese hopes. Iran, Saudi Arabia, Australia, Japan, North and South Korea, Bahrain and Uzbekistan are all guaranteed a place in the final stage of Asia qualifying.
The remaining two places will be decided next weekend with Iraq up against Qatar in Group 1 and UAE or Syria in Group 5.
An update of the current group standings in Asia can be found by following the link.
Two games in South American qualifying were played yesterday and both finished in 1-1 draws – Uruguay at home to Venezuela and Peru at home to Colombia. The other games scheduled for today are Paraguay vs. Brazil; Argentina vs. Ecuador; Bolivia vs. Chile.
Yesterday’s draw puts Venezuela into fifth place in the group (a place above Uruguay) and they have a solid chance of maintaining that position after today’s games.
Paraguay could give Brazil are real run for their money I fancy.
An update of the current group standings in CONMEBOL can be found by following the link.
And last but definitely not least we have CONCACAF qualifying. Canada hopes to start a journey that will conclude with their first appearance at the World Cup finals since 1986 while the USA want to make it six consecutive appearances at the finals.
This preliminary round generally keeps the traditionally more powerful nations apart and matches then with non-traditional soccer powers in a home and away series. The chances of a real shock or two are not high but from time to time the bigger countries only squeak past the “minnows”.
Costa Rica made it to Germany in 2006 but they had to rely on the away goals rule to get past Cuba at this stage four years ago. And after yesterday’s result against Grenada they may have a tough time again.
Costa Rica was down 2-0 after less than thirty minutes before finally drawing 2-2 in St Georges.
So a warning to Canada (vs. St. Vincent and the Grenadines) and to the USA (vs. Barbados) who both play today.
Honduras is already through to the next stage after drawing 2-2 with Puerto Rico yesterday after winning the first leg 4-0.
A CONCACAF schedule and scores to date can be found by following the link.
Two games and two wins for
Portugal and they are within a smidgen of moving on to the knock out stage. The
Czechs put in a far better performance than the opening game and can go into
the final match with some confidence.
The early goal from Deco came
after some great interplay just on the edge of the Czech penalty box. Portugal
was offered too much time and far too much space. Ronaldo and Nuno Gomes are
involved before Deco nips into score. The early counter was the making of the
match as the Czechs clawed their way back into the game.
Former Ranger Libor Sionko
was the liveliest player for the Czechs on Saturday and he up for this game as
well. The equalizer came from a well-placed Plasil corner kick and Sionko
stooped low to beat Petit to the ball and direct a header past Ricardo. Cross
balls would continue to cause Portugal problems throughout the match and it is
something that other countries will have been sure to notice.
The game flowed back and
forward to half time and into the second half although Portugal was much more
adept at creating chances. Deco in particular was a constant threat. The eventual winner came from a lightning
quick attack. The ball found in Deco just inside the penalty box and his
cutback found Ronaldo arriving at the edge of penalty after the Czech’s had
failed to pick up his run. The shot was beat Cech and again the Czechs were
forced to try and find a way back into the game.
Free kicks and corner kicks
offered the best chance of success and although the centre of the Portuguese
looked uncomfortable every time a cross was delivered the next goal came at the
other end. With only seconds left another quick free kick caught the Czech
defence square and high. Rolando ran on unmolested and after drawing Cech out of
the goal he rolled a pass to Quaresma. The substitute rolled the ball into the
empty net.
No doubt Ronaldo will
garner the headlines but Deco was the stick that stirred the Portuguese
cocktail.
Turkey 2-1 Switzerland
It has been a long time
since I can remember a game played at a major championship in such bad conditions. With surface water visible over much of the park each pass came with the possibility
of dying in one of the many puddles or aquaplaning and leaving players to stretch
in desperation.
The West Germany vs. Poland semi final at the World Cup of 1974
suffered as a spectacle when a torrential downpour hit but in this case you
could argue that the weather conditions actually made the match.
Every dribble, every
tackle, every pass came with the opportunity for a turnover or for defensive disaster from situations that would normally generate predictable outcomes. The Swiss
were quicker to adapt as they chose to harry and press the Turks at every
opportunity.
Derdiyok’s pace up front
caused the Turkish defence all sorts of trouble and it was the youngest player
of the tournament who set up the first goal. Served up on a plate is not an
uncommon expression but this one was served up in a puddle as Derdiyok crossed
to the unmarked Yakin at the far post.
The ball died in the water as Yakin
waited to tap it in and he had to quickly readjust in order to get to the ball
before the Turkish defenders who were desperately trying to plow through the
waves (exaggeration).
Shortly after Yakin had what
is probably the miss of the tournament as he missed a wide open net after again being fed at the back post.
Half time brought an end
to the rainstorm and an opportunity for the groudstaff to deal with some of the
standing water. As conditions improved so did Turkey’s performance. The
equalizer came from a magnificent cross from Nihat powered home by Semih
although a top class goalkeeper might have been expected to deal with the effort.
Switzerland looked the
more likely to score the winner although Turkey remained a realistic threat on
the break. And so it was with seconds left that Turkey broke away and scored
the winner.
Turkey now face Czech with
each country tied on points, goal differential and goals scored. A draw would
set up penalty kicks to decide who moves as runners-up to Portugal. Portugal is
now guaranteed to finish top of the group and can now rest players for the
final game against Switzerland.
Comment of the Day
"The
fundamental value at the heart of football is solidarity, together with
collective intelligence, creativity, critical thinking, courage and fair
play. These are qualities which have nothing to do with Switzerland and
the Swiss." - Jean Ziegler.
It was an ultra-cagey
first half with neither team willing to commit players forward in numbers
during open play. Free kicks and corners offered up the best opportunities but
even then the keepers were rarely tested.
You got the feeling that if France was
willing to up the pace and go after Romania that they would be rewarded. Tamas
and Goian looked very comfortable when balls were played high into the Romanian
area but there was a sense that the ball played quickly along the ground might
have provided them with a far greater challenge.
What's more Romania's goalkeeper Bogdan Lobont seemed at times to be intent on writing his own special chapter focusing on passbacks in the David James and Fabian Barthez best seller "Adventures in Goalkeeping."
The second half pretty
much replicated the opening forty-five minutes. France held an edge but Romania
defended with composure and opted to play the ball through the midfield once the
French had surrendered possession.
The French midfield cried out for a player
to quicken the tempo of the game but Makelele’s forte is to slow the pace down
not to speed it up and France rapidly ran out of attacking ideas. The French attack was not helped by a thoroughly badly balanced pairing of Nicolas Anelka and Karim Benzema.
The second half in
particular was close to a mirror image of the Scotland game in Paris last fall.
A well organized and motivated team comfortably holding off a French side that enjoyed a
significant edge in possession but was unable to change the flow of the game as
their attacking options weathered and died.
A draw means that no
matter the outcome of the second round of games both countries will enter the
final round with a chance of progressing.
Man-of-the-match
My pick would be left back
Razvan Rat. Tidy in possession and
quick in the tackle Rat not only kept Franck Ribery quiet but he also found
time to move forward to support the Romanian attack.
Italy 0-3 Netherlands
Italy is well known for
starting tournaments slowly but rarely has it cost them as dearly. This time it has and even though the opening goal was undoubtedly offside the Italians were
badly outplayed by a Dutch side was quicker in thought and in execution.
The second Dutch goal was
as beautiful as the first one was offside. The classic counter attack came after
van Bronckhorst had cleared what could have been own goal of the Dutch line and
fed the ball up the left touchline. A glorious 40 yard cross field pass was
headed down by Dirk Kuyt and Sneijder showed great composure and skill to hook
the ball passed Buffon.
A third could have come
before half time as van der Vaart played the pass of the tournament to date. He slipped awonderfully weighted pass
behind Materazzi who looked like he was running in sand to van Nistelrooy. This
time Buffon deflected the shot over.
Italy looked to be poorly equipped
to come back from a two goal deficit. A five minute spell from the 70th
minute, when first Toni and then Grosso got behind the Dutch defence and then
Pirlo was denied off of a free kick by van der Sar, was the best Italy could
offer.
Ironically the best
Italian spell of play ended with another Dutch counter attack and another key
contribution from Giovanni van Bronckhorst. Gio was smart enough to know that
Kuyt would not score one-on-one with Buffon and craftily positioned himself for
the cross that came after Buffon’s save. When Kuyt sent in the cross van
Bronckhorst had a free jump and the goal bound header was helped across the
line by Zambrotta.
A nightmare for Italy; a
dream for the Dutch. But remember……it is only the start.
Stat check – Italy’s worst
defeat at major finals since losing 4-1 to Brazil in 1970?
Comment of the Day
This was a description of
Croatia midfielder Luka Modric by Peter Mallett in Saturday’s Globe & Mail.
“Traditionally known for
tireless running, precision through balls and brute physical strength this
22-year-old midfielder personifies all that makes the red, white and blue
checkered shirts of Croatia revered.”
Hmmm - Brute strength? At a little over 5 foot 9 inches and 143
pounds soaking wet Modric might be considered a brute by an under-13 girl’s
team but that is about it.
Prediction Pool
Here is a breakdown of the
winners as predicted on the blog by Friday’s posters.
Germany 25.9%
Spain 19.5%
Italy 13.9%
France 13.0%
Portugal 12.0%
Netherlands 9.2%
Romania 2.8%
Russia
1.9%
Croatia 0.9%
Sweden 0.9%
Thanks to everyone who took the contribute their predictions and I will post the interim leaders at the completion of the group stage.
Instantly forgettable that was this match was. Oh well it is not as if we have not become use to poor opening games at major championships. Neither side showed anything that would make you look forward to their next game.
The Swiss midfield four got the better of a five man Czech configuration. Behrami, Fernandes, Inler and Barnetta were brighter, more mobile and quickly closed a down Czechs. However, they lacked someone able to play a killer pass into the penalty box and for all their hard work they rarely threatened.
Sionko’s pace and willingness to take players was the only thing that stood out in largely pedestrian Czech midfield. In fact pedestrian pretty much describes this Czech team. Although they clearly miss Nedved and Rosicky in midfield it is the demise of Jan Koller as a regular and persistent threat that has impacted the Czechs the most.
His substitution after less than an hour came as no surprise and now Coach Karl Bruckner must choose between the ageing Koller and Václav Sverkoš who replaced him and scored the only goal.
On Wednesday the Czechs play Portugal while the Swiss need at least a point against Turkey.
Officials note – Italy’s Roberto Rosetti had a good game although it was not a difficult one to handle. Despite the match commentator referring to two controversial handballs there was nothing controversial about either incident. Referee got both calls right.
Portugal 2-0 Turkey
The second game of the day was much more pleasing on the eye as both teams attempted to play the ball to feet and to build attacks for the most part. Portugal was by far the better team and in the first half they had a Pepe goal disallowed and a Ronaldo free kick tipped onto the post by Turkish keeper Volkan Demirel.
As the first half progressed Portugal was able to get Deco on the ball more and as he grew in confidence we saw more decisive runs at the Turkish defence. Simao also posed a threat to the Turks every time he attacked. Portugal (and other sides watching) could not but help but see an obvious aerial weakness in the Turkish defence. With every cross delivered from a wide position the Portuguese threatened to score.
The breakthrough goal, when it arrived in the second half, came uncharacteristically from Pepe pushing forward during open play. Under Scolari it is rare to see either of the Portuguese centre backs moving forward for anything other than free kicks and corners.
But no matter, Pepe picked up a loose ball about forty yards from the Turkish goal and pushed towards the heart of the defence. Playing a one-two Pepe was then left alone inside the penalty box and scored with the help of slight deflection of Asik as he scrambled to make a last ditch tackle.
Either side of the Pepe goal Nuno Gomes hit the woodwork twice. However, basing his performance of these two close encounters is deceiving given that he should have been able to take full advantage of a poor Turkish central defensive pairing of Servet Cetin and Gökhan Zan.
Turkey’s main threat came from Nihat but he badly lacked support. Kazim Kazin (Colin Kazim-Richards formerly of Bury, Brighton and Sheffield United) flattered to deceive on the right side of the midfield as he looked confident and comfortable on the ball but he failed to take advantage of the potential weakness of the right footed Ferreira playing at left back.
Sabri Sarioglu added a bit of pep to Turkey’s play when he came on as substitute but overall Portugal was well deserving of the three points and should be happy with the overall performance.
Before we gaze into the crystal ball here are some statistics collected from UEFA.com and other sources on the players, countries and club affiliations at Euro 2008.
Players Oldest – Ivica Vastica a midfielder for Austria will be 39 in September which makes him six weeks older than Germany’s goalkeeper Jens Lehmann.
Youngest – Swiss forward Eren Derdiyok will no longer be a teenager when he turns 20 in six days time.
Tallest – Czech Republic forward Jan Koller stands at 202 cms. which is little over 6 foot 8 inches. But beware Koller and other tall players have been known to grow during major tournaments. Commentators take it upon themselves to add half an inch here and there and so if the Czechs reach the final game don’t be surprised if Koller is over seven foot by June 29th.
Shortest – The player jumping up and down in the tall grass will be Romanian midfielder Florentin Petre who is nearly 5 foot and six and a half inches although he claims that the wall chart in kitchen shows six and five eighth inches.
Countries (average) Oldest Sweden 29.14
Italy 29.10
Greece 29.05
Youngest Russia 26.13
Switzerland 26.38
Spain 26.40
Countries with players 21 or under at the start of the the tournament - 21 Switzerland, Portugal, Austria and Turkey 3 each
Croatia, France and Poland 2 each
Romania, Czech Republic and Spain 1 each
Countries with outfield players 34 or over at the start of the the tournament - 16 Austria, Sweden, France, Croatia, Italy and Czech Republic 2 each
Poland, Italy, Germany and Turkey 1 each
Countries with the fewest domestic based players in their squad Croatia 2
Czech Republic 3
Countries with the most domestic based players in their squad Russia 22
Germany and Italy 19
Tallest (average) Croatia 184.91 (a smidgen under 6 foot 2 inches)
Germany 184.87
Switzerland 184.61
Shortest (average) Spain 179.61 (180 is 6 foot)
Turkey 180.35
Portugal 180.57
Players contributed by clubs Panathinaikos (Greece) and Lyon (France) 10 each
Galatasaray (Turkey) and Bayern Munich 9 each
Premiership clubs represented – 17 of 20. Arsenal and Chelsea 7
Liverpool 5
Manchester United 4
Highest representation of players by league Germany 56
England 43
Spain 41
Italy 36
Russia 30
For those making predictions don’t be to despondent should your “dead-cert can’t lose winner” get off to a slow start. There is ample evidence to show that countries can recover from a set-back or two at the group stage and still go on to the final or even win the Championship.
1980 – Belgium won only once in the group stage but went on to finish as runners-up to Germany.
1984 – Spain recorded just one win in three group games but qualified for the knock out stage all the same and finished as runners-up to France.
1988 – The Netherlands lost their opening game of the tournament to the Soviet Union but gained revenge when the counties met again in the final when the Dutch won 2-0.
1992 – Danish players were recalled from the beaches and golf courses of Europe to take the place of Yugoslavia. Denmark had a draw and a loss in their first two group games before beating France and moving into the last eight. From there the Netherlands were beaten in a penalty kick shoot-out and the Danes took the title beating Germany 2-0 in the final.
1996 – The Czech Republic lost their opening group game 2-0 to Germany but rebounded to make the final against the same opponent. However, Germany doubled the Czechs with a golden goal from Oliver Bierhoff.
2004 – Few would have predicted that the two countries that opened the tournament would also make it all the way to the final match. But that was exactly what happened. Greece beat Portugal 2-1 in the opener and then again 1-0 in the final.
However, few seem to remember that the opening game win was Greece’s only victory in group play. The second match was a 1-1 draw with Spain and Russia then beat the eventual winners 2-1. Portugal actually won group A while Greece only moved on based on scoring more goals than Spain having finished tied on both points and goal differential.
Predictions Before anyone jumps all over anyone's predictions there is one rule. No criticism allowed unless you also post your own predictions under the comments section. A scoring system can be found at the end of my predictions.
Group A 1. Portugal 2. Czech Republic 3. Switzerland 4. Turkey
Group B 1. Germany 2. Croatia 3. Poland 4. Austria
Group C 1. France 2. Romania 3. Italy 4. Netherlands
There has to be at least one surprise and for me this is it. I flipped between France and Italy not to qualify and the decision eventually swung on Cannavaro’s injury and the potential France have available from the bench. We will see.
Group D 1. Spain 2. Greece 3. Sweden 4. Russia
Quarter Finals Portugal to beat Croatia
Germany to beat Czech Republic
France to beat Greece
Spain to beat Romania
Semi Finals Germany to beat Portugal
France to beat Spain
Final Germany to beat France
Prediction scoring system 1 point for every group position picked correctly.
2 bonus points for getting 1st or 2nd position in the group correct
3 points for correctly predicting the winners of each of the quarter final matches
5 points for correctly predicting the winners of the semi finals
10 points for correctly predicting the winners of the competition.
By my calculation sixty-four points (64) constitutes the maximum score.
Greece has appeared at two European Championship finals in 1980 in Italy and in Portugal four years ago.
How they qualified An impressive record of ten wins, a draw and only one loss brought Greece thirty-one points, the best points haul by any country in the qualifying rounds. The single loss was a humiliating one – 4-1 to Turkey in Greece – and it might of led to a meltdown in years gone-by.
Instead Greece rebounded with eight wins and a draw (Norway) while Turkey set off in a different direction with only one win in their next six games. Greece cruised through finishing seven points ahead of Turkey in Group C and eight ahead of Norway. Theofanis Gekas was Greece’s leading scorer with five goals including a hat trick against Malta.
The Coach Otto Rehhagel is now the longest serving and with a shadow of a doubt the most successful international manager that Greece has ever had. Not bad for a man who lost 5-1 to Finland back in 2001 on his debut. A sign of how far Greece has come under his management is the resilience of the team. Even failing to make it to the World Cup finals in 2006 was met with renewed vigour to make sure that as reigning European champions they would be on hand to defend their title in Switzerland and Austria this summer.
Rehhagel has been coaching since the mid-seventies although all his previous appointments had been in Germany where he accumulated all sorts of coaching records.
Key Players Theofanis Gekas has scored a lot of goals in the Bundesliga over the last two seasons and Greece’s progress may be dependent on his goal scoring exploits. Sotirios Kyrgiakos moved to Eintracht Frankfurt in 2006 after a season with Rangers and is a man-mountain of a defender who offers a threat at set pieces. Benfica’s Giorgos Karagounis is the driving force in the Greek midfield and a free kick specialist.
Great Euro Memory Well this is not a difficult one to pick. Four years ago Greece got off to a flying start beating the host nation Portugal in the opening game. Twenty-two days later they repeated the feat in the final after beating France and the Czech Republic in the knock-out stage with a smothering style of defense not seen for a couple of decades. Greece lifting the European championship was the biggest ever shock in European football.
Synopsis The current European Champions will not be slipping under the radar this time. Last time Rehhagel had the team primed and they executed his plan to perfection. Four years on he will again place his faith in many of the same players although he has found places for some younger talent. It is difficult to see how Greece can repeat but four years ago it seemed impossible that they could be crowned the Kings of Europe. But if there is one team that will play to maximum of their collective capabilities it will be Greece under Rehhagel.
Coming Up in World Cup Qualifying Group 2 will also consist of Israel, Switzerland, Moldova, Latvia and Luxembourg.
Russia - Under the guises of the Soviet Union and then the Commonwealth of Independent States in 1992 it is difficult to assign any lineage to Russia’s long term participation. However, they did compete as Russia in the 1996 and 2004 finals and at the 1994 and 2002 World Cups. However, they failed to move on from the group stage in any of their appearances.
How they qualified The group table tells us that Russia finished five points behind Group E winners Croatia and a single point ahead of third place England and Israel. However, that does no justice to the last game dramatics that saw Croatia going to Wembley having already secured a place in the finals and Russia traveling up a mountain to face Andorra.
After going two goals down to Croatia England drew level and were in a position to qualify if they could only hold on the draw. But Croatia scored again to break a 2-2 tie; Russia secured an unimpressive 1-0 win over Andorra and England’s players made plans to take a longer summer break. Aleksandr Kerzahkov scored six times for Russia including a hat trick against Andorra and a double against Estonia.
The Coach Guus Hiddink’s record in international competition is impressive. At France ’98 the Netherlands were unlucky to lose on penalties to Brazil; four years later he masterminded South Korea’s path to the last four; in 2006 he led Australia to a place in the last sixteen. Unfortunately for Hiddink the extraordinary is now expected and that is true for Russia. However, Hiddink has been trying to talk down the expectations surrounding Russia’s performance this summer preferring to cast the 2010 World Cup as the primary target.
Key Players Andrei Arshavin plays his club football for Zenit Saint Petersburg but he could be a big money transfer target this summer. Outstanding individual skills with great anticipation and has the ability to fill a number of different roles in midfield and attack – a real craftsman. There is however, one rather large problem – Arshavin is suspended for Russia’s first two matches after striking an Andorran player late in the last qualifying game.
The heritage of fine Russian goalkeepers seems safe. CSKA Moscow’s Igor Akinfeev at only 22 is one of the best young keepers in the world and will probably fight in out with Zenit St. Petersburg’s Viacheslav Malafeev for the starting spot.
Although Aleksandr Kerzahkov was Russia’s top scorer in the qualifying group stage he has been omitted from the Russian squad. Hiddink has a couple of other options in his back pocket in Roman Pavlyuchenko and Pavel Pogrebnyak – although as players with similar styles it unlikely that they will teamed together.
Pavlyuchenko came against England and scored twice to give Russia and come from behind 2-1 win while Pogrebnyak has scored four times in nine appearances for the national team and scored ten times in Zenit St. Petersburg’s successful UEFA Cup run just past. Pogrebnyak missed the UEFA Cup and he is battling an injury that has him doubtful for the Euros.
Great Euro Memory If you consider the Soviet Union’s participation then the greatest achievement is winning the first competition in 1960. Metreveli equalized for the Soviet’s just after half time following a first half goal from Yugoslavia’s Galic. The final went to extra time before Ponedelnik scored the winning goal with seven minutes left.
Synopsis Any side coached by Dutchman Guus Hiddink cannot be discounted although Russia was the recipient of a couple of fortunate breaks during qualifying. Replacing Arshavin for the first two games may be impossible and the lack of pace in defence may haunt Russia.
Coming Up in World Cup Qualifying Liechtenstein, Azerbaijan, Wales, Finland and Germany will be the opposition in Group 4.
