Group D

Russia 2-0 Sweden

Sweden could not keep up with a slick passing and speedy Russian side. Russia was fully committed to attack right from the opening whistle and they peppered the Swedish goal with shots throughout the game.

The fact that Russia only led by one goal at half time was down to a combination of some good goalkeeping from Isaksson and some finishing that just lacked an edge. Arshavin was very much the orchestrator for Russia but this was far from a one man show. Zhirkov, Semak, Zyryanov, Anyukov and Bilyaletdinov all stood out while the size and strength of Pavlyuchenko bothered the Swedish defence. It was Pavlyucheko that got the opening goal as he finished off some good work by Anyukov down the right side.

The second goal was a thing of absolute beauty and came early in the second half. A Swedish clearance was picked off inside his own half by Zhirkov. He found Arshavin and continued his run forward. Arshavin knocked the ball to Diniyar Bilyaletdinov who then threaded a twenty yard pass behind the Swedish defence and right to Zhirkov who made a diagonal run.

Zhirkov carried the ball into the Swedish penalty box before squaring to Arshavin who slid the ball past Isaksson. The move from start to finish probably took no more than ten seconds, involved four players and four passes and the ball travelled more than half the length off the field without a Swedish defender getting a sniff. Spectacular and a candidate for the best goal of the tournament – set the recorder tonight if you did not catch this goal live!

As Sweden desperately tried to pull a goal back they left themselves open to Russia on the counter. There were numerous chances to increase the score but everyone was squandered. Another triumph for a side showing a willingness to go forward and to attack the opposition with pace, passing and fantastic movement Now we have Guus Hiddink going up against his native Netherlands on Saturday – something we can all look forward to.  

 

Spain 2-1 Greece

Greece scores a goal but still lose to what could be best described as the Spanish B team. Nice bit of refereeing on the first Spanish goal. Howard Webb opting to play the advantage after a foul by Greece in midfield. The call allowed the move to continue and it finished with a rasping shot from de la Red.

Comment of the Day

"At this stage of the tournament any opponent was going to be difficult but they aren't the team (Italy) I would have most liked to have met," Spain coach Luis Aragones.

Prediction Update

Group C proved to be a real #### for just about everyone. A lot of blanks – many more than Groups A and B. Only one 100% correct prediction for Group C and it came from Stonefacesurf. Sounderfan still leads (19 points from a possible 24) although the gap narrowed yesterday.

Questions

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?

Spain 2-1 Sweden

During the qualifying stage these two teams shared the spoils with a win each and it seemed that we were heading for a stalemate as the seconds ticked down. The difference, in the end, came down to a long clearance downfield from Capdevilla (?), tiring Swedish legs and the spirit of David Villa that inspired him to chase the ball down, compose himself and to side foot the winner past Isaksson.

Based on share of the play it was a deserved winner but Sweden provided much stiffer opposition than a Russian side that almost presented goals to Spain last Tuesday. Thoughts that another avalanche of Spanish goals might be in the offing received some encouragement when Torres showed his goal poacher instincts after only fifteen minutes. The Liverpool striker stretched for a ball played diagonally towards the six-yard box at midriff height. His studs made contact and Spain led.

As it often does, going a goal behind provides the impetuous to go forward and so it was for Sweden. The Spanish defence started to creak and the loss of Puyol only added to the problem. Ibrahimovic worked hard to create his shooting chance but the Spanish defenders and goalkeeper Iker Casillas were guilty of some very slack play.

The Swedish goalscorer did not come out for second half and with his absence Sweden was relegated to increasingly infrequent counter attacks. With no one to hold the ball up and to occupy the Spanish defenders almost every clearance was pinning its way back towards the Swedes penalty area in super quick time.

But just as it looked as if Sweden would leave with a point Villa’s fourth goal of the tournament gave Spain three points.   

Greece 0-1 Russia

The result was more important than the performances in this one. Greece loses and can go home early. Russia may also be catching an early flight but at least they will go into the final game against Sweden with a chance to progress. Sweden only needs a draw but Russia will look to the return of Andrei Arshavin after suspension as a major boost ahead of Wednesday’s decider.

Comment of the Day

“The Dutch have dared to identify and promote new talents, while the French, like the Italians, are paying a price for clinging to players of a certain vintage. Yes, Lilian Thuram and Thierry Henry have been to the top of the world, but neither has been a regular starter with their club, Barcelona, and Henry's sinews are not the reliable carriers of his refined skills that we grew to admire.

By contrast, although the Netherlands' coach, Marco van Basten, has recalled Ruud van Nistelrooy to lead his attack, he has trusted in the engine power, the youth, and the ability of Sneijder and the creative touches of Rafael van der Vaart. The coach also, with a nudge from providence, has Dirk Kuyt on his right wing.” – Rob Hughes writing for the International Tribune.

Tip for the Day

Instantly distrust any article or commentator that describes the current Dutch team as playing Total Football ala Cruyff, Ajax and Netherlands in the seventies. They either did not see the Dutch play at their peak or they have a very poor grasp of the concept.

At this tournament Marco van Basten has the Dutch playing a system that makes the most of the talent and abilities that he has available – basically what all coaches are expected to do. So far the back four has held up well and the two deeper sitting midfield players (mostly Engelaar and De Jong) have covered space and offered effective defensive cover.

They defensive six have provided a platform from which the likes of Sneijder and van der Vaart can display their attacking talents. Up front operating as a lone striker Ruud Van Nistelrooy has shown that old horses can learn new tricks. The ability to break at speed has made the Dutch counter attacks spectacular and lethal but they owe little to the concept of total football.

So far van Basten has his team playing a very effective but relatively rigid 4-2-3-1 system that is markedly different from the free flowing changing-position-almost-at-will philosophy we saw from teams inspired by Rinus Michels. Michels required his players to be masters of technique and to be tactically aware. Everyone should be able to play anywhere was the basic idea but it needed almost perfect players to achieve it.

The 1974 Dutch team was pretty close. Suurbier, Ruud Krol, Rijsbergen and Haan were all accomplished players that could fit into almost any role asked of them. The midfield did not have relatively static defensive midfielders but had Jansen, Neeskens and the beautiful left foot of Wim Van Hanegem. Then we had Cruyff, Johnny Rep and Rob Rensenbrink in attack.

Even goalkeeper Jan Jongbloed – considered by many to be the weak link – made up for many of his short comings by playing at times as sweeper as the Dutch back four pushed forward. What is more is that there were superb players on the bench that could fit the Michels system without a step being missed.

The Dutch have been a revelation so far in this tournament but it is not because of any adherence to the philosophy of Total Football.

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.

France 0-0 Romania

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.

Group D continued

Spain has qualified from the qualifying group stage of every European Championship bar two – 1972 and 1992. Seven times they have failed to progress past the last eight. In 1964 they won the European Championship and the two decades later they lost in the final to France. Four years ago they failed to qualify along with Russia in a group in which Portugal, and Greece moved on.


How they qualified
Losses away to Sweden and Northern Ireland in the opening three games placed Spain firmly behind the eight-ball. However, they responded magnificently with eight wins and a draw away to Iceland the only blemish. Spain finished two points ahead of runners-up Sweden and eight ahead of Northern Ireland and Denmark. David Villa’s six goals for Spain all arrived in the first seven games of group play.


The Coach
Describing Luis Aragones as controversial is a bit like saying Celtic and Rangers fans don’t often see eye-to-eye. If he isn’t feuding with players and the media, he is spouting inflammatory comments. At 70 years-old Aragones will be the oldest manager at the competition and he will step down at the conclusion of the tournament.


Key Players
Last summer Fernando Torres’ move from Atletico Madrid to Liverpool was widely questioned given the money Liverpool paid and the fact that Torres had never scored twenty goals in a season.

Nearly twelve months later Torres has scored many more than twenty goals and is considered a bargain at $45m+. Valencia’s David Villa and Mallorca’s Daniel Guiza (top scorer in La Liga this past season) are also available and offer credible alternatives to Torres.

In goal Spain are very strong with Iker Casillas backed-up by Liverpool’s Pepe Reina and Sevilla’s Andres Palop. Sergio Ramos has developed into an outstanding defender for Real Madrid and this tournament might contribute to his growing reputation.


Great Euro Memory
Spain won the European Championship in 1964 beating the Soviet Union 2-1. In the qualifying rounds Spain had beaten Romania and both of the Irelands.

The final was laced with politics as four years earlier the Fascist Spanish dictator General Francisco Franco had ordered Spain not to play the Soviet Union at the quarter final stage.

The Soviet’s then received a bye into the semis and eventually won the competition. However, in 1964 Franco could not resist the chance to demonstrate Spain’s superiority on the football field.

Spain beat a very good Hungary side 2-1 after extra time in the semi final while the Soviet Union dispatched Denmark 3-0. In the final Pereda gave Spain an early lead only for Khusainov to equalize before ten minutes was gone.

The score remained deadlocked until Marcelino (Real Zaragoza) scored from a header with only six minutes left. (The current Spanish squad recently met the 1964 team).


Synopsis
Along with Russia, Spain is generally considered to be the consummate underachiever of world football. At so many major tournaments Spain has, on paper, a side capable of winning the whole enchilada.

But, games are not won on paper and we have become use to Spain starting a tournament like gangbusters only to fold like a cheap deckchair come the knock out rounds. They have the players – do they have the temperament and will they get a couple of fortunate breaks along the way?

Ironically 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 three weeks of competition. Ball possession may not be a problem but winning it and moving it quickly to the strikers could be.

Defensively in the middle of the park Marco Senna is the only specialty holding midfield player while the settlement of the feud between Valencia and gritty midfielder David Albelda came too late for his inclusion in the Spanish squad.


Coming Up in World Cup Qualifying
Group 5 also consists of Turkey, Belgium, Bosnia Herzegovina, Armenia and Estonia.



Sweden has only competed at three previous European Championship finals. The first time was as host in 1992 when they reached the last four. They missed out in 1996 but qualified for the first time for the 2000 competition and appeared again four years later.


How they qualified
Just under half of Sweden’s twenty-six points came from four consecutive wins to start Group F. With a six point gap with third place Northern Ireland it looks as if the Swede’s cruised through this group.

However, it needed a last round win against Latvia to secure the runners-up spot to Spain. A loss to Latvia and a win (all be it a shock one) by Northern Ireland in Spain would have meant the Irish traveling to Austria and Switzerland this summer. Old stand-by Marcus Allback scored six of Sweden’s twenty-three goals.


The Coach
This will be the third trip to the European Championship finals for Lars Lagerback. Lagerback was initially appointed as the assistant to Tommy Soderberg 1998 before being appointed co-coach two years later. After Euro 2004 Soderberg stepped aside and Lagerback assumed sole control of the team.


Key Players
Sweden will be heavily reliant on Inter’s Zlatan Ibrahimovic but the big striker has seen the edge go from his game since the turn of the year as he has battled a knee problem. Henrik Larsson has broken his international retirement again (more comebacks than Frank Sinatra) although his recall is more likely a sign of weakness in the squad than strength.

In attack John Elmander provides a big physical presence up front and he has scored at a respectable rate of one goal every three games for Sweden. He plays his club football for Toulouse has hit double figures in goals the last two seasons and is regularly mentioned in transfer talk. In midfield Kim Kallstrom has a prodigious work rate and an excellent left foot.


Great Euro Memory
When Sweden hosted in 1992 they were drawn in a group with France, Denmark and England. Sweden drew the opener with France 1-1 and then proceeded to beat the eventual winners Denmark 1-0 courtesy of Leeds “legend” and Howard Wilkinson’s mate Thomas Brolin.

That set up a last round match against an England who in theory could have have qualified with a high scoring draw if the Denmark-France match had finished tied. In reality England really needed to win and going in at half time leading through an early David Platt goals things looked good for them. However, Jan Eriksson equalized just after half time and then a goal by Brolin was the final nail in England’s coffin.

In the semi-final Germany knocked Sweden out 3-2 although the score-line made the game seem closer than it actually was.


Synopsis
Sweden regularly makes it to the World Cup finals but looks like a team that once it has hit the knock out stages is satisfied and ready to fly home. In Portugal four years ago Sweden played out a dreadful scoreless draw before losing to the Netherlands on penalties in a quarter final game. Competent but never a threat to win – that sums up Sweden.


Coming Up in World Cup Qualifying
Drawn in Group 1 along with Portugal, Denmark, Hungary, Albania and Malta.



Part One - History and Background


Part Two – Portugal and the Czech Republic.


Part Three - Switzerland and Turkey.


Part Four - Austria and Croatia.


Part Five - Germany and Poland.


Part Six - France and Italy


Part Seven - Netherlands and Romania.


Part 8 - Greece and Russia



Part 10 - Predictions, tomorrow June 6.

Over the next ten days the blog will be dedicated to the 2008 European Championships. Part 1 covers some of the history of the tournament and an outline of the groups, game-days, officials and some odds and ends. From there is will be a preview of two teams per day and on day ten will come the predictions.

History
The idea of holding a European Championship came, like many other good sports ideas, from a Frenchman.

Henri Delaunay, who was head of the French FA, proposed a tournament for all European counties even before the first World Cup was held in 1930. However, it took until the formation of UEFA in Basle, Switzerland in June 1954 for the notion to take root.

Delaunay was appointed as UEFA’s first General Secretary but died in 1955. In recognition of his leadership and vision the European Championship trophy was named after him.

The tournament started out as the European Nations Cup in 1960 and consisted of group games with the winners moving on to a knock out round of eight. The winners at the quarter final stage would then play semi-finals and a final in the country of one of the final four.

This format continued until 1980 when all eight group winners competed in two groups with the group winners playing for the trophy and the two group runners up playing for bronze. Four years later in France a cross over semi final round was added and the format was maintained when West Germany hosted in 1988 and Sweden in 1992.

When England held the finals in 1996 the number of qualifiers expanded to sixteen countries and from that point onwards the competition became a cash cow for UEFA. It is now arguably the third most watched sporting event in the world after the FIFA World Cup and the Summer Olympics.

Past Finals
1960 USSR 2-1 Yugoslavia

1964 Spain 2-1 USSR

1968 Italy 1-1 Yugoslavia
Replay Italy 2-0 Yugoslavia (extra time)

1972 West Germany 3-0 USSR

1976 Czechoslovakia 2-2 West Germany (Czechoslovakia on 5-3 on penalties)

1980 West Germany 2-1 Belgium

1984 France 2-0 Spain

1988 Netherlands 2-0 USSR

1992 Denmark 2-0 Germany

1996 Germany 2-1 Czech Republic (on a golden goal)

2000 France 2-1 Italy (on a golden goal)

2004 Greece 1-0 Portugal


Top Goalscorers
1960 Ivanov (Soviet Union) and Jerkovic (Yugoslavia) 2 each.

1964 Pereda (Spain) and Novak (Hungary) 2 each.

1968 Drazij (Yugoslavia) 2.

1972 Gerd Muller (West Germany) 4.

1976 Dieter Muller (West Germany) 4.

1980 Allofs (West Germany) 3.

1984 Platini (France) 9.

1988 Van Basten (Netherlands) 5.

1992 Bergkamp (Netherlands), Brolin (Sweden), Larsen (Denmark), Riedle (Germany) 3 each.

1996 Shearer (England) 5.

2000 Kluivert (Netherlands), Milosevic (Yugoslavia) 6 each.

2004 Baros (Czech Republic) 5.


The Groups and Games Days
Group A
Switzerland, Czech Republic, Portugal and Turkey – June 7, 11, and 15.

Group B
Austria, Croatia, Germany and Poland – June 8, 12 and 16.

Group C
Romania, France, Italy and Netherlands – June 9, 13 and 17.

Group D
Spain, Russia, Greece and Sweden – June 10, 14 and 18.

Quarter Finals
Winner A vs. Runner-Up B – June 19, Basle

Winner B vs. Runner-Up A – June 20, Vienna.

Winner C vs. Runner-Up D – June 21, Basel.

Winner D vs. Runner-Up C – June 22, Vienna.

Semi- Finals
Winner A or Runner-Up B vs. Winner B or Runner-Up A – June 25, Basel.
Winner C or Runner-Up D vs. Winner D or Runner-Up C – June 26, Vienna.

Final
June 29, Vienna.


The Stadiums
St. Jakob-Park, Basel, Capacity 42,500.

Letzigrund Stadion, Zurich, Capacity 30,000.

Stade de Geneve, Geneva, Capacity 30,000.

Wankdorf Stadion, Bern, Capacity 32,000.


Stadion Tivoli, Innsbruck, Capacity 30,000.

Worthersee Stadion, Klagenfurt, Capacity 30,000.

Wals-Siezenheim Stadion, Salzburg, Capacity 30,000.

Ernst-Happel Stadion, Vienna, Capacity 50,000.


The Officials
UEFA has assigned 12 referees and 24 assistants (plus eight fourth officials) to officiate the games. Each referee trio is made up of a referee and two assistant referees from the same country. The trios have worked together as teams over the last year.

Referee - Konrad Plautz (Austria); Assistants Egon Bereuter & Markus Mayr.

Referee - Kyros Vassaras (Greece); Assistants Dimitrios Bozatzidis & Dimitrios Saraidaris.

Referee - Lubos Michel (Slovakia); Assistants Roman Slysko & Martin Balko.

Referee - Frank De Bleeckere (Belgium); Assistants Peter Hermans & Alex Verstraeten.

Referee - Roberto Rosetti (Italy); Assistants Alessandro Griselli & Paolo Calcagno.

Referee - Manuel Mejuto Gonzalez (Spain); Assistants Juan Carlos Yuste Jimenez & Jesus Calvo Guadamuro.

Referee - Howard Webb (England); Assistants Darren Cann & Michael Mullarkey.

Referee - Pieter Vink (Netherlands); Assistants Adriaan Inia & Hans Ten Hoove.

Referee - Peter Frojdfeldt (Sweden); Assistants Stefan Wittberg & Henrik Andren.

Referee - Herbert Fandel (Germany); Assistants Carsten Kadach & Volker Wezel.

Referee - Tom Henning Ovrebo (Norway); Assistants Geir Age Holen & Jan Petter Randen.

Referee - Massimo Busacca (Switzerland); Assistants Matthias Arnet & Stephane Cuhat.


Returnees
The Netherlands, France, Portugal, Spain, Czech Republic, Germany, Sweden, Russia, Switzerland, Croatia, Italy and Greece all appeared at the 2004 finals in Portugal. Missing from the 2004 line-up are Denmark, England, Bulgaria and Latvia.

Five coaches Luiz Felipe Scolari (Portugal), Lars Lagerback (Sweden), Karel Bruckner (Czech Republic), Kobi Kuhn (Switzerland) and Otto Rehhagel (Greece) return from 2004. Portugal, the Czech Republic and Greece all appeared in the last four in 2004.



Tomorrow - Portugal and the Czech Republic.

Another Sunday, another draw. This time it is for the European Championship Finals. Here are some initial thoughts on the draw and what might be in store.

 

Group A
Switzerland, Turkey, Portugal, Czech Republic

June 7 – Switzerland vs. Czech Republic, Portugal vs. Turkey
June 11 – Switzerland vs. Turkey, Czech Republic vs. Portugal
June 15 – Switzerland vs. Portugal, Turkey vs. Czech Republic

 

Summary
The Czech Republic and Portugal will start as the favourites to move on but as one of the co-hosts Switzerland should not be easily discounted. The Czechs have a fine history in this tournament and made it to the final game in 1996, the semi finals in 2004 and were unlucky to be drawn together in a group with co-hosts the Netherlands and eventual winners France in 2000. However, the Czechs would have preferred not to have drawn the co-hosts in the opening game of the tournament.

 

Portugal is another country that has performed well at the last few European Championships. After going unbeaten at the group stage in 96 the Portuguese went out to the Czechs in the last eight when Karel Poborsky scored the only goal of the game. In 2000 they took winners France to extra time and it needed a golden goal from a Zidane penalty to decide the game. As hosts in 2004 their tournament got off to a poor start when they lost to Greece. Although they bounced back and made it to the final they again faced Greece and lost once more.

 

Turkey missed out on the 2004 finals although they qualified in 1996 and 2000. There appearance in 1996 was a first at the European Finals and they went winless in three games. Lessons were learned and four years later they made it to the quarter finals where they lost 2-0 to Portugal. Qualification for 2008 consisted of a series of highs and lows. A great start was highlighted by a 4-1 away win against European champions Greece. A series of poor performances and dropped points meant hopes of qualification were rapidly receding before two wins (including a come-from-behind win away against Norway) saved the day.

 

As co-hosts Switzerland will enter the tournament without the advantage of any competitive matches since the 2006 World Cup. However, Coach Kubi Kuhn will be hoping that his young side can build on a solid performance in Germany last summer. Switzerland made it to last summer’s World Cup after beating Turkey is an ill-tempered play-off game and memories of this are unlikely to have receded by next summer.

 

Keys
Under manager Karel Bruckner the Czechs are the consummate team. Any side that knocks off the Czechs can look forward to going deep into the tournament. 

Portugal will be difficult to break down but their progress might be largely dictated by whether or not they can find a reliable international goal scorer.

Which Turkish side will turn up at the tournament?

Switzerland went to the last sixteen in Germany last summer and was knocked-out without conceding a goal. Another strong defence showing – although in 2006 goalkeeper Pascal Zuberbueler seemed to more lucky than good! – and some opportunism in front of goal might generate the kind of momentum that leads to a shock or two.

 

Group B
Austria, Poland, Germany, Croatia

June 8 – Austria vs. Croatia, Germany vs. Poland
June 12 – Austria vs. Poland, Croatia vs. Germany
June 16 – Austria vs. Germany, Poland vs. Croatia.

 

Summary
Based on performances Germany will not be particularly concerned with their draw. However, with two traditional rivals in Austria and Poland this group will have a derby game flavour and that should be a cause for concern.  A re-emerging Croatia side will also be looking to repeat their countries famous win over Germany at the 1998 World Cup in the knock-out stages.

 

Poland bounced back from a poor start in qualification to move on with room to spare. Surprisingly this will be Poland’s first appearance at the Euro Finals and they will be looking to make it to through the group stage of a major tournament for the first time since 1986. Poland pushed Germany all the way last summer before losing to a late goal. However, it was a poor display and a first game loss to Ecuador that was critical. A win over Austria is mandatory if they are to have a realistic chance to progress.

 

By knocking out England in group qualifying Croatia lost any chance of sneaking under the radar. Slaven Bilic has created a confident and competent side that should make it to at least the last eight.

 

Austria have already been labeled as the worst country (performance-wise that is) ever to host a major tournament. They are so bad that a group of Austrian fans started a petition that asked the team to withdraw in order to save face.

 

Keys
Germany has a huge target on their backs and needs to meet their historical rivals Austria and Poland head-on. A slow start might be costly.

Poor starts have cost Poland dearly at the last two World Cups and they can ill-afford a repeat.

Expectations are so low that even one win in the group stage might be considered a success for Austria.

The schedule has been kind to Croatia with an over-matched Austria first. Next up is Germany before what might be a decider against Poland in the last group game. 

Group C
Netherlands, France, Romania, Italy

June 9 – Romania vs. France, Netherlands vs. Italy.
June 13 – Italy vs. Romania, Netherlands vs. France
June 17 – France vs. Italy, Netherlands vs. Romania.

 

Summary
As soon as this draw was made the Group of D***h label was applied. No team can be overlooked here.

Romania only lost one game in qualifying and that was once they had guaranteed their spot in the finals. Along the way they beat Netherlands for the first time ever and now look to be fulfilling their potential of a few years ago.

 

France , insults, Italy, Materazzi, video replay, Zidane, revenge, head-butt, World Cup Final, sisters, Domenech saying something stupid – that is what we have to look forward to for the next six months. At least it won’t be go to penalty kicks – unless they hook up again in the semi final game!

 

The draw was not kind to the Dutch and then the schedule really put the boot in. Italy followed by France is not what the Dutch would have wanted. The 1988 European Championship remains the only major trophy won by the Netherlands. After this tournament it is unlikely that this will have changed.

Keys
As the best-known Romanian players Adrian Mutu and Christian Chivu are going to garner most of the headlines but this squad has a lot more depth than just these two. In any other group Romania would have an excellent chance to move-on but ….

 

France made it the World Cup Final last summer with one of the oldest squads ever seen at the Finals. It is almost inconceivable that they can repeat while looking to the same core of veterans …or is it?

Italy won the World Cup with a squad of players that were almost all in the prime years of their footballing lives. Donadoni needs to squeeze out another round of great performances before moving on. If he can, then a World and European double is not out of the question.

 

Goal scoring was a problem during group qualifying and in a number of games the Dutch were only a goal way from embarrassment. Chances have to be converted on a more regular basis or the Dutch may be out of contention before game three.

 

Group D
Greece, Russia, Spain, Sweden

June 10 – Greece vs. Sweden, Spain vs. Russia
June 14 – Greece vs. Russia, Sweden vs. Spain
June 18 – Greece vs. Spain, Russia vs. Sweden.

 

Summary
This is probably the most open group and a lot of attention will be paid to the amount of grey hair in charge pulling the coaching strings. 

 

The reigning European Champions Greece has bounced back after failing to make the 2006 World Cup Finals. A humiliating home loss to Turkey (4-1) was the only bump on the 2008 road which was then negotiated without too much difficulty.

 

Spain has now made it to the last fifteen of sixteen major finals and has generated a lot of momentum since starting poorly in group qualifying for 2008. But as we all know Spain’s problems normally start when they reach the finals of a major tournament. The squad is more than solid containing a number of players that could find a place in any team in the world. However, until they win a major final (1964 is so long ago and pretty much discounted) the doubts will remain.

 

There were a few hiccups along the way for Russia but major tournaments and Guus Hiddink seem to mix very well. Like Spain, Russia has (the Soviet Union did win the first European championship in 1960) rarely delivered on the world stage and one of Hiddink’s challenges is to instill a sense of believe in a squad that has considerable talent.

 

Sweden has a great record of qualification for major tournaments and is always a difficult opponent.

 

Keys
There will be no element of surprise for Greece this time. The other fifteen countries will be well prepared should Otto Rehhagel opt for a repeat performance of stifling defence and opportunism in front of goal. What can the coach come up with this time?

Hiddink’s ability to chop and change on the fly as needs arise is almost without parallel.
Spain needs to finally win a must win game. If they can do that then maybe years of disappointment will melt away.

If Sweden is to drive deep into the tournament then it is probably going to be on the back of Zlatan Ibrahimovic. The talent has never been in doubt and from his early season performances for Inter he seems to have now achieved a level of consistency that has previously been missing.

 

Quarter Finals
June 19 – Winner Group A vs. Runner Up Group B, (Game 25)
June 20 – Winner Group B vs. Runner Up Group A, (Game 26)
June 21 – Winner Group C vs. Runner Up Group D, (Game 27)
June 22 – Winner Group D vs. Runner Up Group C, (Game 28)

 

Semi Finals
June 25 – Winner Game 25 vs. Winner Game 26, (Game 29)
June 26 – Winner Game 27 vs. Winner Game 28, (Game 30)

 

Final
June 29 - Winner Game 29 vs. Winner Group 30.

 

It looks as if the Heskey and Owen partnership has reached the iconic stage. The statistic of 14 goals in 14 starts or 12 starts together (and that was before Russia and Israel)  crops up in almost every article about them. It seemed to me that given that both of these players started their careers in the late nineties and that Owen has 85 caps and Heskey 45 that 12 or 14 starts together seemed very low.
I might be missing something (and it certainly becomes difficult to track appearances because of substitutions) but this is what I have come up with in terms of starting together and goals.

Russia Sept 12/07                   Owen 2,  Heskey 0.
Israel Sept 8/07                        Owen 1,  Heskey 0.
Croatia Aug 20/03                    Owen 1,  Heskey 0.
Serbia & Mont. June 3/03       Owen 0,  Heskey 0.
South Africa May 22/03            Owen 0,  Heskey 1.
Liechtenstein Mach 29/03      Owen 1,  Heskey  0.
Slovakia Oct 12/02                   Owen 1,  Heskey  0.
Portugal Sept 7/02                   Owen 0,  Heskey  0.
Brazil June 21/02                     Owen 1,  Heskey  0.
Denmark June 15/02              Owen 1,  Heskey  1.
Nigeria June 12/07                  Owen 0,  Heskey  0.
Argentina June 7/02                Owen 0,   Heskey  0.
Sweden June 2/02                   Owen 0,  Heskey 0.
Cameroon May 26/02              Owen 0,  Heskey 0.
South Korea May 21/02           Owen 1,  Heskey 0.
Italy March 27/02                       Owen 0,  Heskey 0.
Albania Sept 5/01                     Owen 1,  Heskey 0.
Germany Sept 1/01                  Owen 3,  Heskey 1.
Greece June 6/01                     Owen 0,  Heskey 0.
Mexico May 25/01                      Owen 0,  Heskey 0. 

I make that 20 starts together with Owen scoring 13 and Heskey 3. Still a decent strike rate but not what has been widely reported.
In all it appears to me that they have played in 32 games together although they may not have been on the park at the same time when one has replaced the other.
I used the FA archives as a source and I would be more than happy to admit an error if someone can come up with support for the 14 goals in 14 or 12 starts statistic. I did rattle this off quickly.

 

 

henry14 - When l was looking in the group that England is in l have come to terms that Israel can spoil the party and England might be seen scrambling for dear life and now that they are allowed to play in Tel-Aviv, l see them going all the way. They have not lost in 13 internationals and last year they pushed France to the nail. If Croatia can defeat England l see them in hot trouble as they are in a very tricky group and this might be one hell of an upset. Mind you Liverpool were push to a greater extend by a good Maccabi Haifa side so they are a strong side in my opinion. How do you rate the Israelis?

djinima - Bobby, my question for you . . . and this may seem like a dumb one. . . but why is Israel in UEFA? When did they become a part of the body?

Bobby – Initially I discounted Israel, particularly given that they were banned from playing at home. That has now been rescinded. I thought Croatia and Russia would battle it out for second place with England qualifying as group winners. But now I can see how Israel could make it through to the finals. The biggest obstacle that they face is actually winning games and this is a situation where an unbeaten record is actually an impediment. They may be unbeaten in their last 13 qualifying games but seven have been drawn and they have only six wins. In fact if they had traded wins with France or the Republic of Ireland during WC 2006 qualifying instead of drawing, they would have made it to Germany.

Making yourself difficult to beat is one thing, but going out and winning games is something very much different. So although Israel has to receive a lot of respect for coming back seven times during the current unbeaten streak to gain points, they have yet to show that they can beat any of the big countries of Europe.

As for Israel’s place in UEFA - it is politics. Israel has jumped around a number of Federations – including being part of Oceania at one time! Wikipedia has a good rundown of the checkered history.

In the short term it makes it more difficult for Israel to qualify through UEFA but the upside is the standard of Israeli play is going to continue to rise given that the top club teams can also participate in the Uefa Champions League and Cup.

realmadridcffan - Even though it is very early, who do you think has been the biggest surprise and disappointment so far. For my biggest surprise, I would have to say Scotland. Never would I have thought they would win three in a row this early. My biggest disappointment is got to be Spain. They have played brutal thus far. The rate they are playing, they might not even make it to Euro 2008.

Bobby – I think if anyone had said that Scotland would be sitting with a 100% record after three games the barman would have cut them off. But it is early days and the situation could turnaround very quickly – a loss in Kiev against Ukraine, Georgia comes to Hampden in March and defends stubbornly then a trip to Italy and another loss is very possible. Nine points from 3 games in fantastic, but it could easily become ten points from 6 games and third place then becomes a more realistic goal.

I would agree that Spain has to be the biggest disappointment. The only silver lining to their dark cloud is that both their losses have been away from home. But with two losses already they do have their work cut out.

If you look at the UEFA 2006 World Cup qualifying groups, three required the countries to play 12 games (the same as six of the seven Euro qualifying groups), and the other five required 10 games each. Out of the eight WCQ group winners no country lost more than one game and five of them were unbeaten. Poland and Sweden went through as best runners-up after dropping six points each and both finished a massive 9 points ahead of the third place countries. The other countries that went into the WCQ play-offs dropped anywhere between 9 and 12 points.

You can then guess that to make it through Euro 2008 qualifying, countries should be aiming for between 24 and 27 points with it likely closer to 24. That means a country might be able to drop 12 points in 12 games and still make it through as one of the top two finishers. By dropping six points in their first three games Spain can now only afford two more losses or three draws (or a any combination) if they hope to stand a chance of progressing. That makes life very difficult and I think it shows how important a good start is to ultimate success.

AlexMorph - This is a question that has been in my mind for a long time, and I've discussed it with many to no certain conclusion. Why is it that England cannot control the ball AND attack simultaneously? If they go ahead against weak opposition then they do quite fine to shut them down and pass the ball back and forth, but eventually it will break down and the other team will spring on a quick break. England seemingly have no collective conscience as do teams like Argentina, Brazil, Arsenal, Barcelona, Lyon. Even with some of their more creative players (Joe Cole for example) the attack is more of a one-off flare and not a succession of intricate moves and innate understanding. Lyon is still a fluid team despite Houllier, so why can't England be one now that Eriksson is gone?

kirbym - AlexMorph makes a good point. Even England's victories are so often one-offs, saved by a miracle free kick, an own goal, etc., while the pundits say "They haven't quite gotten started yet," etc. They struggle rather than flow. It goes together with a lucklessness that goes back decades, showing up most often against Latin/Mediterranean teams and in penalty shootouts. Tinkering with lineups and formations doesn't go deep enough--it's something fundamental in their approach that's missing. The spirit is always there: They "go down fighting" but they do go down, unable to string together a real attack when needed. I'll also be interested in hearing Bobby's thoughts on this.

CIAO - I too think England has a great pool of players (minus the keepers) to select from. However, I can see two issues: 1. Most British players remain in England and are not exposed to European football or at the international level; and 2. the game is different in the EPL than in any other league and it takes the national team players some adapting for the international level...

I think the Lampard-Gerrard combo has been tested and it failed. Lampard and Gerrard can't seem to catch the same level they perform with their clubs on the national team -so isn't it time to look at other alternatives? Such as implementing either Lennon or SWP to the right wing. I think the national coach needs to consider that SWP should still be in consideration for a spot given that at Chelsea he is fighting for a spot to play with likes of Lampard, Ballack, Makelele, Robben and the list goes on... Hargreaves and/or Parker as the holding midfielders. How about pushing Ashley Cole up to left wing midfield while Joe Cole is out injured... Which leaves a spot behind two strikers for either Lampard or Gerrard -a little friendly competition never hurt anyone. It's time to go back to basics...

What are your views on the matter?

Bobby – Glenn Moore wrote an interesting article in the independent on “When did England last play well?”

To debate this topic properly would take a very long time. For what it is worth I think it is mainly down to technique. I remember  a long time ago reading that after some initial success Nick Faldo completely rebuilt his swing because he believed his technique that had brought some success would not stand up to the pressure that he would face if he wanted to be the best in the world. He needed to work on a honing his technique to the stage that when he was under intense pressure his swing would not break down and essentially muscle memory would take over. (I read a not dissimilar piece that suggested that the reason Greg Norman failed so often in the majors was that although he had incredible natural talent his technique was flawed and under pressure this flaw was magnified.)

The point I am trying to make is that British players generally are less technically gifted than players from what we consider to be the top continental countries. They generally fail to perfect things like first touch.

The value British fans place on effort over skill compounds the problem. When was the last time you heard an English fan complain that his club just didn’t have enough good players? It doesn’t happen very often. Normally it is put down to lack of effort and the players just not wanting it enough. I don’t think you can be successful in football without effort and organization but at the top level it is not going to be enough on a regular basis if your players are devoid of some basic skills.

The best book I have read lately on the subject is “The Italian Job” by Gianluca Vialli and Gabrielle Marcotti. The book looks at how the game has developed in Italy and England and looks at the some of the reasons why things are the way that they are. It also challenges some of the conventional wisdom and stereotypes that are trotted out on a regular basis. It includes some great insight from the likes of Mourinho, Ferguson, Capello, Lippi and Wenger.

Venti_vidi_vici - I feel that in group format, the object is to do better than your main rivals. Croatia and Russia are England’s main rivals in the group, and they cannot afford to slip up against either; all three teams expect to qualify. If they must have a no-show, better to do it last Saturday, and then come up with a positive result against Croatia. Basically Wednesday’s match is a good old fashioned 6 pointer.

Also, if Scotland is now seriously thinking about qualifying, their match in Kiev is another 6 pointer, because down the stretch it’ll be a four-way battle for two spots (and they know that there is not room for both of them in the top two).
Just like in the domestic leagues, teams have to get results against their main challengers, and equally important, shoot par against the rest.

Although it is so difficult to gain any sort of momentum in these group matches (because of the drawn out schedule), can Scotland carry their high into Kiev and come away with something on Wednesday?

Bobby – Well we will find out in a few hours. The six pointer comment is spot on and it reinforces how important it is to get full points off the lower teams. If you can get full points and your qualifying rivals stumble it places pressure on your rival in the head-to-head encounters forcing them more often than not to push for a win.
Perhaps the simple formula is Max points at home + max points versus minnows = Euro 2008 Finals – easily stated but not so easy to achieve!

bigdavedisaster - I am a young man but to me that is the worst loss in the history off modern Irish football. Why is the FAI still backing Staunton? My only hope is that the 3 goal loss to Cyprus....Cyprus!! is rock bottom and we can only move forward from here. I have always thought that Ireland has been able to rise to the challenge when playing the great teams of the world and tends to play down to other "lesser" competition but this is something completely different. It’s an embarrassment plain and simple and I don’t think Staunton is the man to right this ship.

Bobby – I was surprised when the FAI hired Staunton given his lack of managerial experience. It would have made more sense to have Sir Bobby Robson in charge with Staunton as the heir apparent. However, with Sir Bobby’s illness it would have made little difference. You look at the line-up and there were some very good players starting for Ireland so that isn’t an excuse. The game against the Czech Republic today is a must win. Otherwise Ireland will be sitting with 8 or 9 points dropped with only three games gone and they will never catch Germany, the Czech Republic or perhaps even Slovakia.

I think Staunton is done even if Ireland beats the Czechs. It was a boneheaded move by the FAI. 

ascoli - You put it well when you point out that England has yet to learn from its lessons. It is a good team with good players, but they all need to just relax and keep perspective. Congratulations on Scotland's big win. I would have loved to have seen that game. Were the ball boys as much a factor as the French Coach claimed?

Bobby – As I watched the game I was concerned that the ball boys were returning the balls too quickly. I read an interesting piece that said that Craig Brown a former Scotland manager had mentioned to Wattie Smith that the “ball boys” at the France – Italy game in Paris in September were considerably older than the ones you would normally see.  The point was that France wanted to play a high-tempo game and wanted the ball back in play quickly hence the more mature ball retrievers. If the story is true then Domenech might have a point – even it is one that makes him sound a bit silly. The French had their chances and they didn’t take them. I don’t see how that could be the fault of the ball-boys.