Days 13-16: The Quarter-Finals

Thanks to some issues with final exams and celebrating the end thereof, I haven’t been able to keep up to date daily with the goings-on at the Euros as usual, so I decided before last night’s game to roll all four quarter-finals into one big post. And here it is.

Firstly, Germany 3 – 2 Portugal. I never thought I’d be desperate for Germany to win anything but I was happily singing Deutschland, Deutschland, über alles throughout that game, which was less entertaining in truth than the score suggests. Germany’s first goal, scored by Bastian “Look At My Hair” Schweinsteiger, was quite similar to the celebrated Sneijder goal against Italy, however, but overall it only really got exciting in the last five minutes of each half when Portugal remembered they were professional footballers and started playing properly. It was an extremely disappointing performance from Portugal but I wouldn’t be too quick to blame it on Scolari leaving. I really doubt the amount of influence that had – it was common knowledge that he was probably going to leave after the tournament anyway as his contract was up, so none of them should have been surprised. I’d be very surprised if Scolari himself changed in any way after the news, he’s far too strong a personality for that, so all this nonsense of the Portuguese FA reporting Chelsea to UEFA or whatever for the timing of their appointment looks very much like covering for what turned out to be a very ordinary side.

I must confess I didn’t see all of the Croatia-Turkey match – I managed to walk out of the pub we were watching it in pretty much at the point it became interesting, about 75 minutes in. Having received news of the dramatic finale via text message, I’m in no position to comment on the quality of the goals (though I gather Rustu Recber was at fault for the Croatia opener – no great surprise there), but the 75 minutes I did see were quite dull. Turkey seemed to have started believing the hype that they could only play in the last five minutes to sneak a win, and Croatia dominated accordingly, though without creating many clear-cut chances. And of course it went to penalties, where Croatia were apparently surprisingly bad, but they’re a young side and will probably come back stronger as a result of this. I shall be cheering for Turkey in the semi-finals, if only because they may have to field their third-choice goalkeeper as an outfield substitute at some point as they only have 14 players who aren’t injured or suspended. Seriously. Unfortunately, this does suggest that if Turkey had any chance before their best players ruled themselves out of the game, they probably don’t have a hope of beating Germany at all now. But we can hope.

On Saturday night, Russia produced a first-class performance to dispatch the disappointing Dutch 3-1 after extra time, during which Andrei Arshavin bumped his price tag up by about 10 million pounds. It was certainly the best individual performance of the tournament so far, and there’s a compelling argument that despite only having played two games, Arshavin’s already the player of the tournament. He completely ran the show – involved in everything Russia did, driving them forward and bulldozing the Dutch defence, who were always going to be the weak link, and more than deserved his goal. That’s not to say the rest of the Russian team didn’t play very well, though – even Roman Pavlyuchenko managed to score as many as one goal in about ten chances this time. Luca Toni looks on with envy.

Speaking of Luca Toni, he continued to do his best Emile Heskey impression during the frighteningly dull 0-0 draw with Spain last night, which Spain deservedly won on penalties. If it weren’t for Toni’s sudden and hilarious ineptitude in front of goal, I might be complaining a bit less about the Italian mentality, but it was truly atrocious. From the very first minute Italy were playing for penalties, making no attempt to stop Spain controlling the game, just as long as they blocked everything, which they did, and very well (what did you expect?). Spain played the game in the right way, and though they weren’t spellbinding they tried to find a winner and came very close, particularly with the uncharacteristic mistake from Gigi Buffon that spilled onto the post. The Spain-Russia semi-final could well be the pick of the tournament.

Speaking of semi-finals, I anticipate further difficulties in watching all of the games live but I’ll see what I can and probably be reviewing them on Friday, before build-up to Sunday’s final begins. See you there.

Day 5: Swimming with the Swiss and Scolari to Chelsea

Czech Republic 1 – 3 Portugal. A decent enough game that was flattered somewhat by the two early goals – it was exciting without either team ever playing that well. The Czechs deserved more than they got – their midfield, and, shockingly, Milan Baros, were very hard-working and did well to bounce back from Deco’s early goal. Portugal will be praised for their attacking verve, but it’ll be blind praise based on reputation rather than substance – they weren’t that good at all yesterday. Deco did his best to fluff the first goal, and he would have gotten away with it if it wasn’t for that pesky Marek Jankulovski. Cristiano Ronaldo’s second goal was the only noteworthy thing he did all game, Galasek and Grygera having done an excellent job of keeping him quiet for vast periods of time. Quaresma’s third was fair enough, but I’ll be bitter about it anyway. On this evidence, the Czech-Turkey group finale should be a good match, but I think the Czechs will come out on top.

Speaking of the Turks, what a brilliant game their 2-1 European Swimming Championships win over Switzerland was. I was anticipating an utter bore, but thanks to the monstrous downpour the match was given atmosphere, drama, and its fair share of comedy. If they hadn’t been on such a tight logistical schedule the game would have been abandoned, but I’m glad it wasn’t. Hakan Yakin’s goal was hilarious, the pass from Derdiyok slowing to the speed of continental drift over the goalmouth puddle, giving him the easiest tap-in of all time.

Yakin also got the second easiest tap-in of all time later in the game – but he missed that one, which is probably why Switzerland are now out of the tournament. It’s a shame for the co-hosts, but an inevitable one. Nul points, here we come. Glad to see my pick for Turkish Man to Watch, Arda Turan, get the winner – albeit fortuitously. When he got on the ball he played excellently, a real achievement considering the conditions. They’ll need him at his best if they want to get past the Czech Republic.

But the biggest story of the day was from the Portugal camp – but not for much longer. Big Phil Scolari’s the new Chelsea manager! WOOHOO!

I can’t tell you how excited I am. My dad, a Chelsea fan, isn’t so keen, but I can’t wait – this man is the best possible alternative to the Special One for comedy value. His English isn’t great but his journalist-punching is, and to be able to watch his touchline antics every week is great news. Bring it on!

Euro 2008 Preview: Group D

Team: Greece

Manager: Otto Rehhagel is Greece’s longest-ever-serving national manager, who was highly sought after by many a European club after masterminding the Euro 2004 triumph – yet somehow has remained where he is, even signing a new contract to carry the team through to the next World Cup. He’s clearly a talented coach but he can’t really believe his squad can make lightning strike twice?

Strip: All white with blue trim. Second strip is the inverse.

Captain: Central midfielder Angelos Basinas was instrumental in the 2004 success, grabbing an assist for the cup-winning goal and taking charge of the midfield throughout the competition. Now captain, his influence cannot be underestimated (though watch me try).

Form: Incredibly, Greece gained more points in qualifying than any other team in Europe, though considering their main rivals were Turkey the achievement is less impressive than it might have been. They also highlighted Portugal’s need to improve if they intend to win the tournament by beating them 2-1 in a March friendly. More recently, though…a 0-0 draw with Armenia. That’s how bad the world’s 8th-ranked side have the potential to be.

Man to Watch: Stelios Giannakopoulos has been told he won’t be getting a new contract at Bolton, so he’ll be looking to prove his worth to potential employers this summer. I was surprised at how little he was used, relatively speaking, last season, though when he did play he didn’t pull up many trees. On his day he adds excitement to a very functional Greek line-up.

Prediction: No way is it happening again. I don’t think Greece will get out of their group, but they could scrape a couple of points here and there.

Squad List:

Goalkeepers

1. Antonios Nikopolidis (Olympiacos)

12. Kostas Chalkias (PAOK)

13. Alexandros Tzorvas (OFI Crete)

Defenders

2. Giourkas Seitaridis (Atletico Madrid)

3. Christos Patsatzoglu (Olympiacos)

4. Nikos Spiropoulos (Panathinaikos)

5. Traianos Dellas (AEK)

11. Loukas Vintra (Panathinaikos)

15. Vassilis Torosidis (Olympiacos)

16. Sotiris Kyrgiakos (Eintracht Frankfurt)

18. Giannis Goumas (Panathinaikos)

19. Paraskevas Antzas (Olympiacos)

Midfielders

6. Angelos Basinas (Real Mallorca)

8. Stelios Giannakopoulos (free agent)

10. Giorgios Karagounis (Panathinaikos)

21. Kostas Katsouranis (Benfica)

22. Alexandros Tsiolis (Panathinaikos)

Forwards

7. Giorgios Samaras (Celtic)

9. Angelos Charisteas (Nuremberg)

14. Dimitris Salpingidis (Panathinaikos)

17. Fanis Gekas (Leverkusen)

20. Ioannis  Amanatidis (Eintracht Frankfurt)

23. Nikos Liberopoulos (AEK)

Team: Russia

Manager: Guus Hiddink has proved himself time and again as one of, if not the, best manager in the world. I’m apparently the only one who believes him when he says he’s staying with Russia rather than going to Chelsea (that’s clearly Mancini’s job) , and he’ll continue to do well with them. They may not quite be ready this time but by the 2010 World Cup they could be a real force.

Strip: All white with Russian flag colours across the chest and blue collar. Second strip is all red with the same flag effect and white collar.

Captain: Highly talented Zenit Petersburg midfielder Andrei Arshavin is the creative fulcrum of all the Russian attacks, so, helpfully, he got himself sent off with 8 minutes to go against Andorra, meaning he’ll miss the first two group games against Spain and Greece. Thankfully, he’s more intelligent when it comes to picking out a pass.

Form: Russia did their best to throw away qualification by losing away to Israel, who had nothing to play for, but as we all know England just wanted it less, and the rest is history. Their campaign had few genuine highlights apart from the comeback win against England in Moscow, and they drew twice with Croatia without ever really troubling them. A comfortable warm-up win over Lithuania leaves them cautiously optimistic.

Man to Watch: The art of getting yourself suspended from key games seems to be a feature of great Russian players. Zenit’s big target man Pavel Pogrebnyak led the line superbly in his club’s UEFA Cup campaign before getting himself suspended for the final. His team won anyway, but the imposing striker will need to take the heat off the team while Arshavin is suspended.

Prediction: It’ll probably come down to their last group game against Sweden to determine which of them will accompany Spain into the knockout stages.  It could go either way but I fancy Sweden’s greater experience will be the end of what is a youthful Russian side.

Squad List:

Goalkeepers

1. Igor Akinfeev (CSKA Moscow)

12. Vladimir Gabulov (Amkar Perm)

16. Vyacheslav Malafeev (Zenit)

Defenders

2. Vasily Berezutskiy (CSKA Moscow)

4. Sergey Ignashevich (CSKA Moscow)

5. Alexei Berezutskiy (CSKA Moscow)

8. Denis Kolodin (Dinamo Moscow)

14. Roman Shirokov (Zenit)

22. Aleksandr Anyukov (Zenit)

Midfielders

3. Renat Yanbaev (Lokomotiv Moscow)

7. Dmitri Torbinski (Lokomotiv Moscow)

10. Andrei Arshavin (Zenit)

11. Sergei Semak (FC Rubin)

15. Diniyar Bilyaletdinov (Lokomotiv Moscow)

17. Konstantin Zyryanov (Zenit)

18. Yuri Zhirkov (CSKA Moscow)

20. Igor Semshov (Dinamo Moscow)

23. Vladimir Bystov (Spartak Moscow)

Forwards

6. Roman Adamov (FC Moscow)

9. Ivan Saenko (Nuremberg)

13. Pavel Pogrebnyak (Zenit)

19. Roman Pavlyuchenko (Spartak Moscow)

21. Dmitri Sychev (Lokomotiv Moscow)

Team: Spain

Manager: Probably the maddest manager in world football, Luis Aragones is approximately a million years old and is going senile. I’ve been wondering why he remains in charge of the national side for a very long time, and I reckon he’ll go at the end of the tournament.

Strip: Red shirt, black shorts, black socks. Second strip is the same but with a yellow shirt.

Captain: A close second to Gigi Buffon as the world’s best goalkeeper, Iker Casillas was probably the main reason why Real Madrid won La Liga this year and last. He’ll need to be at his best as the defence is Spain’s weak link, but he can almost always be counted on and should make a valuable difference this summer.

Form: Won their qualifying group despite the occasional scare from Denmark and Northern Ireland – runners-up Sweden were relatively unthreatening – but looked convincing for the majority of their matches. Their warm-up games were not unqualified successes – it took a late winner from left-back Joan Capdevila to beat Chile and the 1-0 win over the USA was low-key – but earlier victory over Italy (while playing badly, so you know the cliche there) means the omens are good.

Man to Watch: You’ll have heard all about Torres and Villa but Real Mallorca striker Dani Guiza is a less renowned name. This season was a real breakthrough for him, scoring 27 goals to fire his team to the Intertoto Cup. Brilliant on the counterattack thanks to his pace and movement, Guiza will probably be moving on this summer and will be intending to show off his skills as a supersub.

Prediction: My head says they’ll fail again, but it’s less reluctant this year than ever, which means I feel comfortable going with my heart. I think Spain will finally end their wait for silverware this year. They’ve got the best central midfield in the world – Fabregas, Xavi, Iniesta, Senna and Alonso anyone? – and probably the best strike partnership in the world as well, with options like Guiza, Silva and Santi Cazorla on the bench. Winners.

Squad List:

Goalkeepers

1. Iker Casillas (Real Madrid)

13. Andres Palop (Sevilla)

23. Pepe Reina (Liverpool)

Defenders

2. Raul Albiol (Valencia)

3. Fernando Navarro (Real Mallorca)

4. Carlos Marchena (Valencia)

5. Carles Puyol (Barcelona)

11. Joan Capdevila (Villarreal)

15. Sergio Ramos (Real Madrid)

18. Alvaro Arbeloa (Liverpool)

20. Juanito (Real Betis)

Midfielders

6. Andres Iniesta (Barcelona)

8. Xavi Hernandez (Barcelona)

10. Cesc Fabregas (Arsenal)

12. Santi Cazorla (Villarreal)

14. Xabi Alonso (Liverpool)

19. Marcos Senna (Villarreal)

21. David Silva (Valencia)

22. Ruben de la Red (Real Madrid)

Forwards

7. David Villa (Valencia)

9. Fernando Torres (Liverpool)

16. Sergio Garcia (Real Zaragoza)

17. Dani Guiza (Real Mallorca)

Team: Sweden

Manager: Lars Lagerback has been quietly successful with Sweden for 8 years now. Having previously collaborated with Tommy Soderberg until the end of Euro 2004, he’s proven that he has the tactical nous and motivational capability to carry the team on his own. Whether he will stay on after the tournament is unsure, but he looks content enough in his position for now.

Strip: Yellow shirt with blue trim, blue shorts, yellow socks. Second strip is all black with yellow trim.

Captain: Freddie Ljungberg, always managing to be both industrious and creative at the same time, is a fitness doubt for Sweden after an injury-interrupted season for West Ham, but is expected to be at least mostly fit, which they will settle for. At 31, this may be his last tournament on the front lines, and he’s still got enough quality to stamp his mark on Austria and Switzerland.

Form: They started qualifying strongly with four straight wins but things became difficult after David Healy sunk them in Belfast. The Swedes were, however, typically efficient, qualifying on the last day of the campaign to reach their fifth consecutive major tournament. Their friendlies tell us little – a 1-0 win over Slovenia was to be expected, while the same scoreline was their undoing against Ukraine. A few niggling injuries may stunt their progress.

Man to Watch: 28-year-old winger Christian Wilhelmsson seems to have travelled all over Europe recently at club level, turning out for Anderlecht, Nantes, Roma, Bolton and Deportivo in the space of just over two years, but remains a quality player who can cut inside or cross from out wide to great effect. Should work in tandem with Ljungberg on the flanks.

Prediction: Their superior experience to Russia and greater quality than Greece should see them through to the quarters, but they are unlikely to trouble the winners of Group C.

Squad List:

Goalkeepers

1. Andreas Isaksson (Man City)

12. Rami Shaaban (Hammarby)

13. Johan Wiland (Elfsborg)

Defenders

2. Mikael Nilsson (Panathinaikos)

3. Olof Mellberg (Juventus)

4. Petter Hansson (Rennes)

5. Fredrik Stoor (Rosenborg)

14. Daniel Majstorovic (AEK)

15. Andreas Granqvist (Wigan)

23. Mikael Dorsin (CFR Cluj)

Midfielders

6. Tobias Linderoth (Galatasaray)

7. Niclas Alexandersson (Goteborg)

8. Anders Svensson (Elfsborg)

9. Freddie Ljungberg (West Ham)

16. Kim Kallstrom (Lyon)

18. Sebastian Larsson (Birmingham)

19. Daniel Andersson (Malmo)

21. Christian Wilhelmsson (Deportivo La Coruna)

Forwards

10. Zlatan Ibrahimovic (Inter)

11. Johan Elmander (Toulouse)

17. Henrik Larsson (Helsingborgs)

20. Marcus Allback (FC Copenhagen)

22. Markus Rosenberg (Werder Bremen)