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 11: France euthanased by Italy

So it was probably the most anticipated day of the competition so far – the (third) rematch between the two World Cup finalists. It was hyped pre-tournament as the group decider – but for first and second place, rather than potentially as low as third, depending on Holland and Romania. I was thrilled to see the game meaning so much to both teams, but once again France showed just how inflated their expectations were.

To be fair, they had a disastrous start. Franck Ribery was the one player they absolutely couldn’t afford to lose, but he succumbed to what looks like a really nasty ankle and knee injury (there’s no word yet on how long he’ll be out, but I’m guessing a good couple of months at least) after only seven minutes. The second disaster was entirely their fault, however – Eric Abidal (who despite noises from the BBC has proved himself in the past to be a competent centre-back as well as left-back) made a rash, doomed-to-failure challenge on Luca Toni in the penalty box for the clearest straight red I’ve seen in a while. It was at that point that Raymond Domenech proved there was no way back – he brought on Jean-Alain Boumsong to solve all their problems.

We should have seen this coming. France rested on their laurels far too much after a flattering trip to the World Cup final and relied on fast-fading old hands like Thuram, Makelele and Henry. The former two have now announced their international retirements (again), in the first of what must be a series of radical overhauls of the team. Benzema, Ribery and Nasri must become the focus, and Henry, Vieira, Govou, Sagnol, Coupet et al must be jettisoned.

In the game I didn’t see so much of (I caught a few minutes after it became clear that France-Italy wasn’t going anywhere), Holland’s second string (and what a second string it is, by the way) cruised to a 2-0 win over Romania, slicing through the defence that had caused so many problems to the French and Italians to further boost their hopes of going all the way. Their goals were far too easy, showing up the Romanians a tad, but Mutu et al will remain threats in World Cup qualifying.

So Italy set themselves up a mouth-watering quarter-final with Spain in what is probably the best result for the quality of the tournament. From what we’ve seen so far, though, you’d bet on Spain.

Day 7: Wow.

What a day of football that was. Firstly, Italy 1 – 1 Romania. Of all my pre-game predictions, this was the one I least expected to get right, but somehow it came off. It was a fair result, as well, as both teams would have felt severely hard done by if they’d lost. Romania were more attacking than I’d expected but showed that they can compete on more levels than just backs-to-the-wall defending, Mutu in particular having an excellent game, harassing the Italian defence and grabbing a deserved goal from Zambrotta’s terrible header. The immediate riposte from Cristian Panucci only served to ramp up the excitement for both teams, and it could have gone either way.

I suppose I’d better touch on the Toni goal that was disallowed wrongly for offside – yeah, it should have stood. Other than that, the referee had a pretty good game, but Italy will feel very aggrieved. They will probably see it as karma that Mutu’s penalty was later saved by an excellent Buffon dive.

Basically, that could have been the only game of the day and I’d have felt good about it, but no, there was even better to come. Holland 4 – 1 France was by far the best game of the tournament so far, featuring more stunning Dutch counterattacking and a fightback from the French. I certainly felt throughout the game, even when France were bombarding the Dutch box early in the second half, that Holland could probably go and score another goal at will, which they then proceeded to do in jaw-dropping fashion. All the goals were impressive, Dirk Kuyt’s opener because he connected with the header while being wrestled determinedly to the ground by Florent Malouda (how did he get picked again after the Romania game, by the way? He hardly justfied his selection last night), Thierry Henry’s clever touch into the corner to make it 2-1 for its precision and subtlety, and the other three were all sparkling examples of playing on the break.

Gregory Coupet was unlucky not to keep Robin van Persie’s effort out – it was so quick and difficult to save but he got a hand on it and nearly kept the score to 1-0 – but he had no chance at all with the third and fourth. Arjen Robben’s instant reply to the French goal, even quicker than Panucci’s equaliser, was absolutely stunning. The angle of the shot was just insane. Since his introduction at half-time, Robben showed exactly what he can be week-in, week-out, but isn’t because of his penchant for moodiness, diving and disinterest – he was my man of the match. Finally, Sneijder’s finisher in the final minute of stoppage time was an unstoppable rocket executed after a perfect turn around the French defender. I’ll need to see them all again to decide on the best, as well as Sneijder’s goal in the Italy game and Ibrahimovic’s wonder strike the other day, but I feel my life is enriched for having seen that game. It was the perfect example of the best of international football – on its day, it’s infinitely more entertaining than any club game. Tomorrow can’t possibly top it – right?

David Pleat Watch

Italy v Romania was one of Pleaty’s better days, but of course it was that man Mauro Camoranesi who proved his kryptonite. “Caroramesi”, “Canomaresi”, and “Camaresi” all made appareances. We were also informed that Romania were using Mewtwo, the popular Pokemon, as their penalty taker. Hmm.

Day 3: French snoozefest and Dutch drama

…and how they proved me wrong! Last night’s Holland 3 – 0 Italy was easily the best game of the tournament so far and probably the best game I’ve seen for a few years. More even than the score suggested, some uncharacteristically dogged Dutch defending kept the Italians at bay in the second half in between a couple of cracking counterattack goals.

Now, of course, the first goal looked like a clear offside, but apparently the law is on van Nistelrooy’s side – Keith Hackett, chairman of the Premier League referees, says that because Christian Panucci was bundled off the pitch by his own goalie he counted as active, so the goal was right to stand. Never have I been so pleased to see Ruud van Offside (as I always knew him) do what he does best – a combination of unexpected relief for the Dutch and some level of karma for Italy’s injury-time penalty against Australia in the World Cup quarters for Fabio Grosso’s Olympic dive. Now that justice is done I feel I might be able to enjoy Italy smash the French in their final group game – which they surely will, given yesterday’s evidence.

On that note, I don’t think I have ever seen two more contrasting games in so close a space of time ever. Romania 0 – 0 France was quite simply horrendous, with Raymond Domenech earning himself a sacking in my book. It’s been a while coming, but playing two holding midfielders for ninety minutes against that Romania side, actually reducing the amount of strikers he had on the pitch with fifteen minutes to go, and just generally failing to inspire any sort of desire at all in the French to win the game – all of which are criminal offences where managers are concerned. Even now, having had time to sleep on it, I still feel the pain that my brain was suffering through that festival of inanity. Not only have France made it nigh-on impossible for them to qualify, facing next a Dutch team who got the biggest confidence boost imaginable, and then an Italy side who will almost certainly need a win against them. It’ll take more than Patrick Vieira and Thierry Henry to make this side good enough to get through, I suspect.

But let’s focus on the good, and Holland have certainly had the best possible day. They probably only need a draw against France to all but ensure qualification, with a win guaranteeing coming top bar any Romanian miracles. Wesley Sneijder’s goal, their second, has set the bar very high for Goal of the Tournament, and if we get a few more goals (and games) like last night’s, this tournament will have been more than worthwhile.

David Pleat Watch

A surprisingly subdued night for Pleat’s inaccuracies last night, though of course there was an exception – Mauro Camoranesi seems to have been named purely for the purposes of confusing the poor sod. Oh, and Dutch defender Joris “Mat Assen”. Will somebody teach this man to speak?

Euro 2008 Preview: Group C

Team: France

Manager: Raymond Domenech has never quite been fully accepted by all French fans. His record is good – after all, France were a penalty kick away from the World Cup not so long ago – but that was after he had to convince Zidane, Thuram and Makelele to come out of retirement to do it. Since then, he dropped in my estimations considerably when he refused to recognise Makelele’s decision to return to international retirement and forced him to join up with the team anyway. Makelele kept quiet about it but Domenech came across very badly. You have to wonder what that says about his confidence in his other midfielders, despite having what looks like a very good squad indeed.

Strip: Blue shirt, white shorts, red socks, with red trim on the shirt. Second strip is red shirt, white shorts, blue socks.

Captain: Patrick Vieira will definitely miss the opening fixture against Romania, and is a serious doubt for the rest of the tournament, which would be a massive blow to Les Bleus. Lilian Thuram will probably lead the side in his absence – a pretty bad idea if you ask me. He’s gotten far too slow for top-class games and should have gone back to international retirement after the World Cup. I guess Domenech wouldn’t let him either.

Form: The French endured a nervy qualifying campaign, eventually finishing second behind Italy to hold off a spirited Scottish charge, which saw France lose home and away to Alex McLeish’s team. Their pre-finals friendlies tell us little apart from the fact that their forward line is one to be scared of – Henry passed Michel Platini’s goals record in qualifying, Karim Benzema is the best young player in Europe, Nicolas Anelka is as good as ever, and…

Man to Watch: Bafetimbi Gomis, the 22-year old St. Etienne striker, who scored twice on debut against Ecuador in a warm-up friendly the other week and is being chased by Newcastle, among others. He notched 16 for Les Verts in the Ligue 1 season and looks a strong, pacy forward. France really will be spoilt for choice.

Prediction: Should make it out of the group despite the formidable opposition, but will hope to avoid meeting Spain in the quarters. I’m going to hazard a guess at a loss in the semis to Fernando Torres et al.

Squad List:

Goalkeepers

1. Steve Mandanda (Marseille)

16. Sebastien Frey (Fiorentina)

23. Gregory Coupet (Lyon)

Defenders

2. Jean-Alain Boumsong (Lyon)

3. Eric Abidal (Barcelona)

5. William Gallas (Arsenal)

13. Patrice Evra (Man United)

14. Francois Clerc (Lyon)

15. Lilian Thuram (Barcelona)

17. Sebastien Squillaci (Lyon)

19. Willy Sagnol (Bayern Munich)

Midfielders

4. Patrick Vieira (Inter)

6. Claude Makelele (Chelsea)

7. Florent Malouda (Chelsea)

11. Samir Nasri (Marseille)

20. Jeremy Toulalan (Lyon)

21. Lassana Diarra (Portsmouth)

22. Franck Ribery (Bayern Munich)

(Mathieu Flamini (Milan), cover for Vieira)

Forwards

8. Nicolas Anelka (Chelsea)

9. Karim Benzema (Lyon)

10. Sidney Govou (Lyon)

12. Thierry Henry (Barcelona)

18. Bafetimbi Gomis (St. Etienne)

Team: Italy

Manager: Roberto Donadoni’s appointment was admitted by Demetrio Albertini (then vice-president of the Italian FA) as being something of a gamble, and so far it looks like paying off. Relatively inexperienced as a coach, he’s already had two spells in charge Livorno, sandwiching a three-game spell at Genoa (yes, it took him that little time to get sacked), with a couple of decent top-half finishes. Jury’s still out.

Strip: All blue. Second strip is white shirt, black shorts, white socks.

Captain: With talismanic Fabio Cannavaro being ruled out of the tournament this morning following a training injury, Gianluigi Buffon will almost certainly take on the armband. He’ll be as brilliant as ever, and represents a huge part of Italy’s hopes. If you score one goal against Buffon per game, you feel lucky.

Form: Recovered from a stuttering start to qualifying (drew with Lithuania and lost to France) but came back strongly to top the group, fighting off the dogged Scots and vengeful French. Their final warm-up friendly yielded a 3-1 victory over Belgium, though it remains to be seen what Cannavaro’s withdrawal will do to their morale.

Man to Watch: Fabio Quagliarella of Udinese is establishing himself in the Italy team after developing a knack of scoring stunning goals in Serie A. Fast and two-footed, he may not make the first team but will be one of a whole host of potential supersubs for the world champions.

Prediction: The loss of Cannavaro will hurt, particularly as they no longer have Alessandro Nesta to dominate the defense in his stead. I can see them succumbing to Spain in the quarters, though they should still give a good account of themselves.

Squad List:

Goalkeepers

1. Gianluigi Buffon (Juventus)

14. Marco Amelia (Livorno)

17. Morgan De Sanctis (Sevilla)

Defenders

2. Christian Panucci (Roma)

3. Fabio Grosso (Lyon)

4. Giorgio Chiellini (Juventus)

5. Alessandro Gamberini (Fiorentina)

6. Andrea Barzagli (Palermo)

19. Gianluca Zambrotta (Milan)

23. Marco Materazzi (Inter)

Midfielders

8. Gennaro Gattuso (Milan)

10. Daniele De Rossi (Roma)

13. Massimo Ambrosini (Milan)

16. Mauro Camoranesi (Juventus)

20. Simone Perrotta (Roma)

21. Andrea Pirlo (Milan)

22. Alberto Aquilani (Roma)

Forwards

7. Alessandro Del Piero (Juventus)

9. Luca Toni (Bayern Munich)

11. Antonio Di Natale (Udinese)

12. Marco Boriello (Milan)

15. Fabio Quagliarella (Udinese)

18. Antonio Cassano (Sampdoria)

Team: the Netherlands

Manager: Marco van Basten, bound for Ajax after the championships, has still yet to entirely convince as an international manager. He did guide them to a 15-match unbeaten run soon after taking the job in 2004, but despite his best efforts has not yet been able to bring back the exciting attacking football that we all expect from the Dutch. Has not got an awful lot to lose considering the group Holland find themselves in, so hopefully he’ll get his players to put on a show.

Strip: Orange shirts (of course), white shorts, blue socks. Second strip is all blue (in differing shades) with white socks.

Captain: Goalkeeper Edwin van der Sar has flattered to deceive in recent years, his blushes saved on numerous occasions by Manchester United’s superb central defensive partnership of Ferdinand and Vidic. This must surely be his last international tournament, but the most-capped Dutch player of all time will be hoping to go out on a high. Maarten Stekelenburg is waiting in the wings…

Form: the Netherlands had little trouble in their group, with fellow-group-C-ers Romania being the biggest obstacle. Indeed, van Basten’s team took just one point from their two meetings with the men in yellow but still qualified with a game to spare – luckily, as they then lost their final game 2-1 to Belarus. Certainly not totally convincing. A 1-1 draw with Denmark in their first friendly told us little, though their 2-0 win over Wales more recently was achieved with real quality.

Man to Watch: PSV Eindhoven’s 22-year-old midfielder Ibrahim Afellay is an exciting talent, and though he will probably start on the bench, expect him to have an impact as a creative right-sided player.

Prediction: I doubt they’ll live up to their part in the ‘Group of Death’ tag.  They should finish third, though considering their recent history with Romania, don’t even take that for granted. Getting out of the group probably won’t happen.

Squad List:

Goalkeepers

1. Edwin van der Sar (Man United)

13. Henk Timmer (Feyenoord)

16. Maarten Stekelenburg (Ajax)

Defenders

2. Andre Ooijer (Blackburn)

3. Johnny Heitinga (Atletico Madrid)

4. Joris Mathijsen (Hamburg)

5. Giovanni van Bronckhorst (Feyenoord)

12. Mario Melchiot (Wigan)

14. Wilfred Bouma (Aston Villa)

15. Tim de Cler (Feyenoord)

21. Khalid Boulahrouz (Chelsea)

Midfielders

6. Demy de Zeeuw (AZ Alkmaar)

8. Orlando Engelaar (FC Twente)

10. Wesley Sneijder (Real Madrid)

11. Arjen Robben (Real Madrid)

17. Nigel de Jong (Hamburg)

20. Ibrahim Afellay (PSV)

23. Rafael van der Vaart (Hamburg)

Forwards

7. Robin van Persie (Arsenal)

9. Ruud van Nistelrooy (Real Madrid)

18. Dirk Kuyt (Liverpool)

19. Klaas-Jan Huntelaar (Ajax)

22. Jan Vennegoor of Hesselink (Celtic)

Team: Romania

Manager: Last time Victor Piturca led Romania to a major tournament (Euro 2000), he was sacked before the first game of the competition because of disputes with the team’s big name players. Since returning in December 2004, he narrowly missed out on World Cup qualification before stylishly leading his team to Austria and Switzerland ahead of Holland.

Strip: All yellow with blue sides and trim. Second strip is all white with red sides and blue trim.

Captain: Inter Milan defender Cristian Chivu is the bedrock of the Romanian defence. One of the best defenders in Italy, he also has a wicked left foot when it comes to taking free-kicks. Capable of playing in midfield if necessary, but he’s much better at centre-back.

Form: Ten games unbeaten in qualifying, including six wins on the trot, indicate that Romania are ready for this. A good win over Russia in March was followed by a comfortable 4-0 over Montenegro in their final warm-up.

Man to Watch: 28-year-old attacking midfielder Nicolae Dica scored two in the win against Montenegro, and 8 goals in 25 appearances backs up his reputation as a goalscoring threat from midfield. Dynamic and powerful, he’ll be running the show from the middle of the park.

Squad List:

Goalkeepers

1. Bogdan Lobont (Dinamo Bucharest)

12. Marius Popa (Poli 1912)

23. Edward Stancioiu (CFR Cluj)

Defenders

2. Cosmin Contra (Getafe)

3. Razvan Rat (Shakhtar Donetsk)

4. Gabriel Tamas (Auxerre)

5. Cristian Chivu (Inter)

6. Mirel Radoi (Steaua Bucharest)

13. Cristian Sapunaru (Rapid Bucharest)

14. Sorin Ghionea (Steaua Bucharest)

15. Dorin Goian (Steaua Bucharest)

17. Cosmin Moti (Steaua Bucharest)

22. Stefan Radu (Lazio)

Midfielders

7. Florentin Petre (CSKA Sofia)

8. Paul Codrea (Siena)

11. Razvan Cocis (Lokomotiv Moscow)

16. Banel Nicolita (Steaua Bucharest)

19. Adrian Cristea (Dinamo Bucharest)

20. Nicolae Dica (Steaua Bucharest)

Forwards

9. Ciprian Marica (Stuttgart)

10. Adrian Mutu (Fiorentina)

18. Marius Niculae (Inverness CT)

21. Daniel Niculae (Auxerre)