World Cup Preview: Group B

Argentina
Nickname: The Albicelestes, after their white and sky-blue shirts
FIFA ranking: 7
How they got here: Made hard work of things, including a humiliating 6-1 loss to Bolivia, but eventually qualified thanks to narrow wins in their last two games.
Record in previous tournaments: Have won twice before, in 1978 and 1986. Lost to Germany on penalties in the quarter-finals in 2006.
Manager: Diego Maradona, formerly known for being the Best Player in the World^TM and scoring against England with his hand. Now known for having gastric bypass surgery and running over reporters with his car.
Players to watch: Leo Messi, aka the new Maradona and the reigning Best Player in the World^TM, who can do absolutely ridiculous things with the ball at his feet. They've got plenty of other talent, too, with players like Carlos Tevez, Gonzalo Higuain, and Diego Milito all fighting for a place in the lineup. Somewhat inexplicably, Juan Sebastian Veron is back in the quad, while Juan Roman Riquelme has been left at home, along with Champions League winners Esteban Cambiasso and Javier Zanetti. Captain Javier Mascherano will be spending the tournament trying not to get sent off for cursing at the referee.

Greece
Nickname: Traditionally known as the Galanoleyki (the blue and whites); they also picked up the nickname of "The Pirate Ship" in 2004, which is baffling, considering that their style is hardly what you'd call swashbuckling.
FIFA ranking: 13
How they got here: Finished second in their qualifying group and then beat Ukraine in the playoffs.
Record in previous tournaments: Have made it to the World Cup only once before, in 1994, when they lost all three group matches and failed to score a single goal. They did win the Euros in 2004, although it wasn't pretty.
Manager: Otto Rehhagel, who led them to their European title and coached in the Bundesliga before that.
Players to watch: Bayer Leverkusen striker Theo Gekas, the top scorer in UEFA qualifying.

Korea Republic (aka South Korea)
Nickname: The Taeguk Warriors. (The taeguk is apparently that yin-yang symbol in the middle of the Korean flag.)
FIFA ranking: 47
How they got here: Were undefeated in qualifying from their group in Asia.
Record in previous tournaments: Made it to the semi-finals at home in 2002, but were knocked out at the group stage in 2006.
Manager: Huh Jung-Moo. Who? Yeah, me neither.
Players to watch: Midfielder Park Ji-Sung, nicknamed "Three-Lung" by Manchester United fans for his indefatigable workrate.

Nigeria
Nickname: The Super Eagles
FIFA ranking: 21
How they got here: Squeaked into the tournament with a 3-2 win over Kenya in their final game of the qualification rounds.
Record in previous tournaments: Failed to qualify in 2006. Their best-ever finish was the round of 16, in 1994 and 1998.
Manager: Lars Lagerback, who previously managed Sweden but took over with Nigeria after the Swedes failed to qualify for this tournament.
Players to watch: Plenty of pace up front with Obafemi Martins and Aiyegbeni Yakubu. But they'll miss the strong presence of Chelsea's Jon Obi Mikel in midfield.

Verdict on the group
Maradona is constantly changing his tactics, has made some bizarre choices for the squad, and doesn't seem to know how to get the best from Messi.
The team is like a Ferrari being driven by a retarded, drug-addled monkey.
Despite that, I'd still expect them to top the group, because they've just got too many good players. How far they get beyond that depends on how well they can rise above Maradona's limitations as a manager and really play as a team.

As for the second team to come out of this group, I don't think South Korea will be able to reproduce their dark-horse form of 2002, which leaves Greece or Nigeria. I'm voting for Nigeria, partly because of their quasi-home field advantage and partly because watching Greece makes me want to poke my eyes out with a shish kebab.

Euro 2008: Day 12

Spain 2-1 Greece
Ok, I realize that this was an essentially meaningless game, with Greece already eliminated and Spain having won the group. But I still thought it was great, for one simple reason: Xabi Alonso wearing the captain's armband for Spain. That is awesome. (Yes, I am easily pleased. Shut up.)

Anyway, Spain made a whopping 10 changes to the lineup from their last game, which could have been dangerous -- remember the last World Cup, when Luis Aragones sent out the reserves to scrape a win against Saudi Arabia, draining all their momentum before meeting France in the round of 16. And it's possible that something similar could happed when Spain go up against Italy this time, but I think they should be encouraged by the fact that they came back to win the game after going behind. Also, I am clinging blindly to optimism.

You could kind of see, though, why none of these guys (aside from Andres Iniesta) are in the starting lineup regularly. Xabi was the only one who really made a strong case for his inclusion; he bossed the game from a position deep in midfield, and nearly scored three or four times, including a shot from his own half that was just barely wide and had the Greek keeper slamming into the post as he scrambled to backtrack.

Although they weren't as incisive as in their first two games -- they really missed David Villa and/or Fernando Torres up front -- Spain still dominated for most of the game, and Greece only took the lead against the run of play. It was a stereotypical Greek goal -- a header from Angelos Charisteas -- and some stereotypical Spanish defending, as they basically stood there and watched him. Oops.

Ruben de la Red equalized for Spain in the second half, from a knock-down by Dani Guiza, and Guiza scored himself with a header in the 87th minute to make it three wins in a row for Spain. And then he did some sort of stupid archer celebration -- apparently he is the La Liga equivalent of Robbie Keane. Now that's something to aspire to.

A final note: I have no idea why anybody would think that Gareth Barry is worth more money than Xabi Alonso. That makes less than zero sense to me. It's just a shame that more people would have watched this game so they could see for themselves.


Russia 2-0 Sweden
Has the real Russia finally shown up? After a pitiful loss to Spain and a so-so win against Greece, Russia claimed the last quarter-final spot with an impressive performance that partially explains why they're here instead of England. They got a huge boost from the return of Andrei Arshavin, who had been suspended for the first two games; he orchestrated most of Russia's best moves and just seemed to make the whole team look better around him. Plus, of course, you can't discount the Guus Hiddink factor. He has a great track record of getting his teams through to the knock-out rounds of international tournaments, and he's done it again in what was a must-win game for Russia (Sweden could have settled for a draw).

Russia were in control right from the beginning of the game, and they took the lead after less than half an hour, as Aleksandr Anyukov set up Roman Pavlyuchenko to sweep the ball in at the far post. Sweden had a couple chances to equalize, but Arshavin made it 2-0 for Russia in the 50th minute, finishing off a great counter-attack from Yuri Zhirkov's pass from the left wing (Zhirkov, incidentally, has looked pretty good in all three games so far). The Swedish defence, which had previously been so solid, fell apart under the whirlwind Russian attack.

Sweden briefly and half-heartedly attempted a comeback, but it was already too late. They never really looked like scoring one goal, let alone two. Zlatan Ibrahimovic was hobbling around despite painkilling injections in his dodgy knee at half-time -- his best moment was probably the attempt at a back-heeled flick over his head in the first minute of the game. And Henrik Larsson was showing the effects of being approximately 136 years old and already having played almost the full 90 minutes in their first two games. I lost track of the number of times the commentators referred to how "experienced" the Swedish team was -- which, as far as I can tell, just means "old."

(I am pleased to point out that I picked Russia to go through from this group along with Spain. Go me.)


So, all of the quarter-final slots are now filled, and it looks very promishing for the remainder of the tournament, because all eight of the remaining teams are more focussed on attacking than defending -- even Italy's traditional catennaccio has kind of gone out the window, considering that they're playing four fullbacks across the back line. I'm not even going to try to predict what will happen. But if I were to wish for anything, it would be for (1) Spain not to collapse for a change and (2) Cristiano Ronaldo to cry like a leetle baby. I live in hope.


Next up: Russia are rewarded by facing the Netherlands on Saturday, while Spain play Italy on Sunday.

Bad hair of the day award: Spain's Sergio Garcia, who was sporting a silly razor-thin beard and a ponytail that was roughly as big as he is.

Euro 2008: Day 8

Spain 2-1 Sweden
I expected this to be a tougher game for Spain, because Sweden are more disciplined team and weren't likely to push forward and leave space for them the way Russia did in the opening match. Although Spain had the vast majority of both the possession and shots on goal, it was more difficult for them to get in behind the defenders and create clear chances (plus, all the Swedish players were about a foot taller than the Spanish ones). But they took the lead after just 15 minutes -- from a corner rather than open play -- with Fernando Torres sticking a boot out to turn it into the net. Let's hope nobody broke anything celebrating this time, although from the way they all piled on top of each other, you never know.

Sweden almost equalized immediately, but Johan Elmander's shot went into the side netting; a few minutes later, Henrik Larsson attempted to chip the keeper but it went just over the crossbar. And then Carles Puyol went off with a thigh strain, which is a bit worrisome because he's often the only Spanish player who remembers that he's actually supposed to defend. Sweden took advantage of Spain's defensive frailty to equalize after half an hour, as Zlatan Ibrahimovic held off Sergio Ramos in the box to turn and shoot low past Iker Casillas. (Saint Iker, for once, looked as if he maybe could have done better, but Ramos was certainly useless.)

Spain, I think, were a bit shocked by the goal, and Sweden looked like the stronger team as the first half wound down. Spain did have a good shout for a penalty ignored just before halftime, when David Silva was absolutely flattened in the box by Elmander, but really they were doing well just to have held out at 1-1. They could also count themselves fortunate that Ibrahimovic had to be substituted at halftime, presumably because his knee was playing up again.

Spain started the second half much better, although still not well enough. Luis Aragones gambled by using up his two remaining subs and sending on Cesc Fabregas and Santi Cazorla (dear commentator: NOT CAZOLRA) for Xavi and Andres Iniesta in an attempt to force a breakthrough. The changes did have an impact, as Spain had a series of chances, but they were all foiled through a combination of good defending by Sweden and Spanish players trying to take one touch too many. Learn from Arsenal, boys: Pretty passes are nice, but they're no good if you don't score. Just ask Cesc.

The longer the second half went on, the more opportunities Spain had and the more they got frustrated by their inability to score. (What they really should have been frustrated about was that they left themselves exposed at the back more than once.) But finally, in the second minute of stoppage time, David Villa scored the winner. He ran onto a rare long ball forward from Joan Capdevilla, beating two defenders to the ball, and sidefooted it past the keeper into the far corner with a great finish. Spain deserved the win, overall -- they could have crumpled after Sweden scored -- but I think there are still some question marks about their ability to beat the really tough teams in this tournament.


Russia 1-0 Greece
Time for those of us who aren't fans of anti-football -- or of excessive honking on the Danforth -- to celebrate: Greece are out of Euro 2004. The only team to be eliminated without scoring a goal, although they could get themselves a consolation prize in their meaningless final game against Spain.

Actually, I should give the Greeks credit for their contribution to a game that I thought was going to be absolutely horrible but turned out to be pretty good. Not always the best quality football on display, but entertaining nonetheless. It probably helped that Russia took the lead after half an hour, as Antonis Nikopolidis ended his international career with a goalkeeping howler, charging out of his net and then just standing and watching as Sergei Semak hooked the ball back across the net for Konstantin Zyrianov to tap in.

That forced the Greeks to come out and attack more, although at the expense of their defensive solidity. Roman Pavlyuchenko had a series of chances to extend Russia's lead, but wasted them all, mostly through wayward finishing plus the odd offside flag. Angelos Charisteas did manage to put the ball in the net for Greece in the 86th minute, but it was ruled out for offside -- a very close call, I think.

Russia will have playmaker Andrei Arshavin back for their decisive final match against Sweden, which should help them up front. The question is whether their defence is as competent as it looked against Greece, or as hopeless as it was against Spain.


Next up in Group D: Spain v. Greece and Russia v. Sweden, both at 2:30 pm (ET) on Wednesday

Bad hair of the day award: I had a tough time choosing between Sotiris Kyrgiakos and Giannis Amanatidis for Greece, but I have to go with Amanitidis (he's the one on the right) because it looks like he hasn't been near a barber since Euro 2004, whereas Kyrgiakos may have actually shaved recently.

Euro 2008: Day 4

Spain 4-1 Russia
Oh, Spain. This is why I both love you and hate you: the brilliant attacking play, the significantly less than brilliant defending... It was all sort of reminiscent of the World Cup in 2006, when they beat Ukraine 4-0 in their opening match, won their group easily, and then proceeded to get beaten by France at the first knockout stage. (Which is exactly what could happen here, depending on the results over in Group C. Oh joy.)

Luis Aragones made the bold decision to start with a 4-4-2 formation rather than the variations on 4-3-3 they'd been playing up until now, with Fernando Torres and David Villa partnered up front and Marcos Senna doing the dirty work behind the trio of pint-sized midfielders. And the combination of Villa and Torres worked beautifully, exemplified by Spain's first goal: Torres broke through the defence and squared the ball to Villa for a simple finish. Villa added a second goal for Spain just before halftime, with a perfectly timed run onto a pass from Andres Iniesta (possibly the world's palest Spaniard), leaving the keeper helpless as he slotted the ball through Igor Akinfeev's legs. Spain still like to ping the ball around midfield maybe a little too much, but they also seem to have learned about the effectiveness of letting their strikers run at the defence.

Fernando Torres didn't get as many chances to do that as he might have liked, but he had a good game nonetheless before he was hauled off early in the second half (still carrying a bit of a knock on his ankle). Aragones, meanwhile, got to show off the array of talent he'd left on the bench to start with, bringing on first Cesc Fabregas and then Santi Cazorla and Xabi Alonso. And it was Fabregas who set up the third goal in Villa's hat-trick with a great diagonal ball, Villa cutting inside the defender and then wrong-footing the keeper. God knows that Villa can have his off days too, but based on this game, he's an utterly lethal finisher when he wants to be.

Spain's problems, as you might've expected, were at the back. Russia was the technically inferior team -- taking two touches or more to do what the Spaniards would have done in one touch or two -- but when they did get forward as far as the 18-yard box, the Spanish defence looked pretty shaky. A lot of times it seemed like they were all just waiting for someone else to step in and clear the ball, and they were saved by the post at least once. How Carles Puyol wasn't out there cracking heads together I don't know. (Although I should point out that I don't think Iker Casillas had to make any really spectacular saves.) Sergio Ramos, in particular, seemed to have forgotten that being a defender means, you know, tackling and stuff like that. Maybe he was worried about messing up his hair.

Anyway, they finally paid for it with five minutes to go: A Russian corner, flicked on and then headed home by Roman Pavlyuchenko at the back post, with Joan Capdevilla caught flat-footed. Their consolation goal was cancelled out in the 90th minute, though, by Cesc Fabregas's first international goal as he headed in the rebound from Xavi's volley.

So much for my prediction that Russia could surprise people in this tournament. They may still be good enough to beat either Sweden or Greece, but that's hardly a ringing endorsement. As for Spain: learn to defend, please. I beg you. Because David Villa and his idiotic soul-patch are not going to pop up and score a hat-trick in every game. The happiest people after this result, actually, might be in Valencia, because now they can add a few million more pounds on to his valuation. Gentlemen, start your chequebooks.


Sweden 2-0 Greece
Okay, I still don't understand how Greece won this back in 2004. Because they have basically the same team, the same coach, the same tactics, and yet they were essentially useless against Sweden, who are not exactly one of the giants of the footballing world. I realize that last time, Greece scored most of their goals from set pieces, but those were pretty mediocre here, and their main strategy seemed to be passing the ball sluggishly back and forth across their defence.

Sweden, on the other hand, were okay but hardly stellar for the first hour or so -- the highlight was probably a header off the crossbar by Zlatan Ibrahimovic in the first half. Finally, though, in the 65th minute, Ibrahimovic produced a moment of brilliance, collecting a throw-in and exchanging passes with Henrik Larsson before slicing his shot past Antonis Nikopolidis into the top corner of the net. It was his first international goal for more than two years, and also probably the goal of the tournament so far. (And maybe a bit of payback after a Greek player kicked him in the nuts earlier in the game.)

The Swedes put the game away with a second goal five minutes later, scrambled into the net by Petter Hansson -- who'd almost headed the ball into his own goal not long before that -- after a couple attempted shots by Freddie Ljungberg and Johan Elmander. Certainly not the prettiest goal, but it still counts. Greece were never likely to get back into the game after that; they did push forward more, but it was hard to see them scoring one goal, let alone two.


Next up in Group D: sweden v. Spain and Greece v. Russia, both on Saturday

Bad hair of the day award: Joint honours go to Carles Puyol and Sergio Ramos. Puyol's hair was less insane than usual thanks to the rain, but Ramos' just bugs me. You're not starring in a Pantene commercial, Sergio; just cut it already.

Euro 2008 Preview: Group D

Greece, Russia, Spain, Sweden

Spain ought to win the group easily, but every time you make a prediction like that about Spain, they tend to collapse like an overly intricate passing move, so who knows. Originally I would've picked Sweden to be the second team to go through, but after thinking about it a bit more I'm not so sure. I think Russia could be a real surprise this time, and I'm not just saying that because they knocked England off in qualifying. And, you know, Greece *are* the defending champions, even if they do play like the Bolton of Europe. Spain and Russia, though, if I had to call it.

GREECE
FIFA rank: 8
Odds of winning: 22-1
Coach: Otto Rehhagel
How they got here: Finished first in their qualifying group, ahead of Turkey
Past record: Beat Portugal to become Euro 2004 champions, but didn't qualify for the World Cup in 2006
Questions to ask:

• Will their obdurate style work for them again this time, or will the other teams have come up with a strategy to break them down?
  
• Can midfielder Giorgios Karagounis and striker Fanis Gekas provide the spark to complement that defensive strength?
  
• How *did* they manage to win in 2004? Really now.

Why to cheer for them: You've had one too many shots of ouzo. Opa!

RUSSIA
FIFA rank: 25
Odds of winning: 28-1
Coach: Guus Hiddink
How they got here: Finished second in their qualifying group, thanks to England's incompetence
Past record: Bottom of their group at Euro 2004; didn't qualify for the 2006 World Cup
Questions to ask:

• How much will they miss playmaker Andrei Arshavin, who's suspended for the first two games thanks to an idiotic yellow card against Andorra?
  
• Will Igor Akinfeev's quality in goal make up for the fact that the defence in front of him isn't all that good?
  
• Could the magical Guus Hiddink effect come into play here? First South Korea, then Australia, now Russia…

Why to cheer for them: Out of gratitude for bringing an end to the misbegotten reign of Steve McClaren.

SPAIN
FIFA rank: 4
Odds of winning: 5-1
Coach: Luis Aragones
How they got here: A few stutters along the way, but ended up top of their qualifying group
Past record: A disappointing third in their group at Euro 2004; lost to France in the Round of 16 at the World Cup in 2006
Questions to ask:

• With the massive amounts of talent in the team (Fernando Torres, Cesc Fabregas, Sergio Ramos, Xavi, David Villa, Andres Iniesta – really, I could just run through their whole lineup), is this finally the year that they shake off their reputation as the world's biggest chokers?
  
• How will mad-as-a-hatter Luis Aragones manage to fit all that talent onto the pitch at once? (He's already made one possibly dubious decision by axing Raul from the squad.)
  
• Will Iker Casillas finally have an aneurysm when faced with a defence even more dodgy than the one in front of him at Real Madrid?

Why to cheer for them: You're a Liverpool fan who'd like to see your players actually win something this year

SWEDEN
FIFA rank: 23
Odds of winning: 33-1
Coach: Lars Lagerback
How they got here: Qualified second in their group, behind Spain
Past record: Lost in the quarter-finals to Holland at Euro 2004; lost to Germany in the Round of 16 at the 2006 World Cup
Questions to ask:

• What kind of a boost will they get from the return of veteran Henrik Larsson?
  
• Will Zlatan Ibrahimovic produce the brilliance necessary to drag his team out of their usual so-so performance, or will he be infuriatingly crap as he so often is for Inter?
  
• Will Freddie Ljungberg and Olof Mellberg get into a training-ground fight yet again? And if so, can they sell tickets?

Why to cheer for them: They probably have the best-looking female fans, if you're into that sort of thing. I'm just saying.