Euro 2008 Final: Spain 1-0 Germany

I wanted to get this post up sooner, but I've been blog-less for the past few days as a result of a beer-filled long weekend out of town. I did watch the final on Sunday, though, and although I was cheering for Germany, I can't say I'm disappointed that Spain won -- they were the best team both over the course of the tournament and in the final itself.

Germany started the stronger team in this game, with Miroslav Klose spurning a good chance to score as early as the third minute. They looked particularly dangerous as they attacked Sergio Ramos down Spain's right wing. But Spain were on top soon enough, with Jens Lehmann called on to make a great save in the 14th minute when Christoph Metzelder and his awful playoff beard almost deflected Andres Iniesta's shot into the net for an own-goal.

In the absence of injured Golden Boot winner David Villa, Fernando Torres was playing as a lone striker -- a familiar role from his time at Liverpool -- and causing lots of trouble for the lumbering German defence. He'd already sent a header off the post with Jens Lehmann well beaten, when he scored the game's only goal in the 32nd minute. Xavi's through ball split the defenders, Torres outmuscled Philipp Lahm and then, with Lehmann coming out to claim the ball, clipped it perfectly over the keeper and into the net.

If Torres was the pivotal figure for Spain, so too was Michael Ballack for Germany. Ballack has had horrible luck in major finals, and it didn't get any better for him here. He was already hampered by a calf injury -- although I think you'd have had to chain him down to stop him playing -- and then he got a cut over the eye toward the end of the first half, after a collision with Marcos Senna.

I think that just added to his sense of frustration, because a few minutes later he got booked for an altercation with Carles Puyol, and he seemed to spend the second half getting increasingly pissed off at the entire world. He did have a couple decent shots on goal over the course of the game -- one deflected by Ramos, another one going just barely wide -- but mostly he was cro-magnon-ing around and fouling people.

And with Ballack not at 100%, the rest of the team was also malfunctioning. Philipp Lahm was hauled off at halftime and replaced by Marcell Jansen -- supposedly due to injury, but come on. (Poor Lahm -- I swear I remember him being a good defender; I don't know what went wrong.) Klose got kicked in the balls early in the second half. And then later in the game had the indignity of being replaced by Mario Gomez. It just wasn't a good day for them, really.

Germany did have a good spell of pressure partway through the second half, but Iker Casillas and his defence held firm. Luis Aragones sent on Xabi Alonso for Cesc Fabregas -- who'd been much less effective than in the semi-final -- to shore up the midfield, and shortly thereafter brought on more fresh legs in the form of Santi Cazorla -- to replace David Silva, who'd come dangerously close to getting sent off after going nose-to-nose with Lukas Podolski. (I think Silva must have been on his tippy-toes at the time.)

There was a chance that things could've gotten out of hand, with the Germans trying to muscle their way back into the game, but the referee did a good job of calming things down -- although I still don't understand why he'd booked Casillas in the first half. Anyway, Spain reasserted themselves, passing their way through Germany as they'd been doing all game. Lehmann had to make another good save from Ramos' diving header in the 66th minute, and then from the corner, Iniesta's shot was cleared off the line by Torsten Frings.

The clock ticked inexorably down, and Germany had still only managed one shot on goal all game. Spain, meanwhile, continued to threaten, with Dani Guiza coming on for Fernando Torres -- who'd worked his ass off -- and almost immediately setting up Senna for what should have been their second goal. Spain might have liked to pad their one-goal lead, as there was always a chance that Germany could surprise them with an equalizer, but the Germans were mostly just lumping the ball forward in the late stages of the game, and Spain were always able to regain possession.

And so it finished 1-0 -- albeit a pretty action-packed one-goal game -- with Spain becoming European champions for only the second time. They'd already overcome their reputation as chokers with that penalty shootout victory over Italy, but they've now killed it off completely with such a comprehensive win. As for Germany, I said before the game that they had been more than the sum of their parts, but they showed their limitations here against a Spanish team that was undoubtedly superior.


I'm not going to pick a team of the tournament, because I'd probably end up like the TSN/Sportsnet crew, who went with an unorthodox sort of 2-5-3 formation. But a few awards to round things up...

Game of the tournament: Turkey 3-2 Czech Republic
It's hard to narrow this down, because there were so many great games, and Turkey in particular were involved in several incredible results. But this was the epitome of their tournament: a comeback from 2-0 down with 15 minutes to go that was highlighted by brain farts on the part of both goalkeepers, with Petr Cech dropping a cross to gift Turkey an equalizer in the 87th minute, and then Volkan Demirel getting sent off in stoppage time for flattening Jan Koller -- no mean feat.

Runner-up: Russia 3-0 Holland
Holland had disposed of Italy and France with ease in the supposed group of death, but an Andriy Arshavin-inspired Russia were brilliant in the quarterfinal and essentially beat them at their own whirlwind attacking game.

Goal of the tournament: Wesley Sneijder vs. Italy
A textbook-perfect counter-attacking move, with Gio van Bronckhorst clearing the ball off the line at a corner, and then pelting downfield to get involved again with a crossfield pass to Dirk Kuyt. Kuyt then headed the ball down for Sneijder to hook it past Gigi Buffon from an almost impossible angle. A fantastic team goal and a fantastic finish from Sneijder.

Runner-up: Bastian Schweinsteiger vs. Turkey
Schweinsteiger and Lukas Podolski sometimes seem to have a telepathic connection -- see also Schweinsteiger's goal against Portugal in the preceding game; here, Podolski broke down the left and crossed to Schweinsteiger coming in from the other flank, who flicked the ball brilliantly across the keeper with the outside of his right boot.

Player of the tournament: Marcos Senna
UEFA's technical panel may disagree with me -- they gave the Golden Ball to another Spanish midfielder, Xavi. But Xavi had periods where he was brilliant and periods where he was invisible. Senna was also often invisible, but for the right reasons: you want your defensive midfielder to go unnoticed, because that means he's doing his job. He was the solid base for Spain's tiki-taka attacking play, and a shield for their not always convincing defence. Consistently good throughout the tournament.

Hotass of the tournament: Iker Casillas
Captained his team to the title. Possibly the only keeper in Swisstria who actually knew how to deal with crosses. A big part of the reason why Spain gave up only three goals, and none of those in the knockout rounds. Went mano-a-mano with world champion Gianluigi Buffon in a penalty shootout and emerged victorious. And celebrated winning the whole shebang by stripping down and spraying his teammates with champagne. Well done.

Euro 2008 Final Preview

My two favourite teams in the tournament are also the last ones standing, which makes this simultaneously my dream final and a nightmare. I'll be cheering for Germany tomorrow -- I'm half German, and my ancestors would probably rise up to beat me about the head with a beer stein if I didn't -- but I'm sure that Spain will do their best to test my loyalties with their pretty pretty football.

The prevailing opinion seems to be that Spain should win, but I really don't know what to predict. This German team seem to be more than the sum of their parts; Spain, in the past, have been less, but this time they may finally be living up to their talent. Spain have certainly been the best team overall, but let's not forget that You Can Never Count Out The Germans.

Goalkeepers
Iker Casillas versus Jens Lehmann: It's no contest, really. Saint Iker burnished his halo even more in the quarter-final penalty shootout against Italy, whereas Lehmann looked pretty shaky against Turkey and was arguably at fault for both their goals. I'd expect lots of shots from the Spanish team.

Defence
Spain's back four is supposedly their weakness, but they've only given up three goals all tournament. Carles Puyol has been excellent and Sergio Ramos seems to have remembered that he's a defender, not a striker, while Carlos Marchena and Joan Capdevilla have done their jobs well. But they could be vulnerable to set-pieces and crosses, which have led to a lot of Germany's goals. Germany, on the other hand, have been rather porous at the back, with only Philipp Lahm really standing out -- and that not always for the right reasons. Spain should be looking to run at their fullbacks, as Turkey did so effectively.

Midfield
Two contrasting styles in midfield: Spain's short, fluid tiki-taka passing, versus German's more direct, robust style. Spain has a similarly mobile midfield to the other teams that have caused Germany trouble (like Croatia), with players interchanging positions and attacking from all angles. Germany will have to be disciplined to contain them. The Germans will also try to use their physical advantage, as they did against Portugal, to win the ball and then break quickly. Spain prefer to hold onto possession and pass the ball around in their opponents' half, but their slow buildup means that they're not necessarily going to commit people forward too hastily. It should be a very interesting battle.

Strikers
Top scorer David Villa will almost certainly miss the final with an injury, which means Fernando Torres will play up front on his own. Torres hasn't had the greatest tournament, unfortunately. I think he's played well, but the goals just aren't coming, possibly because he's been adjusting to the Spanish style after a year in the Premier League. But he's still the kind of player who can change a game in a moment. Miroslav Klose isn't a world-class striker the way Torres is, but he's got a good track record of scoring in big games for his country.

Predicted lineups
Germany: Lehmann; Friedrich, Metzelder, Mertesacker, Lahm; Schweinsteiger, Frings, Ballack, Hitzlsperger, Podolski; Klose

Spain: Casillas; Ramos, Puyol, Marchena, Capdevilla; Iniesta, Fabregas, Senna, Xavi, Silva; Torres

Euro 2008 Semi-final: Spain 3-0 Russia

These two teams met in their opening match of the tournament, with Spain convincing 4-1 winners. Since then, Russia had surprised everybody by not just recovering but improving enough to demolish the Netherlands in the quarter-finals, while Spain had been winning withut exactly bowling people over.

And yet this game finished with an almost identical three-goal victory for Spain. Russia apparently peaked in the previous round, while Spain have taken the confidence from their penalty win over Italy and are cruising into the final. (Not only have they vanquished their nemesis Italy, but now they've overcome the bad luck that was supposedly attached to their yellow away kits. Although those are still fugly. Whatever happened to the white away kits? I liked those. Especially in the rain. Um.)

The possession stats may show that it was pretty even, but they don't tell even close to the whole story, because it seemed like Spain spend two-thirds of the game in the Russian half. Maybe the more important statistic is shots on goal -- 11 for Spain versus just one for Russia. Iker Casillas had so little to do, he could've spent the game bedazzling the uneven hem of his self-tailored jersey and making fun of Sergio Ramos hair. Both of which are worthwhile ways to spend your time, really.

Spain were on top from the start, although Russia had a few good spells too. But Andrei Arshavin, who had supposedly become the player of the tournament over the past couple games, was a non-factor here, and because of that, Roman Pavlyuchenko was starved of service. It also helped Spain that, defensively, Sergio Ramos was having a much better game than their first match-up, winning the battle with Yuri Zhirkov on that wing.

Despite their dominance, Spain weren't able to break down the Russians at first. And they suffered a blow when David Villa pulled a muscle in his calf and had to be substituted after just half an hour. Cesc Fabregas came on for Villa, to play in the whole behind Fernando Torres, somewhat surprisingly as it meant a change of formation. But ironically, replacing a midfielder with a striker enabled Spain to find holes in the Russian defence and open up the play.

They were rewarded for their excellent play early in the second half, as Xavi opened the scoring in the 50th minute after Andres Iniesta played him into the box. Iniesta and Xavi haven't had the greatest of tournaments, in my opinion -- not awful, but not always scintillating -- but they were both pivotal in this game, not just in the buildup play but creating goals too.

Russia made a couple of substitutions almost immediately, bringing on first Diniyar Bilyaletdinov for Igor Semshov and then Dmitry Sychev for Ivan Saenko, as Guus Hiddink attempted to get his team back into the game. But it didn't help them much, as Spain continued to attack. Fernando Torres, in particular, had a couple of good chances but failed to score. I don't know if it was because of the wet pitch or what, but all game he seemed to keep slightly miscontrolling the ball as he turned to shoot.

Still, I was a bit surprised to see Torres taken off for Daniel Guiza in the 69th minute -- along with Xabi Alonso in place of Xavi -- because Guiza hasn't impressed me so far. And I say that despite the fact that he scored his second goal of the tournament just a few minutes later. Fabregas dinked the ball over the defence to him, and he took it down well on his chest before putting it past Igor Akinfeev with ease.

That second goal gave Spain a bit of a cushion, and they were able to just play keep-ball and sit a bit deeper. Still, they added to their lead further in the 82nd minute, after yet another lovely passing move, Iniesta out to Fabregas on the left, who slotted it into the centre for a nice finish David Silva. That was nice to see, because Silva deserved a goal for his good play all tournament, while Cesc has certainly done enough to guarantee himself a starting spot in the final -- unless, of course, Luis Aragones has another spell of insanity.

Russia's heads were already down after Spain's second goal and they were really out of it after the third, just waiting for the final whistle. I think they were worn down from 90 minutes of chasing Spain around trying to get the ball back. Still, they deserve credit for getting themselves this far, and with style -- while Spain, for once, have lived up to their pre-tournament hype. But they do have one game left in which to choke.

Euro 2008: Quarter-final 4

Spain 0-0 Italy (Spain win 4-2 on penalties)
This was the only one of the quarter-finals where the team that had won their group didn't get knocked out -- but in its own way, the result was just as much of a surprise as the other games, because it was classic choke-monkeys Spain. Beating world champions Italy. On penalties. Shocking, really.

It's just too bad that it wasn't a better game. Spain at least were trying, but I think Italy were playing for penalties from about the 60th minute on -- if not before. And it didn't help the flow of the game that the referee was calling absolutely everything -- right up until they got into the box, when he would just decide that the Spanish player had dived.

But still, Spain kept coming forward, looking for a way through the Italians. I think at one point in the first half they were up to more than 70% of possession, with Xavi patiently pulling the strings in midfield. The problem was that as soon as they got to the edge of the 18-yard box, they'd be closed down by three or four defenders, making it almost impossible to get a clean shot off.

I do think that Italy's defence played well -- unlike some of their earlier games in the tournament -- but this match mostly just reminded me why people dislike them. They were so focussed on smothering Spain's attack that they couldn't be bothered to mount an attack of their own. In other circumstances they probably would've relied on a free kick from Andrea Pirlo to nick a 1-0 win, but with Pirlo suspended, they had to look elsewhere for goals.

And unfortuately for them, Luca Toni, should've been their main goalscoring threat, couldn't hit the broad side of a barn. The best moment was when he attempted an overhead kick and only connected with the ball enough to divert it out of the path of Fabio Grosso, who would've had a clear header on goal. Combined with Mario Gomez's awful performances for Germany, I have to wonder just what they do to strikers in the Bundesliga. And I'm a bit surprised that Roberto Donadoni didn't drop Toni and replace him with, say, Marco Boriello -- but on the other hand, Donadoni hasn't seemed to have a clue who he should be picking in his team.

I was almost pleasantly surprised, though, to see the substitutions that Luis Aragones made for Spain, bringing Cesc Fabregas and Santi Cazorla on for Xavi and Andres Iniesta partway through the second half, in an attempt to change things up and make them play more direct football. I'm still disappointed that Xabi Alonso didn't get to play instead of one of their tiny interchangeable midfielders. But I can understand why they wouldn't want to drop Marcos Senna, because he had a very good game and even almost scored when Gianluigi Buffon fumbled his shot.

Spain continued to press throughout the second half and extra time, but they still couldn't find a goal. (They did get a whole bunch of corners, but that doesn't do much good when the other team are all about a foot taller than you.) And so we had a second quarter-final match being decided by a penalty shootout.

I can completely understand why Italy would feel that penalties were their best shot at winning, with the track record they've got -- plus supposedly the best goalkeeper in the world. But it backfired on them here. Iker Casillas -- who'd made a great reflex save on Mauro Camoranesi's shot late in the second half to keep his team in the game -- was absofuckinglutely awesome in the shootout, saving penalties from Daniele De Rossi and Antonio Di Natale before Cesc Fabregas stepped up to score the decisive spot-kick.

As an aside, I think Iker is now cutting off not only the bottoms of his jerseys but also the sleeves. I am amused by the idea of him hacking at his uniform with a pair of scissors in the locker room before a game. I swear next week he's going to be out there in a crop top. (I'm not saying I would entirely disapprove. Um.)

Anyway, Spain have (hopefully) vanquished some of their demons, and now they face a rematch with Russia in the semi-finals. I know they beat them 4-1 in the opening match, but I can't help being worried because (1) although Spain forestalled the choking this time, that doesn't mean it won't happen down the road and (2) Russia have all of a sudden become good. They'll probably give Spain more space to play than Italy did, but on the other hand Russia could pick apart the Spanish defence like they did the Netherlands. Sergio Ramos will probably slip in a puddle of hair gel and gift them a goal.


Bad hair of the day award: Not Ramos but Luca Toni. Purely for the pornstache. I don't know, maybe he thought it would help him score, but no. Not in any sense of the word.

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.

I should just give up my Setanta subscription for the summer, shouldn't I?

Because I'm paying $15 a month, and Greece v Armenia is the best they can do? Really?

They are showing England's game against Trinidad & Tobago, but not until tomorrow -- and even then I'm not sure it's worth watching, seeing as it's basically an exercise in sucking up to that odious little toad Jack Warner.

I do kind of want to see Spain v Peru, mostly because Xabi actually got to play for once (please don't go to Juve!). Spain won 2-1, incidentally. Also, Fernando Torres did his best to get naked without actually taking any clothes off -- which, you know, I applaud the effort.

Does anybody care about international friendlies, really? Even the people who are playing in them? I mean, look at the results over the past few days, and the virtually only thing that stands out in the mass of one- or two-goal games is Switzerland and Austria beating up on Malta and Liechtenstein. And a fat lot of good that's going to do them once Euro 2008 starts and they crash and burn.

U20 World Cup: Quarter-finals

Austria 2-1 USA (aet)
Spain 1-1 Czech Republic (3-4 on penalty kicks)
Chile 4-0 Nigeria (aet)
Argentina 1-0 Mexico

I finally got to see one of the games live: I went to USA v. Austria on Saturday. It was a great game to watch, too, aside from the fact that it rained the entire time. This is not fun in an open stadium. I'm sure the guys outside selling rain ponchos made a fortune that day.

Anyway, I sort of feel like I should apologize to YNBA and goalscoring robot for cheering for Austria and jinxing their team, but I really didn't think the Austrians were going to win. Especially not after they gave up a goal in the first 15 minutes. They pulled one back just before halftime though, with the US keeper spilling a shot (blame it on the rain, as both Milli and Vanilli would say) and Ruben Okotie pouncing on the rebound. That was pretty much the only useful thing I saw Okotie do all game; he had a terrible first touch, and I can't figure out why he started the game instead of Erwin Hoffer, unless it was deliberately planned so that Hoffer could do his super-sub thing once again.

Hoffer came on as a sub in extra time (and I should point out here that he has his nickname shaved into the side of his head, which is an excellent reason for y'all to make fun of him), and just as he did against Gambia, he bagged the winner for Austria. It had been a very physical game, with a total of 41 fouls and 12 yellow cards -- and two of those yellow cards went to the US left back Anthony Wallace, who was sent off in the 103rd minute. The resulting free kick pinged around the box before Hoffer scrambled it into the net, sending his team into the semi-finals.

I only saw bits and pieces of the other matches, but I did catch Spain reverting to form (i.e., choking) against the Czech Republic on Saturday night. Both teams failed to score in regular time, although Spain's Adrian Lopez missed a tap-in on an open net near the end of the game. In extra time it was much the same, with the score level at 1-1 and Spain again wasting a great chance to win the game. Instead they went to penalty kicks, Manchester United's Gerard Pique had his shot saved, and the Czechs won their second straight game on penalties.

Chile and Nigeria were also scoreless after 90 minutes, but then the game exploded in extra time. Jaime Grondona scored what would be the winning goal for Chile just five minutes in, but the Chileans also scored a penalty in the 114th minute and followed it up with two more goals, just to pour salt in the wounds, as Nigeria pushed forward desperately in search of a goal.

Argentina v. Mexico was the only quarter-final match that didn't go to extra time. The two teams largely nullified each other, with the decisive goal coming from the pocket-sized Maxi Moralez (seriously, he's shorter than I am; that is short) just before halftime. These were two of the best teams in the competition so far, and the Mexicans may feel they were unlucky to meet in the quarter-finals. But it'll be Argentina v. Chile in Toronto on Thursday, while Austria fly to Edmonton to take on the Czechs on Wednesday.

U20 World Cup Round of 16: July 11

Austria 2-1 Gambia
USA 2-1 Uruguay (aet)
Spain 4-2 Brazil (aet)
Japan 2-2 Czech (3-4 on penalties)

Yay, Spain! I was sure I'd jinxed them when they gave up two goals in about two minutes in the first half. But the U20s apparently haven't learned how to choke yet. They pulled one back before halftime, as Gerard Pique bundled a free kick into the net with his arm (but let's not dwell on that), and got a late equalizer from another free kick, taken quickly by Javi Garcia to catch Brazilian keeper Cassio off guard.

Brazil had a couple good chances in extra time, but it was Spain who scored first, and the Brazilians then went down to 10 men as Lima was sent off for dissent. With the numerical advantage, Spain kept pressing and wore Brazil down, scoring again in the 120th minute to kill them off and ensure that I still have somebody to cheer for.

Actually, all four of the games yesterday were pretty entertaining. The USA went behind to Uruguay early on, but tied it up with an own-goal late in the game, and then Michael Bradley scored in extra time to refute the accusations of nepotism and almost make me like his team momentarily. (And then there was a brawl after the final whistle, because it seems that Uruguay are really, really bad losers.)

Austria took the lead against Gambia, who once again had a man sent off but still managed to equalize, before Erwin "Jimmy" Hoffa* came off the bench to clinch the win for Austria. And Japan was up 2-0 against the Czech Republic, but then gave up two spot-kicks in three minutes and went on to lose on penalties, in an enthralling battle of shaved heads versus extravagant anime hair.**

* This is really what they call him. Hee.

** Best hair of the day, though, goes to the USA's Andre Akpan, although sadly I can't find a decent picture of the giant burnt sienna fro he was rocking. EDIT: Thanks to YNBA, here it is, in all its dubious glory.

Mid-Week Randomness

• I've been sporadically watching the Copa America, but it's slightly weird because I don't like any of the teams that are left in the semifinals. I think at this point I'm cheering for Not Brazil. And for people to kick Leo Messi.
  
  
• Now that Canada's been knocked out of the U20s, I've decided to throw my support behind Spain. It'll be interesting to see if the tinies choke as badly as the senior team does. And they're up against Brazil tonight, so all signs point to yes.
  
  
• An interview with Dale Mitchell, the Canadian U20 coach, where he analyzes what went wrong for them at this tournament and basically says, "We weren't good enough." It's kind of refreshing to see that sort of honesty, but I'd like it even better if he also offered some suggestions about how to fix it.
  
  
• Oh my god, I am so sick of the Tevez to United saga already. And you just know it's going to drag on for ages. I wish I could wake up in August and have it be over.
  
  
• I've been scoping out new cleats and the thing I keep wondering is why so many of them are so phenomenally ugly. I'm somewhat reconciled to the white boots now, but not the gold ones. Or pea-soup green. And there's certainly no excuse for these monstrosities. I also hate these ones, which I keep seeing everywhere, usually in yellow so it makes you look like a platypus. Possibly the worst, though, are these, which appear to come in different colours for each foot, presumably for all those footballers who still haven't learned their right from their left. (As YNBA said, Rio Ferdinand needs shoes too.)

Things we have learned from the World Cup this week

• Losing on a last-minute penalty is probably the shittiest way ever to go out of the World Cup. I wasn't a huge fan of the Socceroos going into the tournament -- due partly to their inexplicable connection with John Travolta -- but you've got to feel for them. Particularly Harry Kewell, who apparently missed their final game because he was struck down with gout. Yes, gout. Like he's Henry VIII or something?
  
  
• Switzerland make England look like a penalty-taking machine by comparison. Apart from that, they're extremely boring to watch, especially without Philippe Senderos running around all bloody.
  
  
• Half the guys on the Ukraine team are named Andriy. What is up with that?
  
  
• Brazil don't have to play pretty football to win. They just win. (Bastards.) Apparently this is fine for Brazil, whereas for England it sets off a national crisis.
  
  
• I should have known that cheering for Spain was a bad idea. I blithely ignored all that talk about them being perennial underachievers, because they actually had a good team this year. They cruised through the group stage, and I started to really believe they could do it. And then what happened? They choked like the big choking chokers they are.
  
  
• If Thierry Henry really believes that diving makes you a woman, then he should be out shopping for some new sports bras right about now.
  
  
• Yes, I'm still bitter.

Meanwhile, Information Builders has been compiling the World Cup statistics that really matter. I'm sure you'll all be shocked to learn that Italy leads the tournament in diving, while Holland is #1 for tantrums. (Link from World Cup Blog.)

And now, I have to go figure out what to do with my fantasy football team. I'm tempted to sell all the English players, because then they'd probably win just to spite me.

World Cup III: Togo, or not Togo

I've been complaining at being stuck at work while the World Cup matches are on, but the advantage is that I don't feel compelled to watch games like Togo v. Korea or Tunisia v. Saudi Arabia, and I can just follow them online instead. Sounds like both games had a lot of action, but not a lot of skill.

And, actually, you could say the same about Germany v. Poland. The Polish keeper, Boruc, was pretty good, but most of my entertainment came from wondering how many different ways the Germans could find to fuck up in front of goal. Also, Klinsmann really ought to remind them that passing into space is great, but not if your teammates are running in the opposite direction. Still, they got the win, and it looks like Germany will be the first team to book its place in the final 16.

Of the other games that I actually watched:

• Brazil 1-0 Croatia: It was probably impossible for Brazil to live up to all the pre-tournament hype, but they're going to have to step it up a notch if they want to win this thing. It's not that they were bad, they just weren't as fantastic as I'd expected. Croatia. meanwhile, are probably the best of what you'd think of as the second-tier European teams -- along with Serbia; if only the country didn't keep splitting into smaller and smaller pieces.
  
  
• Spain 4-0 Ukraine: I'm trying not to get too excited over this result, because chances are they're just going to choke in the quarter-finals, but damn that was a great performance from Spain. They've got an excellent midfield, now that Aragones seems to have stopped fucking around with his lineup (and got over his fear of the colour yellow), and they're very good at holding possession. I thought the penalty for Torres was a bad call by the ref, and I wouldn't be surprised if Shevchenko uses some of Abramovich's rubles to take out a hit on the linesmen, because he got screwed by offside calls a few times, but Spain were cruising in spite of the officiating.

Question of the day: Which of the supposed star strikers has underperformed the most so far? Ronaldo? Thierry Henry? Wee Michael Owen? My vote goes to Henry, because he doesn't have the excuse of recovering from injury or carrying around a whole extra person. Of course, he doesn't have the team built around him the way he does at Arsenal, but still, you expect him not to suck quite this much at an international level.

Oh, and the other advantage to watching the games on tape in the evening? The ability to fast-forward through all the annoying commercials (no more really cool oom-pah-pah bands!) and the half-time blather. I still think the Canadian commentators are better than the guys on ESPN, but really, they shouldn't have so much trouble pronouncing "Thierry Henry." Considering that we speak French here and all.

PSA

I can't really comment on the World Cup qualification playoffs, since I didn't see any of them. (But let me just say, YAY SPAIN. Your uniforms are fugly, but YAY.)

Instead, a word of advice to all the footballers out there:



JUST SAY NO TO MANPRIS.

Seriously, y'all. You look ridiculous. Is it really that important to keep your knees warm?