Euro 2008 Summary June 18

Somewhat of a predictable day wasn't it.

Spain rolled-out a completely different squad and after a the meet-and-greet phase was done and they became slightly more accustomed to each other on the pitch, they won the match 2-1 on a late Daniel Güiza goal. The match marked the international retirement of Greece's 37 year-old stellar goalkeeper Antonis Nikopolidis.











In the deciding match for the runner-up spot of Group D, Russia ran all over Sweden in what must have been the most predictable of matches (that I finally predicted correctly) in the tournament, excluding of course that a pride-stoked Italy would dominate a Zizou-less Les Bleaus. Russia's 2-0 victory sounds a lot closer than it was and I'm just happy we didn't see another four or five goals to embarrass the Swedes.

I'll be posting information on the next round shortly once I consult my Ouija board and cross-check my calculations on a slide rule. Hopefully by then I'll actually be out of this airport ~

As a addendum, don't you find it remarkable that I only mentioned Zizou once in my post today. Yes, mes amis, understand your past and your future unfolds. We'll save that for another time...

Euro 2008 Russia v Sweden

With the last selection I got off easy with a choice between one of the top teams of the tournament and possibly the least memorable. This one, might be the toughest match to predict in the entire Euros yet. For Russia to advance to the next round they need to defeat Sweden whereas Sweden can advance on a draw.

So where do we begin with this opera. Hmm..a good place to start I suppose would be Russian coach Guus Hiddink playing for the right to face his native Netherlands and a team he has managed himself. Point 1 in the drama (cue up orchestra...something that builds...)

Russia is on the dawn of becoming a Football superpower and well (no need for me to discuss the heavy buy-recommendation of Gazprom but don't wait for the spike) financed to make it happen. They are the youngest team at the Euro while Sweden warms its milk at night as the oldest. Point 2...build the music (hmm Wagner?).

Russia has its dangerous striker Andrei Arshavin who plays for Zenit Saint Petersburg back after serving a (ridiculous) two-match suspension. If used, he is dangerous and this is a different club with him finishing. Presuming he is match fit, Russia is not only the type of club to beat the Netherlands, run the table and take the trophy back home to Moscow. Point 3...dominant player with pride wanting to establish himself...music should be reaching a crescendo.

On the injury front both squads are hobbled and Sweden is likely to be without Zlatan Ibrahimović for the full match. Russia has numerous injuries but excluding Diniyar Bilyaletdinov who is unlikely to appear, I very much doubt any of the starting players would allow their spots to be taken. If, you're not feeling me on this I'll be blunt - this is a passionate, tough group of players who are more than aware they are turning the Football tables upside-down. Point 4...fireworks are really needed here because I'm expecting Russia to win.

Let me also state that my poor humor masks a very serious situation with Russian Football because this truly is a superpower to be. As crude spikes to the $200-250 region, domestic support will be unparalleled and the passion of the people will push them along to a top ten squad in the world and a threat to win the World Cup.

Euro 2008 Spain v Sweden

La Furia Roja ranges on and Sweden, albeit a very strong squad, will succumb. While I admit Greece's hideous tactics gave us little to gage Sweden on, I'm going on Spain resounding destruction of Russia. Spain to win which leads for a showdown of Sweden v Russia for the final spot.

Group D summary

First of all, prior to going through my summary, I'm hopeful that some entrepreneurial mind will consider packaging Sweden - Greece with France - Romania as the ultimate insomnia cure. Throw in fresh baked cookies and I might actually get six or seven hours sleep...

And with that note, today's matches

Spain 4 Russia 1
What precisely is the most surprising outcome of the tournament so far? The San Marino pulling off the great caper and masquerading as the Azzurri, Les Bleaus showing little imagination or the Netherlands plundering Italy 3-0 and looking like they could have scored five or six at least. I have to think the major surprise, that really shouldn't be a surprise, is that Spain finally played as good as they should.

With the match opening at a nail-biting pace, Spain quickly pronounced its superiority with David Villa scoring the first of his three goals at the twentieth minute. By the half, with Spain ahead 2-0 on the second of Villa's goals the Russian death-rattle was audible and the promise of an upset was all but lost.

While I don't understand why Russia kept Vladimir Bystrov (46th min.) and Dmitri Torbinsky (57th min.) out of starting lineup, the Spanish squads superiority was clear and the Villa - Torres combination was not only deadly but emerged as great team players. Obviously this is far too earlier to engrave the trophy but Spain displayed tremendous team play characteristics and showed they are ready to win it all. However for those that are ready to pronounce Russia DOA, guess-again because they will voraciously attack Greece in their next match and then face Sweden with Andrei Arshavin back from his (ridiculous) two-match ban. Com'on Gus, rally the squad and show them what you got. I'm sticking with my original contention that Russia will advance to the quarter-finals.

Sweden 2 Greece 0
If you or anyone can come out of this match with any worthwhile insight in either of these clubs I would be surprised. Greece played a brutally, second cup of warmy milk before bedtime, boring match in which they endlessly passed the ball between themselves in their own end. Thankfully this miserable match was decided with a thundering strike by Zlatan Ibrahimovic to put Sweden ahead 1-0. Petter Hansson scored six minutes later in a goal that rivaled the Peanuts gang and far beyond description. However in the end, Sweden came out with three points in a performance that gives me little clue on how they will respond to a team like Spain or Russia that will attack but appreciative the players just didn't nap during the match (hmm..Greece's secret strategy - lull the opposition to sleep?)

I came into the day with a 4-2 record and split 1-1 so the record now stands 5-3 going into week 2.

Euro 2008 Greece v Sweden

Opa!

No, I'm not predicting another Greek Euro trophy, it was just an appropriate start.

Swedens power-packed lineup Zlatan Ibrahimović, Henrik Larsson and Fredrik Ljungberg are a threat to score at any time and must be marked tightly if Greece wants to prove the '04 Euros weren't a fluke. However Greece as been anything but impressive in recent matches against Armenia and the loss to Hungary.

Greece will come out with a 4-4-2 with Angelos Charisteas and Theofanis Gekas up-front and look to keep a firm hand on the Sweden. However my ability to be bias on this match completely out the window as I'm pulling for the thirty-six year old Henrik Larsson to turn back the hands of time and lead Sweden to a close victory. So put me down for Sweden on this one.

Euro 2008: Group D review

Group D is the scene of most diverse styles of plan in the tournament and possibly the birthplace of the tournaments major upset. Luis Aragonés Spanish squad is in perfect position and should advance as the winner of Group D to face the runners-up of Group C as they progress to the finals. Second place is Russia’s in my opinion particularly with Greece not looking sharp. Within my monthly “Renegade Futbol Club” newsletter, I noted nine months ago that Russia would be a Football superpower by 2014-2018 and break through the top ten rankings. It is becoming abundantly clear that I was far too conservative in my estimate and top teams will need to watch Russia closely as we approach World Cup 2010 in South Africa. While I am keeping a close eye towards Russia, I expect Spain to see through this half of the table and meet Germany in the finals.

Spain
Is this the year for Spain to finally win their first championship in over forty years. Spain is brimming with young talented players such as Cesc Fàbregas, Sergio Ramos and Fernando Torres. Yet no mention of Spain’s chance would be complete without mention of the omission of Raúl.

1 Iker Casillas
13 Andrés Palop
23 Pepe Reina
2 Raúl Albiol
3 Fernando Navarro
4 Carlos Marchena
5 Carles Puyol
11 Joan Capdevila
15 Sergio Ramos
18 Álvaro Arbeloa
20 Juanito
6 Andrés Iniesta
8 Xavi Hernández
10 Cesc Fàbregas
12 Santi Cazorla
14 Xabi Alonso
19 Marcos Senna
22 Rubén de la Red
9 Fernando Torres
16 Sergio García
17 Daniel Güiza
21 David Silva

10/06/ v Russia
14/06/ v Sweden
18/06/ v Greece

Russia
Russia is my choice to finish second in Group D and to give Spain absolute fits in their opening match. Guus Hiddink has Russia well prepared for the challenge and the emergence of Russia as a power in the sport is getting closer. He has taken the unique position of drawing upon players primarily from the top clubs in Russia and it will likely pay rich dividends as the players are familiar with each others style. One drawback for the team is that they may have lost top striker Pavel Pogrebnyak to a knee injury against Serbia on Friday. In the mid-field watch for the likes of Diniyar Bilyaletdinov, the mercurial Vladimir Bystrov and the artistry of Dmitri Torbinsky to become the talk of the tournament. Should Pavel Pogrebnyak be healthy, the combination of him and Andrei Arshavin up-front could jettison Russian up the world ranking very quickly as they leave a wake of opponents behind them.

1 Igor Akinfeev
12 Vladimir Gabulov
16 Vyacheslav Malafeev
2 Vasili Berezutski
4 Sergei Ignashevich
5 Aleksei Berezutski
8 Denis Kolodin
14 Roman Shirokov
22 Aleksandr Anyukov
3 Renat Yanbaev
7 Dmitri Torbinski
11 Sergei Semak
15 Diniyar Bilyaletdinov
17 Konstantin Zyrianov
18 Yuri Zhirkov
20 Igor Semshov
23 Vladimir Bystrov
6 Roman Adamov
9 Ivan Saenko
10 Andrei Arshavin
13 Pavel Pogrebnyak
19 Roman Pavlyuchenko
21 Dmitri Sychev

10/06/ v Spain
14/06/ v Greece
18/06/ v Sweden

Greece
Otto Rehhagel is certainly facing a formidable task as the defending Euro 2004 champions are stumbling into the competition after a 3-2 loss to Hungary and a dreadful nil draw against Armenia. They will need to make some tactical moves very quickly or this will be a short and uncomfortable tournament.

1 Antonis Nikopolidis
12 Kostas Chalkias
13 Alexandros Tzorvas
2 Giourkas Seitaridis
3 Christos Patsatzoglou
4 Nikos Spiropoulos
5 Traianos Dellas
11 Loukas Vintra
15 Vassilis Torosidis
16 Sotiris Kyrgiakos
18 Giannis Goumas
19 Paraskevas Antzas
6 Angelos Basinas
8 Stelios Giannakopoulos
10 Giorgos Karagounis
21 Kostas Katsouranis
22 Alexandros Tziolis
7 Giorgos Samaras
9 Angelos Charisteas
14 Dimitris Salpingidis
17 Fanis Gekas
20 Giannis Amanatidis
23 Nikos Liberopoulos

Matches
10/06/ v Sweden
14/06/ v Russia
18/06/ v Spain

Sweden
Coach Lars Lagerbäck has a strong squad at his disposal including a impressive striking force with Zlatan Ibrahimović and Henrik Larsson. However the recent 1-0 loss to a young Ukraine squad certainly raises some eyebrows. Sweden will need those two along with a steady performance by Fredrik Ljungberg to succeed.

1 Andreas Isaksson
12 Rami Shaaban
13 Johan Wiland
3 Olof Mellberg
4 Petter Hansson
5 Fredrik Stoor
14 Daniel Majstorovic
15 Andreas Granqvist
23 Mikael Dorsin
2 Mikael Nilsson
6 Tobias Linderoth
7 Niclas Alexandersson
8 Anders Svensson
9 Fredrik Ljungberg
16 Kim Källström
18 Sebastian Larsson
19 Daniel Andersson
21 Christian Wilhelmsson
10 Zlatan Ibrahimović
11 Johan Elmander
17 Henrik Larsson
20 Marcus Allbäck
22 Markus Rosenberg

10/06/ v Greece
14/06/ v Spain
18/06/ v Russia

Canada beats Sweden 5-4

In an incredible tight game, Canada scored four goals in the second period to lead them to a victory over the tough Swedish team 5-4 in the semi finals of the IIHF. The Dany Heatley, Ryan Getzlaf, Rick Nash line is paying rich dividends and leading the charge for the Canadians.Canada now faces its arch-nemesis Russia in the Gold Medal game, after they beat Finland, on Sunday.

Canada and Sweden at the IIHF World Championship

The semi-finals of the IIHF World Championships are today in Quebec City with Russia against Finland in the first game and then a showdown of superpowers Canada and Sweden. This is the third years in a row that Canada and the Swedes have met in the semi's and each time they have went on to win the gold medal.