Greece
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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.
Written by Jen on June 19th, 2008 with no comments.
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This post, my friends is going to be a mess. As long as you know that going in, we'll all be okay. Inside, we will break down each competing country's home and away jersey and file it into the categories Good, Bad and WTF. Pretty simple, huh?
For ease of my poorly HTMLing soul, I will only provide links to each shirt instead of trying to force them all into the Blogger template. Trust me, if you've seen how Blogger can
mangle posts by screwing up pictures, this is a good thing.
Onwards and upwards, my friends. Here we go.
Group A
Switzerland Home Away Switzerland wear Puma jerseys. In what will quickly become a theme in this post, Puma jerseys all look cookie-cutter. They have a template, switch colors where necessary, and affix the necessary badges. Boring. What I like about the Swiss shirt is the badge. That kind of artsy rendering of their national association where they also fit in the white cross. However, these are Puma jerseys, so the verdict is:
Home and Away: Bad
Czech Republic Home Away Plain. Boring. Go home. I do like the blue piping on the home shirt, and the Czech badge is one of the more interesting entries, full of history, for those into that. But it is simply not enough to overcome the crappiness of being a Puma shirt.
Home and Away: Bad
Portugal Home Away There is something wrong with the Portugal home shirt. We here at UF could not quite put our finger on it, but we hate it. It could be the wrong hue, or it could just be the too tight fit. We hated it all the same. On the other hand, we were much more sympathetic to the white shirt. It looks a lot better, but, in the end, we found it a little plain.
Home and Away: Bad
Turkey Home Away Now we're talking. It may still be a hangover from their unbelievable victory over the Czechs on Sunday, but these are both very nice shirts. The home shirt can look a little like a 'Boro effort, I'm sure, but it dazzles nonetheless. And that away shirt, my goodness. Two teams made solid use of baby blue accents this tournament, and Turkey is one of them.
Home and Away: Good
Group B
Austria Home Away A mixed bag. Once again, we are stuck with Puma templates, but Austria does something a little right here. It's not in the home shirt, really, though it should rate a "meh" instead of its final grade. The winner here is the away shirt. Menacingly black with a little flag flair thrown in at the collar.
Home: Bad; Away: Good
Croatia Home Away Did we even get to see the all-checkerboard shirt yet? I don't recall. You have to give them respect for sticking with such and irritating-to-the-eyes shirt for all of these years. As for the blue away shirt, man, I don't know. And for that, it perfectly fits the WTF category. Safe to say I would not want to sport either one of these walking around my town.
Home and Away: WTF?
Germany Home Away Poor Germany. Forever saddled with a white shirt that they are not entirely happy with, so they fuck around with it. This year's entry feels unbalanced. Too much black in the striping, not enough red or yellow. At least it keeps us away from the away shirt. Seriously, this is not a look for top tier international football. This is a training top. Even though I kind of like the gold stitching on the black background, I hope they never have to wear it.
Home: Bad; Away: WTF?
Poland Home Away Poland, the home of unattractive football. They never looked good playing in the Euros, and these shirts did not help. Blandest of them all.
Home and Away: Bad
Group C
Romania Home Away Romania's shirts this year felt like a throwback to USA '94. Sadly, the team did not perform in the same manner. The worst part of it all is that they totally rip off the New York Cosmos badge. Anyway, 14 years is too soon to do a throwback jersey. Well, I write that, but I can't hate on the home jersey. I like it.
Home: Good; Away: Bad
France Home Away I am not a fan of the extra crap going across the middle of the French home shirt. They do, however, get credit with me by having their flag pop up inside the adidas stripes on the arms. Throw in that nice, newish badge of the rooster and you have a winner. God help me, I like the garish red away shirt as well. Two winners.
Home and Away: Good
Netherlands Home Away The Dutch are always hard to figure out. They have to use that bright orange which pays homage to a royal family line that no one likes. Sometimes they pull it off, and sometimes it is painful. This tournament, they pulled it off, sometimes. The Dutch were the second team to tastefully use Nike's new baby blue accent by pairing the orange shirt with baby blue socks. And it totally worked. However, when they reverted to orange socks yesterday, it all looked horrible. Also, nice try, but you can't work in your flag on the collar without it looking like you won First Grade attendance medals. As for the away shirt, it divides us. But, I'm the one writing here, and I hate it. So, there you go. We do seem to be unified in liking the cyborg numbering though.
Home: Good, with qualifications; Away: WTF?
Italy Home Away Italy stick with the basics. Once again, this is a Puma top, but it's not quite as bad as the red and white ones. This gets a passing grade for the gold at the neck. The away jersey, though, is run of the mill and boring.
Home: Good; Away: Bad
Group D
Spain Home Away I think we were a bit undecided by these. The home jersey is nothing out of the ordinary, but it works well. That light gold away shirt, though, is rather atrocious. Hopefully, Spain will not be required to trot it out on their way to winning this year's tournament.
Home: Good; Away: WTF?
Russia Home Away These had potential, especially the away shirt, but the execution is off. I am all for integrating you nation's flag into the shirt. I don't like it when doing so means that I have to fill in the blanks for you. The white shirt loses the top stripe of the flag and the red shirt loses the bottom stripe of the flag. Why not go with a blue away shirt so that one can easily make out the flag running across the torso? Nike FAIL.
Home: Bad; Away: WTF?
Greece Home Away Thanks for coming and bringing the same kit from 2004. Did you think that would work? Okay, the sublimated flag print on the away shirt is nice, but no dice.
Home and Away: Bad
Sweden Home Away It's always tough to deal with the Swedish shirts. The combo of yellow and blue is a nice one, but they just use too much yellow sometimes. If only I could get a reason to really like a bunch of yellow Swedish shirts. Oh, here's one. The away shirt is a tough one. In some pictures, it looks black, which would be a bold move, but in others it looks navy, which is kind of boring. Still, since Swedish girls will wear them and get pictured in them, they are both winners.
Home and Away: Good
Written by Darkvader on June 18th, 2008 with no comments.
Read more articles on Austria and Croatia and Czech Republic and Euro 2008 and Germany and Greece and Netherlands and Poland and Romania and Russia and Spain and Sweden and Switzerland and The Good The Bad The WTF and Turkey and france and italy and portugal and ü75.
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.
Written by Jen on June 15th, 2008 with no comments.
Read more articles on Euro 2008 and Greece and Russia and Spain and Sweden.
Euro 2008- match no. 16
June 14, 2008 - group D
The defending champion Greece even failed to qualify for the quarter-finals of Euro 2008 as it lost to Russia 1-0 after a goal from Konstantin in 32 nd minute. The match was on of the most entertaining matches of Euro 2008 particularly the second half where both sides created and wasted a lot of chances. Anyway, Russia played technically excellent
Written by Sudip Kafle and Sujan Kafle on June 15th, 2008 with no comments.
Read more articles on Euro 2008 and Greece and Russia and euro-cup 2008.
Welcome all to the Greece v. Russia liveblog. In anticipation of a snoozer, I present to you (as always), the models:
Grecian model Aleka Kamila: May or may not be wearing panties.
Russian model Natalia Vodianova: Looks angry.
Once again, join me after the jump for the liveblog.
The Greece starting XI for coach Otto Rehhagel:
GK - Nikopolidis
DEF - Seitaridis (2); Patsatzoglou (3); Dellas (5); Torosidis (15); Kyrgiakos (16)
MID - Basinas (6)(C); Katsouranis (21)
ST - Charisteas (9); Amanatidis (20); Liberopoulos (23)
The Russian starting XI for coach Guus Hiddink:
GK - Akinfeev
DEF - Ignashevich (4); Kolodin (8); Anyukov (22)
MID - Torbinski (8); Semak (11); Bilyaletdinov (15); Zyryanov (17); Zhirkov (18); Semshov (20)
ST - Pavlyuchenko (19)
This match is being played at EM Stadion Wals-Siezenheim (Bless You!) in Salzburg. The officiating crew is:
Centre official: Roberto Rosetti (ITA)
Assistant referees: Allesandro Griselli (ITA); Paolo Calcagno (ITA)
4th official: Olegario Benquerenca (POR)
Programming note: Due to the fact that the Greeks and the Russians all have crazy names, I will most likely be referring to kit numbers (rather than names) during the action. If you don't like it, kiss my arse.
Last time out, Russia lost 4-1 to Spain thanks to the magic boot of David Villa, while Greece lost 2-0 to Sweden. Given the result of today's earlier match, a win for either side here ties them for second place on 3 points.
Programming note: If this game is a nil-nil snoozer at half-time, this liveblog will be handed over to Precious Roy for some interesting notes on product development and management. You've been warned.
00:01 - And we're off!
00:02 - Anyone bored yet? Assholes. Sure, I get the crappy game - I blame The Fan's Attic, Freemasons, and the Pentaverate.
00:30 - Poor touch from the Russians leads to an early chance for Greece, but Akinfeev is out quickly.
01:30 - Free kick for the Russians after Zhirkov is taken down by Dellas. The result is a ball played in and cleared by the Greeks.
02:42 - Nikolopidis stops using his Grecian Hair Formula for Men long enough to pick up a weak shot from the Russians. His hair stays gray.
03:50 - Sloppy play at the back from the Greeks, but they eventually clear the ball. This game is a volleyball match so far, with play taking place in the middle third of the pitch.
05:50 - Amanatidis gets a boot to the head, and the resulting free kick gets played wide to Torosidis, whose shot is directly at Akinfeev.
07:40 - Long ball over the top for the Greeks, and Akinfeev doesn't come out for it, forcing his defender to play it out for a throw-in. The throw comes in and Semak attempts a bicycle kick to clear. Liberopoulos is unfairly called for fouling Semak and the Russians clear it.
10:45 - Shot from Bilyaletdinov, but it goes high over the bar.
12:11 - After 30 seconds of more volleyball, the ball is sent over the touchline. This is truly ugly footy.
12:58 - Seitaridis gets beautiful through-ball to the corner, but his attempted cross falls right into the hands of Akinfeev. The Russians respond by building through the midfield, resulting in a shot from Pavlyuchenko and a good save from Nikopolidis.
14:00 - The corner kick comes in and Zhirkov gets off a nice half-volley that curls wide left.
15:45 - Liberopoulos goes down in the box after a tug on the shirt, but nothing is given. The ball comes down the other hand and the Russian shot caroms off Dellas, but the linesman had already called for offsides.
17:47 - The ball is played through to Zhirkov, who taps it back to Torbinski but Basinas plays it out for the Greeks.
19:40 - Free kick for the Greeks from 35 yards out, and the ball is played into the box. Charisteas is right there but fails to put it in the net. The second corner comes back out to near midfield and is eventually played out for a Russian throw.
22:50 - A long ball to Charisteas is played to Patsatzoglou, who turns it back to Charisteas. A poor shot results, going over the bar.
25:10 - The Greeks are definitely getting the better of the ball possession at this point, playing passes mostly through the middle with occasional forays into the box.
They just showed a Greek fan wearing a sleeveless denim jacket. This may explain much about the state of their country.
29:20 - A dangerous ball in from Zhirkov comes back out to the Russians at the 18, but the ensuing shot is directly at Nikopolidis.
30:10 - A long-range shot from Patsatzoglou is directly Akinfeev. Neither keeper has had too much work so far.
32:40 - GOAL! Russia 1 - Greece 0. A ridiculous mistake from Nikopolidis. The Russians play the ball around the left end of the pitch, eventually sending a ball over the keeper's head toward the endline. Nikopolidis comes out too far to get it and Semak keeps the ball in bounds, sending it back towards the middle to be slotted home into the open net by Zyryanov.
34:00 - Russian send forward another attack and should have a second goal, but it bounces down and then up over the bar.
36:00 - After a quick save by Akinfeev, the Russians attack again, winning a corner. The ball is played in to the 6 and flies across the middle of the pitch for a second corner.
37:25 - The ball from the second corner is played out to midfield by the Greeks, but the Russians send it right back in. After some play around 20 yards, they get off a shot that rises above the bar.
39:00 - Seitaridis off, Karagounis (#10) on for Greece.
41:00 - Free kick for Greece after Semak dispossesses Karagounis. Absolutely no foul there, but the resulting ball is played in directly to the Russian defense. Ball don't lie.
41:51 - Yellow card for Karagounis for his tackel on Semshov. That's some karma. The free kick for the Russians is played in to the middle to build, but the ball goes out for a Greek throw-in.
42:50 - Free kick for the Greeks as Torbinski slides into Charisteas. The ball is played up the side, and eventually out by the Russians for a throw-in. The ball comes in to the box and Liberopoulos attempts a bicycle, which winds up in a corner.
44:19 - The Greek corner is played in to the box and comes back out to Karagounis. The ball played back in is null and void, as there was a Greek player offside.
45:00 (+01:05) - HALF-TIME.
Despite the bulk of the possession, the Greeks find themselves down 1-0 to the Russians thanks to some shambolic goal-keeping.
45:00 - And the Greeks have 45 minutes left to defend their crown.
45:30 - Off a free kick, Karagounis plays the ball through to Charisteas. DEspite being wide open, he turns and puts it directly at Akinfeev.
46:10 - The Russians come down to the other hand and Pavlyuchenko strikes a ball on the ground that Nikopolidis gobbles up.
47:00 - While a Greek defender is on the ground, writhing in agony, Pavlyuchenko strikes a ball from a difficult angle at Nikopolidis. The corner comes in and bounces off a Greek defender. The second corner is headed over the bar.
48:53 - Free kick for Greece as Karagounis is fouled by Zyryanov. The ball is played in from 35 yards by Basinas, but Amanatidis is unable to get a foot on it.
51:00 - Long ball through to a Greek forward, but he was offside and came back for it. The ARs have done a good job on offsides calls in this game.
51:58 - Pavlyuchenko makes a nice run, but strikes a shot just wide of the Greek goal rather than passing.
52:30 - The Greeks respond with a run from Karagounis, forcing Akinfeev into a nice save. The ball comes back and results in another save for a corner. The ball comes out to Karagounis, but the Greeks get shite out of it.
54:30 - The Greeks put some pressure in the 6-yard box, but Basinas puts it over the bar.
55:40 - Free kick for the Russians as Torobinski was fouled. The ball is played short and winds up in the box, where Bilyaletdinov goes down like he'd been shot by Karagounis. Nothing doing, and the Greeks play it out.
56:40 - The Russians pressure again, and Pavlyuchenko lays it off for Bilyaletdinov, who puts it just wide.
57:20 - Yellow card for Liberopoulos for dissent after a foul was called against him.
59:50 - Liberopoulos off, Gekas (#17) on for Greece.
60:30 - Pavlyuchenko makes a nice run, but fails to pass the ball off to the right to Zyryanov, who was wide open.
61:24 - Corner kick from the Russians goes directly to the defense, and the Greeks play it out.
62:40 - The Greeks get away with one. The ball is played in by Anyukov, and is pushed out by Nikopolidis. The Greeks fail to deal with it, and Bilyatedinov takes a shot that goes off a defender. The resulting corner yields nothing.
66:17 - The whistles from the crowd are getting louder, as the Greeks spend 3 minutes moving the ball with no positive result.
67:20 - A long ball in from Patsatzoglou results in a punch out from Akinfeev, leading to a corner. The ball is played in and headed down by Charisteas, but Akinfeev takes it.
69:00 - Bilyaletdinov off, Saenko (#9) on for Russia.
70:30 - A long ball through for Charisteas is laid off for Gekas. The ball is cleared, but only to Karagounis, who strikes a shot just left of the post.
72:02 - A long ball for the Russians is played to Pavlyuchenko, who takes a shot from 40 yards out which rises above the bar.
73:30 - After a nice spell of passing, the Russians play it over the touchline as Zhirkov is down injured after Dellas gave him a bit of the business.
75:00 - Free kick for the Russians as Basinas takes down Zyryanov at 20 yards. Looked like a legitimate tackle, but the foul is awarded. The resulting ball is shot directly into the wall.
76:17 - Yellow card for Saenko after an American football tackle on Karagounis after the ball came off the Greek defenders.
78:27 - Free kick for Greece is KAragounis is victimized yet again. Before the kick is taken, it's Stelios (#8) on for Amanatidis for Greece. The ball from the free kick is played into the 6-yard box, but cleared by Pavlyuchenko. The resulting throw-in for Greece leads to another Greek corner.
80:14 - The Greek corner is taken by Basinas, but Kyrgiakos heads it directly to Akinfeev.
81:25 - Corner for Russia, and the ball is played out to the 18 and back into the corner. Russia eventually wins a free kick after Karagounis fouls a Russian midfielder.
82:30 - The free kick from 20 yards is a shot, but it curls over the bar.
83:30 - Yellow card to Torbinski for time-wasting on the Russian throw-in.
85:10 - The Russians come up on the break but Kolodin is unable to make the pass, and the ball goes out for a Russian throw-in.
86:00 - Greece gets an opportunity and the ball makes it into the goal, but Gekas is ruled offsides in a very close call.
86:46 - Zhirkov off, Berezutski (#2) on for Russia.
87:33 - Foul as Torosidis teabags a Russian. The ball eventually results in a corner, where the ball is played around the box in a bit of time-wasting.
90:00 (+01:45) - LAst big push for the Greeks, but Kyrgiakos puts the ball over the bar.
90:00 (+01:39) - The Russians counter-attack, but Pavlyuchenko takes a shot in a 5-on-2 situation and it goes way over the bar.
90:00 (+02:13) - The Greeks attack again, but Gekas is caught offsides.
90:00 (+03:01) - FULL TIME. Russia 1 - Greece 0, and the defending champions are eliminated. The Russians still have it all to play for in their match against Sweden.
Written by Darkvader on June 14th, 2008 with no comments.
Read more articles on Euro 2008 and Greece and Russia and The NY Kid.
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.
Written by Jen on June 11th, 2008 with no comments.
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Defending chapions Greece got a great shock in the opening match of Euro 2008 as Sweden defeated them 2-0 on tuesday. In the Group D match of euro 2008 Zaltan Ibrahimovic and Petter Hansson scored two goals in second half of the match for Sweden. Sweden wh appereaded resistant in the 1st half but their strong mid-field shun up scoring 2 quick goals at an interval of 6 mins.
Highlight Video of
Written by Sudip Kafle and Sujan Kafle on June 10th, 2008 with no comments.
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Greece opens the defense of its 2004 Euro Championship against Sweden. Unfortunately, Greece will not have the element of surprise in its favor. Teams will not underestimate them. Fortunately, they face Sweden, a team lacking in offensive creativity. For sure, the Swedes are well organized and industrious, but verve fails them. That is not to say they aren't quality, they just aren't Spain, Germany or Holland.
Inter striker Zlatan Ibrahimovic leads the Swedes and is a world-class striker but may suffer without support. I don't know a damn thing about Greece, other than they play a stifling, defensive game. So, this could be a snoozer of a match. I say 1-0 Sweden.
Lineups after the jump.
Greece
Nikopolidis, Seitaridis, Kyrgiakos, Antzas, Dellas, Torosidis, Basinas, Katsouranis, Karagounis, Charisteas, Gekas.
Sweden
Isaksson; Alexandersson, Mellberg, Hansson, Nilsson, Wilhelmsson, Svensson, Andersson, Ljungberg, Ibrahimovic, H Larsson.
Written by Darkvader on June 10th, 2008 with no comments.
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EURO 2008
Match#8 Greece VS Sweden
Date : Tuesday 10th June
Venue: Salzburg - EM Stadion Wals-Siezenheim
Time : 20:45 Local
Defending champion Grece is sarting the EURO season of 2008 against the Sweden. Greece was the winner of EURO 2004 on Portugal. No one was aspecting such results of EURO last time. Greece and Sweden are on Group D with Spain and Russia. The group also seems to be tougher as
Written by Sudip Kafle and Sujan Kafle on June 9th, 2008 with no comments.
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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.
Written by Jen on June 4th, 2008 with no comments.
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