Sweden
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Welcome to another edition of UF After Dark. It’s where we take a look at the dirtier, seamier side of the sport we love. And it always involves women. Or, in this case, girls. Don’t follow? Keep reading.
Sweden is a wonderful place. It’s where you can place a camera in a women’s restroom and have the courts declare it’s not a crime. Got a baby? You don’t have to name that sumbitch for months. Then, there’s the moose, the stupid o with the diagonal through it, the umlauts and, most importantly, the women.
Swedish women. Two things about them. One, they love to dress up. Two, they love to be photographed while dressed up. Now, we have all seen it when they go to a sporting event. Radiant, rosy-cheeked lasses decked out in blue and gold. Perhaps this link will jog your memory, if you are having trouble recalling.
But the Euros were so last summer. It’s winter now. Why am I bringing up the willingness to pose of Swedish women? Because, my friends, a Swedish women’s team has released a calendar, it’s themed, there is controversy, and I have a slideshow. Good enough?
First of all, the team. Emtunga and TrÃ¥vad are a team in Sweden, located 60 miles northwest of Gothenburg. That’s it, that’s all I got. It’s not that important.
Now, the calendar. Yes, it’s themed. Themed in that the ladies are shown participating in other sports. Sometimes, it’s in athletic wear. And sometimes, it’s in an odd mishmash of formal wear and sport. Doesn’t sound too oddball, but it is controversial.
The controversy comes from some of the female’s ages. It seems that this is an all-inclusive team, with ages running from 43 on the upper end to 15 on the lower end. Chris Hansen has already been alerted to your presence in this thread.
But it’s all okay, you see. The girls wanted to do it. No coercion whatsoever. And those under 18 had to have their parent’s permission. So all the bases are covered then. Now you can go and look at the pics. I’m partial to photo 7 myself.
Written by Darkvader on December 4th, 2008 with no comments.
Read more articles on I am so moving there and Sweden and UF After Dark and pics and teenagers and ü75.
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.
After hattrick against Russia, David Villa yet again scored a dramatic injury time goal as Spain defeated Sweden 2-1 to secure a place in quarter finals from group D. Torres was the first to give them lead but Sweden managed to get drawn as Ibrahimovic scored after 19 minutes of the goal in first half.
Video Highlights of Sweden Vs Spain in Euro 2008
1-2 Sweden vs. Spain Goals - MyVideo
Goals
Written by Sudip Kafle and Sujan Kafle on June 14th, 2008 with no comments.
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Spain and Sweden sit atop group D with 3 points apiece, but nobody is calling Sweden a tournament favorite. Why not? Because they looked only slightly better than Greece in their 2-0 opening victory and Greece was using the 4-corners offense in the first half. Only a sublime strike from Zlatan Ibrahimovic opened the match up
now it's rumored that Sweden will bench Ibrahimovic and it is rumored Sweden will play for the draw against Spain. Wonderful, just wonderful.
The honor and burden of favorite belongs to Spain, who along with Holland and Portugal, have been putting on offensive showcases. David Villa scored the tournament's first hattrick since 2000 against Russia in a 4-1 victory. Probably the biggest issue Luis Aragones has managing the squad is how to get all of his offensive starpower on the pitch. Cesc Fabregas was only a substitute in the first match, but brought off Fernando Torres, who the media says was miffed with his benching.
After the jump...the lineups and other bonus material...
Oksana Andersson, fiancee of Christian Wilhelmsson
Elisabeth Reyes, former flame of Sergio Ramos
Sweden: 1-Andreas Isaksson; 5-Fredrik Stoor, 3-Olof Mellberg, 4-Petter Hansson, 2-Mikael Nilsson; 8-Anders Svensson, 19-Daniel Andersson, 9-Fredrik Ljungberg, 11-Johan Elmander; 10-Zlatan Ibrahimovic, 17-Henrik Larsson
Spain: 1-Iker Casillas; 15-Sergio Ramos, 5-Carles Puyol, 4-Carlos Marchena, 11-Joan Capdevila; 19-Marcos Senna; 6-Andres Iniesta, 8-Xavi, 21-David Silva; 7-David Villa, 9-Fernando Torres
Today's match is in Innsbruck, Austria.
And we are greeted by the dulcet tones of Derek Rae and Tommy Smyth.
Not a single Spanish player singing the national anthem. I wonder if they have any political divisions in their country.
But, Sweden they all sing save for Ibrahimovic.
I can't get the stupid formatting right for the pictures above. Oh well, I'm sure nobody noticed.
0:00 Sweden with the kick.
1:00 Early foul by Spain and the kick gets to Ibrahimovic in the box but his touch is poor. Torres on the counter gets in close but his cross is intercepted.
4:00 That's a stern looking ref. Not quite Ed Hochuli but close. Iniesta's shot goes high and left. He should have done better.
6:00 Mike Georger informs me that Spain's national anthem, La Marcha, has no lyrics. Lame.
7:00 There were about 6 passes in sequence where the ball never touched the ground. Interesting, but it doesn't amount to anything.
9:00 Nice counter by Sweden after Sergio Ramos went forward, but Ljungberg couldn't do anything with it but put a weak shot on goal.
13:00 The Swedes are tackling tough at the outset trying to knock the Spaniards around and off their game a bit.
14:00 Goal!!! Torres. 1-0 Spain. Villa wins a corner. Xavi plays it short to Silva at the top of the box and puts a shot in the box that Torres deflects into the goal. Yeah for my fantasy team.
15:00 Sweden almost immediately counters when Larsson laid it off to a streaking Elmander who can only put into the side netting.
21:00 Just a bunch of midfield possession with attempts into the box headed away by the Swedish big men.
22:00 Gets free in the box on a nice ball from Ibrahimovic but Larsson couldn't chip the keep.
24:00 Albiol on for Puyol who looks injured. This could be trouble for Spain since they already have a suspect backline.
28:00 Foul on Senna, which is a nice segue to this, my favorite Senna picture.
33:00 Tommy Smyth says Elmander can score as a striker but isn't sure he can score as a midfielder.
34:00 Goal!! Ibrahimovic 1-1.
Not the prettiest goals, but a Sweden middie defender, Stoor, crossed the ball into the 6 yard box perfectly to Ibrahimovic who had beaten Ramos. It looked like Ibrahimovic had squandered it with a poor touch but he powered through it and squeaked it past Casillas.
38:00 Villa puts a strong volley in on Isaakson but he covers it.
40:00 Sweden looks a lot better this match than it did against Greece. Although, that is not too difficult.
44:00 That was a nice play between Ljungberg and Elmander who laid it off right outside the box to Ljungberg who found Elmander on a run but the Spanish defense just got a boot in to break it up.
45:00 One added minute.
Iniesta was just leveled in the box by Elmander but no call. Incredible.
Tweet. Tweet. And, the Spaniards swarm the ref. You would have thought it was a Chelsea match.
Well, this has been a great match of contrasting styles. Spain was dominant at first but Sweden is finding their spots on the counter. Great match so far. See you in a few.
Ha! That MLB apparel commercial was funny. So authentic, a fat white guy is mistaken for a fat hispanic guy.
Apparently, on his day off Sergio Ramos was photographed in a disco with a Swedish fan. This might explain his defense in the first half. The picture published in a Swedish tabloid, Aftonbladet, is below. [Photo Credit: Aftonbladet]
46:00 Start of Second Half and I just took a P'zone. That's an Italian piss for the uninitiated.
Markus Rosenberg on for Ibrahimovic. Wow. At least they are getting production from him while injured. I am impressed by his performance while injured.
51:00 So that's Sweden's strategy? Just hack the Spanish defenders until they can't play. That sounds like something Mexico might try.
53:00 Marchenna is booked after a professional foul that slowed up Elmander on a run into free space.
55:00 Svensson is booked after a emmy worthy performance by Silva. See Kathrine Heigl Silva can earn honors even with substandard material.
56:00 Xavi with a corner that gets headed up high and Ramos, the genius, attempts a bicycle in traffic.
58:00 Fabregas on for Xavi. Iniesta off for Cazorla.
60:00 Ljungberg making a midmatch footwear change. Always the fashion model.
63:00 Somehow Spain didn't score. Villa sends a rocket in on Isaakson who spills it and Villa follows it but Isaakson stones him again, catching a knee in the face, and then Torres gets a clean shot but it's blocked by a Swedish player for a corner. The corner is not fruitful.
68:00 Senna lasers a shot from 35 and Isaakson dives to his right for the save but concedes the corner. Ramos gets a head on the corner but never had a chance.
71:00 I think 2:45 of the last 3:00 minutes have been in Sweden's half of the field.
75:00 What was the purpose of the slow motion gape of Aragones? To scare the hell out of me. I was wondering where the fly was.
76:00 Cazorla nearly picked out Silva in the box but Isaakson dove and picked it out cleanly with Silva near.
78:00 The match has really bogged down with Sweden mucking up the middle and Spain unable to unlock it.
79:00 Elmander off and Sebasion Larsson on.
Nearly a goal off of the set-piece. Svenssen was picked out and flashed the ball across the face of the goal just out of the reach of Henrik Larsson. So close.
83:00 David Villa bowls over the Swedish defender to get the ball and then doesn't know what he did and gets out his handbag.
86:00 Torres picks out Ramos on the edge of the box, but Ramos fails. Sweden concedes a corner. Henrik Larsson off for Kim Kallstrom.
89:00 Torres whips one in on Isaakson from 18 but the save was made. Needed to be higher and not a ground sweeper.
90:00 3 additional minutes.
90:00 +2 GOAL!! David Villa. 2-1 Spain. Incredible. Sweden's defense played so well for 90 minutes but just made a hash of it by Hansson and Villa beats Isaakson nicely.
Tweet. Tweet. Tweet.
Just a heartbreaker for Sweden. They played so well for the entire match to lose it in stoppage time. So organized for the entire match, but failure in the end.
In an hour, Greece takes on Russia...we'll have a liveblog of it as well.
Written by Darkvader on June 14th, 2008 with no comments.
Read more articles on Live Blogs and Spain and Sweden and The Fan's Attic.
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.
Read more articles on Euro 2008 and Greece and Russia and Spain and Sweden.
What an afternoon.
Having managed to finagle enough time at lunch to watch The Torres n’ Villa Show, I’ve discovered that I have a rather unhappy knack of leaving the TV area some 20 seconds before or after a goal. Rushing round the office floor, I’d get into Hirshey’s office just in time to see the goal celebrations and slow-mo replay, or I’d leave to go back to work right before a moment of brilliance.
This was confirmed during the late game, as I missed Ibrahimovic’s wonder strike and Hansson’s bundle of joy by a matter of moments.
Still, we were treated to 100 minutes of quality football (there were about 8 minutes of compelling football in the Greece/Sweden match, and we’ve barely gotten into the tournament schedule.
ESPN must be thanking their lucky stars.
Also thankful: Valencia, who must have watched in glee as Villa’s sublime hat-trick added about 6-8 million pounds to his eventual transfer fee.
Without further ado:
Spain 4 (Villa 20″, 45″, 75″, Fabregas 90″)
Russia 1 (Pavlyuchenko 86″)
Champagne football in places from the Spaniards, although enough questions were asked of their defense to keep the other contenders sleeping easy this evening.
The Russians, led by the grim efficiency of Guus Hiddink, were up for the challenge, but Spain were simply brilliant on the counter, and made the most of their chances.
I particularly loved Torres’ unselfishness to slide a certain goal-bound shot to his teammate Villa for the first goal, outhustling Denis Kolodin and squaring the ball for a routine tap-in.
It was a total team performance by Spain, although the Russians were unlucky to walk away with such a dismal scoreline. They played open, positive football and created several chances with their pace and tireless workrate. Pavlyushenko was a menace up front despite being tactically isolated by Guus in that f*cking 4-5-1 formation, and he deserved his goal. Zyryanov was unlucky not to equalize at 1-1 as his sharp shot rattled back off Casillas’ post, and Bilyaletdinov had his moments.
However, Spain deserved their honors, but given the general style of play in the late match, Hiddink will not be concerned about having to play catch-up with his focused Russian squad.
Greece 0
Sweden 2 (Ibrahimovic 67″, Hansson 73″)
What an awful fucking match. I’d have rather watched Derby County v. Sunderland instead of this mess. Greece sauntered into the tournament with the same deadlock, unimaginative tactics that snoozed them to victory in 2004, and this time, thank the heavens above, it was punished by a plucky, persistent Swedish squad that’s equally awful to watch.
Aside from Ibrahimovic, a man not known for his pedigree in the biggest occasions, there aren’t many household names amid the lineup. Instead, just a few bearded blue-eyed, blond-haired workhorses who simply wouldn’t quit.
Considering the tone of the first half, it became abundantly clear that it would require a flash of brilliance to shake the game to life, and Zlatan undoubtedly provided that with his snapshot from Larsson’s return pass. The second goal was embarrassing as a goalline scramble left Hansson to chest the ball across the line.
Greece were shit, and deserved to lose. I am so thankful that their lack of creativity was finally exposed, although if Zlatan had caught that ball a fraction of a second later, we could have been staring down the barrel of our second 0-0 bore draw.
Unfortunately, in every tournament, you have teams just there to make up the numbers. Normally, my England side fulfills that role nicely, but in this group, Greece and Sweden are serious pretenders. I’d throw Austria in the mix, but at least they’re expending the energy of co-hosting this fucking thing. What did Greece bring with them? Five o’clock shadows and cases of ouzo?
—–
Euro Trash roundup:
First Austrian to score in Euro ‘08 gets a lifetime’s supply of beer [Soccernet]
Modric to miss the next match with a hurt achilles? [TSN]
Emre out for Turkey in crucial match against Switzerland [Soccernet]
England is playing a role in Euro ‘08, although God, I wish they weren’t [AdFreak]
The Euro ‘08 All-WAG XI…. simply brilliant [The Spoiler]
Written by Darkvader on June 10th, 2008 with no comments.
Read more articles on Euro 2008 and Euro Trash and Lingering Bursitis and Spain and Sweden and david villa.
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.
Read more articles on Euro 2008 and Greece and Sweden and euro-cup 2008.
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.
Read more articles on Euro 2008 and Greece and Open Thread and Sweden and The Fan's Attic.
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