Euro 2008 Semifinals Predictions

The countdown to Euro 2008 is now on in earnest as we're less than three days away from kickoff in the opener, Switzerland-Czech Republic. Along with my final prediction on Friday, I'll post the complete TV schedule for the group stage for everyone's convenience. I can't wait for this thing to get started.

Onto my predictions for the semifinals.

Semifinal #1 (June 25, 2:45 PM; St. Jakob-Park, Basel):

Portugal (Winner of QF #1) vs. Germany (Winner of QF #2)

I'll be honest -- this semifinal probably would not be the most exciting game to watch.

Portugal is the more dynamic of the two nations as far as comparing the individual players, but their coach, Luiz Felipe Scolari, isn't known for playing a high-octane, up-and-down system. They also employ only one natural striker at a time and when you look at the options (Helder Postiga, Nuno Gomes, Hugo Almeida), none really have the capability of even coming close to setting the world alight. The lack of talent in that role will be a problem for Portugal against Germany, whose center backs can be exploited in their matchup against strikers who are quick and can beat you one-on-one for pace. Portugal doesn't have anyone up front who can do that, so I'd expect Cristiano Ronaldo to occupy a position right behind whoever the starting striker is and just constantly run at and terrorize the tall, slow pair of Christoph Metzelder and Per Mertesacker.

Germany has a terrific center forward in Miroslav Klose, but it's unclear who will be playing alongside him. The team is loaded in the midfield and will rely on Michael Ballack for inspiration and goal-scoring, to a lesser extent. It is a team that doesn't have the firepower to outscore Portugal, so they'll need to shut down the midfield and Ballack will play in a more subdued role to help Torsten Frings.

While Portugal has a clear advantage over Germany in the center back position, Germany possesses better, more dangerous full-backs in Philipp Lahm and either Marcell Jansen or Arne Friedrich. They'll need to go forward and provide good aerial service for Klose and Ballack, both of whom are terrific headers of the ball. However, they'll also need to their pick their spots when doing so because Portugal can counter-attack with the best of them and are incredibly speedy on the wings with Ronaldo and Simão.

I just can't see where the goals are going to come from for Germany aside from either Klose or Ballack. As alluded to earlier, the center of the Portuguese back line and their defensive midfield play is very solid. If those players do their jobs, which they should, Ballack and Klose will both be negated. Portugal has the best player in the world on their side in Cristiano Ronaldo, and he's capable of scoring in a vast multitude of ways. Also, Jens Lehmann is always capable of giving up a bad goal, so that combination looks promising for Portugal.

Prediction: Portugal-1, Germany-0

Semifinal #2 (June 26, 2:45 PM; Ernst Happel Stadion, Vienna):

Italy (Winner of QF #3) vs. France (Winner of QF #4)

These two nations would be well and truly sick of each other if this matchup was to occur. France and Italy played in the World Cup final in 2006, won by Italy in PK's. They were in the same qualifying group for this tournament and played twice there, with France taking four of the six possible points. They're in Group C, the "Group of Death", together this summer and will play each other on June 17, just 9 days before this game would occur.

Just like the case would be in a France-Spain quarterfinal, there isn't much to separate between France and Italy. The major difference in the first matchup is the age gap; Spain is a much younger team at the core positions than France. In this matchup, both teams are relatively equal in that regard and their players have a lot of experience at the highest level, both internationally and domestically.

If there was one key factor to look at, it's the disparity in quality between the two goalkeepers. Italy's Gianluigi Buffon is amongst the top two or three at his position in the world, whereas France's Grégory Coupet was the long-serving backup to Fabien Barthez. To be fair, Coupet is not a slouch between the sticks by any means; in fact, he's very good and has played in a number of big games in the Champions League at Lyon. I'm just unsure as to how he'll perform in the second-largest tournament in the world after never having done it before.

Everywhere else on the field seems to be a wash. Both teams are solid up front, with Thierry Henry and either Nicholas Anelka or Karim Benzema for France and Luca Toni and either Marco Borriello or Antonio Di Natale for Italy. France prefers to use out-and-out wingers in Florent Malouda and Franck Ribery, both great internationally, and use two holding midfield players at the same time (Makélélé and Vieira/Toulalan), whereas Italy will completely clog the center of the field with Andrea Pirlo, Gennaro Gattuso, and Daniele De Rossi, who is an absolutely fantastic player. France does have a better back line, especially with the devastating injury to Italy's Fabio Cannavaro, but they're also a little older and perhaps a bit more error-prone.

Prediction: Despite the fact that both teams have an abundance of attacking talent, goals will be at a premium in this game as it'll be played with a tight-to-the-vest, cautious style. It'll be an absolute bloodbath in the center of the park, and France's superior wing play will be the deciding factor. If Malouda and Ribery show up, France will win, if not, they'll go home. Italy-1, France-0

Goodbye, Mark Hughes..Hello, Mark Hughes

Manchester City announced the arrival of Mark Hughes to the Eastlands today, where he signed a three-year contract to manage the team he hated playing against when he was at crosstown rivals United.

Hughes took Blackburn as far as he could during his four-year tenure at the club, finishing in the top half of the table in each of his last three seasons at Ewood Park. A year after making it through the Intertoto Cup into the first round of the UEFA Cup, where they were surprisingly knocked out by Greek side AE Larisa, Blackburn missed out on an Intertoto Cup place by three points this time around.

The former Welsh national team coach had a very small budget at Blackburn, a team with a small stadium in the shadow of bigger clubs like Manchester United and even Bolton to a lesser extent. The town of Blackburn itself isn't a particularly affluent area, and Ewood Park was rarely sold out on game days.

All told, Hughes was at the helm for 188 matches at Blackburn and compiled a solid 82-47-59 record. He was never going to be able to take the club further than he did -- competing for a UEFA Cup spot -- because he didn't have enough money available to go out and get the quality of players necessary to make a run at the "Big Four".

For Hughes' managerial career to progress, he made the right move to join Manchester City, a club with a much bigger stadium and an owner who has shown he'll splash the cash. With just that in mind, though, there will also be more expectations to succeed and Hughes has never had to manage in the limelight with any real pressure. Shinawatra drove a more established, successful coach in Sven-Goran Eriksson out of town after just one season, so you know he'll have no qualms about getting rid of Hughes if the team has a particularly poor season in '08-'09.

That wealthy owner, Thaksin Shinawatra, is also very hands-on with the sporting side of the club and has shown that he likes to have a say in what's going on with the team. Sure, he's not directly picking the side that will come out of the tunnel, but he still has a lot of influence on what's happening downstairs. I'm not sure that Hughes, given what I've seen in his demeanor and personality, will want to deal with that kind of interference from someone who knows very little about the game.

The Premiership coaching carousel is now underway as there's obviously a vacancy at Blackburn. Hughes took his assistant, Mark Bowen, with him to Manchester so he's not an option, and the rumor mill so far includes some of the usual suspects: Sam Allardyce, Steve McLaren (who is very close to tying up a deal with Dutch club FC Twente), former Blackburn player Mike Newell, and Slaven Bilić (who won't be leaving the Croatian national team for Blackburn). I would think, however, that club chairman John Williams would make an effort to bring in someone who is coaching in the Premier League right now. That doesn't necessarily mean it's going to be someone who's currently a manager, but someone who is very familiar with what's going on in England's top flight.

Soccer, Nazi Style--Take Two

The hilarious Nazi-inspired video featured in my last post is no longer available due to a copyright claim, but's that OK. At English Soccer Talk, we don't take rejection very well, and I'm going to post two other funny scenes in response.

The first video you'll see portrays Hitler and his advisors as Tottenham fans, who are upset that their team lost to Arsenal again and seemingly can never beat their North London rivals.

In the second video, which uses a completely different movie clip, is based on the final day of the 2006-2007 Premiership season, on which Sheffield United got relegated despite finishing tied on points with Wigan. The result that really killed Neil Warnock's team that afternoon, though, was West Ham's 1-0 win at Old Trafford.

So here you go, enjoy. Hopefully these videos don't get removed also..