$16 Million for Deco is a Steal

Manchester City paid nearly $38 million for Jô.

Tottenham spent $32 million on Luka Modric.

Bolton paid $20 million for Johan Elmander. JOHAN ELMANDER!

Chelsea bought Deco today for $16 million.

Something doesn't seem right here. Jô is a star-in-the-making, there's no doubt about that, but he's only 21 years old and hasn't really proved himself at either the club or international level yet. Luka Modric is a very good player, but I'm not sure he's worth the money Spurs paid Dinamo Zagreb. $20 million for Johan Elmander, who is average at best, is simply ludicrous.

The sheer fact that Chelsea paid $4 million less for Deco, a two-time Champions League winner, UEFA Cup winner, three-time Portuguese first division winner, two-time La Liga winner, former Champions League MVP and Best Midfielder, and European Silver Ball recipient, than what Bolton paid for Johan Elmander is outrageous.

Since 1999, everywhere Deco has gone, he's been a winner. Sure, Elmander has won a UEFA Cup, but that was in 2002 and he barely played for Feyenoord at that age. Other than that, he's been a part of two Swedish Allsvenskan champions (but wasn't even awarded a medal because he didn't play in enough matches) and won the Danish Superliga with Brondby in 2004-2005. Give me a break.

Sure, Deco turns 31 in August, but that doesn't mean he can't keep up with the pace of the Premiership. His new midfield mate, Michael Ballack, turns 32 in September, and everyone hailed him for his performances last season and in the Euros this summer, a tournament in which Deco played well also. Didier Drogba is 30 and can still goals with the best of them (when he's interested, that is). Trust me, Deco's age will not hold him back under Luiz Felipe Scolari at Stamford Bridge. I understand that he can be prone to injury and missed a lot of games last year, but I believe more of that is just the fact that he didn't want to play for Barcelona anymore and packed it in.

Deco's style will fit very nicely into the Premiership. He is as talented on the ball as there is in the world. He's a fantastic passer and because Chelsea doesn't have much in the way of team speed, pinpoint service is essential towards springing players in behind the opponent's back line. He is creative, but not to a fault where he won't make the short, close passes that aren't sexy for fans to watch. He holds up the ball in the center of the field and allows his wingers and strikers to get forward, where he can hit that 50 or 60-yard ball and put it on a line.

This guy is worth more than $16 million. Chelsea should be jumping for joy at the fact that they got him for this kind of bargain, because the impact he's going to have will more than repay their already meager investment. His arrival likely means that Frank Lampard is on his way out, possibly to join Jose Mourinho at Inter Milan, but you know what? Deco brings more to the table than Lampard, who needs others around him to shine. Deco is the type of player that makes everyone else better, not vice-versa.

Joining fellow Portuguese internationals Bosingwa, Ricardo Carvalho, and Paulo Ferreira, as well as the two Brazilians, Alex and Belletti (as well as the previously mentioned Scolari), will jumpstart Deco and put a spring in his step that he hasn't had in a while.

Even if it doesn't work out, which I obviously don't think will be the case, it's a low-risk move for Chelsea because they spent relatively little money on Deco. This isn't an Andriy Shevchenko-type situation, where Roman Abramovich threw money around like he was playing Monopoly. That move has been a complete bust for Chelsea and cost Abramovich $60 million, whereas this acquisition of Deco cost just over a quarter of that sum. If Deco doesn't deliver, no sweat off Chelsea's back because it was an inexpensive transfer in the first place.

This is low-risk, high-reward, and I believe Deco will ultimately prove that his $16 million price tag was a steal for Chelsea.

For Those Who Haven't Heard, Paul Ince Is Blackburn's New Manager

Blackburn's hiring of Paul Ince four days ago to become the club's next manager was probably the most under-the-radar, low-key appointment I've seen from a Premiership side in a long, long time. Ongoing action at Euro 2008, the release of next season's league schedule, and worst of all, unfounded transfer gossip, all received more coverage in the media than this piece of news. I could barely find any meaningful, worthwhile articles concerning the HIRING, whereas the RUMORS surrounding Luiz Felipe Scolari's move to Chelsea (which eventually did come to fruition) dominated newspapers and websites all over the place.

I can understand why, at least to some extent. With no disrespect to the team and its fans, Blackburn Rovers is a small club. They play in a small stadium in a small city (or large town, if you prefer), and have managed a high finish of 6th place (twice) in their seven seasons since returning to England's top flight. They have no real high-profile players and have had to assemble a roster comprised largely of spare parts and castaways in recent years.

Still, Ince is now the first black British manager in the Premiership, and while I wish we were at a place and time in humanity where that wasn't such a big deal, the fact of the matter is that it is. It is a significant step forward and for Ince personally, a well-deserved opportunity to show what he's made of at the highest level.

Ince was as good of a central midfielder as they come in his days as a player, which officially ended in 2007 for Macclesfield Town but came to a close in earnest for Wolves after the 2005-2006 season. He was at his peak with Manchester United in the early '90s, where he won 10 trophies in five different competitions from 1989-1995. He became one of the rare British and more particularly, English, players to leave the shores of the UK and have success on the continent when he played two seasons for Inter Milan, reaching the UEFA Cup final in his second year. He then came back to England and played for Liverpool, considered a very surprising move then and now given the fierce rivalry between United and the Merseyside club.

As a manager, Ince has also been a success. He's plied his trade in England's lower levels for two seasons -- 2006-2007 at Macclesfield Town, and 2007-2008 at MK Dons, the former Wimbledon FC.

Ince's first gig threw him into the fire immediately; when he took over at Macclesfield, the club was at the bottom of League Two, seven points away from safety, and seemed destined to be relegated out of the Football League. Under Ince's guidance, the team was able to avoid the drop on the last day of the season and went a respectable 14-8-13 in all competitions.

He then hopped over to MK Dons, also a League Two side. They got off to a flying start and were at the top of the table in September, and just two months later, he was linked with then-managerless Wigan, Derby, and Norwich (Championship). He denied the rumors and ended up leading MK Dons to two pieces of silverware -- the League Two title and the Johnstone's Paint Trophy. In 55 games with the club, Ince recorded a very impressive 33-12-10 record.

Now he's at Blackburn, despite the fact that he doesn't have his UEFA Pro License. He doesn't have his "B" or "A" License either, but will be working towards each of those badges in the coming seasons and must start the Pro License process in the summer of 2010.

None of that stuff matters to me; I don't understand why such a premium is placed on them. It's simple: If a guy can coach, he can coach. He shouldn't need badges and licenses and certificates or whatever else, if he can coach, he can coach. I'm sorry, but simply having those qualifications means nothing to me. It's not as if he'll gain some magical skills and coaching techniques the day he gets them that he didn't have beforehand. There have been plenty of managers in the Premiership, and in other top leagues across Europe as well, who have their Pro Licenses and been complete busts at their respective clubs.

Ince has been very good, if not excellent, at both stops so far and nothing indicates to me that he can't continue to get the job done at Blackburn against the big boys in the Premiership. He'll have limited resources, yes, but guys like Mark Hughes, Sam Allardyce, and Martin O'Neill have all proven that winning is possible without a large budget.

Blackburn seems like another stepping stone job for Ince, but at the end of the day, that's fine. To reach his ultimate goal, managing a big club, he needs to be successful at Blackburn first, and Blackburn is a club that does have some ambitions. I think this is a perfect fit, and I feel comfortable in saying that Paul Ince will acquit himself very nicely in Lancashire over the next few years.

I'm On The American Soccer Show

For those of you who have enjoyed the previous audio spots featuring myself as a guest, it's your lucky day.

This week on CSRN's American Soccer Show, hosted by my good friend Kartik Krishnaiyer, I'll be on twice for one segment each (about 12 minutes long). Kartik and I recorded the conversation that you can hear starting tomorrow night, either by subscribing to the hour-long show on iTunes or by heading over to CSRN's website (www.csrnusa.com) and navigating your way to the American Soccer Show archives.

We had a good chat about Euro 2008 and how it's been received in America, then covered the US National Team and their recent friendlies against England, Spain, and Argentina, as well as their 9-0 aggregate win over Barbados to move on to the next round of World Cup qualifying. I posted the first part of my E-mail interview with Kartik concerning the USNT a couple weeks ago and will have the second half up either tomorrow or Wednesday.

I'll also be on later this week after the Euro 2008 semifinals have been played, so we'll probably get into those games a fair bit then.

Check out the show and feel free to give me your thoughts. If all goes well, something bigger and better could be on the horizon...

England Is Not Missed at Euro 2008

Let me ask you something.

Do you really think Euro 2008 would be any better than it has been if England was there?

The answer is not a tough one to figure out. NO!

This has been a great tournament so far, and the 16 nations that started the group stage were the 16 most deserving to be in Austria and Switzerland this June. You can argue that they weren't necessarily Europe's best teams (Greece, I'm looking at you especially), but they earned their places through rigorous qualifying groups.

Listen, don't get me wrong, I love the Premiership and I think the England national team has some terrific, terrific players. I think the world of Steven Gerrard and Wayne Rooney and David James, I really do. I don't necessarily even believe that Steve McLaren is a bad coach.

The fact of the matter is that over 12 games, a fair sample size, England was the third-best team (tied with Israel) in a group that sent two teams (same as the other groups) to the big dance.

England played four total games against Russia and Croatia, the two nations that did advance, two against each, and lost three of them. This includes the last matchday, when Croatia had already won the group, secured passage to Euro 2008, and had nothing to play for, with England needing only a draw to do the same. Everything was on the line for them, nothing was for Croatia, and the game was at Wembley, England's home stadium. Even with all of this in their favor, the Three Lions still couldn't get it done, losing 3-2 after coming from 2-0 down to equalize, putting all of the momentum in their corner.

A little over a month before that loss, on their penultimate matchday of qualifying, England had another chance to make a statement in Russia. Russia finished with one more point than England, and that margin was a direct result of their 2-1 win in Moscow. Say what you want about the synthetic turf and how it isn't "sporting" to the game; I don't want to hear it. FIFA approved the surface, so there can be nothing to complain about. England even went up 1-0 in that game, but then gave up two goals in four minutes to Roman Pavlyuchenko in the second half to let the victory or even a share of the spoils slip away.

Sorry, England didn't deserve to be at Euro 2008. The performances by Russia and Croatia further justify this, but they weren't necessary.

Even if England had managed to get there, I'm certain they wouldn't have advanced past the quarterfinals. There are too many big egos, too much selfishness, and not enough technical and tactical ability on that roster.

Michael Owen came out in the media a while ago and said that Croatia had no one on their team that could make England's starting lineup. First of all, that's not true, second of all, how dare Michael Owen talk about who can and can't start for England when he himself can barely get a look-in to the national team anymore, and third and most importantly of all, that statement represents the English arrogance that has been and will always be their downfall. Too many English players believe they're better than they really are, and too many of them have the petulant, self-serving attitude that Ashley Cole displayed when he turned his back on Mike Riley and pointed at the name on the back of his jersey in Chelsea's match against Tottenham last season.

The only thing England would've brought to Euro 2008 is increased media attention. Sure, I wouldn't mind seeing the WAG's in attendance, but come on. Sure, I'd love to see this tournament get more coverage in America, something that may have happened with England's participation, but I don't need that to be satisfied as a fan of the game.

The reality is that Euro 2008 has been wildly entertaining and competitive. We've seen vastly different styles of play, some great goals, and some fantastic matches. We've seen Turkey rise from the deck three times already so far, and surely no one would count them out against Germany next Wednesday. We've seen David Villa, Lukas Podolski, Wesley Snejider, heck, even Dirk Kuyt, put in wonderful performances for their nations. I don't think England would've brought anything to the table that we haven't already witnessed.

The most important thing you can bring to a tournament is yourself as a soccer team. England wasn't good enough in a qualifying group that included Estonia, Andorra, Macedonia, and even Israel. Sorry, but if you can't take full points against those teams (which England didn't), I don't want to hear any whining.

To their credit, I haven't heard any from the England players themselves or McLaren or Capello's coaching staffs, either immediately after qualifying or now, during the tournament itself. That whining and complaining has come from media heads, bloggers, and England fans. I understand that they want their team to be there, but they weren't good enough, so deal with it. These people put down the teams that are at Euro 2008 by saying "Well, England could beat them", "England would do better than 'X' team", blah, blah, blah, but you know what? They didn't do what they needed to do. Give it a rest.

England is not missed at Euro 2008. They didn't deserve to be there, and wouldn't have shown anything unique even if they had qualified. The nation has some great individual players, but they don't amount to much as a team.

Michael Ballack's Rocket Against Austria

Wow, what a screamer for Ballack in Germany's 1-0 win over Austria.

The first goal scored directly from a free kick in this tournament was an absolute beauty.

Euro 2008 Knockout Stage TV Schedule

Only seven games remain in Euro 2008, a tournament that has thrilled us and kept us on the edge of our seats for two weeks. We're coming down the home stretch, and it's win-or-go-home from this point on. It doesn't get any better than that.

Here's the TV schedule for these last few matches (all times Eastern):

Thursday, June 19 (QF)
Portugal vs. Germany (ESPN, 2:45)

Friday, June 20 (QF)
Croatia vs. Turkey (ESPN, 2:45)

Saturday, June 21 (QF)
Holland vs. Russia (ABC, 2:45)

Sunday, June 22 (QF)
Spain vs. Italy (ESPN, 2:45)

Wednesday, June 25 (SF)
Winner of Portugal/Germany vs. Winner of Croatia/Turkey (ESPN, 2:45)

Thursday, June 26 (SF)
Winner of Holland/Russia vs. Winner of Spain/Italy (ESPN2, 2:45)

Sunday, June 29 (Final)
Winner of SF #1 vs. Winner of SF #2 (ABC, 2:45)

Euro 2008 Group Stage Predictions Revisited

The group stage of Euro 2008 is now complete, and we were lucky to witness 12 days of compelling action all afternoon long. There were great comebacks. There were upsets. Some of the favorites held serve and did what they were expected to do.

Croatia's Slaven Bilić, who I've been high on for a while, thrust himself to the forefront of the managerial world with the way he led his team to three wins in three games. He beat Austria in their own home and Germany in their own backyard. He beat a desperate Poland team while resting nine starters as his team had already won their group. He found a way to replace Eduardo da Silva, Croatia's leading goal scorer in Euro 2008 qualifying.

David Villa's four goals for Spain, including a hat trick against Group D's second-place team, Russia, raised his stock after an extremely disappointing '07-'08 campaign for Valencia. He'll be looking to move this summer, but his price has definitely increased with his two performances.

ESPN's coverage has been good for the most part so far, although I think I may be the only one who isn't a fan of Andy Gray, a man who too often tries to preach to the viewers about soccer in general rather than staying with the task at hand, the game itself.

As I did after the end of the 2007-2008 Premiership season, I'll now take a look back at the predictions I made before this competition started:

My picks:

Group A
1. Portugal
2. Switzerland
3. Czech Republic
4. Turkey

Group B
1. Germany
2. Croatia
3. Austria
4. Poland

Group C
1. Italy
2. France
3. Romania
4. Holland

Group D
1. Spain
2. Russia
3. Sweden
4. Greece

Actual Results:

Group A (2-4)
1. Portugal
2. Turkey
3. Czech Republic
4. Switzerland

Group B (2-4)
1. Croatia
2. Germany
3. Austria
4. Poland

Group C (1-4)
1. Holland
2. Italy
3. Romania
4. France

Group D (4-4)
1. Spain
2. Russia
3. Sweden
4. Greece

So as you can see, out of the 16 total teams, I correctly picked the exact finishing places for 9 of them (56%) and was spot-on with Group D. I also correctly identified 6 out of the 8 quarterfinalists (75%). All in all, not bad, if I do say so myself (and I will).

My biggest mistakes were underestimating Holland and their explosiveness and overestimating the ability of France and Italy to overcome the age that can be found on the rosters of both nations. I counted on the home crowd to boost Switzerland to at least a place in the quarterfinals, but two bad refereeing decisions went against them in their opening match against the Czech Republic, a game they needed to have, and condemned them to their fate.

Wazza Gets Hitched, Gerrard Doesn't Attend

Wayne Rooney is officially off the singles market after marrying long-time sweetheart Coleen McLoughlin in a 17th-century villa on the Italian Riviera last Friday, news that is sure to break the hearts of the various prostitutes whom Rooney used while the couple was still dating.

His good friend and England teammate, Steven Gerrard, was not present at the wedding as he and his wife (who, by the way, is considerably more attractive than McLoughlin) were celebrating their one-year anniversary in Miami over the weekend. Rooney and McLoughlin attended Gerrard's high-profile wedding last year, so talk of a falling out between the two Scouse stars is already circulating the rumor mill.

Oh yeah, who cares?!?!

2008-2009 Premiership Fixture List

With Euro 2008 in full swing and as lively and dramatic as ever (see Turkey's win over the Czech Republic yesterday), I've barely given the Premiership a second thought since the start of this month. I'm definitely looking forward to next season, which starts in exactly 61 days, but it just isn't at the top of my priority list right now.

Anyway, the fixture list for next year was released today, and there are some mouth-watering games early in the season to hook the viewers back in. The first clash between "Big Four" teams comes on September 13, when Liverpool hosts hated rival and defending league champion Manchester United.

I can't post the full schedule here because of copyright laws, but I will pick out what I believe is the best game of each matchday up through the Christmas period. Tomorrow, I'll do the same for the rest of the season.

The address below can be copied and pasted into your browser and will give you the complete fixture list, although times and TV coverage are still to be determined.

http://soccernet.espn.go.com/news/story?id=546813&cc=5901

Saturday, August 16, 2008 -- Aston Villa vs. Manchester City

Saturday, August 23 -- Portsmouth vs. Manchester United

Saturday, August 30 -- Chelsea vs. Tottenham

Saturday, September 13 -- Liverpool vs. Manchester United

Saturday, September 20 -- Chelsea vs. Manchester United

Saturday, September 27 -- Everton vs. Liverpool

Saturday, October 4 -- Chelsea vs. Aston Villa

Saturday, October 18 -- Bolton vs. Blackburn

Saturday, October 25 -- Chelsea vs. Liverpool

Tuesday, October 28 -- Arsenal vs. Tottenham

Wednesday, October 29 -- Liverpool vs. Portsmouth

Saturday, November 1 -- Bolton vs. Manchester City

Saturday, November 8 -- Arsenal vs. Manchester United

Saturday, November 15 -- Fulham vs. Tottenham

Saturday, November 22 -- Aston Villa vs. Manchester United

Saturday, November 29 -- Chelsea vs. Arsenal

Saturday, December 6 -- Everton vs. Aston Villa

Saturday, December 13 -- Chelsea vs. West Ham

Saturday, December 20 -- Arsenal vs. Liverpool

Friday, December 26 -- Aston Villa vs. Arsenal

Sunday, December 28 -- Fulham vs. Chelsea

Carling Cup First Round Draw

With all of the deserved hype surrounding Euro 2008, the 2008-2009 Carling Cup first round draw, which was conducted yesterday, has more than flown under the radar.

All 72 Football League clubs will be in action during the week beginning on August 11. The first round, therefore, is made up of 36 ties and is divided into North and South regions. Both regions are divided equally with a pot of seeded and unseeded teams based on the clubs' final positions in their respective league tables last season.

Remember, unlike the FA Cup, these are winner-take-all games that have to be settled that day. Extra time and penalty kicks are used if necessary.

North Region (home teams are listed first):

Preston North End vs. Chesterfield
Chester City vs. Leeds United
Leicester City vs. Stockport County
Sheffield United vs. Port Vale
Grimsby Town vs. Tranmere Rovers
Crewe Alexandra vs. Barnsley
Hartlepool United vs. Scunthorpe United
Derby County vs. Lincoln City
Notts County vs. Doncaster Rovers
Sheffield Wednesday vs. Rotherham United
Shrewsbury Town vs. Carlisle United
Wolverhampton Wanderers vs. Accrington Stanley
Bury vs. Burnley
Rochdale vs. Oldham Athletic
Nottingham Forest vs. Morecambe
Huddersfield Town vs. Bradford City
Macclesfield Town vs. Blackpool
Walsall vs. Darlington

South Region:

Coventry City vs. Aldershot Town
Milton Keynes Dons vs. Norwich City
Wycombe Wanderers vs. Birmingham City
Brighton & Hove Albion vs. Barnet
Gillingham vs. Colchester United
Southend United vs. Cheltenham Town
Swansea City vs. Brentford
Luton Town vs. Plymouth Argyle
Exeter City vs. Southampton
Watford vs. Bristol Rovers
Bournemouth vs. Cardiff City
Bristol City vs. Peterborough United
Charlton Athletic vs. Yeovil Town
Millwall vs. Northampton Town
Swindon Town vs. Queens Park Rangers
Crystal Palace vs. Hereford United
Dagenham & Redbridge vs. Reading
Ipswich Town vs. Leyton Orient

Aldershot Town are the reigning winners of the Conference League Cup, aka the Setanta Shield, and the Blue Square Premier division. The Shots will be making their first appearance in the Carling Cup as they've never been a part of the Football League in their brief history (founded in 1992). I'll be interested in seeing how they do against Coventry City, a team that was nearly relegated from the Championship last year but have a decent manager in Chris Coleman.

Busy Day Today

No soccer-related posts today as I have family in town for my brother's high school graduation tonight.

I've had to spend a little "quality time" with the relatives this afternoon and will be doing the same this weekend, as well as go out to dinner and celebrate with my brother and whatnot. Expect the volume of posts to be down until Monday, when I'll be back and better (hopefully) than ever.

The Euros are really heating up -- I hope you've been able to catch as many games as possible. The second matchday typically kicks tournaments off in style as teams have one game under their belts and know exactly what they need to do to advance. It's been no exception this week.

I'll check back in tomorrow morning.

Luiz Felipe Scolari Will Be Chelsea's New Manager

Before I get to Scolari's appointment as Chelsea manager, I just want to announce that there will no Euro 2008 daily recaps for today's and tomorrow's action. I'm taking a five-week summer school class right now and had to record both games today and will do the same tomorrow because of my class schedule this week. By the time I watch all four games, the recaps will be outdated, and I don't want to waste my own time writing them or your time reading them when you can go to tons of other websites to find just about the same thing.

Now, onto today's big news.

Luiz Felipe Scolari, the current Portugal manager and World Cup winner as manager of Brazil in 2002, will take over the reins at Chelsea beginning July 1, two days after his contract with the Portuguese FA expires. Scolari has never managed a European club, much less one with a high profile like Chelsea, and speaks very little (if any) English, but Chelsea's Portuguese influence and the big bucks of owner Roman Abramovich were enough to convince Scolari to come to Stamford Bridge.

At 59 years of age, he's at a stage in his career where many big-name managers prefer to move from club to international soccer, which is less demanding and taxing on a daily basis. It is almost like their swan song into retirement. Scolari, though, now wants to do the opposite, and I think he wants to prove to himself and others that he can win major trophies at the club level before calling it quits.

This seems like a curious appointment from the standpoint of Abramovich and the other higher-ups at Chelsea. Jose Mourinho was often criticized for not playing attractive soccer despite the fact that he won early and often in his tenure at Chelsea, and his replacement, Avram Grant, also played a dull, cautious system that valued substance over style. Chelsea's fans and Abramovich, in particular, are well-known and on the record for wanting their team to score lots of goals and play beautifully while still winning.

Luiz Felipe Scolari is not a manager who employs an attacking, high-flying system. Granted, he is not the king of 1-0 victories like Mourinho, but he's still up there in the royal court. Like Al Davis, who is credited with this motto, Scolari is a "Just win, baby!" type of guy. He doesn't care how his teams win, and he'll use some of the most defensive, restrictive tactics to do so if the situation calls for it.

It's also unclear as to how Scolari will handle the massive press intrusion that comes with managing a club as big as Chelsea. Remember, Scolari basically turned down a chance to become England's head coach when he was offered the job in 2006 because he didn't want to deal with the media circus which surrounds that position. I'm not sure how much easier and how much more forgiving he'll find the press in London is; a name as big as his at a club as big as Chelsea with a team full of players with massive egos could have disaster written all over it.

Above all, Scolari is a winner. That should be enough to appease Chelsea's supporters and Abramovich, but if he doesn't win with style, he could find himself wanting to get out of town quickly. Scolari doesn't need the aggravation and pressure that could be heaped his way. It's his way or the highway, so we'll see how this plays out.

Euro 2008 Recap--Day 4

An alarming trend is developing after one round of games at Euro 2008 -- eight matches have been played so far, and only one of them has featured goals from both teams. Once a team takes the lead, they're basically a sure bet to hold on and win, and that doesn't make for compelling TV.

It was the David Villa show in Innsbruck this afternoon, as the Valencia striker bagged a hat trick in Spain's 4-1 victory over Russia. Villa ran the Russian back line ragged all game long, making them, center back Denis Kolodin in particular, look simply dreadful.

Spanish coach Luis Aragonés opted to start the game with two strikers instead of a lone man up front as was the case in his team's friendlies leading up to this tournament, and so Villa came into the lineup alongside Fernando Torres. The pairing worked to perfection in the 20th minute, when Torres picked Kolodin's pocket at the corner of the 18-yard box, then slipped a square ball right into the path of Villa, who put it into the empty net.

The turning point of the game came almost immediately after Villa's first goal. Russia had numbers forward and Dmitri Sychev sent a low cross skittering through the area. A Russian player had the first crack at it but didn't move, and when the Spanish defenders failed to deal with the slow-moving ball, Konstantin Zyrianov picked it up. His one touch, right-footed effort smacked off the left post and was cleared away, leaving Russia inches short of an equalizer.

That failure to finish came back to bit Russia when Villa struck again right before halftime. A short Russian corner kick and poor cross right after it led to a counter-attack for Spain, and they made no mistake. Andrés Iniesta threaded a gorgeous ball through to Villa, who was even with the last Russian defender and may even have been offside literally by the length of his foot. Villa calmly slotted it through the legs of Russian goalkeeper Igor Akinfeev, who had a very respectable game in defeat.

At that point, the game was effectively over. Spain bossed the second half after going up-and-down with Russia for the first 45 minutes. The Spanish midfield, especially Marcos Senna, controlled the tempo of the game and knocked the ball around all over the field, forcing the Russians to run themselves ragged by chasing. Guus Hiddink's team eventually ran out of gas, and Villa completed his hat trick a quarter of an hour from time after another nice through ball sprung him one-on-one with Russian center back Roman Shirokov. Villa skinned Shirokov with a nice cutback move onto his right foot, then left Akinfeev guessing as he went to his left and Villa's shot went to the former's right.

A couple of garbage-time goals ended the game. Roman Pavlyuchenko picked up a consolation goal for Russia with a powerful header off a flick-on from a corner kick in the 86th minute. With Russia down 3-1, they had a chance to make things very interesting going into stoppage time when a poorly executed Spanish offside trap left Iker Casillas staring down the barrel of a wide open Russian player in the box. Casillas was able to smother the poor shot, which had been driven right into the arms of the Spanish captain. Cesc Fàbregas had entered the game in the 54th minute and was pretty quiet for the majority of the time he spent on the field, but his diving header off a rebound from a short-range volleyed effort by Xavi (set up nicely by Villa) accounted for the final margin in the 91st minute.

Russia clearly missed the creativity and inspiration of their best player, Andrei Arshavin, who was sitting out the first game of his two match suspension for a red card picked up in Russia's last Euro qualifier against Andorra. Russia just wasn't able to string any consistent possession together and even when they did manage to get something going, that last, cutting-edge ball required to really spring an attack just wasn't there.

Spain exerted their dominance in midfield but showed that they have weaknesses in the center of their defense. Carles Puyol and Carlos Marchena are both susceptible to the bone-head, moronic play every now and then, and that showed today. They both needlessly gave away possession at times with poor passes and failed to clear dangerous loose balls in their defensive third. Pavlyuchenko didn't have any support up front but still caused problems on his own. Teams that field two capable center forwards can give Spain trouble as Puyol and Marchena are there for the taking.

Reigning European champions Greece came out with five defenders (5-4-1) in their game against Sweden tonight, the first team in the tournament to do so. It's no secret that Greece made their mark in 2004 by stifling the life out of their opposition, something they set out to do today as well. They have little desire to go forward and are content with passing the ball around the back, content to kill off the game if they can't find a path of little resistance to goal or a chance to launch a counter-attack.

There are two problems with this philosophy and we saw them both in tonight's match, won 2-0 by Sweden. A team like Greece can only survive for so long by playing in a shell and inviting pressure onto their defense. Greece was able to survive for 67 minutes before a moment of brilliance from Zlatan Ibrahimović opened the scoring. The Juventus striker played a nice little one-two with his front line partner, the ageless Henrik Larsson, and finished off the move by taking Larsson's return pass first time and sending an absolute rocket shot from just outside the corner of the penalty area into the back of the net. Greece's goalkeeper, Antonios Nikopolidis, did well just to get a slight touch on it with a glove but he had no chance to save Zlatan's screaming right-footed drive. Sweden had been knocking on the door all game long with several good opportunities, and it was just a matter of time before they were able to ram it down and get a breakthrough.

The other problem with the way the Greeks play is that once they concede one goal, the floodgates usually open. Sweden's Petter Hansson, who started alongside Olof Mellberg in the center back position, scored the scrappiest goal you'll ever see five minutes later to make it 2-0, which was effectively game over with the anemic Greek attack. Nikopolidis came out very well to cut the angle down on Freddie Ljungberg, who was in alone 12 yards from goal. Ljungberg's shot was saved, the rebound was popped high into the air by an off-balance Johan Elmander, who came into the game just a minute earlier for Ibrahimović. The ball eventually came down to Hansson in the 6-yard box. His header was blocked by one of two surrounding Greek defenders, came down to the ground, and was bundled home by Hansson despite those defenders' best effort.

Sweden understood that the key to beating Greece was patience, and they exhibited that in this game. They refused to fall into their opponent's trap by getting caught out and allowing a counter-attack, and they knew that they needed to unlock the back line and get a moment of magic to finish it off. The same Greek defenders that had previously gone 425 minutes without conceding a goal in the European Championships are now four years older than they were when that streak started, something that coach Lars Lagerbäck obviously tried to stress to his team. He had his team make Greece's older group of players chase the ball and work to earn their point. In doing so, they grew tired as the game went on and let their guard down.

I was very impressed with the way Sweden played tonight. They'll need to repeat that performance (and probably even better it) in their next game as it'll be against Spain, who looked dominant earlier over Russia. A point there for Sweden and they'll be sitting pretty heading into the third and final group match against Russia. However, a loss to Spain and the Russia-Sweden match becomes winner-takes-all as Russia will beat Greece and go into their third game with three points, equal with Sweden if they don't get anything in four days' time. Remember, the first tie-breaker in this tournament is head-to-head results, not goal differential.

Group D Standings (after one game):
1. Spain (3 points, +3 goal differential)
2. Sweden (3 pts, +2)
3. Greece (0 pts, -2)
4. Russia (0 pts, -3)

Group A -- Portugal, the Czech Republic, Switzerland, and Turkey (in that order in the standings) is back in action tomorrow, with the top two teams and the bottom two playing against each other. A win for either Portugal or the Czechs would likely see that nation through to the quarterfinals, and the loser of Switzerland-Turkey is as good as eliminated. I'd expect to see Switzerland, backed by their boisterous home crowd, win and stay alive to fight another day, and Portugal to also get a victory over the very uninspiring Czech Republic.

Euro 2008 Recap--Day 3

It's fair to say that the third day of Euro 2008 didn't necessarily provide us with entertaining soccer for the duration of both games (certainly not in the first one), but the results of those games were perhaps the most unexpected of the tournament so far. The favorites had won each of the previous four games in the competition, a trend that didn't continue today.

You could've slept through the Romania-France game, which ended 0-0, and not missed anything. France had two decent chances all game, both to Karim Benzema from outside the 18-yard box, and the Lyon striker missed well wide on one and sent a weak dribbler to Romanian goalkeeper Bogdan Lobonţ on the other. Those poor efforts capped a very mediocre (at best) game for Benzema, and his strike partner, Nicholas Anelka, was invisible for large chunks of the match before being taken off in the 72nd minute, six minutes before Benzema was also replaced. France clearly missed Thierry Henry up front, a player with plenty of pace and creativity to stretch the stout Romanian defense, but also someone who would undoubtedly bury one of the half-chances mucked up by Benzema.

Florent Malouda and Franck Ribery looked lively at times, but those times were few and far between. Too often they looked content to play the ball back into the middle instead of running at the Romanian full-backs one-on-one and trying to get to the endline.

Malouda and Ribery's play was a microcosm of France's performance -- too conservative, too afraid to send numbers forward, and too willing to play not to lose instead of playing to win. If the object of the game was to see how many short, square passes a team could complete, France certainly would've won, but that isn't the case.

To be fair, Romania weren't exactly world-beaters on the attacking end either, but they did at least make a concerted effort to test the aging French defenders. The problem with that from Romania's point of view is that they don't have enough team speed to dribble by anyone, and the French back line are as solid as it comes in terms of their spacing and positioning to help one another out when necessary. They are also good at winning balls in the air, and that took away from the effectiveness of Romania's set pieces, their strength.

After about the 70th minute, Romania began to sit 9 and 10 men behind the ball in an effort to get out of there with a draw. The game ground to a standstill at that point, with Romania throwing up a wall 35 yards from their goal while letting France have all the possession they wanted outside of that range. When France lost control of the ball, Romania was happy to blast it back up the field and let a lone striker chase it down. They didn't record a single shot on goal (although they had three shots blocked), but France only put one shot on target so Romania accomplished what they set out to do -- take a positive result into their second game.

In the second match of the day, won 3-0 by Holland, Italy just didn't show up. Period. Italy didn't show up. Holland completely outclassed their opponent and deserved their victory beyond any shadow of a doubt.

It was the Oranje's first win over Italy in 30 years, and it marked an emphatic end to the Italian dominance over the low-lying nation. Ruud van Nistelrooy's cool one touch finish from close range put the Dutch ahead in the 26th minute (no, Andy Gray, he was not offside), and his teammate at Real Madrid, Wesley Snejider, finished off a brilliant counter-attack five minutes later with a high, side-footed tap-in past Gianluigi Buffon. Italy was fortunate to make it to halftime only down 2-0.

In the second half, Holland continued to put on the pressure and that allowed Italy to stay in the game. The Italians were able to generate a few chances when they caught Holland out on an attack, as they weren't content with their two-goal lead. Holland put the game away for good a little more than ten minutes before full time just after Andrea Pirlo's freekick was saved by Edwin van der Sar. The ensuing counter-attack led to a 3-on-3 for Holland. Dirk Kuyt, who also had a very good game, wound up with the ball in a dangerous position on the right side of the box. His perfectly weighted cross was slammed home by Giovanni van Bronckhorst, one of the last people you'd expect to score with his head.

Italy's age showed against the faster, more dynamic Dutch side, which Roberto Donadoni may have underestimated a little bit. He didn't make any adjustments at halftime, either tactically or personnel-wise. He continued to use three central midfielders against a team that employed five midfielders and was geared around wing play. Italy had no answer for Kuyt and Snejider, and the previously little-known Orlando Engelaar had an excellent game from his holding role. Holland's back line, which had been criticized by many coming into this tournament (myself included) and labeled as the team's weakness, stifled Luca Toni all game long and Alessandro del Piero when he came in.

Holland is now in a great position atop the group, and conversely Italy is at the bottom and looking up. The Italians do have one positive to take out of today's action -- France drew with Romania, leaving Italy with just a point to make up to advance.

Group C Standings (after one game):
1. Holland (3 points, +3 goal differential)
2. Romania (1 pt, 0)
3. France (1 pt, 0)
4. Italy (0 pts, -3)

Group D finally opens up play tomorrow, with Spain taking on Russia in the early game, followed by defending champion Greece against Sweden. Look for Spain to try and make a statement to the other three teams that they are the side to beat in this group, and that those other teams will be fighting it out for second place at best.

Euro 2008 Recap--Day 2

Was it just me, or did you all also get a sense of déjà vu when watching today's action from Group B? I felt like I was witnessing yesterday's games all over again.

Consider:

• Both yesterday’s first game and today’s first game ended 1-0, and yesterday’s second game and today’s second game both ended 2-0.

• Co-host Switzerland played first yesterday and controlled the balance of play against their opponent, the Czech Republic, but couldn’t manage to equalize despite their best efforts. Co-host Austria played first today and the same conditions applied; they dominated Croatia for large periods of the game and had their chances to score, but just couldn’t put anything on the board. In both cases, the favorites were outplayed but still won.

• Portugal and Germany, trendy picks to go far in this tournament, struggled to put their lesser opposition away in the second games of the day. They both won 2-0, but neither looked particularly convincing in doing so. Portugal didn’t offer much going forward at times, and Germany gave up plenty of possession and several chances (mostly from long range).

Austria came out to play this afternoon against Croatia, starting the game in an aggressive 3-5-2 formation with the outside center backs going forward whenever the opportunity presented itself.

They certainly looked lively and energetic, but René Aufhauser went a bit too far in the 4th minute when he took down the stocky Ivica Olić inside the box. It was clearly a penalty kick, and the ironic thing is that Olić wasn't really in a position to cause much trouble and Aufhauser had no reason to get tangled up in that challenge. New Tottenham signing Luka Modrić slotted home the penalty -- the fastest converted in the history of the European Championships -- and at that point, the only question looked to be how many goals would Croatia score in the game.

Croatia continued to control the game for the next 15 minutes or so but generated very little in their attacking third. Mladen Petrić had Croatia's best chance for the rest of the game midway through the first half when he was wide open on the left side about 15 yards from goal and settled down a cross with his body, but completely wasted it when he blasted the bouncing ball high and well wide.

Austria's players, to their credit, didn't hang their heads or back down whatsoever. After Petrić's miss, it was pretty much all Austria all the time. Martin Harnik was dangerous on the right side up front all game and laid some nice horizontal passes for onrushing Austrian midfielders, but they couldn't get much on goal.

Josef Hickersberger's three second-half substitutions all had an impact on the game for Austria, and the co-hosts continued to try and ram down the Croatian door. The tournament's oldest player, 38-year old Ivica Vastic, was dangerous alongside the creative Andreas Ivanschitz in the center of midfield. Croatia had little answer for the Austrian onslaught except to sit 9 and 10 men behind the ball and send it long down field whenever they could.

Croatia did do a decent job of keeping Austria's attack largely to the outside and made it tough to penetrate into a good position in the center of the field. Most of the Austrian shots were from the perimeter and were handled well by Croatia's goalkeeper, Stipe Pletikosa. His back line won nearly every critical ball served into the area, but numerous failed clearances gave Austria the ball right back on the outside.

Right at the death, Austria came within inches of leveling the game at 1 when Roman Kienast's redirection of a low out-swinging free kick from Ivanschitz went narrowly wide. Croatia stole the victory, but they won't complain. If Austria continues to play like they did today, they'll earn a point somewhere in their last two games. Croatia will need to put it into another gear; they play Germany next and will come away with nothing if they turn in the same kind of performance. Austria outshot Croatia 16-10, including 6-1 in terms of shots on target, and Croatia's only effort on goal was the early spot kick.

Germany will head into that game also with three points after getting by Poland 2-0 today. The oft-criticized and Polish-born Lukas Podolski netted both goals for his team and took home Man of the Match honors.

Podolski struggled to find his place and perform at Bayern Munich this season, but a player who scores better than a goal every two games at the international level and was the Best Young Player at the 2006 World Cup will always earn a call-up. He certainly justified his place in the starting XI today. Mario Gomez, who many believed should start up top instead of Podolski, did just that, but he was no better than average today. I'd expect to see Podolski start up front alongside his teammate at Bayern, Miroslav Klose, who was also born in Poland, instead of wide left in the game against Croatia. Bastian Schweinsteiger should slide back into that position, which is where he usually plays, and it was a shock to not see him on the field from the outset.

Podolski and Klose combined for Germany's first tally, as the former tapped the latter's square ball into a wide open net after 20 minutes as the two came in alone on the Polish goalkeeper, Celtic's Artur Boruc. Where that goal was all about finesse, Podolski's second was all power -- a screaming volley from 12 yards past Boruc and into the top netting in the 72nd minute to put the game away.

Germany was in control all game long and there's no doubt about that, but they didn't administer the knockout blow until that 72nd minute goal. Before then, Poland was still in the match and had their chances. Leo Beenhakker's team was able to consistently pick up the ball in midfield and work their way forward; they had 52% of possession. They just didn't have that cutting edge when they did have numbers forward and, like Austria, wound up with mostly long range efforts that didn't trouble Jens Lehmann. Brazilian-born Roger Guerreiro came off the bench for Poland, was an immediate sparkplug and played very well, but even his pace and ability wasn't enough to create a goal or score himself to put his team back on equal footing.

Group B Standings (after one game):
1. Germany (3 points, +2 goal differential)
2. Croatia (3 pts, +1)
3. Austria (0 pts, -1)
4. Poland (0 pts, -2)

Play in Group C, the "Group of Death", begins tomorrow, with Romania-France to be followed by the tastiest match of the tournament thus far, Holland-Italy. It's a must-win game for France; they can't afford to not take three points against the weakest team in the group and possibly fall behind right out of the gate.

Switzerland Was Robbed!

I'd like someone to explain to me how this wasn't a handball. A penalty kick absolutely should've been awarded for this, and the fact that one wasn't is a disgrace.

The non-call cost Switzerland at least one point and with the momentum gained from converting a penalty, I don't doubt that Switzerland could've won this game in the 10 minutes that remained. Every point is valuable in a group stage that only lasts three matches.

If Switzerland end up missing out on progression to the quarterfinals by one point, look no further than this as the reason why. They definitely have a legitimate gripe here.

Euro 2008 Recap--Day 1

The 13th edition of the European Championships started out in decent fashion today, as both games had their exciting moments and neither ended in draws. The picks of many to advance from Group A, Portugal and the Czech Republic, both came away with victories, setting up a showdown in Geneva between the two in four days' time. That game will likely determine the group winner, but before we get there, let's take a look back at the opening day of Euro 2008.

In the first game, co-host Switzerland had the crowd in Basel firmly behind them against their opponent, Karel Brückner's Czech Republic. While his team seemed content to sit back and defend in their 4-5-1 for most of the first half, the Swiss came out as the aggressors and created several chances sprung by their wide men, Tranquillo Barnetta and Valon Behrami. On the rare occasions that the Czech Republic did push forward, Switzerland was able to build dangerous counter-attacks, and Alexander Frei forced Petr Čech to make two good saves, one from long range and the other coming from in tight as Frei bore down on the Czech goalkeeper from an angle.

Frei was forced to come off with a knee injury right before halftime, one that left the team's captain and all-time leading goal scorer in tears. At the time, it didn't seem like a huge blow because the Czech Republc had done absolutely nothing in the first half to convince anyone that they'd be able to score, and it seemed inevitable that Switzerland was going to eventually break through. Jan Koller was nothing more than a statue up front on his own; he can't run anymore and it didn't help that his teammates were not playing to his strengths -- getting him the ball with his back to goal so he could play it off to a midfielder making a forward run.

It was more of the same in the second half. Switzerland was controlling the game and playing it at their tempo, forcing the Czechs to chase the moving ball all over the field.

The creative Hakan Yakin came on for Frei at halftime and immediately made his presence known by drawing a foul right at the edge of the area and using his terrific passing ability later on. Yakin should've been on from the outside in place of Marco Streller, who also looked frozen up top, and the Swiss were made to pay for not being able to push one by Cech when Václav Svěrkoš, who had replaced the ineffective Koller in the 56th minute, outfoxed a Switzerland back line that was in the process of pushing up to catch the Czechs offside and managed to sneak in behind them. A lobbed header over the top by right back Zdeněk Grygera put Svěrkoš in alone, and the Banik Ostrava striker made his first international goal count in the 71st minute. He clearly mishit the ball; he wanted to strike it on the bounce with his laces but kind of shanked it off his ankle, but they all count the same.

After that goal, Switzerland threw everything they had and the kitchen sink at the Czechs, who dropped 10 men behind the ball and relied on a hoof-and-chase style to clear the ball out of their defensive third. Switzerland had a stone cold penalty turned down by Italian referee Roberto Rosetti after Tomáš Ujfaluši clearly handled the ball in the box. Barnetta then picked up the loose ball, forced Cech to dive to his left to push away a smashing, low left-footed shot, and Johan Vonlanthen put the bouncing rebound off the crossbar. Seconds before full time, another questionable use of the upper arm in the area by a Czech player went unnoticed by Rosetti, and the match ended 1-0 despite the fact that Switzerland deserved a better fate.

Today's second game wasn't nearly as dramatic; Portugal dominated Turkey for large stretches and were unlucky to only win 2-0 as Nuno Gomes hit the crossbar and a post and Cristiano Ronaldo's beautiful curving free kick in the first half was parried off the post by Turkish goalkeeper Volkan Demirel.

Real Madrid's Pepe had had his header off a corner kick disallowed due to a correctly called offside in the 17th minute, but he more than made up for it with the beautiful one-two between himself and Nuno Gomes that resulted in Pepe walking in alone on goal. The center back coolly finished the play like he was an experienced striker. It had taken just over an hour for Portugal to finally break through, and the goal seemed to break Turkey's spirit a little bit. Minutes later, the aforementioned Nuno Gomes, who wore the captain's armband in this game, nodded Cristiano Ronaldo's good cross off the crossbar.

Turkey huffed and puffed but never did enough to equalize, and Raul Meireles' first international goal sealed the deal in the 93rd minute. It was created by Ronaldo (who else), who slid a right-footed through ball from the left wing to João Moutinho, who was streaking into the box right down the middle. Moutinho's remarkable turn with the ball onto his right foot left him with only one option as Turkey's goalkeeper was bearing down on him, and Moutinho laid a soft pass onto Meireles. Meireles had the net at his mercy and Portugal finished the game in style after outshooting their opponent 16-6 over the course of the game.

I came away most impressed with Switzerland and Portugal, the former of whom I still think will make it out of Group A. The Czech Republic showed me nothing at all except the fact that they obviously miss Tomas Rosicky as their creator in the midfield, and Turkey are good technically but just don't offer much going forward. Switzerland and Turkey play each other in four days, and the loser of that game will be eliminated from contention -- perhaps not mathematically, but for all intents and purposes, the loser is done. Even a draw doesn't help much for either team, so that should be a fun game to watch. I expect Portugal to wipe the floor with the Czech Republic, perhaps 2-0 or 3-1 if the Czechs really get their scoring boots on.

Group A Standings (after one game):
1. Portugal (3 points, +2 goal differential)
2. Czech Republic (3 pts, +1)
3. Switzerland (0 pts, -1)
4. Turkey (0 pts, -2)

The four teams in Group B open up their respective accounts tomorrow, with co-hosts Austria meeting Croatia in the early game and Germany looking to “blitz” through their Polish neighbors once again in the second match of the day.

Today's highlights:

http://101greatgoals.magnify.net/item/W87TN981TDJJFHTS -- Svěrkoš' winner
http://101greatgoals.magnify.net/item/776CQ7SXK83K202S -- The handball that wasn't and the chances that followed
http://101greatgoals.magnify.net/item/NM76BVXMRY5V8BL8 -- Pepe's beatifully worked goal
http://101greatgoals.magnify.net/item/7GF1B11WPHSKZVBR -- Icing on the cake for Portugal

TV Schedule for Euro 2008 Group Stage

The long wait for Euro 2008 is just about over as we're roughly 17 hours away from kickoff in the tournament opener between Switzerland, the co-host, and the Czech Republic.

The group stage will end on June 18, with two games played every day until that date. Starting Sunday, June 15, both games will kick off at 2:45 PM here on the East Coast so as to prevent the possibility of any sort of outside shenanigans that could unsportingly influence the outcome of the final group standings.

ABC and ESPN have the exclusive television rights in this country, and each of the tournament's 31 games will be broadcasted on the "family of networks" -- ESPN, ESPN2, ESPN Classic, and ABC. They've brought an expert group of commentators to work these matches, with the familiar pairing of Derek Rae and Tommy Smyth on the call for the first game of the day, and Adrian Healey and Sky Sports' Andy Gray for the second, until June 15 when both games begin at the same time as I mentioned earlier.

With these things in mind, here's the complete TV schedule for the group stage of Euro 2008 (all times Eastern):

Saturday, June 7:
Switzerland vs. Czech Republic (ESPN Classic, Noon)
Portugal vs. Turkey (ESPN Classic, 2:45)

Sunday, June 8:
Austria vs. Croatia (ESPN2, Noon)
Germany vs. Poland (ESPN2, 2:45)

Monday, June 9:
Romania vs. France (ESPN2, Noon)
Holland vs. Italy (ESPN2, 2:45)

Tuesday, June 10:
Spain vs. Russia (ESPN2, Noon)
Greece vs. Sweden (ESPN2, 2:45)

Wednesday, June 11:
Czech Republic vs. Portugal (ESPN2, Noon)
Switzerland vs. Turkey (ESPN2, 2:45)

Thursday, June 12:
Croatia vs. Germany (ESPN2, Noon)
Austria vs. Poland (ESPN2, 2:45)

Friday, June 13:
Italy vs. Romania (ESPN2, Noon)
Holland vs. France (ESPN2, 2:45)

Saturday, June 14:
Sweden vs. Spain (ESPN2, Noon)
Greece vs. Russia (ESPN2, 2:45)

Sunday, June 15:
Turkey vs. Czech Republic (ESPN Classic, 2:45)
Switzerland vs. Portugal (ESPN2, 2:45)

Monday, June 16:
Poland vs. Croatia (ESPN Classic, 2:45)
Austria vs. Germany (ESPN, 2:45)

Tuesday, June 17:
France vs. Italy (ESPN, 2:45)
Holland vs. Romania (ESPN Classic, 2:45)

Wednesday, June 18:
Russia vs. Sweden (ESPN2, 2:45)
Greece vs. Spain (ESPN, 2:45)

I'll post the TV schedule for the knockout rounds immediately following the Greece-Spain game on the 18th.

Remember, starting Sunday, you can find daily recaps of the previous day's action and brief looks ahead to the two games that day here at English Soccer Talk.

Euro 2008 Final Prediction

I've been building up to the start of Euro 2008 for two weeks now, providing you with a one-stop-shop of sorts with final rosters for each of the 16 nations involved, previews of each nation and group, and my predictions for the quarterfinals and beyond.

Every tournament has a winner, obviously, and we're at that stage in my pre-competition coverage. It has all come down to Portugal and Italy for the right to be the European champion for the next four years.

Final (June 29, 2:45 PM; Ernst Happel Stadion, Vienna):

Portugal (Winner of SF #1) vs. Italy (Winner of SF #2)

This game pits the team with the best player in the world against one of, if not the most, the most organized, disciplined nations in the world.

Portugal and Italy, respectively, play differing styles of soccer; Portugal is dynamic on the wings and is very good on the counter-attack, and Italy prefers to dominate possession and dictate the pace of the game.

Taking the leadership and intangible factors out of the equation, the absence of Fabio Cannavaro wouldn't hurt Italy against Portugal. As I've discussed earlier, Portugal doesn't have terribly much talent in the center forward position and tend to play a lone man up front anyway. Two solid center backs (Materazzi and Barzagli) should be able to shut down Nuno Gomes, or possibly either Hélder Postiga or Hugo Almeida, without a lot of trouble.

Italy's full-backs, Gianluca Zambrotta and most likely Christian Panucci, will have trouble with the pace and creativity of Cristiano Ronaldo and Simão, the two wingers in Portugal's 4-3-3/4-5-1 formation. At 35 years of age, I don't think Panucci can stick with either of those two, and the attack-minded Zambrotta is susceptible to being caught out of position on a trademark Portuguese counter-attack.

There is no question that Ronaldo and Simão would have to play well in this game and really be the catalysts from their wide positions, because the middle of the field would be an absolute bloodbath. The combination of Gattuso, Pirlo, and De Rossi for Italy and Deco, Veloso, and Petit for Portugal in or around the center circle has tough tackling, late challenges, and epic battles for 50-50 balls written all over it. It would not be for the faint of heart, but is absolutely worth watching and could very well be where this game is won and lost. The advantage has to go to Italy in this matchup; their trio is more experienced and has a more complete array of skills to use on the field, but Deco is probably the best individual player out of the six and can single-handedly swing a game in his country's favor if he's on his game.

Luca Toni has played for 10 clubs in his career and just turned 31, but he is a fantastic striker with a goal-to-game ratio of just over 1:2 both domestically and internationally. At 6'4", he has a significant size advantage over Ricardo Carvalho, who is a shut down center back and would likely have the assignment of sticking to Toni like glue. Carvalho is no slouch in the air and while the fact that Italy doesn't rely much on wing play and crosses into the area helps the Chelsea defender, he's still going to have to find a way to deal with the bigger, more powerful Toni. He has a unique skill set compared to the strikers Carvalho sees on a weekly basis in the Premier League, so that matchup will definitely be something to keep your eyes on.

Italy has the better goalkeeper in Gianluigi Buffon, although he battled a bit of a back problem with Juventus in Serie A this season which could effect his ability to dive and move side-to-side. Ricardo is a fine goalie in his own right and has great reflexes, but has struggled in the past with claiming balls out of the air. One mistake on a corner kick or a free kick, one mis-timed leap to punch the ball to safety, and big, tall Luca Toni will put it in the back of the net.

It all comes down to tempo. If Portugal is able to play their counter-attack brand of game and exploit their advantage on the wings, they'll have a chance to pull off the upset. Italy needs to slow the game down to suit their style and possess the ball in their midfield while looking for holes and weaknesses in the Portuguese back line. You'll see a high number of fouls and cards in this game as both nations have multiple players who won't hesitate to chop their opponents down if necessary, and emotions obviously will be running high in a final.

Prediction: Italy-2, Portugal-1

Interview with Kartik Krishnaiyer

As I mentioned several weeks ago, there is an ongoing commitment from me to make English Soccer Talk better and to make the site grow. I've been working on lining up interviews with several pundits both in this country and in the UK, and a rough plan for a podcast that would debut later on this summer is still on the backburner.

You'll see the first of these interviews a little later in this post. This is the first part of a conversation with my good friend Kartik Krishnaiyer, who you all will remember from his college basketball podcast which I appeared on several times last winter.

Kartik is the co-host of The American Soccer Show along with Dave Denholm, and you can listen to their show weekly on CSRN. Kartik also maintains a blog for CSRN, American Soccer Spot (http://csrnusa.com/ussoccerspot). He is an expert on all things concerning the US National Team, both at the senior and youth levels, and MLS.

On this site, the main focus is obviously English soccer, but as an American, I have a vested interest in the national team and covered the U-20 World Cup in Canada last summer, in which the US played very impressively, winning their group (beating Brazil 2-1 in the process) and reached the quarterfinals before being eliminated by Austria in extra time.

The senior team has been in the news recently and is two games through a three-match series of friendlies against impressive opposition -- England, Spain, and Argentina. They haven't come away on the right end of the stick thus far and haven't played particularly well in the process, with a 2-0 loss in England at Wembley and a 1-0 loss in Santander, Spain, but are gaining a little bit of credibility around the world by going out and playing some of the world's top nations.

With these results in mind, I asked Kartik specifically about the US National Team and what he sees in the squad and the way it's currently configured. He went to Wembley for the US-England game, so there was no better expert to turn to for first-hand insight and analysis. I also asked him briefly for his pick to win Euro 2008, which starts in less than two days. Here's the first part of our conversation:

After watching the recent friendlies in England and Spain, what were your impressions of the US team in those games and the direction in which they're headed?

"The quality of the US National Team has regressed substantially since the early part of this decade. That's hard to believe when you consider the player pool is deeper than ever, our domestic league, MLS is better than ever and that the game is more popular than ever here in the U.S. But since 2006 we've seen the international retirements of Brian McBride, Claudio Reyna, Eddie Pope and John O'Brien. All four of those players were far superior than the players that replaced them and this has not only affected the quality of the US squad but the style the US has traditionally played. This is something that speaks loudly about player development in the US: we are not at the stage we thought we were in that we are not able to simply replace aging and retired players very easily. That is evidenced by the continued prominent role old veterans Frankie Hejduk, Eddie Lewis and Pablo Mastroeni continue to play in the US setup."

Speaking of that game at Wembley, I know you were there in person to watch. What were your impressions of the new stadium and how was your overall experience in London? As an American, were you frowned upon by the native English fans?

"Wembley is an awesome facility. It's large but still has outstanding sight lines. The facility is easily accessible via the tube and bus. I used the bus to reach the stadium, and returned back to my hotel via the Bakerloo line of the overground and then the tube. As an American it was a difficult night. The English fans were in many cases rude but others were curious about the US team and MLS. Some English fans were actually very interested in specific players in MLS like Rohan Ricketts and Terry Cooke."

Bob Bradley -- He's taken a lot of heat for his team's uninspiring performances over these last couple of weeks. Is he the right man to be leading this team into the World Cup (hopefully) in 2010, or should USSF perhaps look towards a foreign manager?

"I was firmly in Bradley's corner until recently: I felt he did a good job in 2007 of deepening the player pool and giving looks to some players who had been overlooked by Bruce Arena. However in 2008, despite some good results (wins over Sweden and Poland) Bradley has fallen into a pattern of picking the same players albeit in different positions and has reduced Landon Donovan, our best player to a wide midfield position where he sees less of the ball than ever before. Donovan is the key player for the US and passing him over for captain and then reducing his role in the attack was a bad idea. Even worse, Bradley has a clear bias much like Arena did towards players he has coached at the club level."

Heading into the start of World Cup qualifiers this summer, what do you think the starting XI and formation should be for the US? Because Bradley can't seem to settle on one specific way to play or group of players to play with.

"I think the US should play a 4-5-1 or a 4-2-3-1. But Bradley prefers a 4-4-2, which is odd considering the US is one of the few countries that really has never used a 4-4-2 with our national team. We've played a 5-3-2, 3-6-1, 3-5-2, and 4-5-1 respectively in our last four World Cups. The US has traditionally used wide flank play with the likes of Cobi Jones, Eddie Lewis, Frankie Hejduk and others to stimulate our attack, which is why a 4-4-2 never worked for us. The current 4-4-2 utilizing two holding midfielders is a disaster.

Here is my ideal US starting XI (4-5-1):

GK: Howard
RB: Cherdundolo (Hejduk)
CB: Onyewu
CB: Orozco (Bocanegra)
LB: Pearce
DMF: Edu (Mastroeni)
RMF: Dempsey
LMF: Lewis (Beasley)
AMF: Donovan
AMF: Adu
ST: Cooper (Altidore)

For qualifying I think it is critical to take advantage of Eddie Lewis' veteran savvy and his ability to get down the flank despite being 34. I like the idea of starting Michael Orozco who was a key member of San Luis run to the Mexican Clausura playoff semifinals and the US Olympic qualifying team because he is now used to playing in front of tough latin styled crowds . I also like the idea of playing Kenny Cooper a tall target forward up top. The players in parentheses are acceptable replacement starters for the player named."

What do you think the differences were between our U-20 team's success in the U-20 World Cup in Canada last summer and the way our U-21's bowed out woefully in the Toulon Tournament in France just a couple weeks ago?

"The squad. Thanks to MLS' insistence on playing right through international breaks as well as the Mexican League playoffs, a weakened squad was sent to Toulon. That having been said the US has a long history of doing well in U-20 and U-17 World Cups only to see the very same players fade at the U-23 and full international levels. One bright spot from Toulon was the play of Sammy Ochoa whose club in Mexico, Tecos missed the playoffs. Expect to see more Mexican-American players like Ochoa and Orozco who are eligible to play for either nation and who play their club football in Mexico involved in the US player pool going forward."

Who is your pick to win the Euros, and why?

"Germany. They have the most balanced and experienced squad. I like Frings and Schweinsteiger in the midfield as well as Mario Gomez one of the emerging stars of German football in the attack."

So there you go. I'll post the second part of our chat sometime early next week. Kartik makes a lot of good points about the US and the relationship between MLS and USSF, which is in charge of the national teams. From other conversations I've had with him in the past, he and I aren't quite on the same page regarding the senior team, especially on the abilities and performances of Oguchi Onyewu, but we're definitely in the same chapter, if you will, and hope for good things to come from them in the future.

The Downfall of Chelsea, Nazi Style (Again)

I originally posted this video two days ago, but when I came back and tried to watch it again yesterday for a good laugh, it had been removed from YouTube due to a copyright claim. It was back up on YouTube tonight, and I felt like it was my duty to bring it back here and put it up for your viewing pleasure. You can thank me whenever you'd like.

It is one of the funniest things I've ever seen. There are several others similar to it, two of which I posted yesterday, obviously with different themes but made by the same person.

Caution: If you have a problem with bad language and borderline racism, this may not be the video for you. If you are one of those people, come on, it's a joke. Deal with it.

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