Euro 2008: Magic Moments

In what can easily be described as one of the most entertaining sporting events in recent history, moments of magic and despair were not difficult to find. Here’s my countdown of the 10 moments I will carry with me:

Ten: Michael Ballack free kick
In a tournament that hardly produced any other brilliant free-kick moment, Ballack’s winner against Austria is a standout effort. Of course, the multiple super slo-mo replays have only helped making the moment an everlasting one, but it wasn’t just that it was a brilliant free kick. It was a moment of quality saved for when it really counted, a truly inspirational effort.

Nine: David Villa winner
Almost with the last touch of the game against Sweden, Villa scored a goal which came out of nothing. A deft touch, a feint to throw off defenders and a finish. The sight of a great striker in peak form and essential for Spain. That goal made it possible for them to continue their winning streak through to the final and must have been a major confidence booster.

Eight: Robben Goal
He hardly had much to do in the tournament, but moments after coming on against France, Robben first created a brilliant goal and then scored this screamer. Creativity, speed, finishing and arrogance only a supreme player can have were all at display together. A moment that proved to the world that Robben is up there with the best in terms of talent. If only he can stay fit in the long run...heck, if only he could have stayed fit for the quarter-final.

Seven: Sneijder Goal
A classic counter attack to hot the famed Italian defence which Sneijder finished after great work from van Bronkhorst and Kuyt. A beautiful goal and one that clearly showed the beauty that the Dutch would add to the tournament. Until their meek surrender to the Russians that is.

Six: Lahm Winner
The Turks had pulled off a remarkable fourth comeback in a row and many a lesser team would have lost confidence. But not the Germans. Just when it was ready to go into extra time, Lahm erased the memories of an ordinary defensive display and took charge to create the move and finish it with a spectacular shot that would have done any striker proud.

Five: Mutu miss
This can also be called ‘Buffon save’ but this was effectively the moment that kept Italy in and knocked Romania out. So often we have seen the star players of the team miss critical penalties in major tournaments and this was one of them. Heartbreaking for a player who had been very decent till that moment.

Four: Cech spill
Even though Petr Cech had not looked invincible since his comeback from injury, no one would have expected him to throw his country’s Euro hopes into the feet of an opponent. But in wet conditions, Cech made his worst mistake at the worst time there could possibly be. True, Nihat was to add more drama to that game, but without Cech’s blunder, there may never have been a Turkish story.

Three: Arshavin entry
We heard that Russia were missing some big players but the Spain opener aside, they had looked a decent side. The entry of Arshavin changed them from decent to extraordinary. True this is not a single moment, but the significance of Arshavin’s display was not lost. For all the entertainment and goal scoring, a true star was missing, and in Arshavin we found one.

Two: Casillas lifts the Trophy
How just to see a team with flair, skill and attacking intent be crowned champions, after many disappointing international and club tournaments. Also, at long last, the realization of a dream for a country which always had the eleven to do the job, but never the team.

One: Senturk equalizer
Everything else that happened, cannot take away Turkey’s contribution from this tournament. And while Senturk’s moment of magic was not the first or last for his country in these championships, it was the most unbelievable of them all. With hardly a moment left for a ball to be kicked, the Turks found the pass, the finish and most importantly the desire to score. A moment that defined the spirit of Turkey – my team of the tournament.

Euro 2008: Team of the Tournament

Here is my pick:

Playing Eleven
Goal: Casillas
Defence: Zhirkov, Puyol, Marchena, Ramos
Midfield: Podolski, Senna, Xavi, Shweinsteiger
Forward: Arshavin, Villa

Bench
Goal: Buffon, Boruc
Defence: Panucci, Grosso, Boulharouz
Midfield: Fabregas, Altintop, Silva, Sneijder, Modric
Forward: Ruud van Nistelroy, Pavluchenko

Many other players came up for discussion in the grey cells. Not to forget them so:
Lobont, Gokhan Zan, Ignasevich, Kolodin, Lahm,Ugur Boral, Zambrotta, Anyukov, Bosingwa, Zyrianov, Aurelio, Sabri Sarioglu, Pirlo,Camoranesi, Ballack, Hakan Yakin, Torres, Klose, Benzema, Ibrahimovich, Nihat.

Click here to view UEFA’s choice. Iniesta? You must be joking

Euro 2008 - The Final

Team Selection
There were no major surprises as the expected elevens lined up for the final. J Low’s gambles were restricted to retaining two players who had not fully recovered from injuries – Torsten Frings and captain Ballack. Rolfes had done the job asked of him when he had been called upon to play and Frings had not looked the most impressive, especially against Portugal. Ballack would have been more difficult to leave out given the obvious absence of a replacement with his quality.
Aragones started Fabregas finally in a five-man mid-field, a line-up that had played sublime football against Russia and which was used in the first place only owing to David Villa’s injury. Luis had the option of starting Guiza along with Torres (or instead of) but chose to go with El Nino as the sole striker, looking to replicate the magic of the semi-final.

German Plan
Joachim Low and his team approached the final with a degree of respect for their opponent and a plan based almost completely on defence with a single line of attack.
Out of the two fullbacks, only one – Lahm was to move forward with Friedrich supposed to stay back on the right. Frings was to stay well behind the centre line as well as were at least one of Hitzpelsberger or Ballack (mostly the former). Any attack was to be carried from the left with Lahm and Podolski using Ballack as the central link-up player to get close to the Spanish by-line and then look for Klose. Shweinsteiger was to be responsible for the right, but without the expectancy of support from the back or neighbouring mid-field was to move central or left as the situation demanded.
The major objective of the German defensive approach was to prevent the Spanish midfielders from making splitting passes which Torres could latch on to with a burst of speed. The defence was to line up close together and narrow so that the only attacking option available to the Spanish would be crosses.

Spanish Approach
Luis Aragones continued with his impressive performance as strategist-extraordinary by getting his team to do little things with big impact.
All players were given complete licence to attack (bar the centre backs) and with a five man centre, they could just as easily come back to defend in numbers. The cleverest trick was in the manner in which to beat the German defence which was so visibly suspect throughout the tournament (shipped two goals each in three games). In stead of trying to make through passes for Torres’ runs, they instead played the ball into the German defence but a little away from the German defenders. What it meant was that in stead of having to spot Torres’ run, they were putting the ball in positions for him to chase, backing their strikers’ ability to outrun the German defenders.
The narrowness of the German defence also allowed the central mid-field to play the ball dangerously to the empty flanks. However, so narrow was the German defence that the diagonal passes up front were in reality on the edge of the box, which allowed Iniesta to make some fine runs to trouble Germany.

On the pitch
Needless to say, that it was the Spanish plan that worked to perfection with Spain a goal up after Torres outran Lahm. The goal forced the Germans to be more adventurous with Frings and Hitzpelsberger getting more involved. Even Friedrich pushed forward in support. By the end all Germans were trying to push forward including Mertesacker but they got nothing for it. Metzelder his defensive partner has been more adventurous throughout with the spirit of a Libero though not quite having the qualities of Beckenbauer.
The Germans were on top for all of five minutes after Kuranyi came on, but their burst died off after a volatile Silva was substituted for Cazorla. Spain saw off the second half with an excellent display of attacking possession play with Senna and Xavi (man of the match and now officially the man of the tournament) in puppeteer mode.

Worthy Champions
It was fitting in the spirit of the tournament, that the team that came out looking to score rather than prevent won. Oh hell! Spain had the best players anyway.

Euro 2008: David Villa out of final

After limping off towards the last ten minutes of the first half in the semi-final against Russia, there's news today that David Villa will not be playing in the final.

He will of course be missed on the night by millions across the world. It would have been a treat to see him add to his tally of four goals with more of the same quality, but it is not to be and we'll just move on.

The question is if Spain will miss him as much? He has been there best striker (with creditable supporting roles from Torres and now Guiza) but funnily enough they played their best game when he was not on the pitch.

Of course it wasn't down to him. It was down to the formation changing which in turn made the slightly struggling mid-field turn into the most entertaining and lethal force in this tournament, which given all the exquisite stuff we had already seen, speaks something of what they could achieve with a mid-field five.

In the quarter final against Italy, the Spanish midfield always had to look for passes up into the opposition area to find their strikers allowing the Italians to cut off their spaces. Though they had a lot of posession, the Spanish were not able to dominate. True that was not the case against Russia, but then Russia began the game looking to be positive unlike the Italians and I expect the Germans to bring an approach which would combine the caution of Italy with bursts of aggression, especially through their wide men.

With five in mid-field suddenly Senna, Xavi etc. did not have to look for teammates through opponent players. At any point in time they could make a little sideway pass and move a few steps further to keep marching towards the Russian goal in small triangles.

Which must make it very tempting for Luis Aragones to start with the five man mid-field and leave either Torres or Guiza alone upfront. I do feel that Spain would be more effective this way than with an untested strike pair up front being given the responsibility of collecting, holding and shooting the ball against some strong looking Germans.

J Low and Germany of course will have seen the Spain performance and will be ready to counter either Spanish plan. They are capable of physically domianting the Spanish and their success will depend on keeping the Spanish as far away from their defensive third as possible. They won't worry about keeping posession too much as they will be justified in backing their own ability to convert a high percentage of the chances they get. And many from their starting eleven have the ability to switch between playing deep or in advanced positions effortlessly.

But will that be enough to stop Senna, Xavi, Fabregas, Iniesta and Senna? Not if they can repeat their semi-final display. Of course they'll have to play stronger and run a bit more to make themseleves available for passes, but they are capable of doing so, having needed far less than the available quota of steam to finish of the Russians.

I think Villa's injury has made Luis' selection headache a bit easier. Of course, he still needs to pick between Torres and Guiza, and though Torres should on paper be the overwhelming favorite, I won't venture into making a prediction on this one. Personally, I would go for Torres even without his finishing boots on, as I would expect the striker to be involved in a lot of link-up play and flicks to set up advancing mid-fielders and here is where Torres will be deadly.

Its up to Aragones now and all we can do is wait. So I will wait in anticipation to see which Spain turns up on Sunday and whether the German machine can adapt accordingly.

Russia vs Spain Euro 2008 SF

What makes the same team so different from one day to another? From slick passers to strangers in a park? From shorn of ideas to childlike expression? From the Russia against Holland to the Russia against Spain? From the Spain against Italy to the Spain against Russia?

The first twenty minutes were encouraging enough for both teams though. And it was a splendid game of football. All four fullbacks charging forward, the defence decent but not spectacular, all players getting involved and promises of a very open and attacking game.

Spain had looked the better team from the beginning but as it settled down they started taking control. Unlike the game against Italy, they managed this time to find Villa and Torres much more frequently and though there was nothing very dangerous for the keeper, there were nice touches, through balls, flicks and even shots. Ramos was spectacular in defence and in attack. Arshavin and Zhirkov could never get past him. Senna and Silva were impressive as usual. It was Xavi who was having a much better game than the Quarter Final though Iniesta still seemed out of sorts.

The Russians are no Italians and were not cutting off spaces as efficiently. It wasn’t a priority for them anyway because they had it in their minds to attack. But maybe they got a bit rattled by Spain’s early chances or maybe they came into this game with all the wrong things going through their heads. Either ways, their intent did not translate into execution. Too often they tried to create attacks by aiming for the heads of teammates (mostly Pavluchenko at that) while their best football had been about finding feet and men in empty spaces and about making themselves available.

At least Pavluchenko had a few good moments. Arshavin, almost the European creative hope whose reputation was getting bigger by the game, let the occasion get the better of him. The mid-field four were guilty of not getting the ball to him on enough occasions and he was guilty of not doing enough with it and when he did get the ball.

Villa’s injury was an intriguing moment. I fully expected Mr. ‘Like-for-like’ Aragones to bring on Guiza but on came Fabregas. Iniesta had been looking a bit out of place in the mid-filed till then and I thought that this could maybe make it more confusing for them. And Torres did not seem to be having the luck of the final touch. It will turn Russia’s way I thought.

How wrong I was. Not only was Fabregas breathtaking, but the extra man in mid-field effectively reduced Russia to spectators. With short passing options available, the Spanish strode forward in numbers and while Torres couldn’t produce a Liverpool display it didn’t matter. Xavi’s run, Iniesta’s pass and the finish by Xavi began a spell of supreme dominance. After that there was just one team in it.

And as if to show me my place even more, Aragones brought on Guiza for Torres and if it was possible for Spain to get any better they did. Russia meanwhile were just floating aimlessly. Pushing forward with hope but little belief and leaving huge spaces at the back. In the end 0-3 was merciful.

Russia join the Turks as beaten semi-finalists but how different their exits have been. One which built its reputation on spirit and bowed out with a display to remind us what they were made of. The other which wowed us with its skills and the hidden brilliance of its individuals but brought neither skill nor heart to what proved to be their final battle. I hoped they would score a consolation late goal just to say goodbye but it was not to be.

Guus Hiddink’s continues with his reputation intact if not enhanced but he was outscored in this round by Fatih Terim. But they are not to be forgotten, this Russian team. A lot of their players will be seen in Europe soon and we should monitor their qualifiers for 2010 closely.

And now to Spain and Aragones. I was never impressed with him finding him uninspiring and unimaginative but of course I was wrong. The ‘perennial failures’ have reached the final, on the way beating Italy on the anniversary of lost penalties. Some of it has to be down to this man. And a lot to that team. I’ll be cheering Spain in the final. They have given us this performance to remember and they should remember to perform like this...cometh the hour.

Germany vs Turkey SF Euro 2008

What a crazy crazy night. A great great semi final and a whole world deprived. As Germany managed to finally close out a game where the Turks weren’t the last to score, people across the world missed most of a stunning second half with TV signals gone due to some lightning strike at the Basel stadium.

But that came later. Blessed with the luxury of not having to make too many team selection decisions, Fatih Terim spent his time preparing the 11 who were fit and/or eligible to start in the best possible manner. The Turkish starting eleven consisted of 10 players who play in Turkish league clubs and Hamit Altintop. Two of their back four (Sabri and Topal) definitely would have preferred to play further up-field. But none of that seemed to matter.

Definitely not through all of the first half. The Turks took the ball and each man bar Rustu pushed forward. Almost. A typical Turk move consisted of either a series of short passes which moved the ball sideways and forward or a brilliant diagonal ball from the middle towards the flank. Then when they got near the by-line, a cross would be delivered. When they got to the edge of the box, they would look to shoot. There was no fear, no holding back.

It’s difficult to pick out individuals for praise. Kazim Kazim troubled anyone who got close to him and should have scored two, though the second time he hit the bar, Boral was at hand to equalize. Aurelio marked Ballack out, won the ball, carried it forward and made passes, Altintop was on the ball every 10 seconds or so, Sabri was making the smartest forward runs leaving Lahm stranded, Boral was sending in dangerous crosses and making Lehman work, Senturk was at times available deeper to pass the ball to oncoming teammates or in the box looking for crosses or shooting chances, Akman was working as hard as anyone else and the it goes on.

The thing is that in this first half, the Turks played to the best of their ability. The passes were flowing, the marking was amazing, the runs were everywhere and there was always a free teammate around. The work rate was unbelievable and each player ran a marathon sprinting half the way.

The Germans set out like they had against Portugal but got blown away. When they were on the ball which was rare, the Turks would just ease them off it or very often they would voluntarily give it away.

At least Schweinsteiger, Ballack and to an extent Rolfes and Podolski were half-decent when they had the ball. Off the ball, the Germans were just pathetic. They didn’t try and cut out passes, they did not press hard enough when a Turkish player moved with the ball, they got caught out of position (Lahm) a number of times and they failed to do the basics in the box. For the first Turkish goal, you just have to look at how late Friedrich reacted to the ball coming back off the bar in comparison to Boral.

Nor were they able to hit the Turks on the break. The only time they did that was at 1-1 when Podolski got a free run on to Rustu but somehow there was no goal.

That the Germans still went into half-time on par with the Turks probably explains why they have been such super powers of football all along. Turkey had to make their domination count and faced against opposition such as the Germans, just one goal was never enough return for superiority of such proportions. And Germany by making their only good move count, in one moment just shrugged off all the dominance and battering and gained parity. Efficient – what a cliché, what a fact.

The big question for the second half was Turkey’s ability to carry on with the blissful display of football. How soon would they tire and would they be able to do enough damage by then? Would Germany just wait patiently for the Turks to run out of breath and then go for the kill or would J Low make immediate changes to turn things around?

Well it never goes to plan. For starters the second half was seen by TV audiences worldwide in fits and starts so it is not known if we’ll ever see the full story of the half. Moreover, everytime the pictures did come, the game seemed to have changed hands. Immediately at the start of the second it was the Germans who looked better with the Turks having lost a little bit of the touch. Then when we saw things live next, it was Turkey yet again in first-half mode and then a brief two minutes of drama in which Turkey pulled it back to 2-2 (Klose had secretly given the Germans the lead) and then Lahm suddenly shot up the player ratings with a move and finish of brilliance to finally give the Germans a second 3-2 win in a row.

The Turks are out but they’ll not be forgotten. Three successful comebacks and one very successful threat of a comeback. Too bad it was not to be. They would have brought a lot more excitement to the final than the Germans I think, who will prefer to raise their game as and when needed. I know the comebacks will be talked about but there is another aspect to the Turkish display – the ability of all players to play at their best at the same time. The Germans may have gotten by on some amazing moments of individual brilliance and the ability to exploit mistakes and grasp opportunities, but player-on-player more Turks will go back thinking that they played the game of their lives. And credit to Fatih Terim that they did so not once but over and over again.

The Germans are through to the final and this makes half of my pre-tournament prediction true (I had Russia v/s Germany in...I swear). They have been winning and they have been involved in high-scoring games, but I think their best display was against Poland and they have never reached those standards. From a team perspective, I find their defence suspect, especially Mertesacker. Friedrich does not get forward enough and Lahm who does, had a horror show defensively today. He did make up for it though.

J Low will not have to change much irrespective of who he faces in the final. He will depend on a solid defence (which was not so solid tonight), and then the individual brilliance of any one of Shweinsteiger (who was Germany’s best player again tonight), Podolski , Klose or Ballack or maybe even a combination of these players to get him the goals. And one or more will. They are like that – these Germans.

Oranje for the Future

I'm as disappointed as everyone else with Netherlands not being able to carry their form through to the finals.

But we will remember this team as one that entertained. Mathew Wheatley on Goal.com has listed some Dutch stars for the future. Read this to find out.

Among others we have Wesley Sneijder's younger brother. Let's see how many of them feature in 2010 and how many (if any) go on to win an international title.