This is the Group Stage and it’s been mostly group football, a game played by teams scared of losing. Teams too cautious to play knock-out football.
Portugal beat Turkey 2-0 but took an hour to score.
However, Big Phil Scolari allows his adventurous centrebacks Carvalho and Pepe to break forward with the ball, a good tactic as long as you keep possession, which Portugal do well. Pepe had a header disallowed early on and then strolled forward and played a one-two with Nuno Gomes and slotted in 61 minutes. The counter attack for 2-0 was good, with Cristiano Ronaldo attracting three defenders to the left, then passing forward to Moutinho, who touched on for sub Raul Meireles to cruise up and kill the game in 94.
Overall, I’m looking for a bold coach with a great goalkeeper. But none of the bold coaches here have great keepers. If Big Phil Scolari had Iker Casillas in goal, Portugal might walk it. Clearly, the strife over Cristiano Ronaldo’s future is counter-productive. It can’t be helping him or the team
Donadoni has the magnificent Buffon but his defence fell apart without Cannavaro,
As expected, Germany beat Poland and they scored their second goal earlier than Portugal did. The Germans gave little away, passed to each other, and played as a team, as they did in Euro 96, and as Greece did in Portugal in 2004. Do star-studded teams produce more great moments than great results ?
Germany beat Poland 2-0 with Podolski scoring twice. Podolski was eclipsed at Bayern by the arrival of Ribery but bounced back in Klagenfurt. A bit like Scholes being ruined by Veron at Man Utd. Podolski should move on.
The Holland-Italy contest was everything that France-Romania wasn’t : high-tempo, positive, exciting, with chances being created.
Ruud van Nistelrooy was so far offside for the first goal that he did not celebrate. But the goal stood in 26 and five minutes later another came after a counter attack that went end-to-end in 16 seconds . Gio van Bronckhorst kicked the ball off the line, raced forward, took Rafael van der Vaart’s pass, and crossed to Dirk Kuyt, whose cushion-header down allowed Wesley Sneijder to smash in at the near post. It was 2-0 at half-time and in 80 a further fast break split the Italians and Van Bronckhorst stormed into the box and headed Kuyt’s cross in off Zambrotta for 3-0
Wesley Sneijder of Real Madrid was 24 yesterday. He has 45 caps and he’s good. But not as good as Ronald de Boer.
Marco van Basten’s Holland looked more like Sacchi’s AC Milan than Italy did. They had tempo, discipline, flair – and they can finish. The Oranje were dynamic and took their chances and achieved Holland’s first win over Italy in 30 years. That thrilling 3-0 win puts them in command of Group C.
Before the game, Van Basten said, “If you play against a smaller country, then sometimes you have to ask more from the players. But if you play against Italy or France, then winning is enough.”
After the win, he said “Tonight, I cannot name one player who played poorly.”
Holland v France is on Friday at 7.45 pm. That might be the tightest game of the week and it will need a strong referee. France showed us nothing in a 0-0 bore-draw on a humid afternoon in Zurich. Benzema and Anelka had never started together before. Benzema didn’t do much but he WILL be a great striker. That’s a promise.
Nasri was tidy in a cameo after coming on for Benzema in 77.
Malouda puts me to sleep so it’s just as well Ribery wakes me up with his fearless endeavour, battling for 50-50 balls, charging down clearances as if his life depends on winning that ball. I love that kind of spirit. Ribery is artful too. But not a prolific scorer.
Arjen Robben can come back and add another cutting edge to this Holland team. Yes, he is injury-prone, so he might only start two of their 4 or 5 or 6 games. But Robben is a match-winning player and every team needs matchwinners.
Spain v Russia is at 5pm and may be a showcase for striker David Villa, who apparently wants to leave Valencia for the Premier League. I strongly fancy Spain to win this game and can see them getting a penalty. However, Spain should not play like Barcelona and it’s conceivable that the wily Guus Hiddink could plot a draw.
Greece v Sweden is at 7.45 and former Arsenal player Seb Larsson is in midfield with skipper Freddie Ljungberg
At the moment, it’s just first impressions and first impressions can be an unreliable guide. A great performance is not a great player. One great team performance is not a great team. Therefore it’s far too soon to start wondering if there is a great team at 2008. We’ve not seen the beginning of the tournament yet. We’ve seen half the beginning.
Euro 2008 lasts 22 days and it’s just started and I’ll soon be able to get into it properly, now that there’s not so much going on round here. It’s a half-sunny day in London and from my first floor office window I can see Jan’s Happy Birthday helium balloons wobble and twirl in the breeze. On Sunday we had about 50 people here for a garden party.
ANR reader Markus writes :
Dear Myles,
Just a small correction on Karl-Heinz Förster – yes, he was a fantastic centre-back, but he did not take part in the 1972 tournament (he joined the national team in 1977). The defense in 1972 was: Franz Beckenbauer – Berti Vogts – Paul Breitner – Georg Schwarzenbeck.