We knew Fabregas would bury that penalty to put Italy out

– by

Had a look to see what I wrote to preview  the final in 2008.

Surprised to find that I wrote nothing.

Then I remembered: We were on holiday in Croatia.

I wanted to go after Euro 2008, but we couldn’t get flights, so we went during, just after Croatia were knocked out.

After four years, I remember the  holiday better than I remember the tournament.

This is one piece I  did at that time .

Reading it now, I’m very surprised by some of the things I said.

But when I wrote this article, Spain had won nothing for decades.

Since then they’ve won everything and tomorrow they might win an unprecedented three in a row.

You can say I got it wrong.

But you can’t accuse me of sitting on the fence.

———————

It\’s Spain v Russia on Thursday.

Spain will not win that semi-final by 4-1, as they did in the group game on June 10, a long time ago.

Spain v Italy was 0-0 after 120 minutes and the penalty shoot out went to 3-2 and Cesc Fabregas stepped up to face the world\’s finest goalkeeper.

“He\’ll score because he\’s got bottle “

That\’s what I said to Mrs Palmer.

Spain were FAR better after Fabregas replaced Xavi ! They were so much better !!!

He finds different angles, different spaces, varies his game, mixes it up far more than Xavi or Iniesta.

Great football is a mixture of play round the ball and play off the ball.

It’s quite simple, it’s not rocket science.

Casillas had just saved penalties by De Rossi and Di Natale and although Guiza\’s penalty was saved by Buffon, it was 3-2 and Spain would win if Fabregas scored.

And I knew he would. He has character, intelligence, technique and bottle.

If you have all those attributes, you have a chance.

I knew that Buffon had saved a Mutu penalty nine minutes from time in Italy’s second game but I knew he would not save this one.

Some footballers give you belief.

And Cesc slotted the biggest penalty Spain have had for 50 years with all the aplomb of a veteran. He sent Buffon one way and slid the ball into the other side of the goal. A born winner !

I was out before the game and didn\’t think about how it might go.

When it kicked off it didn\’t look as if Spain would ever beat Buffon in 90 minutes with Xavi and Iniesta in their team.

There wasn\’t enough movement because Spanish players are all possession-orientated rather than movement-orientated.

And they faced an Italian side that was as beautifully structured as an Armani suit. After three minutes, I said, “If it\’s 0-0 when Fabregas comes on, Spain will win.”

After five, I changed my mind and said, “Spain can\’t score the first goal in this game. So they can\’t win.”

Holland 1 Russia 3 had been a sparkling, fascinating contest but this fourth quarter-final was always going to be killed by the negative Italians.

After 20 minutes it was the most boring game of the tournament.

Torres needs a longer ball and without Fabregas or Xabi Alonso to give him a longer ball, Spain were impotent.

David Villa was feeble, kept falling over, got a yellow card for diving in 72.

By then I had the hump and when Aragones brought on Guiza for Torres I was seriously annoyed.

But Euro 2008 has been great.

International football has been writing Tales of the Unexpected every night in the Alps and it\’s been a fantastic tournament with many surprises.

It’s been : take everything you know, and hold it in your right hand, and then frisbee it over the garden wall. What we know, what we were sure about, has proved to be all wrong.

For instance :

1. We did not think Russia or Croatia were that good, did we? They beat England but we didn\’t rate them that highly, did we?

2. We didn\’t think Croatia would beat Germany 2-1.

3 .We never dreamed Holland would smash world champs Italy 3-0.

On Saturday night Russia missed chance after chance against Holland before winning 3-1 in extra time.

For the third night running, the underdog had won.

Arshavin’s vision is amazing, as is his weight of pass.

Hiddink outfoxed Van Basten at every step, as an older coach should so.

But can he teach his “defence ” how to deal with an inswinging free-kick betwen now and Thursday night? Every time, it was almost a goal. Scary !

Aragones should start Fabregas against Russia but he won’t.

I fancy Russia because they’re a young team who do what they’re told and have no big egos.

We knew Fabregas would bury that penalty to put Italy out

– by

It’s Spain v Russia on Thursday.

Spain will not win that semi-final by 4-1, as they did in the group game on June 10, a long time ago.

Spain v Italy was 0-0 after 120 minutes and the penalty shoot out went to 3-2 and Cesc Fabregas stepped up to face the world’s finest goalkeeper

“He’ll score because he’s got bottle “

That’s what I said to Mrs Palmer.

Spain were FAR better after Fabregas replaced Xavi ! They were so much better !!!He finds different angles, different spaces, varies his game, mixes it up far more than Xavi or Iniesta. Great football is a mixture of play round the ball and play off the ball. It’s quite simple, it’s not rocket science.

Casillas had just saved penalties by De Rossi and Di Natale and although Guiza’s penalty was saved by Buffon, it was 3-2 and Spain would win if Fabregas scored. And I knew he would. He has character, intelligence, technique and bottle. If you have all those attributes, you have a chance. I knew that Buffon had saved a Mutu penalty nine minutes from time in Italy’s second game but I knew he would not save this one. Some footballers give you belief.

And Cesc slotted the biggest penalty Spain have had for 50 years with all the aplomb of a veteran. He sent Buffon one way and slid the ball into the other side of the goal. A born winner !

I was out before the game and didn’t think about how it might go. When it kicked off it didn’t look as if Spain would ever beat Buffon in 90 minutes with Xavi and Iniesta in their team. There wasn’t enough movement because Spanish players are all possession-orientated rather than movement-orientated. And they faced an Italian side that was as beautifully structured as an Armani suit.

After three minutes, I said, “If it’s 0-0 when Fabregas comes on, Spain will win.” After five, I changed my mind and said, “Spain can’t score the first goal in this game. So they can’t win.”

Holland 1 Russia 3 had been a sparkling, fascinating contest but this fourth quarter-final was always going to be killed by the negative Italians. After 20 minutes it was the most boring game of the tournament. Torres needs a longer ball and without Fabregas or Xabi Alonso to give him a longer ball, Spain were impotent.

David Villa was feeble, kept falling over, got a yellow card for diving in 72.By then I had the hump and when Aragones brought on Guiza for Torres I was seriously annoyed.

But Euro 2008 has been great. International football has been writing Tales of the Unexpected every night in the Alps and it’s been a fantastic tournament with many surprises.

It’s been : take everything you know, and hold it in your right hand, and then frisbee it over the garden wall. What we know, what we were sure about, has proved to be all wrong.

For instance :

1. We did not think Russia or Croatia were that good, did we? They beat England but we didn’t rate them that highly, did we?

2. We didn’t think Croatia would beat Germany 2-1.
3 .We never dreamed Holland would smash world champs Italy 3-0.

On Saturday night Russia missed chance after chance against Holland before winning 3-1 in extra time. For the third night running, the underdog had won. Arshavin’s vision is amazing, as is his weight of pass. Hiddink outfoxed Van Basten at every step, as an older coach should so. But can he teach his “defence ” how to deal with an inswinging free-kick betwen now and Thursday night? Every time, it was almost a goal. Scary !

Aragones should start Fabregas against Russia but he won’t.

I fancy Russia because they’re a young team who do what they’re told and have no big egos.

On Sunday afternoon I’d totally forgotten about Gladstonbury, our local music festival.