I think the first part of the title is pretty self explanatory. I thought I'd make it a little easier for myself by not even predicting the score, but that didn't help. 0 for 3 and now I'm depending on Italy (ughh) to save me any sort of dignity, not that I really had any to begin with.
Joachim Low proved me wrong by making some great adjustments and earning a deserved 3-2 win over Portugal.

I don't want to jinx anything, but so far, Euro 2008 has been the greatest soccer tournament I've ever seen. Attacking soccer is winning and teams have been rewarded for going forward and not for sitting back. Hopefully this trend continues on into the knockout round, otherwise, my picks are going to be completely wrong.

All I can say is "Damn!" I think today we got a glimpse into the past and what the so-called footballing machines of the USSR looked like. Constant and unrelenting attacking that gave their opponents almost no opportunity to attack.
Maybe it was the all red uniforms, provoking thoughts of communist Russia and the hammer and sickle.

Boring.
On a day with so much promise, all we got were two rather easy 2-0 wins. Damn Czechs and Turkey. They spoiled us.
Italy was always going to beat France. You knew it. I knew it. My grandma knew it and she is completely cut-off from the outside world. When it matters, the Italians always seem to get a result.

Brian Ching is not the answer: Ching scored twice, but one was a deflection off of his back from a Pablo Mastroeni shot (yes, you read that right). You can score two goals by accident if you play ninety minutes up top against Barbados. I mean, Eddie Johnson even scored in a ten-minute cameo. Ching just wasn't at the same level as the rest of the US attack and you could see it when at lot of the attacks broke down once the ball was played to him.

After the three "glamor friendles" against Argentina, Spain, and England, the US Men's National Team finally sets off on the long road leading to South Africa and the 2010 World Cup. Bob Bradley and Co. welcome Barbados to the Home Depot Center in Carson, California for the first leg of a home-and-away series.

Well, that didn't help clear things up.
In a tournament where there was no clear front-runner, Germany was considered to be the best bet to make a deep run. Before today's games, there was no clear favorite, but there looked to be a four team group that the champion would probably come from.

They say defense wins championships. So does that mean that they're going to have to cancel the rest of Euro 2008? Well, just look at the teams who've impressed thus far in Switzerland/Austria.

Most will agree that, through the first round of games, Germany, Holland, and Spain looked like the three best squads.

A decent weekend for most soccer fans, so I have a few things to comment on.
1. Liverpool's 1-1 tie at Middlesbrough was possibly the worst played game I've seen since Rafa Benitez took the helm. It was a lucky result and Liverpool should never be lucky to only end up with a tie against Boro.

There's not much going on in the world of soccer today. I'm sorry, but the 3rd round of the FA Cup just doesn't really get my juices flowing. It's just not my thing. Anyways, I'm just going to put up a couple quick thoughts and then call it a day.
1. I'd rather watch "The Nanny" than any of the FA Cup matches this weekend (other than the Liverpool match, but that goes without saying.

I'm about to go to sleep but I just saw this and wanted to give my thoughts. Ever Bangea has been sold by Boca Juniors and is headed to the disaster that is Valencia. Valencia currently sit in seventh place, which puts them 15 points behind the leaders, Real Madrid. Things have not been good for Valencia with, most recently, Ronald Koeman alienating some of club's mainstays in David Albelda, Santiago Canizares, and Miguel Angulo.

To any of my loyal readers (the 2 of you), the blog is back. The past few months have been pretty busy with the college soccer season stretching from early August into Thanksgiving and with finals right after that. I wanted a little break after finals so I thought I'd wait until the New Year to start back up.

If Liverpool wins this game, then I can see them challenging for the title. If they don't win, then the season will play out the same way it did last year for the Reds. I know you can't judge a team by one game, but this game was the exact type of game that kept Liverpool from competing for the top spot last year. Despite the ultimatum, I'm excited for the season.

Here are my last minute predictions for the Premiership standings. Chances are, the table will look nothing like this, but what the hell. I've also separated it into bunches that I think will be close in points.
1. Chelsea
2. Liverpool
3. Manchester United
4. Arsenal
5. Tottenham
6. Newcastle
7.

After the end of the major international tournaments of the summer, I thought we were going to be stuck with non-competitive games until the start of the EPL season. I was wrong. The SuperLiga has brought some very competitive and exciting soccer to America.
Normally, from July to mid-August, the only soccer to watch is mid-season MLS games.