Enough is enough. The time has come to lift the lid on the plenitude of vapid clichés that pollute
the language of football. Game Intelligence steps into the breach... i·ron·ic (Pronunciation:
/ʌɪˈrɒnɪk/) Adjective According to common knowledge, Americans don't ‘get' ... Continue
reading →
Enough is enough. The time has come to lift the lid on the plenitude of vapid clichés that pollute
the language of football. Game Intelligence steps into the breach... i·ron·ic (Pronunciation:
/ʌɪˈrɒnɪk/) Adjective According to common knowledge, Americans don't ‘get' ... Continue
reading →
Welcome to the first of my previews of the teams lining up to try to get their paws on the Henri
Delaunay Trophy and wrestle it from the reigning Euro Champs from Greece.
First up in Group A (aka 'the Group of Mild Discomfort') along with Portugal, Switzerland and
Turkey are the 'bouncing' Czechs.
For the first 100 years or so of football's history, there were very few tactics, and most of
these revolved around the 2-3-5 formation. In the 1950s, the success of the Marvellous Magyars from
Hungary, followed by the 1960s success of Alf Ramsay's wingless wonders at club and country level
saw a revolution in tactical formations.
Our series on the US at the World Cup concludes with a look at the 2006 World Cup.
You can read more about US World Cup appearances in 1930 (part 1), 1930 (part 2), 1934, 1950, the
1950-1990 drought, 1990, 1994, 1998 (part 1), 1998 (part 2), 2002 (part 1) and 2002 (part
2).
Our series on the US at the World Cup concludes with a look at the 2006 World Cup.
You can read more about US World Cup appearances in 1930 (part 1), 1930 (part 2), 1934, 1950, the
1950-1990 drought, 1990, 1994, 1998 (part 1), 1998 (part 2), 2002 (part 1) and 2002 (part
2).
As the World Cup group stage grows tantalizingly close, we can start to look over those 48 group
fixtures and think about which will shock us, which will be the surprise of the group stage. In
2006, to my mind anyway, we were a bit short on group stage surprises. In general, the teams that
were supposed to win did, moreso I'd say than at a lot of World Cups past.
Our (late) review of the noughties sees The Arsenal Column count down the top 20 teams of the
decade (not definitive).
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A slightly sentimental choice given the golden generation didn't win a thing and the semi-final
featuring a blonde weeping on the bench but each time the Czech's played, they thoroughly
entertained.
Despite falling behind to England in one of the World Cup's highest anticipated matches, the
United States did not give up hope of coming back.
"I just felt like, ok, let's get back in the game; we don't have to get it in the next five
minutes, we just need to get back in the game and sure enough, we got right back in the game," the
midfielder explained.
It was recently announced that the United States Men's National Team has added two games to
their friendly scheduled ahead of this summer's World Cup. In addition to the already scheduled
matches against El Salvador (February 24 in Tampa) and the Netherlands (March 3 in Amsterdam), the
USA will also be taking on the Czech Republic (I still have nightmares about Jan Koller) and Turkey
(May 29 in Philly).
Turkish goalkeeper Volkan Demirel may sign for Man City for this coming Premiership season for
what some speculators are claiming may be 10 million Euros. Demirel was sent off during the recent
Euro 2008 championships against the Czech Republic for pushing over Jan Koller in the 92nd minute,
resulting in a red card.
After Germany sent the Portuguese packing in the first quarterfinal, there are seven sides left
in contention for the Euro 2008 title, and for the other nine, summer has begun. Of course, in
football circles, summer means more than just sunshine and margaritas by the pool. Summer is
transfer season, and for some of the recent dropouts from Euro 2008, the end of their tournament
means they can concentrate on getting just slightly more ridiculously wealthy.
Michael Ballack put Germany through to the quarterfinals by busting out the long lost Herr Krupp
Gun on Austria. His set piece upper-90 goal will be remembered for a long time. (Or maybe only
until Thursday when the lose to Portugal.)
Croatia continued to convince us it will surprise some teams in the knockout round.
Slowly but surely, the records are being broken. It feels as if, one by one, new legends are being
created on an almost daily basis at Euro 2008, and last night we had a new one to add to the list:
the greatest comeback by an international team in the finals of a competition. To be honest about
it all, the first seventy-five minutes of last night's match between Turkey and the Czech Republic
were fairly ordinary.
Turkey 3-2 Czech Republic
What a way to kick off the final round of group games. Turkey were on the verge of elimination,
down 2-0 with 15 minutes to go, but they put together an amazing comeback to beat the Czechs,
including two goal in the last three minutes.
It was a nervy opening to the game, with a couple Turkish players booked in the first 10 minutes.
In a tournament that is quickly becoming a classic, it will be tough to top Turkey-Czech Republic
for the best match at Euro 2008. Trailing 2-0 with 15 minutes to play, the Turks seized second
place in Group A with three goals in the final quarter hour. The Czechs had built a comfortable
lead on goals by Jan Koller in the 32nd minute and Jaroslav Plasil in the 62nd.
Turkey 3, Czech Republic 2
Switzerland 2, Portugal 0
In a tournament that is quickly becoming a classic, it will be tough to top Turkey-Czech Republic
for the best match at Euro 2008. Trailing 2-0 with 15 minutes to play, the Turks seized second
place in Group A with three goals in the final quarter hour.
Andy Gray said "This is the best I have seen seen Turkey play." Me thinks he held back
a bit. It would not have been awry if he had said that this was the best any team could have
played. In the second half the sea of red breached the white shores time and time again. The 25,000
Turkish fans raining down Turkiye Turkiye provided a lifeline to their players, and not even
Jaroslav Plaisil's goal could snuff out what now looks like destiny.
Greetings from the Stade de Geneve where Portugal and the Czech Republic are about to kick off in search of a probable place in the Euro 2008 quarter finals and bragging rights to Group A.
It has been a warm and sunny day by the Alps with both sets of colourful fans bringing the French-speaking city to life.
Czech Republic 1-0 Switzerland So, not a bad game to kick off the tournament. The Swiss may not be one of the favoured teams, but they gave a good account of themselves overall, despite the loss. The Czechs took a while to get going, and although they had more quality than their opponents, I'd say they were lucky to come away with a win, and they needed a few good saves from Petr Cech to keep them in the game.
Euro 2008 kicked off today in Basle, Swizterland. The Czech Republic faced off against the co-hosts
Switzerland. Many pundits have picked Switzerland to get out of Group A. For myself, I didn't. In
fact, the Czechs are my dark horse pick for winning it. Today, this morning for those of us in
Colorado, the Swiss showed why the pundits shouldn't have gone with them.
Czech Republic The Czechs topped their group in the qualifiers losing just once and leaving
tournament favourites Germany clinging on in 2nd (how's that work out?). With Cech between the
sticks, it's no surprise they go into the competition with one of the stingiest goals against
figures. I can't see them conceding much in the group [.
The United States plays the first of its three warm up games for the World Cup and contrary to
my belief, Coach Bob Bradley is still in a position to experiment with the team. This has both
pluses and minuses.
With only three games left it seems smarter to concentrate on team chemistry by finalizing the
roster and starting positions, so that the starting eleven can have time to play together and
gel.
San Marino vs. Czech Republic, 1315 EST
Olimpico - Serravalle
San Marino has a grand total of zero points and a goal difference of -36 in the group. In other
words, it's 'pad the stats' time for Jan Koller, Milan Baroš, Tomáš Rosický, and Stanislav
Vlček. I'm surprised Pavel Nedvěd didn't come out of retirement for this one. With Petr Čech or
even Martin Vaniak in goal and Marek Jankulovski, Tomáš Ujfaluši, and David Rozehnal among
others in front of one of them, San Marino has absolutely no chance of scoring here.
