Playing the pun that it's the final Group D matches...done and dusted. The final quarter-final spot goes to...Russia. Coach Guus Hiddink has done it again.
He had achieved with South Korea (2002 World Cup semi-finals), Australia (2006 World Cup round-of-16, and also actually ending Australia's 32 years of international exile), his native Holland (1998 World Cup semi-finals). At club level, he has done well too. The Dutchman has been nicknamed the 'miracle worker' but this is also the first time since the breakup of the former Soviet Union, the first time Russia is through to the knock-out stages of major football tournaments (the last major achievement was the 1988 final as the then-Soviet Union with a certain Marco van Basten scoring the eventual goal to give Holland the title) and the Russian media back home were delighted. This time round Hiddink's native Holland will be their quarter-final opponents (he had already said that the meeting with Holland is 'special') and given Hiddink is able to transport the famed Dutch football philosophy to his Russian squad (the highlights of the match against Sweden which was 2-0 to the Russians), it should be exciting for the neutrals. 'Total Football' has probably make his return.
Guus Hiddink has hailed Russia's streetwise football but his only gripe is that his side don't score enough. Streetwise because he said that his side were 'naive' after the 4-1 loss to Spain. This time round, Andrei Arshavin announced his return from suspension with the second goal. This is what happens when one of the national team's influential players returns from a suspension. As for Hiddink's counterpart, coach Lars Largerback admitted that the Russians were simply too good.
Some had pointed out that Sweden has one of the oldest national teams for the tournament and has whether Largerback depended a little too much on his veterans. Whatever it is, for the man who has been Sweden head coach for eight years, he has become the Swedish's press public enemy number one in the wake of the defeat. When asked about his international football future, veteran striker Henrik Larsson has no intention of retiring (he will be 37 in September).
Even with Spain's second-string of players (they have already qualified for the quarter-finals before the match against Greece), they managed to beat the Greeks 2-1 (they actually came down by a goal initially before pulling it back). So just like Holland and Croatia, they maintained a 100% record in the group stages and have the winning mentality. If they can get past their bogey team Italy in the quarter-finals, that will be something. For Greece coach Otto Rehhagel, his side were unlucky to lose against Spain.
So, the quarter-final stages has begun. Time to target the semi-finals now. It's either in or out. And there could be a possibility that the 2016 version could be enlarged from the current 16 teams. Going to be like the World Cup...eight groups of four? There are 53 member associations in Europe's governing body UEFA.
Euro 2008 thought of the day: Guess one thing is for sure after the final Group D action, never write off whenever Guus Hiddink is around. Watch out, Russia is back with Hiddink at the helm.
Unlikely ban for the mild man of German football (Joachim Loew, the mild man of German football, is the last coach you would expect to pick up a UEFA ban for blowing his top on the touchline. The unassuming 48-year-old prides himself on never criticising referees, while in public he is renowned more for his stylish dress sense than anything he has said.)
Germans incensed by another harsh penalty (To stunned Germans, it feels like an innocent bystander got whacked around for trying to help. It seems like Loew first got arrested and has now been convicted for being a Good Samaritan.)
Netherlands Should be Hailed for Playing to Win Against Romania (The Dutch had every reason to lose their final group match against Romania and only one to win -- sportsmanship. DW-WORLD's Jefferson Chase pays tribute to a side that stayed true to the spirit of fair competition.)
England's reluctant spectators ('Back home', the title of England's 1970 FIFA World Cup anthem, provides a fitting description for the nation's whereabouts at UEFA EURO 2008.)
Behind the scenes in Euro fanzone: food, security and tons of rubbish (It's past midnight, the day's matches are over, the fans have gone home and Vienna's fan mile has closed down for the night. But for the cleaners, the work day has just started. From midnight to 5:00 am every day, some 60 street cleaners comb through the 100,000-square-metre area, located right in the middle of Vienna's stunning old town, gathering up paper plates, bottles and discarded paraphernalia.)
Gattuso: It’s the team that counts (Undoubtedly one of the most recognisable figures in the Azzurri's UEFA EURO 2008 squad, Gennaro Gattuso was a starter in the opening 3-0 mauling by the Netherlands, before sitting out the 1-1 draw against Romania.)
