Well. Another injury-time goal in one match. The reigning champions' journey has ended in another. Spain has confirmed their places in the quarter-finals (though they have to wait for the outcome of the Greece-Russia match which was 1-0 to Russia in the end and eventually, thus ending Greece's reign as the champions of Europe).
Guess who was the person who broke the Swedish fans' hearts. He was also the same person who scored a hat-trick against Russia. Ah yes, David Villa. In the end, 1-2 to Spain when it looked like there's still all to play for on the final group match. For a moment, I was like 'Huh?' given the goal came out like out of the blue. I had to watch the replay. It came during the injury-time! Now he has like, four goals (top scorer at the moment). Definitely a last-gasp goal as AFP has called it - Last-gasp Villa stuns Swedes. I mean, his fellow teammate Fernando Torres took Spain in the lead before Sweden's Zlatan Ibrahimovic equalised it.
So like after the Greece-Russia match, Spain had confirmed their places. The team which has my sentimental vote (for the title) are through. They will face Greece in their final match and Spain coach Luis Aragones has admitted he will make changes to his side. After the match, there has been concerns for Sweden's star striker Zlatan Ibrahimovic but Sweden coach Lars Lagerback dispelled any fears that Ibrahimovic will miss the crunch match against Russia.
"And we will not be the only ones with a big reputation to exit at the first stage. Neither France or Italy might make the quarter-finals. A miracle happened in 2004 and a miracle only comes around every 30 years. That is why we call them miracles."
That was what Greece coach Otto Rehhagel was saying after his side bowed out of the tournament as Russian beat them 1-0 (with a match to go against the already-qualified Spain). So that means now, Greece has joined the dubious honour of reigning champions who bowed out in the group stages (Czechoslovakia in 1980, Denmark in 1996 and Germany in 2000). Many probably expect the Greece-Russia encounter to be not one exciting match (given in view Greece's defensive tactics which did not earn them fans) but it turned out otherwise. Rehhagel did not went for defensive strategy this time and Russia showed they had managed to bounce back from their 4-1 defeat to Spain.
Russia coach Guus Hiddink was definitely pleased this time. After all, they still have a fighting chance of entering the quarter-finals. But there is Sweden in their way on their final group match and looking at the standings, Sweden has better goal difference. The Dutchman claimed that Russia will be outsiders by the time they meet Sweden. With his side sending Greece out of the tournament, Greece goalkeeper Antonis Nikopolidis announced that he would be retiring from international football after the match against Spain on Wednesday. And it's a decision he took a long time ago, not at the spur of the moment.
All second round of group matches have been played. All four groups have at least confirmed one representative in the quarter-finals (Portugal, Croatia, Holland, Spain). I had even noticed something similar. Except for Group A and D which saw one from each group not in the next round for sure, Group B and C has just gotten more interesting. Many had expected Croatia and Germany to advance from Group B and for Group C, France and Italy (the two World Cup finalists). Croatia did advanced, but this was after they beat Germany 2-1. France and Italy had been humbled by a resurgent Holland. Romania took away draws from the two World Cup finalists as well.
If I have to speak as a neutral, the current situation in Group C is very interesting. Romania could still advance, that is if they beat the already-qualified Holland. If either of the World Cup finalists are to advance, they have to hope Holland beat Romania. Group B is the one making me nervous. I'm torn on all accounts (football and non-football reasons) and if you need to know why - this. Damn it, I feel like vomitting now.
Onto other Euro 2008 news. The 1998 World Cup winning coach Aime Jacquet had been tracking the tournament and he has Spain as his favourites with in contrast his compatriots will have to 'battle' to survive. So maybe England, Scotland, Wales, Northern Ireland didn't qualify this time (they are part of British 'home nations') but, as according to the official UEFA website, fans from the UK are leading the way in terms of hits on the official website. The future Chelsea manager and current Portugal coach Luiz Felipe Scolari spoke on his next job for the first time yesterday and while he admitted the move was partly for financial gain, it would not distract him or his current assignment at hand (Portugal's Euro 2008 campaign, that is).
Also, there were reports that Scolari's English is not to standard. Given his situation is different from England manager Fabio Capello (the Italian only meets up with the England players on international matches while 'Big Phil' has to deal with the pressure on a weekly basis on Premier League matchdays), doubts has been raised in the English media. But for Scolari, it will not be a problem given past results and an ability to communicate with players have made coach Luiz Felipe Scolari confident about his new Premier League career with Chelsea. And have we opened a new can of worms in the tournament? Rarely we read of reports of players after the match saying that they did something during the match in order to influence the referee (half the time they will protest they didn't do it) but after the Holland-France match, Dutch defender Andre Ooijer conceded on Saturday that he had deliberately handballed a shot from Thierry Henry in their Euro 2008 Group C clash with France. He told the website of Dutch magazine Sportweek that it should definitely have been a penalty which if converted would have brought the sides level at 1-1 (but it was 4-1 in the end to the Oranje).
The man in the middle of the Austria-Poland match, referee Howard Webb has spoken on the decisions he made (which infuriated a whole lot of Poles, including Polish Prime Minister Donald Tusk) and defended his decision on the Austria penalty while admitting the Polish goal was offside. He only realised about the case about the latter when reviewing the video from the match.
Euro 2008 thought of the day: The Spanish national team's nickname is 'La Fura Roja'. Or 'The Fiery Red' in English. Seriously, their nickname is my most favourite from the tournament. Or I have another one which I always use it when watching Spain in action - Viva la Espana! Like I did yesterday when they were playing against Sweden.
Euro Golden Oldies Prove the Value of Experience (There's no substitute for experience, at least as far as the coaches are concerned at Euro 2008. White hair -- or little hair at all -- seems to be prerequisite for a place on the coaching bench.)
Suspicious Italians demand Dutch courage (Azzurri fans already think they have been robbed by the officials who allowed Ruud van Nistelrooy's goal in the 3-0 defeat by the Dutch and disallowed Luca Toni’s valid header in Friday’s 1-1 draw with Romania. Incidentally, that was played on Friday 13th and was the 13th game of the 13th European championship. But having said that, the unlucky number in Italy is actually 17…the date of the France game. All this follows years of conspiracy theories which Italians have dreamt up to explain their early exit from tournaments.)
Van Basten's 'Spanish' sorcerers give Spanish fans a dilemma (Spanish fans, expecially those who follow Real Madrid, will rejoice that David Villa's last-gasp winner against Sweden will almost certainly put off, for the time being, their having to achieve what world champions Italy and runners-up France could not. Namely, avoid getting flattened by a Dutch steamroller.)
Torres: My tournament starts now (Spain striker Fernando Torres is aware that the real challenge for Spain will begin in the quarter-finals of UEFA EURO 2008.)
Galasek the modest Czech hero (Tomas Galasek may not be as glamorous a figure as Pavel Nedved, Karel Poborsky and Milan Baros but it is in a large part down to him that the Czech Republic has enjoyed a successful past six years under coach Karel Bruckner.)
No food and crazy drivers - the perils of Euro 2008 (Reuters correspondent Mark Meadows on the disadvantages of covering the tournament)
