Heck, I was out yesterday night and came about like an hour or so before midnight. That means when I returned, a quick update from where I left off. Euro 2008 news of interest.
Italy may be out (hey, it's a fact...not that I want to rub salt into wounds), but at least there will be an Italian in the final in the form of referee Roberto Rosetti who will take charge the final in Vienna. Rossetti also refereed the opening match between Switzerland and the Czech Republic as well. The day before, Austria coach Josef Hickersberger announced his retirement from the position in a newspaper interview. The day after which was yesterday, he revealed that the failure to qualify for the knock-out stages persuaded him to step down. Hickersberger who is into his second stint, is 60 this year.
So...wow. The players on the Croatia national team will get a 6.25 million-euro (9.7 million-dollar) bonus for reaching the Euro 2008 quarter-finals. Depending on the number of matches played and time on the field, each player will get up to 300,000 euros (465,000 dollars), the same sum that will be given to coach Slaven Bilic. The chairman of the European Club Association Karl-Heinze Rummenigge (yes, he is also the Bayern Munich chairman) is in Vienna and spoke to reporters on a whole host of issues and with the quality of Euro 2008, he see no need for the '6+5' rule in place. He is aware that while it would pose a headache for top-flight clubs like Manchester United, Inter Milan, smaller countries benefit from being able to nurture their talent in the top-flight leagues. The search to replace Karel Brueckner (given he had said before the tournament that he will step down as being the national coach of the Czech Republic) will be delayed until mid-July.
Before it's news relating to the national teams still left standing in the tournament (team news and such, all on the match previews), how Reuters look back and look ahead of the tournament. Oh yes, as part of the Unite Against Racism campaign with Football Against Racism in Europe (FARE) network in partnership with UEFA and players' organisation FIFPro, the national team captains of the Euro 2008 semi-finalists will read out messages against racism ahead of their matches.
First with what is going to happen ahead of the semi-final between Germany and Turkey. It's more than just a football match. Relations between the two nations and their people do go a way, way back...off the pitch, I mean. The AFP feature on the ties that bind both nations but with both sides knowing where their loyalties lie come the match in Basel is a good place to start on the relations. I rather don't go into politics, but just talking about what unites the two nations together (given again, since the day I was born, I grew up in a multi-racial, multi-cultural society and I am happy of it as variety is the spice of life). The day before, the one-time Fenerbahce, Adanaspor and now Germany coach Joachim Loew remembered the days when he was coaching in Turkey (it was still in the early years of his coaching career when he was the coach of Turkish giants Fenerbahce) and how it left a lasting impression on him. I almost got choked up reading what he said - "They are warm people, even those who were not the richest or who knew me only from seeing me on television would invite my family and I for dinner. Wherever I went, I was welcomed with open arms." It's stuff like these which always made me realised that personal experiences always far outweigh what we always read in the news.
Like my memories of my China trip last year...I was simply there because of searching my own roots. Searching my Chinese roots for the first real time. And it reminded me again that if not for my grandparents who left the country in search of a better life, I will not be here today. I didn't let politics influenced my thinking when I was in China (or I used to say to myself, the land of my grandparents). I am just a Singaporean who has Chinese ancestry.
Crap. Back to reality. So the match between Germany and Turkey...with police and community officials predicting will see frenetic but peaceful sporting rivalry across Germany. Expect about half a million football fans expected to descend on the Brandenburg Gate in Berlin (the iconic landmark the Brandeburg Gate was at the heart of the 'Fan Mile' during Germany's extremely successful hosting of the 2006 World Cup finals). Hang on, even the foreign ministers of both Germany and Turkey (Frank-Walter Steinmeier and Ali Babacan were originally in Berlin on an international conference on boosting security in the Palestinian territories and on the sidelines, jokingly discuss the match which their respective countries are going to play in Basel) are getting in the act too! With also the the two largest circulation German and Turkish newspapers Bild and Hurriyet made a joint appeal in their editions to appear Wednesday to celebrate together in a spirit of friendship, win or lose. The Prime Minister of Turkey Recep Tayyip Erdogan has called on his countrymen to refrain from firing celebratory shots into the air should their side defeat Germany.
As for ahead of Spain versus Russia, after Spainish King Juan Carlos and Queen Sofia were in Vienna to watch their boys up against Italy in Vienna during the quarter-finals, heir Prince Felipe and Princess Letizia will watch the semi-final match against Russia in Vienna. And speaking of royalty, I remembered reading somewhere that Spain coach Luis Aragones had said that he already knew the current king when he was still a prince and the Spanish media confirmed that because Aragones greeted King Juan Carlos like an old friend following his team's quarter-final shootout success over Italy. We do have famous people outside of football who do like their football and one of those (I had known it for a while now) is Spain's current best tennis player at the moment Rafael Nadal (who is at the Wimbledon this week) and he want the Wimbledon organisers to give him an early start for his second round match on Thursday so he can cheer on Spain in their Euro 2008 semi-final. And someone is clearly a romatic ahead of the match...the referee for the match, Belgium's Frank De Bleeckere (his wife will back home watching the match and her husband do send coded messages through the TV screen...that is if the cameras are aiming at him).
Euro 2008 thought of the day: I'm stressed. That is all. Over the Germany-Turkey match.
Germany vs. Turkey: Germany's "two" football teams face off (Football-crazy Germany is lapping up this month's European Championships but with a three-million Turkish minority, the country, it seems, has two national teams—who face off on Wednesday. And suspense is building. Germany and Turkey have ne€ver played each other in the quarter-finals of a major international football championships, let alone clashed for a place in the final of one as they will this week. From Moenchengladbach to Munich and Braunschweig to Bonn, cars, buildings and people are festooned not only with the German black, gold and red but also with the Turkish crescent and star.)
Time for change in Italy after Euro flop (It may be two years too late but the feeling that Italy need a revolution rather than an evolution has possibly never been greater. When Italy and France lined up at the World Cup final in Berlin two years ago both teams had essentially reached the end of the line.)
Oops! Wrong stereotype (Uli Hesse-Lichtenberger on how multiculturalism could end football's stereotypes.)
Hiddink's sleeping Russian giant Pavlyuchenko awakes (Russia striker Roman Pavlyuchenko has woken from a footballing slumber to score three times and become one of the Euro 2008 semi-finalists' best assets. Described as a "sleeping giant" by coach Guus Hiddink, who told him to wake up and get fit or risk missing the finals, the promising but sometimes frustrating 26-year-old has clearly been aroused by that alarm bell.)
Podolski spark is lighting up Germany again (Lukas Podolski has put two frustrating years behind him to lead Germany to the semi-finals of Euro 2008 and prove his best young player award at the last World Cup was a promise of more to come. Podolski, a centre forward by trade, lost his place in the team to Mario Gomez before the tournament but has reinvented himself as a midfielder to great effect, scoring three times and playing a key role in the quarter-final win over Portugal.)
Arshavin’s Euro debut mirrors Pele ‘58 (But consider this: The Russian star’s goals and imaginative play have helped underdog Russia reach the semifinal of the European Championship even though he missed the first two games. Fifty years ago this month, a certain 17-year-old Brazilian went to the 1958 World Cup and didn’t play the first two matches either. Then Pele launched his international career in the next game against the Soviet Union and went on to score six goals, including two in the final, on the way to Brazil’s first of five World Cup triumphs.)
On the margin but in the headlines - team player Cesc (He is regarded as one of the world's most talented playmakers. Yet unfortunately for Cesc Fabregas his country Spain have an abundance of them and he must therefore await his chance from the bench as the Furia Roja look to beat Russia on Thursday to reach the final of Euro 2008. Cesc says that's fine by him - as long as he preferably gets at least a taste of the action.)
Turkish supersub Semih ready to take centre stage (Semih Senturk has scored both his Euro 2008 goals after coming off the bench but the Turkey forward has no qualms about starting Wednesday's Euro 2008 semi-final against Germany.)
