The final group of this summer’s tournament features the defending champions, Greece. That is pretty much it. Group D doesn’t have many flashy players or teams that will stand out among the many already mentioned. That is not to say that good soccer won’t be played. It will, but it may not draw a lot of people in.
The Greece team remains largely intact from the one that won four years ago. This should help them continue the streak of 358 minutes without allowing a goal dating back to the 2004 Euro.
Theodorus Zagaorakis, who captained an improbable run in Portigal, has retired. His departure has not completely left coach Otto Rehhagel without options. Rehhagel has a veteran goalkeeper in Antonios Nikopolidis as his first choice in net. Towering in front of Nikopolidis, Traianos Della and Sotirios Kyrgiakos will provide the size necessary to throw off opponent’s attacks.
Offensively, Greece will probably score a few goals. Angelos Basinas and Konstantinos Katsouranis have occupied their central midfield since UEFA Euro 2004. A little more forward, Georgios Karagounis and Theofanis Gekas are a real threat. Alongside a supporting cast, fans of the Greek team are thinking that they could have another run in them.
The most recent news out of Russia has centered on the UEFA Champions League Final in Moscow (2ET, ESPN2). Come June, the Russian national team will look to make a name for itself on one of the world’s biggest stages.
Four years ago, Russia failed to make it out of the group stage and finished dead last with only three points. The approach taken by Guus Hiddink for this year’s tournament revolved around youth instead of the time-tested experience. Generally, that’s a bad idea, but it had worked out so far.
Sergei Ignashevich, Vasili Berezutski and Aleksei Berezutski anchor the defense along side a busy midfield. Leading the way is 30-year old and Russia Player of the Year Konstantin Zyrianov. Despite a lack of ‘star’ players, Russia will continue its reliance on youthful exuberance for success.
My favorite team in this group is Spain. They have moments of pure brilliance and flair that echo the sentiment of soccer being the “beautiful game.” The Spanish have a very good defense with Valenica’s David Albelda control the midfield.
Enough about defense though. Jay-Z once said, “Allow me to re-introduce myself…” Fernando Torres will do just that in this tournament. Avid soccer fans know how good this young man is, but he could make a major splash in a few weeks. The Liverpool striker scored an impressive 24 goals this past season, which will more than likely continue come June.
The last team of Group D is Sweden. The one thing that Sweden has going for itself is the big MO, momentum. This tournament will be the fifth straight appearance for the Swedish team in a major tournament.
The team is very offensive minded, or “Forward-thinking,” but they are also rooted in patience, good teamwork and strong work ethic. In many regards, they are very similar to Romania.
The most refreshing thing about Sweden is that the coach doesn’t get over his head. Coach Lars Lagerback knows his team’s limitations in terms of talent. However, he feels that the continuity and settled atmosphere can help them in the tournament.
Match Schedules
2008.06.10 (18:00) Spain v. Russia
2008.06.10 (20:45) Greece v. Sweden
2008.06.14 (18:00) Sweden v. Spain
2008.06.14 (20:45) Greece v. Russia
2008.06.18 (20:45) Greece v. Spain
2008.06.18 (20:45) Russia v. Sweden
Wednesday, May 21, 2008
Wednesday, May 14, 2008
Group C
Four years ago, the United States was grouped with Italy, Ghana and the Czech Republic in the so-called “Group of Death”. The attention given to U.S. Soccer was due to a nice run they had in 2002. I’m not going to deny what happened in South Korea/Japan, but the media overrated the talent that the U.S. had in 2006. They wound up with one point and finished dead last. “Group of Death”, huh? (Insert expletive).
The real “Group of Death” is Group C in this year’s tournament, which, ironically, includes my country, Romania. When I heard of the groupings, I was—well, unpleased to say the least. You mean to tell me that I’ve had to wait eight VERY long years to watch my home country play Italy, France and the Netherlands? Is there any possible chance for a recount or reseeding of any type? Please?
Of the previous two groups I’ve previewed, none have been in any order according to euro2008.uefa.com. Group C will be in order with Romania being last. I don’t know how long it’ll be until I can write about Romania again.
First up, Les Bleus. The French team still remains one of the most dominant teams in Europe. The last image we have of France was not only a loss to Italy, but also the now infamous head-butting incident between Zinedine Zidane and Marco Materazzi. Sadly, that will be one of the world lasting images of Zidane because he has since retired.
That retirement, coupled with long-time keeper Fabian Barthez’s departure, is the only noticeable change for France. With Barthez following the footsteps of Zidane, 35-year old Gregory Coupet finally gets his shot between the posts. Fans shouldn’t worry about his age because the French defense is beyond solid. They allowed a grand total of five goals in qualifying thanks in part to the solid play of Patrick Vieira and Claude Makelele in the middle of the field.
As for the offense, it doesn’t get any better than Thierry Henry and his 44 international goals coming into 2008. As a quick side note, I still find it hard to watch Henry dressed in a Barcelona kit as opposed to his Arsenal kit. Weird. Joining Henry on the attack is Franck Ribery and Florent Malouda, who should help France score a few goals.
It is almost commonplace to find Italy part of any tournament. Whether it be a Euro tournament or World Cup, it’s very rare that the Azzurri aren’t present. The 2006 World Cup champions are confident that they can add another trophy to their already impressive collection of hardware.
The chances that Roberto Donadoni’s squad could actually qualify for this summer’s tournament got off to a slow start. They lost a 3-1 match in Paris shortly after the World Cup and drew 1-1 with Lithuania. Despite this deficiency, Italy regained its form and is looking toward June.
One of its strengths is goalkeeping. It doesn’t get much better than Gianluigi Buffon in net. That coupled with Fabio Cannavaro and Marco Materazzi playing back makes me wonder how Romania will fair against Italy.
Still no reseeding, huh?
20 years ago, the Netherlands won the Euro behind Marco van Basten’s five goals. van Basten is now in charge of one final run in this years tournament. He will step down after the Euro comes to its conclusion. If you’re a believer in numbers and things happening a certain amount of years apart, then the Netherlands could surprise a lot of people.
Manchester United keeper Edwin van der Sar is, in my opinion, the best goalie in the world. I’ve seen enough Man. U games to assess something like that. Because of his stellar play, only five goals were given up during qualifying and that allowed van Basten a lot of room to let his midfielders to roam and be creative.
This tactic is permissible because van Basten has three of the most impressive midfielders in the world. Rafael van der Vaart, Wesley Sneijder and Robin van Persie will possibly be the most important players if the Netherlands is to go through the group stage.
One thing to watch is Ruud van Nistelrooy’s chase for Patrick Kluivert’s Dutch record of 40 international goals. van Nistelrooy is 10 behind, but he has the capability to catch fire and move to the top of that list. He is perhaps the most noticeable name on the Dutch team because of his time with Manchester United from 2001-2006.
It’s a bit nerve racking to think of Romania facing the teams in this group. It’s been so long since I’ve actually seen them in action that I’m not sure what to expect. There were a few friendly games that I caught and everything looked to be in pretty good shape.
I’ve already mentioned this a few times, but it’s been 10 years since Romania has been involved in a competitive tournament. It wouldn’t surprise me to seem them full of nerves when they face France in their opening match.
Coach Victor Piturca’s tendency is attack-minded, but not to the point where it becomes reckless or detrimental. The discipline that Romania showed during qualifications allowed striker Adrian Mutu to shine. Mutu could finally become an established name if he has a tremendous Euro.
Mutu’s style is specialized in free kicks and coming on strong from the left side. Helping Mutu up front will be Ciprian Marica. Marica gets in between opponents defenses and looks to steal away goals. Both men scored 11 combined goals during qualifying.
Another thing that could help Romania is fresh legs at any given time. Piturca used 39 different players while trying to get to Austria/Switzerland. The coach said that the team doesn’t “depend upon one player or another.”
I hope that the down years for Romania allowed them to assemble a good team that can advance in not only in this tournament, but for many tournaments to come. We’re a little over three weeks away from Romania’s first game, but the tension is, as they say, palpable.
Match Schedules
2008.06.09 (18:00) Romania v. France
2008.06.09 (20:45) Netherlands v. Italy
2008.06.13 (18:00) Italy v. Romania
2008.06.13 (20:45) Netherlands v. France
2008.06.17 (20:45) Netherlands v. Romania
2008.06.17 (20:45) France v. Italy
The real “Group of Death” is Group C in this year’s tournament, which, ironically, includes my country, Romania. When I heard of the groupings, I was—well, unpleased to say the least. You mean to tell me that I’ve had to wait eight VERY long years to watch my home country play Italy, France and the Netherlands? Is there any possible chance for a recount or reseeding of any type? Please?
Of the previous two groups I’ve previewed, none have been in any order according to euro2008.uefa.com. Group C will be in order with Romania being last. I don’t know how long it’ll be until I can write about Romania again.
First up, Les Bleus. The French team still remains one of the most dominant teams in Europe. The last image we have of France was not only a loss to Italy, but also the now infamous head-butting incident between Zinedine Zidane and Marco Materazzi. Sadly, that will be one of the world lasting images of Zidane because he has since retired.
That retirement, coupled with long-time keeper Fabian Barthez’s departure, is the only noticeable change for France. With Barthez following the footsteps of Zidane, 35-year old Gregory Coupet finally gets his shot between the posts. Fans shouldn’t worry about his age because the French defense is beyond solid. They allowed a grand total of five goals in qualifying thanks in part to the solid play of Patrick Vieira and Claude Makelele in the middle of the field.
As for the offense, it doesn’t get any better than Thierry Henry and his 44 international goals coming into 2008. As a quick side note, I still find it hard to watch Henry dressed in a Barcelona kit as opposed to his Arsenal kit. Weird. Joining Henry on the attack is Franck Ribery and Florent Malouda, who should help France score a few goals.
It is almost commonplace to find Italy part of any tournament. Whether it be a Euro tournament or World Cup, it’s very rare that the Azzurri aren’t present. The 2006 World Cup champions are confident that they can add another trophy to their already impressive collection of hardware.
The chances that Roberto Donadoni’s squad could actually qualify for this summer’s tournament got off to a slow start. They lost a 3-1 match in Paris shortly after the World Cup and drew 1-1 with Lithuania. Despite this deficiency, Italy regained its form and is looking toward June.
One of its strengths is goalkeeping. It doesn’t get much better than Gianluigi Buffon in net. That coupled with Fabio Cannavaro and Marco Materazzi playing back makes me wonder how Romania will fair against Italy.
Still no reseeding, huh?
20 years ago, the Netherlands won the Euro behind Marco van Basten’s five goals. van Basten is now in charge of one final run in this years tournament. He will step down after the Euro comes to its conclusion. If you’re a believer in numbers and things happening a certain amount of years apart, then the Netherlands could surprise a lot of people.
Manchester United keeper Edwin van der Sar is, in my opinion, the best goalie in the world. I’ve seen enough Man. U games to assess something like that. Because of his stellar play, only five goals were given up during qualifying and that allowed van Basten a lot of room to let his midfielders to roam and be creative.
This tactic is permissible because van Basten has three of the most impressive midfielders in the world. Rafael van der Vaart, Wesley Sneijder and Robin van Persie will possibly be the most important players if the Netherlands is to go through the group stage.
One thing to watch is Ruud van Nistelrooy’s chase for Patrick Kluivert’s Dutch record of 40 international goals. van Nistelrooy is 10 behind, but he has the capability to catch fire and move to the top of that list. He is perhaps the most noticeable name on the Dutch team because of his time with Manchester United from 2001-2006.
It’s a bit nerve racking to think of Romania facing the teams in this group. It’s been so long since I’ve actually seen them in action that I’m not sure what to expect. There were a few friendly games that I caught and everything looked to be in pretty good shape.
I’ve already mentioned this a few times, but it’s been 10 years since Romania has been involved in a competitive tournament. It wouldn’t surprise me to seem them full of nerves when they face France in their opening match.
Coach Victor Piturca’s tendency is attack-minded, but not to the point where it becomes reckless or detrimental. The discipline that Romania showed during qualifications allowed striker Adrian Mutu to shine. Mutu could finally become an established name if he has a tremendous Euro.
Mutu’s style is specialized in free kicks and coming on strong from the left side. Helping Mutu up front will be Ciprian Marica. Marica gets in between opponents defenses and looks to steal away goals. Both men scored 11 combined goals during qualifying.
Another thing that could help Romania is fresh legs at any given time. Piturca used 39 different players while trying to get to Austria/Switzerland. The coach said that the team doesn’t “depend upon one player or another.”
I hope that the down years for Romania allowed them to assemble a good team that can advance in not only in this tournament, but for many tournaments to come. We’re a little over three weeks away from Romania’s first game, but the tension is, as they say, palpable.
Match Schedules
2008.06.09 (18:00) Romania v. France
2008.06.09 (20:45) Netherlands v. Italy
2008.06.13 (18:00) Italy v. Romania
2008.06.13 (20:45) Netherlands v. France
2008.06.17 (20:45) Netherlands v. Romania
2008.06.17 (20:45) France v. Italy
Wednesday, May 7, 2008
Group B
There are two potential tournament winners in Group B. There is nothing definitive to say that they are going to win, but Greece wasn’t supposed to do much in 2004 either. The headliner of Group B is the other half of the co-host nations, Austria.
It’s been 10 years since Austria has seen a competitive tournament. That’s the same length of time since Kerry Wood struck out 20 batters at Wrigley. Success for both soon followed. At the 1998 World Cup, Austria failed to make it out of the group stage.
The problem for Austria is the lack of offensive productivity. The inability to put the ball in the back of the onion bag (thank you, Tommy Smyth) resulted in only one win in 12 2007 matches. For any sports fan that is familiar with sports jargon and cliché phrases, Austria is in a rebuilding/retooling phase.
A possible saving grace for Austrian fans will be the defense, particularly the midfield. Young Sebastian Prödl, veteran Martin Stranzl and Emanuel Pogatetz are a solid presence in either a 4-4-2 or 4-5-1 formation.
The team expected to win the group, Germany, is essentially the same team that everyone saw at the 2006 World Cup. The lone exception is the man calling the shots. Joachim Low took over for Jurgen Klinsmann after Klinsmann resigned in July 2006. Many recall the brief flirtation and rumors surrounding the United States and Klinsmann about filling their vacant coaching position.
It’s this consistency that has Germany thinking toward late-June when they could possibly hoist the winners’ trophy. Among the returning favorites, Torsten Frings, Bernd Schneider and Michael Ballack are among fan favorites returning.
The formation that Low will use seems to favor a 4-4-2 alignment that will force the issue and attempt to put a few goals in the net a game. If the name Miroslav Klose doesn’t ring a bell, and I’m sure it doesn’t resonate, it will. He is one of the strikers that Germany will count on for offense. The second striker battle will come down to Kevin Kuranyi, 2007 German Player of the Year Mario Gómez, or Lukas Podolsk.
While Germany may be considered the favorite, Croatia is the upstart. They’re young, talented and at some point you have to figure that they won’t surprise a lot of people. Much like Austria, the Croatians haven’t done a whole lot since finishing third at the 1998 World Cup.
Slaven Bilic’s squad qualified for this year’s tournament by winning its group during qualification. There is a ton of experience on the back line with Robert Kovac, Dario Simic in the middle, Vedran Corluka at left-back and Josip Simunic on the right.
A player to keep an eye out for is Darijo Srna. The 26-year old has often been labeld “Europe’s Beckham” because of his ability to score from free kicks (Hello ‘Bend it Like Beckham') and the precision passes that set up his teammates.
The potential for a feel good story comes from the Polish team. I have to reference Greece again because of the improbable run and eventual championship that they pulled off in 2004. New coach Leo Beenhakker took over the job after leaving Trinidad & Tobago and quickly questioned the move.
Retirement of Mirosław Szymkowiak and uneasiness around team didn’t exactly inspire confidence. The result? They beat out Portugal for the top spot in their qualifying group. Not bad for a team that didn’t make it out of the group stage in the 2006 World Cup and wasn’t expected to do much in terms of making the UEFA EURO 2008 tournament.
"This is definitely one of the biggest successes of my career," said Leo Beenhakker after leading Poland to UEFA EURO 2008. We’ll see how far this new turnaround can last when play begins in June.
Match Schedules
2008.06.08 (18:00) Austria v. Croatia
2008.06.08 (20:45) Germany v. Poland
2008.06.12 (18:00) Croatia v. Germany
2008.06.12 (20:45) Austria v. Poland
2008.06.16 (20:45) Poland v. Croatia
2008.06.16 (20:45) Austria v. Germany
It’s been 10 years since Austria has seen a competitive tournament. That’s the same length of time since Kerry Wood struck out 20 batters at Wrigley. Success for both soon followed. At the 1998 World Cup, Austria failed to make it out of the group stage.
The problem for Austria is the lack of offensive productivity. The inability to put the ball in the back of the onion bag (thank you, Tommy Smyth) resulted in only one win in 12 2007 matches. For any sports fan that is familiar with sports jargon and cliché phrases, Austria is in a rebuilding/retooling phase.
A possible saving grace for Austrian fans will be the defense, particularly the midfield. Young Sebastian Prödl, veteran Martin Stranzl and Emanuel Pogatetz are a solid presence in either a 4-4-2 or 4-5-1 formation.
The team expected to win the group, Germany, is essentially the same team that everyone saw at the 2006 World Cup. The lone exception is the man calling the shots. Joachim Low took over for Jurgen Klinsmann after Klinsmann resigned in July 2006. Many recall the brief flirtation and rumors surrounding the United States and Klinsmann about filling their vacant coaching position.
It’s this consistency that has Germany thinking toward late-June when they could possibly hoist the winners’ trophy. Among the returning favorites, Torsten Frings, Bernd Schneider and Michael Ballack are among fan favorites returning.
The formation that Low will use seems to favor a 4-4-2 alignment that will force the issue and attempt to put a few goals in the net a game. If the name Miroslav Klose doesn’t ring a bell, and I’m sure it doesn’t resonate, it will. He is one of the strikers that Germany will count on for offense. The second striker battle will come down to Kevin Kuranyi, 2007 German Player of the Year Mario Gómez, or Lukas Podolsk.
While Germany may be considered the favorite, Croatia is the upstart. They’re young, talented and at some point you have to figure that they won’t surprise a lot of people. Much like Austria, the Croatians haven’t done a whole lot since finishing third at the 1998 World Cup.
Slaven Bilic’s squad qualified for this year’s tournament by winning its group during qualification. There is a ton of experience on the back line with Robert Kovac, Dario Simic in the middle, Vedran Corluka at left-back and Josip Simunic on the right.
A player to keep an eye out for is Darijo Srna. The 26-year old has often been labeld “Europe’s Beckham” because of his ability to score from free kicks (Hello ‘Bend it Like Beckham') and the precision passes that set up his teammates.
The potential for a feel good story comes from the Polish team. I have to reference Greece again because of the improbable run and eventual championship that they pulled off in 2004. New coach Leo Beenhakker took over the job after leaving Trinidad & Tobago and quickly questioned the move.
Retirement of Mirosław Szymkowiak and uneasiness around team didn’t exactly inspire confidence. The result? They beat out Portugal for the top spot in their qualifying group. Not bad for a team that didn’t make it out of the group stage in the 2006 World Cup and wasn’t expected to do much in terms of making the UEFA EURO 2008 tournament.
"This is definitely one of the biggest successes of my career," said Leo Beenhakker after leading Poland to UEFA EURO 2008. We’ll see how far this new turnaround can last when play begins in June.
Match Schedules
2008.06.08 (18:00) Austria v. Croatia
2008.06.08 (20:45) Germany v. Poland
2008.06.12 (18:00) Croatia v. Germany
2008.06.12 (20:45) Austria v. Poland
2008.06.16 (20:45) Poland v. Croatia
2008.06.16 (20:45) Austria v. Germany
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