All Hail El Furia Roja

El Nino

Finally Euro 2008 has come to an end. The great Spanish drought is over. The long wait of 44 years has come to an end. They have comprehensively beaten all that have come their way , be it the world champions Italy , the spirited Russia or the gritty Germans. Now Mr.Luis Aragones can smile [I too as a spanish supporter :)] as his tag of the under achievers is gone.

It was a fitting end to the tournament for the Spaniards , though only a 1-0 score line in the end. And who else but El Nino score the winner. Throughout the early stages he was under the shadow of David Villa but he had the last smile scoring the winner in the final. The Spanish formation of 4-5-1 was found too hard to contain by all the teams. Cesc Fabregas , Xavi Hernandez, David SIlva , Marcos Senna and Andres Iniesta formed a deadly combination and were off target only against Italy. Yet otherwise no one had an answer to this awesome five. Also having Sergio Ramos and Capedevila as wing backs further strengthend the attack. Credit must also be given to Carlos Puyol and Marchena who had the defence under control. And well the best of the lot Iker Casillas who not only saved the 2 penalties against Italy but made a number of spectacular saves. He conceeded just 2 goals in the tournament.

Germany, who were through out the tournament highly erratic, had an off day. They were consistently off the mark and their defence was always under pressure. Michael Ballack will return home again without the winners medal , something which has been eluding him for quite some time now. Despite the failure of some highly rated players , this Euro has had its share of surprises and shocks and also rise of new stars.

Now on the longer perspective , this Spanish team is a very young side who can be a major force by 2010. Italy , France will have to regroup quickly since they have had some retirements. And finally we will have to wait and watch if teams like Russia will remain as One Tournament Wonder or will they become a feared force. So now its time to celebrate and enjoy with Spain. Its been a truly wonderful and colourful tournament. All hail El Furia Roja!!!

Euro Top Ten

The Indomitable Russian

Euro 2008 has been a thrilling one so far. The quarter finals have all concluded. Germany,Spain,Turkey and Russia have made the cut. Lets look at the 10 players who have made an impact in this tournament so far.

1)David Villa:-Started of brilliantly with a hattrick against Russians and scored the winner against Sweden. Has been the striker of the tournament so far.
2)Andrey Arshavin:-He started the tournament late due to suspension but since then he has been unstoppable. Winning the Man of the Match awards in both his games, he has done everything,scoring goals,setting up his team mates. Probably the best player in the tournament till now.
3)Bastian Schweinsteiger:-He brought about the spring in the steps of German players. Having been a substitute in group games,he responded well and was rewarded with a place in starting XI against Portugal. Easily the best player in the match scoring one and setting up another.
4)Iker Casillas:-The backbone of Spanish team. Has showcased strong performances and was the hero in the match against Italy. The best goalkeeper of the tournament.
5)Roman Pavlyuchenko:- The lone striker of Russian team.Got his chance due to injury to first choice striker. Has repaid the faith shown by his coach , by scoring 3 goals in 4 games.
6)Nihat Kahveci:-Showed why he is regarded as a dangerous striker by scoring 2 goals in 15 minutes against Czech to take his team to quarter final. Played his part in quarter final also.But will miss out the semi final clash due to injury.
7)Wesley Sneijder:-Scored 2 brilliant goals in the group stage against Italy and France. Was the controller for Netherlands in midfield. But failed in the match against Russia.
8)Cesc Fabregas:-This cheeky mid fielder has been wonderful coming in as substitute and supporting his striker.Scored one against Russia and the winning penalty against Italy. He is proved his value when some felt he would not be able to play in this team having many world class mid fielders.
9)Gianluigi Buffon:-The best Italian player of the tournament. Saved a crucial penalty by Mutu and made many saves,which kept their tournament alive.But could not produce the same against Spain.
10)Lucas Podolski:-He has been the goal scorer for Germany,scoring 3 in 4 games. But he has been under injury concern before the quarter finals. He is now back strong and the Turkish players will have to be wary of him.

The defense of most of the teams have rather been team effort. So my list does not feature any defender.

So far...So good...

The group stage of Euro 2008 has concluded. Holland,Spain and Croatia have been phenomenal. Specially Holland,which was grouped with Italy,France and Romania. They thrashed Italy and France , something which was least expected. Croatia too caused an upset when they defeated Germany. Spain as expected cleaned up all the teams in their group. Portugal also played well with Ronaldo,Deco and Simao in great form. Germany were scratchy but were lucky to be grouped with Austria and Poland. Italy may well have been out, but thanks to Buffon who saved a penalty by Mutu, they finished of their campaign defeating France 2-0 to qualify for the next round.Turkey came back strongly from 2 goals down, to win 3-2 against Czechs who were let down by a rare mistake from Peter Cech. Russia too came back after their ransacking by Spain to win last 2 games and reach the quarter finals.The worst performance was from France scoring just 1 goal and losing 2 games. They were expected to easily make the cut from their group. Switzerland,Sweden were outplayed by lesser known teams. Greece were just a shadow of the team which won the last Euro.Austria,Poland and Romania had nothing much to cheer about. They played their part as minnows very well.
David Villa has been the striker in form, scoring a hatrick in his first,and the winner in his second. Wesley Sneijder has been in great form scoring 2 spectacular goals. Podolski has shown why he is regarded as a very dangerous striker.
The quarter finals start today. Spain have the toughest game ahead,against Italy. This will their real test. Germany also face a tough opponent , Portugal.This would be really interesting. Holland play Russia and Croatia play Turkey,both could be as much tricky as it could be one sided. So lets wait and watch who will be crowned the Champions of Europe.

Ho|_|_@Nd RockZZZZZ

Euro 2008 began with a bang for the Netherlands.....Italy the world champions were humbled by these orange guyzz.....well 3-0 sayz a sad story for the Azzuris but the game was actually close...
The first goal by Ruud VanNistelrooy was a superb piece of refreeing......It might seem a clear off side...But the point to be noted is that he was played onside by Panucci who was lying injured.....the rule book sayz this is a possible case.....(Controversies Apart)
Sneijder then had the game in their hands with a brilliant volley.....It was a very tough angle....but he made it look so easy......(Comparisons with VanBasten's famous volley)
Italy then attacked relentlessly but Edwin VanDersar was not to be beaten....Infact Pirlo was left open mouthed after his free kick was saved by Vandersar.....
And finally adding fuel to fire was Gioz header......
Its said well begun is half done...But not in this group of death...
Lets wait n watch till where these guys reach....Its been Long since Holland has had an international succes....maybe this is their year...!!!!!!

C'est la vie.....So close yet so far.....

As I write this the much awaited UEFA Champions League Final is over and the Red Devils are on cloud nine....the expression across the countenance of John Terry tells the story for the blues...its been a long night....and its all over for Chelsea...two runners up title this season....
Considering the historical aspect....this year is the 50th anniversary of the munich tragedy which killed 8 ManUtd players...a source of inspiration for the players...(may be there should have been something to remember for the blues too!!!!)
The match was well competed....the first half saw the goals....ronaldo scoring first and the lampard equalising before the half...The second half saw the blues playing at their best and were unlucky twice to hit the wood work.....Finally they met with their end in penalties......with a little more luck the story could have been different.....may be the russian tycoon would have had something more to say about his team other than the money he spends......But this will definitely go down as one of the best seasons of soccer the english have witnessed....