Spain Vs Russia

Mighty Spain toppled Russia 4-1 in Austria, with some brilliant goals n both sides.

Spain started strong, and ended the night with 4 goals, with David Villa scoring 3 in a row, 2 in the first half, the final late n the 2nd half. Russia had plenty of simple chances but failed to put any of them away. Guus Hiddink’s men clearly need some target practice, as had they put only half of them away, this could have been an upset, even with Spain’s 4 goals.

Can Spain continue this run? Only time will tell. 

Arsenal’s Fabregas scored the last goal, a marginal offside goal that was allowed in stoppage time.

Holland Vs Italy

What a game we just witnessed. Holland overpowered italy 3-0 tonight, in the best game of the tournament so far. The Netherlands started attacking, and didnt stop attacking. They might still be attacking now in their sleep.

Italy had their chances in the game but failed to make any of htem count.

The first goal scored by Ruud Van Nistelrooy was clearly offside, but was allowed by some strange officiating byt the lines man. A corner was kicked in, and after some tussling Panucci ended up behind the goal line on the floor, in a heap. Seconds later, a strong fast cross/shot came in which Ruud deflected in. At the time of the cross, Ruud was offside. According to the FIFA Laws book, the goal should not count, since the Panucci was off the field not interfering with play, and did not deliberately stay off to keep Ruud offside.

From the rule book (source):

If a defending player steps behind his own goal line in order to place an opponent in an offside position, the referee shall allow play to continue and caution the defender for deliberately leaving the field of play without the referee’s permission when the ball is next out of play.

It is not an offence in itself for a player who is in an offside position to step off the field of play to show the referee that he is not involved in active play. However, if the referee considers that he has left the field of play for tactical reasons and has gained an unfair advantage by re-entering the field of play, the player shall be cautioned for unsporting behaviour. The player needs to ask for the referee’s permission to re-enter the field of play.

Five minutes after the controversial goal, Sneijder scored a spectacular goal, from a break neck counter attack. A full volley into the goal from a Kuyt head into the box.

In the second half, the game remained at a high pace and both teams produced very good chances, but another wonderful country attack move put Holland 3-0 up, which is how it ended.

Romania Vs France

The game started slow, very slow – like a diesel engine and after it did start, it hardly went off idle till the 90th minute.

France’s typical tournament start. There was little of any attacking style of football from either side and hardly any shot on goal. The goalie’s had little to do during regulation time for the entire game.

I doubt the slow start had anything to do with Henry being sidelined with an injury, he hasn’t lit up any game since leaving Arsenal anyway.

Anelka got the first real chance in the 33rd minute with a header that went just high. The game slightly picked up after that moment with  a few open plays, but i started feeling like i wasted 45mins of my life as half time approached.

The second half started a bit better, with a bit more aggression from both sides, but then died down back to the idle murmuring of a diesel engine. 

For the entire game, France didn’t look like the power they were supposed to be, and I think it’ll be difficult to get out of this group having dropped 2 points against the supposed, easiest side in the group.

0-0.. a non event. Romania got the better point out of the two

Germany Vs Poland

Germany set the tournament on alert after it easily beat Poland 2-0 tonight. The germans looked efficient, attack minded, and well, superb. Captain Ballack keep everything under control and had a few chances himself on goal. But the day belonged to one person only, Young Lucas Podolski.

Podolski netted two easy goals, first one being setup from Klose and the 2nd a fumble from Klose which was cleanly smacked into the back of the net. Poland had little in offence, and struggled to keep Germany out of their area.

Austria Vs Croatia

Croatia came out of this game with a win that was not deserved. Croatia got a deserved penalty decision in the 4th minute which was put away. Beyond that, Croatia didn’t show much after that. Towards the end of the game, it looked certain that Austria would, and deserved a goal – but it never happened.

Portugal Vs Turkey

Portugal stamped their authority in Group A with a win against Turkey on the opening day. However, i was not too impressed by their play and it was evident to me that Portugal does have some defensive areas of weakness that could be exploited.

Both teams had their chances in the first half, and neither took them. Ronaldo’s free kick late in the half was parried away by a finger nail which was definately going to go in had it not taken that deflection.

Knowing Scolarri’s tactics, i was expecting a one nothing game, and it appeared to go that route when Pepe scored from close range after a quick one-two move. Excellent goal. There were a few chances where Turkey could have equalised, but it didnt happen and Meireles scored late in stoppage time to seal the victory.

Good win for Portugal, confidence boosting. But I’m still waiting for Ronaldo to show me that he is the best player on the planet.

Switzerland Vs Czech Republic

The Czech Republic come away from this game with a lucky win by a fumbled goal by Sverkos. Throughout most of the game, the Swiss actually looked the better side and the most probable to score, with most of the chances coming from Alex Frei. However, he suffered a knock on his knee towards the end of the first half and had to be changed out with Yakin coming in. In the 2nd half, Yakin showed us that he could score a goal, but never did.

In the 71st minute, Sverkos picked up a ball over the top, beat the offside trap and took a fumbled shot that fooled the keeper and went in.

Lucky win by Czech Republic. Swiss had plenty of opportunities but couldn’t put any of them away.

USA vs Sweden

So,

I spent the time watching the USA vs Sweden game this weekend, and enjoyed the 2-0 scoreline that the USA obtained. It was no way near a “A” friendly game, but it was nice to see the young USA talent from MLS beat up on the reserves of Sweden, which makes me think that the USA has come a long way for sure. In fact, i’d say its no longer a “long way”, but rather the norm. Sweden did beat the US last year in Sweden in a proper “A” friendly, and that was a decent result for both teams.

The crowd at the game was dismal, but thats ok, its two teams that fielded teams they’d never take to a real tournament (heh!) and it was cold by Southern California’s standards. And i do think that this crowd showing is a telling sign to USSF that Americans do get it. They want to see quality games played. The international football fans won’t show up anymore to ‘B’ class friendlies. (Although a USA v Mexico game fielded with ‘F’ class friendlies will fill any stadium)

However, one thing did irk me a bit. Landon Donovan’s record setting 35th goal for the USA, really shouldn’t have been that way. I know he admitted to that in a short interview after the game that he didn’t want his record setting goal to come from the penalty spot. So my question would be to Landon… Why take this spot kick ? I mean, if you are as good as you are, why wouldn’t you let someone like Jozy Altidore take it (considering that he won the penalty)? Wasn’t the idea of this game to help get some experience to the younger players? Why would you take a goal that will forever taint your record? If i recall correctly, the last  goals in your international career have been from Penalties. I also did a quick tally, and found that about 14 of his 35 international goals have been from friendly games. I wonder how that compares to Klinsmann’s 47 goals (in just 96 caps), of which 10 were in world cups?

Rooney and Ronaldo, following Donovan?

So,

Today’s game should have been a white wash for Chelsea. Theres really no excuse why Manchester United couldnt hit Chelsea for 6 afer the special one’s departure. And thus, i think i’ve come to a psuedo conclusion on something. I think that some talented players, fade once in a while. I dont know why it is, but it appears that they peak, and then fade. I don’t know if they fade forever downwards, or if its a phase thing with life, like a planetary alignment issue that triggers some weird neutrons in their brains.

Take, for example, Landon Donovan. FIFA Young Player winner for 2002’s world cup. He had a terrific run in that world cup, and then with the MLS in that period of time. But since then he’s gone down, and i’d say he looked like the worst USA player on the field when USA played Brazil earlier this month.

Since Landon is older than Rooney, and Ronaldo – it’s quiet possible that my theory is plausible. Maybe these two stars are fading now. If i remember correctly, my biggest hero Jurgen Klinsmann went through this patch after departing from Tottenham to go to Bayern Munich. If my memory serves me right, he faded between 97 and just before the start of the 98 world cup. Although he scored 3 goals in the 98 world cup, he was hardly stellar. And then he was gone for almost a decade, before coming back as a coach in full form. Maybe he hasnt taken a job recently due to another slump.

So, maybe thats why Ronaldo, Rooney and Donovan suck recently ? Maybe in a few years they’ll come back for a facinating season or two ?

Beckham Debut!

Well, he’s finally here – and playing. Well, sorta. He’s ankle is still a bit “damaged” and i doubt he’ll be taking part in next weeks Superliga. I think he should start helping Frank Yallop coach this sorry team, especially Landycakes. Although actually, they didnt play too badly today vs a pre-season Chelsea. 1-0 is a decent result, and the Galaxy did have quiet a few good looks at goal.

The media was frenzy around the stadium, i’ve never seen so many cameras around a substitutes bench, hounding Beckham for a snap.

But hey, its all good. David, I welcome you to the USA, i kinda know how you feel coming to this alien land not knowing anyone (well, you know a lot of celebs). It is a strange place to live coming from Europe, but you’ll get used to it.