Euro 2008 Day 19 (Final): A win well deserved

The days leading up to the final kick off of this Euro were obviously dominated by news surrounding the German team and the big shock came on yesterday afternoon. German captain Michael Ballack seems to have injured his calf muscle (strained or something like that) and now the whole country seems to wait for news on if he will be able to participate in the final tonight. This somehow feels like when everybody was waiting for some word out of Vatican city when John Paul II. was acing death.
Ballack had injured his calf before the 2006 World Cup which caused him to miss the opening match against Costa Rica, leading to headlines about "the calf of the nation" in the tabloids. The tragic lies in the fact that Ballack never won a big final throughout his career. In 2002 he was taking a shot at three titles with his club Bayer Leverkusen, blowing all three chances by losing the national championship on the last matchday (a 2-2 draw at Unterhaching with an own goal by Ballack), losing the national cup final in Berlin against Schalke 04 and losing the Uefa Champions League final in Glasgow against Real Madrid. He has won some titles during his stint with Bayern Munich, but the big European/International title is still missing in his collection.
Another traumatic memory might be missing the World Cup final in 2002 after recieving a yellow card in the semifinal clash with South Korea (Germany would eventually lose the final 0-2 against Brazil after a horrendous error by goalkeeper Oliver Kahn).
So with Ballack being in the prime of his career right now he desperately seeks this one title which will define whether he was a good or a great player.
If he really has to pull out there's numerous options and those are all discussed by the 82 mio coaches around the country. How about substituting him with Tim Borowski, who has always been labelled a "Mini-Ballack". Or what about changing the system back to a 4-4-2 with Bastian Schweinsteiger as the setup man for the strikers in centre.
What most people seem to forget is that Germany are facing the most complete team of the whole tournament. I haven't seen a match by Spain so far in which they didn't
look like they were in complete control. In Germany everyone seems to think that because Spain are favourites Germany will be able to upgrade their game considerably easy, just as they did against Portugal. And because they are missing David Villa up front the German defense won't be dealing with a huge threat. This completely disregards the fact that Spain played most of their games before the tournament with a 4-1-4-1 system, the same one they played in their awesome second half against Russia.
Well, we just have to wait and see, don't we?

Germany vs Spain 0-1 (Final)
There we have it, Spain - after 44 years without a title - won the final of this year's Euro championship and they well deserved it. Germany only had 10 to 15 minutes in which they were able to compete at the same level and then Spain took them apart completely. Even if I was rooting for Germany I still like to watch the Spanish game with balls reaching their destination at pinpoint accuracy. Does this team have any flaws at all? The goalkeeper is extraorinary, the defense is solid, the midfield is just pure magic and the striker is brilliant. And the best thing is, they are all still very very very young. This team could win it all over the next few years. Their only problem ist they have to do it without their coach and "grandfather" Luis Aragones. he will resign and head for Turkey to coach a club in Istanbul (which one of the three big names simply escapes me at the moment. It could be Galatasaray).
As I said, Germany never stood a chance. People will now question the decision to let Ballack play, they will debate if it was okay to start the match with only one striker instead of two, but in the end I don't think it would have made any difference.
After the game me and a friend took a walk towards the inner city of Cologne and while we were on our way we were passed by lots of cars with German flags. It seemed that because the Spanish victory was so clear everybody thought they might as well just celebrate the 2nd place for the German team. It was nice to see German and Spanish fans dance through the night.

All in all this was a whole new level from what we had seen two years ago at the World Cup. While defense was the main concept back then this year it was all about attack. Teams like The Netherlands or Russia were wonderful to watch and the best team of all - Spain - took the cup home. This will be a memorable experience!

Top 14 Rugby Final: ASM Clermont Auvergne vs Stade Toulousain

One of the greatest rivalries in French sports might well be the one between ASM Clermont Auvergne and Stade Toulousian. Clermont-Ferrand, a small town in the Auvergne region has never won one national championship in the club history and to make matters worse they have lost a lot of finals against their arch rivals from Toulouse. They have reached the finals eight times and I was lucky enough to be in Clermont in 2001 when they played their semifinal match. At that time my sister was studying in the town and me and my mother were visiting her. While we were walking through in inner city in the evening after dinner we were wondering why all the streets were deserted. My sister explained then, that everybody was watching the semifinal. When the match ended the whole town erupted into one huge party and people were running around in yellow and blue, the club's colours.
Now, while they haven't won a national championship ASM Clermont Auvergne have made a name for themselves in European club competition, winning the European Challenge Cup twice (1999, 2007). Stade Toulousain meanwhile represent the top class of French rugby. Along with Stade Français they dominated the French Top 14 League.
So tonight's final saw Clermont and Toulouse face each other once again and with the ongoing professionalism in rugby that match featured a lot of top class players. Clermont had French international winger Aurelian Rougerie, Napolioni Vonowale Nalaga from Fiji or World Cup John Smit from South Africa, although the latter sat on the bench at the start of the game. Toulouse featured Cédric Heymans, Yannick Jauzion, Jean-Baptiste Élissalde from the French national squad, Tongan No.8 Finau Maka or All Black Byron Kelleher. All that class put on some brilliant passing performances on the pitch as well as some tight defending. The first half ended in a draw (10-10) and after the restart both teams had huge chances, but it was Toulouse who broke open the tie with a penalty and a try after almost one hour (10-20). Clermont desperately tried to claw their way back into the game and after a penalty they were in stricking distance once again (13-20), but some poor defending led to yet another Toulouse penalty (10-23) and this buried Clermont's dreams of the title once and for all again. Their quest will continue and so will Toulouse remain their nemesis for another year. The final score was 20-26 after another penalty converted by Toulouse in the final minute and a try by Clermont with the final whistle. It was those two penalties that cost them.

It has to be noted that All Black Daniel Carter, who probably is the world's best fly-half at the moment, will transfer to France for the next season where he will play for USA Perpignan. This alone will make the club a contender for the title.

Deny Everything @ Bauwagenplatz, Cologne

It has been quite some time since I have been to two shows in one week and it has been even longer since I have seen two very good shows in just a few days. First there was the wonderful evening with our Greek friends from Düsseldorf at the "Sonic Ballroom" and then on Friday Troisdorf's best dancers Deny Everything were celebrating the release of their new 7" EP "Speaking Treason" (YoYo Rec.) with a concert at the "Bauwagenplatz".
It's always quite a gamble with shows at this location, you just never know what will happen. I'v seen some very boring stuff there, I've seen shows which were stopped because somebody felt discriminated, I've seen legendary performances by bands like Yage or Hanns Martin Slayer. And Deny Everything's performance will live on with the better ones'. The evening was perfect to hang around at the area which is covered by the "Bauwagenplatz" with all its caravans. The Sunshine Bar Building seems to have been renovated since the bar area now is a lot bigger (which led to the service being much quicker than before, at least that's how it felt for me). First up was some band whose name escapes me, but they didn't sound that good anyway. Typical punkrock with German lyrics, nothing special really. Just ordinary and so not worth mentioning at all.
The complete opposite can be said of Deny Everything. Although one can argue that it might be a little retarded to name a band after a song by the Circle Jerks, but they just know how to create a wonderful atmosphere for a hardcore show. This was what it is supposed to be. People were having fun without kicking each other's heads in. There was a mosh pit, there was a circle pit, but everybody was looking out for each other. Truly positive atmosphere there. The audience was having fun, the band was having a lot of fun, the music was brilliant and when it all ended shortly before midnight everybody left with a smile on their faces, something I hadn't experienced in a long time. In fact the last time I witnessed a positive hardcore show like this one was alomost 14 years ago when Black Train Jack played at the "BüZe" in Cologne-Ehrenfeld. Which reminds me that I should write something about the fabulous Black Train Jack records some time soon.
But coming back to Deny Everything, this is really proof for hardcore coming back to Cologne. With bands like them, Cobretti (who will release their album soon), Kingdom and so on, with concert groups like Hit & Run, there is a lively scene that slowly brings back what was going on around here 15 years ago. What's even more fun is to recognize that this "scene" is highly entertaining on the one hand but also aware of politics and actions. So it's not like the divisions which took place during the late 90s anymore and that's very nice to see.

Euro 2008 Day 18 (Seminfinal 2): Royal performance by Spain

The most important thing about last night's game is that it seems that everything stayed quiet all through the night. Although there some scuffles here and there it looks like the Turkish and the German fans celebrated together. In Cologne a group of stupid hoolings wanted to start a riot at some bar in the inner city but that was surpressed by the police quickly and so everything stayed calm. After all the rave and hype that preceeded the match it is relieving to see that nothing happened. Turkey was the better team after all and Germany did what they are known for: never give up. This is what most of the European newspapers lined out that germany are the team to beat. Although I hate to look back at times when a German team played horribly but still won this team looks a little different. At least they have to potential to put up something outrageous. When coach Jogi Löw points out that the team who will take the field on Sunday will definetely look different everybody will believe him. The problem is that no one knows what the team will look like. Will the put up a stellar performance as they did against Portugal. Or will they play like in the match against Croatia. No one knows and so it is anybody's guess how they will perform in the final on Sunday.

Russia vs Spain 0-3 (Semifinal 2)
Brilliant stuff by Spain. With tonight's performance they simply outclassed Russia. The first half didn't look like it was able to hold up to the promised fanfare everybody was waiting for. This might have been due to the weather with the heavy rain pouring down on the players and somehow Russia looked a little more convincing than Spain then. But after the break the tables had turned and when Xavi broke it open with his goal the floodgates were open for good. Spain was playing like a true champion and I always find it amazing how this young team can dominate an opponent. Everybody was expecting Russia to look way different from what they had shown in the group match, but it turned out to be a copy of what we had seen a few weeks ago. Russia tried to hold up with what Spain was playing and in the end they failed to deliver. Even when top scorer David Villa had to leave the pitch with and injury they were still combining in midfield and looking for a way to put the ball to their lone striker Fernando Torres.
This will be a tough task for Germany on Sunday. Spain looked hungry, Germany looked tired and worn out. If they pull themselves together Germany might come through but I have my doubts about the German defense trying to stop the Spanish short-pass game in front of the penalty box.

Euro 2008 Day 17(Semifinal 1): Blackouts, Comebacks and the effect of the "22 men play football and Germany always win" rule

This game is so big, it even made the headlines in the USA (New York Times article). I failed to grasp any excitement on the street today although there were quite a few people dressed in jerseys of either Germany or Turkey. The radio was reporting about the game the whole day, all of Germany's newspapers were writing about it, I guess the TV was all over it as well. This will be huge. I wonder if there is a single person out on the street tonight. I would really like to see this, but I won't be leaving my place in front of my television set.

Germany vs Turkey 3-2 (Semifinal 1)
Hilarious, ridiculous, absolutely not from this world. What a game, what a chaos. Let's wrap things up a little bit.
Germany started poorly, absolutely no self-confidence, this was a huge step back from the boost they had against Portugal. Turkey was in complete control and it was only fitting they went ahead 1-0 after some chaos in the German defense. Philipp Lahm, who played a poor game most of the time, was outplayed on the Turkish wing, the header or shot hit the crossbar and then Ugur made a complete fool out of Arne Friederich and Jens Lehmann, the latter looking like a clown trying to catch a hot kettle. But Germany responded quickly. Bastian Schweinsteiger seems to have found his groove and he was responsible for the equalizer only 4 minutes later. With this - and a bloody fight head on between Sabri and Simon Rolfes as well as a highly disputed tackle against Lahm in the Turkish penalty box - the game went into the half time break.
And while the action on the pitch was mostly not worth mentioning for most of the second half the off pitch action was hilarious. Numerous blackouts, both on TV and radio caused by a thunderstorm over Vienna where the media centre is located, turned this into a guessing game. When the picture came back the second time it was just right in time for Germany's second goal, a header by Klose and some really poor goalkeeping by Rüstü. But the Turkish team hadn't earned their reputation as Europe's comeback kids for nothing. They equalized only 8 minutes later with a goal by Semih after a wonderful cross by Sabri, who made Lahm look like a schoolboy on the right side. Speaking about Philipp Lahm, he had his moment in the last minute of offical play when he scored the winning goal after a brilliant one-two pass on the right side. This will send this country into a huge party and I hope that both of the supporters will join into one huge festival of football. Turkey has every reasion to hold their heads up high as they have been the better team over most of the match. Had they won this no one in the German team would have had the right to complain.

It was interesting to watch this at home again as the reactions in the apartments all around my flat could be heard very clearly. In the first half the cheers were a little surpressed and with every blackout the moaning and cursing got louder. When the 3-2 was scored a huge roar erupted which almost sounded like a stadium cheering for their home team. This wasn't the high class football displayed by teams like Russia, Spain or The Netherlands, this was the meeting of two teams who had shown enormous willpower in the tournament. Not a beautiful sight, but exciting nonetheless.

Great comment on the BBC's live blogging site (found on allesaussersport.de):
"If there’s one team that knows more about winning a match in the last minute than Turkey, it’s Germany. Master v apprentice."
That sums it up brilliantly.

Free Yourself @ Sonic Ballroom, Cologne

This one almost slipped away under my radar as I only took notice of it when I was reading a newspaper supplement at my parents' house over the weekend. Free Yourself have always been a band who I hold very dear. I can't quite remember how we met but the boys have been so kind to me to let me accompany them all across Germany when they played shows over the weekend at the end of the 1990s. They were always featured in Düsseldorf's Blurr Magazine and that's where I heard about their 7" first. I got a hold of a copy at a show in Cologne. I believe Snuff and Kick Joneses were playing at the Rhenania and Milto had set up his small table with a few copies of Blurr magazines and some records, one of them being Free Yourself's debut single. I think I bought all three Blurr Rec. products that evening and I also remember I had to leave early because I was still going to school in 1995. But the 7" completely blasted me away. Four great tracks with music I never heard before. I was so happy to ctach a glimpse of a live set at the first annual Fanzine meeting in Neuss where they played a few songs after they won the football tournament there. Good memories.
Over time we became friends and I started to join some of their weekend tours. The best one would be the trip to Minden and Bremen where they played with Winnipeg's finest Painted Thin in 1997. The three day trip with Greece's Stateless In The Universe (1999) was also a memorable one. The highlight came when A Modest Proposal were asked to join a four day tour which would take us through the south of Germany. Oh my, that was fun. We even managed to cover a song by Free Yourself for our show at Freiburg's KTS. I was also extremely grateful when Spiro asked me to become the new bass-player for Free Yourself when Kay left the band, an offer which I had to decline since I wanted to play with my own guys a little more.
So after some time Free Yourself just faded away. They never really called it quits and somehow there was always the chance for another show in my neighbourhood. That chance came yesterday and, oh yes, it was a blast. First up it was very nice to see so many familiar faces at a show again. This was almost like someone had stopped the clock and we were all taken back 10 years. So many old friends showed up to make this a memorable experience. The band looked slightly older - of course - but they still had it. I was even able to remember a few lines from the songs and so I was singing along some of the Greek lyrics. This was great. I didn't go inside to watch Oiro who I had seen quite a few times in the past few years, so instead I took the chance to catch up with what happened to the guys in Free Yourself over the past years. I hadn't seen Kay in a long time so it was a great pleasure to talk to him again. And I even managed to obtain a copy of their new three track CD which includes the wonderful song "Kuss", a song they already played in 2000 when we played with them.
It has been quite a while since I felt so good at a show.

Euro 2008 Day 16 (Quarterfinal 4): Spain finally comes through

What a contrast it has been weather-wise to the happy days two years ago. I can remember that it was a horrible May in 2006 and my boss at the internship I was doing back than was never tired of announcing his weather forecast for the upcoming World Cup. "I say this, when the tournament starts we will have sunshine all the way". And he was right. It's been completely this year and today it seemed like the end of the world when the rain came down. The humidity is aweful and I#m sweating like I played two hours in the sun.
Everybody seems to have fallen in love with Russia yesterday, the reactions have been jubilous. Whoever will win tonight's game will face a very tough task.
Meanwhile in Germany everybody's focused on Torsten Frings' rib. He suffered an injury in the game against Austria and was out for the quarterfinal tie with Portugal. Now everybody's wondering whether he will miss yet another semifinal clash. Although I don't see any problems if he can't join the action on Wednesday. His replacements Simon Rolfes and Thomas Hitzlsperger did just fine. Still, all this is the top headline on the news all day. Sometimes this country feels like a looney bin.

Spain vs Italy 4-2 pens (Quarterfinal 4)
Everybody was talking about this one to be the most promising match-up of all quarterfinals, but honestly I didn't see it that way. One always had to remember although Italy has all the skill it needs to put up a brilliant performance, their first and foremost aim is to destroy. Their defending is superb and they know what their strengths are. Also when you look at Spain in this tournament they were showing great stuff but still they were always very calm and controlling. The German commentator was complaining about the quality of the game but I was thrilled about the passing of the Spanish team. There were times when there was only Spain and no Italian player had a chance to get close to the ball for minutes. It is highly entertaining to watch this young squad put up their game. David Villa and Fernando Torres worked great up front, the midfield with David Silva always looked like they knew what they were doing and what luxury it is when you can replace Xavi and Andres Inesta with the likes of Cesc Fabregas.
On the downside Italy fell back into their acting abilities with the players falling down like they had been struck by lightning. I hate to see this, especially when they do this to stop a counterattack. And when you have a crappy referee like Germany's Herbert Fandel who always wants to be the centre of attention a game can become rather disgraceful.
Italy just looked old, very old. It just isn't enough to have a top striker like Luca Toni up front, you need to feed him the ball. That just didn't happen.
Spain will now face the formidable Russian side who were less destructive than the Italians today. This might be a killer game. I'm really looking forward to this.

Euro 2008 Day 15 (Quarterfinal 3): Slow start and great finish

I went out of my habit of watching the games in the safety of my apartment and met up with some friends at a bar. Usually I don't really like to watch games in public, mainly because I am really annoyed by the other people who are present at the place. Ever since the World Cup two years ago everybody seems to think of themselves to be an expert on the field of football. Which is fine, I think so, too. But the problem for me is that when you watch games at bars or restaurants, you always have the majority of people acting like they know everything when they have no clue at all about what is happening on the pitch. It's those people who don't care about football when it comes to club teams, they only come out of their homes when the national team is playing. So basically you sit there and try to concentrate on the game at hand and there are numerous conversations around which are just getting on your nerves. Now I now I sound rather arrogant when I say this, but that's the way I feel.
So me and my friends started the evening with a nice dinner and a bottle of wine which was a nice way to get going. We then met up with some other friends at a bar right around the corner, which set up a screen outside on the street. A cozy place, still a little uncomfortable seating, my back was really hurting after the game. During the match me and a friend where really annoyed by one red-haired girl sitting in front of us who was talking about anything except football. When everything was finished we went to a small plaza to finish off the evening there. Nice day.

The Netherlands vs Russia 1-3 a.e.t. (Quarterfinal 3)
Absolutely brilliant, wonderful, great! Russia simply outclassed The Netherlands in the 2nd half and in extra time. This was seen by many as the tie between the two best teams of the group stages. Still the game didn't live up to the expectations in the first half. Somehow both teams just didn't seem to find their groove, although Russia looked a little bit more lively than the Dutch. The Netherlands always tried to pass the ball right through the middle of the tight Russian defense, completely neglecting their wings. Russia capitalized on this mistake, and after every turnover they passed the ball quickly up front to their fast strikers Andrey Arshawin and Roman Pavlyuchenko. They had another threat in Denis Kolodin who missed only by inches with shots from 30 m twice in just a few minutes. The Netherlands were completely out of it. Ruud van Nistelrooy was a lone striker up front with no assistance from the midfield, both offensive midfielders Wesley Sneijder and Rafael van der Vaart didn't have it tonight.
And so the game went into the second half and the Russians seemed to tune up a few more gears. High speed combinations on the wings and the Dutch defense was in huge trouble. The 1-0 scored by Pavlyuchenko was a wonderful expample for one-touch football and they had quite a few chances to score more goals. In the end, when you fail to score your opponent will get back at you and so The Netherlands equalized 5 minutes from time after a freekick and a header by van Nistelrooy. This gave them hope for extra time but they were completely taken apart by Russia there. Just as much as the Dutch players looked to be getting more tired the Russians looked healthier, faster, quicker, more awake. When Dimitry Torbinsky scored the 2-1 four Dutch defenders were standing around him and with van der Vaart sleeping it was a very easy goal to score. The 3-1 was yet another error in the defense when they missed out on a throw in which was picked up by Arshawin who scored through the legs of Edwin van der Saar.
Russia deserved this and it's not like this came out of nowhere. They always showed flashes of what they are able to do and I think they can go all the way. I had them on my list of dark horses for th championship title before the start of the tournament, but I didn't expect them to perform this well. And they are even missing another great striker in Pavel Progrebnyak.
This Euro 2008 is really getting interesting. No group winner went through to the semifinal and it's up to Spain to prove this streak wrong against Italy. Yet compared to the World Cup 2006 which was dominated by defensive play this Euro 2008 is great offensive all out attack all the way.

Euro 2008 Day 14 (Quarterfinal 2): Turkish Comeback Kids strike again

This game was highly anticipated in Germany not only because it would determine who would face the national team in the semifinal. No, Croatia and Turkey both hold special places in German football history. Croatia gave Germany their only loss in the group stages and the games between those two teams have always been close. Turkey is even more special because of the large Turkish community in Germany. I had a small conversation with a customer at the store I work in yesterday who congratulated me on the German win against Portugal (something I don't really like to accept, since I don't refer to the German team as "we" like so many other people here). Anyway, he also wanted Germany in the semis and now we both got our wish.
For the game a friend of mine came around because she wanted to watch the match with me. We ended up missing almost all of the action while talking and talking and eating Japanese Udon noodles...

Croatia vs Turkey 1-3 pens (Quarterfinal 2)
What a boring game at least judging from the view scenes I caught a glimpse of. There was a huge chance for Croatia's Ivica Olic in the first half when he tried to copy Mario Gomez by hitting the crossbar from ridiculously short distance, but that really was it. While talking to my friend I tried to pay attention, listening for changes in the commentator's voice, but he didn't really have to get excited. This was heading for extra time and that's where it became interesting. Let's be honest, who would have thought Turkeky would come back after Ivan Klasnic scored the lead for Croatia in the 119th minute? But don't turn your back on this Turkish team because they are always out to prove you wrong. Only a minute later they equalize and then they win the whole thing in a penalty shootout, although they are missing their No.1 goalkeeper Volkan Demirel who was sent off against the Czech Republic with a red card.
Still if Germany can recall the performance they showed against Portugal this shouldn't be a problem for them. From what I'm reading Turkey will miss a lot of players from injuries and suspensions. But, you'll never know. As I said before, don't write them off before the final whistle.

Euro 2008 Day 13 (Quarterfinal 1): 2006 all over again. Schweinsteiger remains Portugal's nemesis

Yet another piece about all the flags on cars, balconies and especially on people. Today I was going home at around 4pm but had to leave the house once more to pick up the birthday present for my mother. My walk to me around the campus of the University of Cologne and I was rather surprised to see so many people walking around in Germany jerseys there. When I got home and entered the lift four people jumped in, dressed in Germany jerseys, wearing black-red-gold scalfs and face paint, you name it. This thing seems really to be getting out of hand. Or is it just getting normal? I have to be honest, it's not just a German thing, it's all over Europe. people are going crazy when their team plays, they come out in masses to support them and wear their national colours. So is Germany becoming what some people here would consider to be a normal country? Well, I still don't like the fact the half of the population (according to a recent survey) would love to see flags being raised for the whole year. This is way too much for me. Still it's just half of the population, I would have figured it's way more.
On the positive side I like it when people sport more than one flag. There is a lot of cars driving around the city with a German and another European flag. Turkey has the most, mainly because there's a lot of people with Turkish origin live here. In second place would be Italy, I think. Still there are some weird combinations. I saw a car with a Turkish and a Greek flag which, when you consider the history between the two countries, is quite remarkable. And, oh my, The Netherlands and Germany? You gotta be kidding me?! That car still has all four tires? Lucky guy. I reckon quite a few people would go bezerk when they see a car dressed up like that.
So, to end this let me just say that I find it very remarkable that the immigrant communites have a German flag waving on their car, something a few years ago would be considered to be highly unusual. Maybe that's the thing when people talk about Germany is becoming more of a normal country. The immigrant communites seem to slowly accept Germany as their - at least second - home and maybe the Germans start to acknowledge the immigrant communites a little bit more.

Meanwhile I'm enjoying a nice game of baseball with the Yankees playing the Padres on Interleague play. It's another outing for pitching wonderboy Joba Chamberlain and right now the commentators a going crazy over a play he made while covering home plate. Did I meantion the Hanshin Tigers are still winning and remain at the op of the Central League? And the Red Sox just won't give in even though they seem to lose one starting pitcher after another. Somehow it#s nice to watch a slow sport like baseball as a contrast to all the football madness going on at the moment.

Germany vs Portugal 3-2 (Quarterfinal 1)
Huge upgrade from the last game's performance by the German team. This looked much more like the football invented by Klinsmann and Löw again. And finally a great outing by Bastian Schweinsteiger, a player I usually love to hate for his sometimes egoistic style of play. Portugal somehow didn't look convincing at all, a huge setback from what they had shown in their group matches. Cristiano Ronaldo never looked like he was in the game and their short pass play ended at the German penalty box almost every time. The changes the German coaching made compared to the game against Austria looked good, this time this was almost a 4-3-3, although some would see it as a 4-2-3-1. Still I can't understand why they set up Miro Klose to play the lone striker up front. That's the perfect role for Kevin Kuranyi who brilliantly shades the ball from the defenders and is a workhorse as a one-man attack. The defending midfielders positions were played really well by Thomas Hitzlsperger and Simon Rolfes and although they didn't do much offensively their defending was good, to say the least. A great team effort by Germany and this fuels the hope for a cup final berth because with a performance like tonight's they should not fear neither Croatia nor Turkey.
One has to mention though that there was a foul play by Michael Ballack before the 3-1 and Portugal's coach Luis Felipe Scolari was right to complain about it. I wonder what German newspapers would have written had a Portugese player scored the winning goal that way. It would have been conspiracy theories all over again.

Fortuna on the verge of being promoted to the NRW-Liga (Fifth division)

The news broke rather silently but Fortuna Köln finally got the license for the NRW-Liga which means that they will be rewarded the promotion spot they lost in their last game of the season against VfL Leverkusen. Still things are not that safe. Leverkusen objected to the ruling and now the whole thing is back with the sports law courts. Honestly this is dragging on for far too long now. the teams need to prepare for the next season and even if there aren't the ridiculous amounts of money involved that are being dealt with in the top leagues it's still shameful. The players need to a security, as does the club and the coach. Right now the officials are making complete idiots out of themselves.
The facts are clear:
* Leverkusen doesn't seem to have the money to keep up a team in the NRW-Liga
* Leverkusen doesn't have a stadium fit for the NRW-Liga

Both of those rule out a place for them. Fortuna has all that and still they have to wait and wait and wait. This is just ridiculous.

Euro 2008 Day 12: We're all set and ready to go

There has been only one topic in the the German media and that is the suspension of coach Joachim "Jogi" Löw after the game against Austria. Here's a small recap: towards the end of the first half Löw and his Austrian counterpart Josef "Beppi" Hickersberger were arguing with the 4th official about them being hindered in doing their job. While Uefa thinks this argument got a little out of hand both coaches insist that they had nothing going on their and were just angry with how the 4th official was dealing with them. The accusation, according to the Uefa officials, is that both men were wandering around in their coaching zone. I beg your pardon, what's that chalk marked cage good for if not to walk insde of it? The reasoning is hilarious and it just feeds the German media's conspiracy theories. Remember what happened after the World Cup quarterfinal between Germany and Argentina? After the final whistle their was a short but intensive fight between the two teams which led to Germany's Torsten Frings to get a suspension for the semifinal clash with Italy. German media was raving about the Italian journalist who supposedly gave the footage which showed Frings giving an Argentinian player a slap in the face, calling this an Italian conspiracy against the Germans. This led to a huge wave of ressentiments against Italian citizens in Germany, people called for a boycott of Italian foods and products and other silly stuff. While all that fuzz was completely out of place two years ago I can't understand Uefa's decision this year. Both coaches confirmed they had no argument and that they were only talking to the 4th official about how to use their coaching zone. With today's decision to ban Löw from the field he will not have any access to his team right from the time when he enters the stadium. Although one could argue if this really is a setback for the German team, the decision still sounds silly to me. Just like a kids' fight...

Spain vs Greece 2-1(Group D)
The stream died after a few minutes but from what I heard when it finally came up again and what I read on several blogs and minute-by-minute reports on newspaper sites this wasn't anywhere near as exciting as the previous outings of the Spanish team. A lot of players were substituted and the second tier got a chance to prove themselves. Spain are through with three victories and will now face Italy- This will be interesting since Italy are known for their bullet proof defense and Spain could have the means to go right through it.

Russia vs Sweden 2-0(Group D)
I always had Russia on my list for one of the surprises of the tournament. This is a young side, they have an excellent coach in Guus Hiddink and the success of their club teams on a European level prove that the country is on the right track again. High speed passing with lots of players with individual skill and I wonder why they broke down in the second half of their match against Spain. Sweden was helpless, it seemed and as one of the oldest teams in this tournament it is only fitting they go out after the group stage. Russia move on to play The Netherlands and this could an exciting match-up as well. Two flashy teams with great players who are always looking to attack. Could be a blast. We have to wait and see...

Euro 2008 Day 11: Notti magiche...

After a few weeks in which I had been sidelined due to working hours I was finally able to chase a ball on the pitch again today. Boy, I am exhausted. I always ask myself how I was able to run so much while I was younger. Well, somehow tobacco and alcohol must have taken a small toll. Anyway, I was lacking everything and after 10 minutes I was really huffing and pumping for air. Still we (that is FC Poll United 04) were able to secure the ball really well, thanks to our rather unskilled opponents. I think the final score was something like 6-4 for our side, but that doesn't really matter. It's just for fun and I hope by next week I will be a bit more like my usual self on the pitch

France vs Italy 0-2 (Group C)
What a lame match. I think you can break this down into two important situations. One: Franck Ribéry's injury after onyl 8 minutes, looks like he fractured his leg. This was not only the neckbreaker for France but this will surely have Bayern Munich manager Uli Hoeness' blood pressure rising. Anyway, Situation two was the penalty which was given to Italy after a foul play by Abidal in the penalty box. And because he was the last man of the defense he was sent off and that was it for the French side. Since Italy is one - if not THE - best defending team in world football resistance was futile for France. They had a few shots on goal, but there was no real danger. Only one shot by Benzema looked like it was a threat to Gianluigi Buffon's goal. So Italy will now play against Spain and I wonder how the band of old boys will fare against the young and hungry Spanish team.

The Netherlands vs Romania 2-0 (Group C)
One is very fortunate when he can substitute players like Arjen Robben, Robin van Persie or Claas-Jan Huntelaar in a rather worthless game. What potential. Romania didn't look like they had a chance. The Netherlands are clear favourites to win the whole thing. Period. And you know what? They would deserve it.

Euro 2008 Day 10: Enough of "Cordoba" ... finally

I got a phone call from a friend from Canada on Sunday and I was rather surprised to hear that the Euro games are also shown in a country which usually is known for its ice hockey players. My friend told me they show all the games live and as a recording in the evening. Seems like the use a British feed, which is rather funny since England isn't playing in the competition. She told me that a colleague of hers who is of Chinese origin really likes the german team and that that colleague is especially fond of Michael Ballack. Strange things really do happan.
On the German supporters front things just get worse. Across my backyard several German flags are hanging out of the windows and right before the start of the game there were people chanting slogans on the balcony. I simply hate those guys in their stupid white shirts.

Austria vs Germany 0-1 (Group B)
Oh my, what a desaster. This isn't a team anymore. Although Germany won - as expected - there was absolutely no life in this team. Somehow every single player seems to have lost his talent after the first match. No movement, no inspiration, no ideas, no life.
The only one performing at his usual self was Philipp Lahm, but the rest of Germany was simply horrible. Michael Ballack and Torsten Frings were not present at all. Once they had the ball it was already gone. And both of them are considered to be leaders in the German midfield. The offense was not on the pitch. Mario Gomez, a brilliant striker and Germany's footballer of the year for the past season is completely out of it. Miro Klose is out of form since the beginning of the year, Lukas Podolski scored three goals in the previous two matches but wasn't effective at all. And you can't say anything about the defense because they weren't really tested by the Austrian strikers. There were scenes when the player with the ball had no options at all, the whole team was standing. STANDING! Absolutely no effort to run into positions in which you could recieve a pass. So what's the ball handling player supposed to do?! This was a huge step back and remended me every bit of what Germany was playing under the regime of Erick Ribbeck (1998-2000), an era mostly remembered for assistant coach Uli Stielike's horrible plaid jacket. Everything Germany so brilliantly did during the past two years seems to be gone. One wonders what will happen when Germany crash out of the tournament against Portugal in the quarterfinal. And that will surely happen with a performance like this. Will coach Jogi Löw resign? And if he does, who will succeed him? All the things, the revolution started by Jürgen Klinsmann in 2004, all those things will be gone for good and Germany will be back to their mediocre self. I have to say, I am a little bit afraid of the future...

Croatia vs Poland 1-0 (Group B)
Croatia put up a B team against Poland and although they changed nine players compared to the match against Germany they still seem to have dominated the game. This will be a tough task for Turkey in the quarterfinal but if you have seen the games against the Czech Republic and Switzerland you know that anyhing can happen when that crazy team is on the pitch.

Euro 2008 Day 9: Cordoba everywhere

As promised it's all over the place. Damn, how many times did I have to listen to this nervewrecking radio broadcast from the 70's. You know, those broadcasts still done by phone? The German media is so predictable. I was also watching the press conference of the German team today and it is always astonishing how they make a fuzz out of nothing. The reporters ask questions, the coaches and the players answer and in the end nothing comes out of it. The only hardly important information was that both Lukas Podolski and Philipp Lahm are both set to play in tomorrow's match against Austria. but apart from that it was just hot air all the way. I mean, if you ask Michael Ballack if he feels pressured by the expectations what would you expect him to answer? Of course he will say that he doesn't feel any pressure. Goddamn.

Turkey vs Czech Republic 3-2 (Group A)
Wow, this one had it all. What a thriller!! The outset was clear, both teams needed a win, a draw would result in an immediate penalty shoot out. Which is why the match was really close and intense. The Czech Republic scored first on a goal by Jan Koller (a header, what else) and Turkey didn't look very convincing in the first half. There was no movement at all up front, but that changed in the second half. Still the Czechs scored again and went up 2-0. but then they made the mistake to barricade themselves in front of their own penalty box and so Turkey came closer and turned the game in the closing minutes. Two goals by Nihat before injury time were enough for them to secure their quarterfinal spot against Croatia. There was mayhem in added time when Turkish goalkeeper Volkan was sent off after shoving Jan Koller, but the Czechs weren't able to capitalize on the Turkish lack of substitutes, since they had used all of their three subs already. Oh boy, this will be a long night for the Turkish comunity in Germany.

Switzerland vs Portugal 2-0 (Group A)
A nice way to end the tournament for the host from Switzerland. Although you have to admit that Portugal wasn't playing with full strength. I was watching this on a live stream on my computer with just half of my attention, because the other game was so exciting. It seemed that Portugal had the better chances in the first half, but Switzerland capitalized on poor defending for the first goal and was rewared a penalty for the second one. Portugal will be the opponent of the second place team in Group B, which will either be Austria or Germany and I see both of them having huge problems with the Portugese team who have shown wonderful skill and technique in their first two matches.

JDrama: The season wrap up (spring '08)

CHANGE
Seems to be the big thing in this season as it is yet another Kimura Takuya drama. This time he plays the son a member of parliament whose father and brother die in an accident which leaves him as the natural successor. Problem is that he hates politics and wants to continue teaching at an elementary school. But he gets persuaded, wins the by-election and through some misfortunes and accidents becomes the new prime minister of Japan. This is rather unrealistic, of course, and the message the series is trying to bring across is rather blunt. But the way they portray the new prime minister as someone who listens to the people and cares for their sorrows and worries is done very nicely and not too obvious. There are some funny moments as well, and it is especially nice to see some members of the cast of "Hero" act together once again (Kimura Takuya, Abe Hiroshi, Fukatsu Eri). I enjoy watching this. (7,5/10)

Zettai Kareshi
Cyborgs, robots, machines and their quest to become human. Sounds familiar? Well, this isn't a Star Trek Data like story and the Frankenstein moments don't come in that often. Here we have a company who developed a lover robot to please all the needs of young women nowadays. Aibu Saki is a temporary worker at a sweets company who by chance runs into the people of the robot factory after she was rejected by the guy she secretly was in love with. Model 01 turns out to be a rather dumb but nice cyborg who tries to please his girlfriend all the time. This leads to some hilarious situations at her workplace, with her parents, at her favourite bar and so on. A nice manga adaption with nice actors, although at some points it gets a little bit out of hand. Still I liked this series a lot. (7/10)

Muri na Renai
A music business manager (Sakai Masaaki) who just celebrated his 60th birthday falls in love with a younger actress (Natsukawa Yui) who works several part-time jobs to get by. She herself has to look after her wannabe writer ex-boyfriend (Tokui Yoshimi) who just dropped by at her place because he's out of money again. This somehow sounds like a boring story but the way the actors portray their characters really brings this to life. It's not overly chaotic, but the speed and "action" is great and the dialogues are funny. If you are looking for agood laugh you should turn to this one. (6/10)

Osen
Another drama about food. Well, not food in particular, but more about the Japanese way of cherishing and celebrating their way of presenting an consumning food in a nice atmosphere at a traditional restaurant. This story is about a young chef (Uchi Hiroki)who is fed up with modern style cooking and remembers a restaurant from his childhood whose owner invited him to train there. When he arrives at the place he finds out that the owner has changed. The person in charge now is a young proprietress (Aoi Yu) who seems to be very fond of alcohol. But he soon discovers that there's more to good cooking and making great dishes than just skill.
I always like these food orientated dramas because I really get hungry when I watch those. This is one of the better ones as the story is nice, there's some twists and turns and the cast is very good as well. (7/10)

Hokaben
Ueto Aya as a lawyer? Sounds rather strange to me. I always had her filed under young and hip characters who don't really care about rules and norms. Well, there's some of that in this series as well, but she seems to be a little bit more serious here. She plays a lawyer who just got employed by a huge law firm which concentrates on business clients. Ueto's character wants to help the weak and has herself transferred to the "pro bono" section, a rather lowly part of the company. Her boss (Kitamura Kazuki) there seems to be rather unmotivated and lazy, but he comes to help her and is always there to give her important clues and sometimes even teach her a lesson about life.
This falls in the same vein as "Change" as the main message is that there needs to be hope in society and you have to help people in need. But this series being another manga adaption it's also a bit more flashy. I just watched the first couple of episodes, but it looks interesting anough to continue watching it. (6,5/10)

Battery
Hooray, another Baseball drama. I have been waiting for this ever since I finished watching "H2" (and I have watched "H2" over and over again). unfortunately the subs are a bit slow so I was watching this without any translation. This one isn't about a high school team, if I understood it correctly, but these kids are playing in a middle school team. Takada Sho plays a catcher who is fascinated by a young pitcher (played by Nakayama Yuma) who is throwing a very hard fastball. Throwing so hard that noone is able to catch his pitches he gets frustrated and doesn't expect much from the town his parents brought him and his younger brother to. But Takada tries everything to persuade him and together they form the new battery of their school team.
Although the story sounds rather interesting from the outset the actors ruin this a little bit. Everything seems to be rather stiff and there isn't any emotion in it. This looks like a series made for promotional use only and with main actors like this it has to be considered a failure. (4/10)

Puzzle
Puzzle is one of those episodic dramas where there is no story which gets told over all episodes but instead each episode stands for itself. In this one a teacher (Ishihara Satomi) and her students (Yamamoto Yosuke, Kimura Ryo, Nagayama Kento) always set out to solve a riddle which might lead to some money or prize, something very important to the greedy teacher.
The episodes revolve around a classic whodunnit plot with the teacher and the students solving it in the end. Nothing special really, but there are some funny moments and at some points the acting is just hilarious. What makes this rather strange is that a young actress like Ishihara Satomi is supposed to play a teacher in her 30's and this doesn't work out really. (5/10)

Around 40
A slightly more serious story about three women in their mid- to late-thirties. Amami Yuki plays a psychiatrist who always hangs out with her friends, a housewife and mother (Matsushita Yuki) and a journalist (Otsuka Nene). Both of them always talk to her about marrying but she doesn't seem to find the right man. This changes when the character of Fujiki Naohito gets a job at her hospital.
This is a nice difference from all those series aimed at young people. The pace is slow which allows the chracaters to develop nicely. (7/10)


Kimi Hannin janai yo ne?
Yet another of those episode based dramas, just like "Puzzle". In this one a rookie police officer (Kaname Jun) who has a lot of money from his family and an aspiring crime story writer (Kanjiya Shihori) team up to solve cases. All in all this gets a little bit to chaotic at times and what makes this rather unexciting is that you know right from the start who is the criminal because it's always the person the rookie officer falls in love with at the beginning of each episode. So in that sense it's no classic whodunnit story but rather a "how was it done?". It is a funny series, of course, but not overly funny. One thing that's slightly interesting and what keeps me at watching this is that there seems to be some overriding storyline which tells something about what happened in the past of Kanjiya's character. Flashbacks suggest she might have suffered some kind of trauma or shock.
Average stuff. (5/10)

Rookies
Another baseball drama and this one is way better than "Battery". In this one it's all about a baseball club at a high school who had to pull out because they were involved in a brawl a few months ago when one of their players hit the opposing pitcher with his bat on purpose. Those scenes are rather drastic with blood dripping and so on.
Ever since the team members lost interest in school and sports and are just goofing around at school, creating disturbances and wreaking havoc. Enter Kawato Koichi (Sato Ryuta), a higly motivated teacher who had some troubles in the past himself. He is struggling to convince the team members to get together again and create a goal. He wants them to aim for a spot in the famous Koshien tournament.
This has a lot of the usual teacher-student movies which all seemed to have started with "GTO", but I really like the baseball aspect in this. The students characters are nicely developed, the acting is good and the story is told in a nice pace. It's especially interesting to see Nakao Akiyoshi again since he was in "H2" as well. Although his character is completely different in this series (and that'S not because he was a catcher there and is an outfielder here).
I really like this one. (7/10)

Gokusen 3
Speaking of "GTO", here we go again with what seems like to be one of the most popular television series in Japan in the past few years. I first got in touch with the Gokusen universe when I was watching the anime series and I really liked the first season of the drama series. The second season already felt like a rather lukewarm remake, although the acting really made up for some loopholes in the script. But this one should really be the last one. Nakama Yukie is there for her students again, who sit in the same old dirty classroom all day without any motivation to do anything for their graduation. Hopeless cases all over again. What's slightly different here is that there are two class leaders (Miura Haruma, Takaki Yuya), but that is solved rather quickly. The head teacher (Namase Katsuhisa) is there as well, there's also the Yakuza family and Yankumi's object of desire is played by Koizumi Kotaro this time. If you liked the previous seasons you will definetely like this one again, although it is getting a little rusty. I wonder if they will go for another one or if they will shoot a movie next. (6/10)

Hachi-One Diver
I am not really into chess, although I sometimes watch a special program they show on German TV. So I don't have any clue about shogi, the Japanese version of what in the western world is known as "the royal game". Here we follow the life of a former professional shogi player (Mizobata Junpei) who now roams the streets of Tokyo to make a living by playing for money. When he gets defeated by a girl (Naka Riisa) in Akihabara he is completely devastated and he's in an even greater shock when he finds out she works as a maid who visits her customers to clean their rooms. She helps him to get back on track and to find his own way of playing shogi.
Another manga adaption which you can clearly recognize when you take a look a the costume Naka Riisa has to wear. There are some rather naughty scenes as well, but this makes it a bit more funny as well. I don't know if I miss out on things because I don't know the rules of shogi, but this feels a little bit like a grown up version of "Hikaru no Go". (6,5/10)

Ryokiteki na Kanojo
An adaption of a Korean hit movie remade for Japanese television and they got a big name with Kusanagi Tsuyoshi for this one. He plays a scientist at a marine laboratory at a university who one day runs into a woman (Tanaka Rena) who wants to be a writer. This meeting changes his life as the woman not only turns out to be rather crazy but she also moves into the apartment next to his one and completely turns his calm and relaxed life upside down.
I like the way they start the story on a very funny and happy note and than slowly turn it into a more serious drama. The cast helps to create a nice atmosphere and although there are funny outbursts of comic relief the way the script tells the story of the couple finding their way towards each other is nice. I had fun watching this. (7,5/10)

* Winter 2008 Wrap Up
* Fall 2007 Wrap Up
* Summer 2007 Wrap Up
* Spring 2007 Wrap Up

Euro 2008 Day 8: Defending champions out, Spain advances

After all the football craze it was nice to get a small break this morning while watching some NPB action. The Nippon Ham Fighters from Sapporo played the Yakult Swallows at home and it turned out to be a fascinating pitcher's duel. Sweeney (Fighters) was throwing a no-hitter until the 6th while Kawashima (Swallows) carried a perfect game into the 5th inning. This was an interleague match up just as the MLB resumed its interleague play yesterday. I was watching a little bit of Red Sox vs Reds and Yankees vs Astros as well. Red Sox starting rookie pitcher Justin Masterson was very sharp again, but his opponent was just a little better. Those series will continue tonight so if it turns out that some of the Euro games are boring I have the chance to change the channel.
Getting back to what happened last night The Netherlands are now clear front runners for taking home the cup after the final. Their performance was outstanding and was praised almost everywhere. Meanwhile in their quest for answers for the loss against Croatia German tabloid "Bild" dug up a potential transfer of striker Mario Gomez which they think is disrupting team harmony. The interesting thing is that this transfer is only reported by "Bild" and its affiliates. I never found anything about this anywhere else. Which might mean that this is a fluke. Still this might point to a very important matter: the role "Bild" is playing all around the national team. Before the 2006 World Cup reporters of said newspaper were banned from the team hotel, but this seems to have changed now. There have been countless stories about players and "Bild" journalists trying to benefit from one another. The player gives out some information, the journalist writes in favour of the player. Dirty business. I do hope this is not the case this time. Cologne based tabloid "Express" meanwhile senses tension between the coach and the captain. This doesn't look too promising.

Sweden vs Spain 1-2 (Group D)
Spain winning ugly is an unusual sight but with this win they are through to the next round which should give this young side some confidence for the things ahead. Fernando Torres scored early, but Sweden equalized after some poor Spanish defending with a goal by Zlatan Ibrahimovic. Spain should have been rewarded a penalty shortly before the break, but the referee had a different opinion. When everything seemed to settle for a draw David Villa struck again. He is now on top of the goal scorers list with 4.
I wonder what impact the loss of Carlos Puyol will have on the defense which didn't look very stable in the first two games. Seems he had some problems with his footing.
Sweden was a big disappointment to me as they didn't really have an answer when Ibrahimovic was substituted after the break. They still have a big chance to go to the next round but this would put them most likely in a tie with The Netherlands and I am sure they won't survive this clash.
This was one of the more mediocre games, but it was still far better the then some of the group matches we've seen during the World Cup 2006.

Greece vs Russia 0-1 (Group D)
I presonally find it always very disappointing when two teams who have or are supposed to have a huge technical skill deliver such a horrible performance. This was average at best. Both Russia and Greece weren't very convincing. For Russia it was a step back from their match against Spain although this time they came through for the win. Greece meanwhile looked better than their stone age play with a three man defence against Sweden, but they just didn't create any chances. There was an article in German left wing newspaper "taz" today remarking that you need the right mixture of young and old players to win such a tournament and that the Greek team just failed to make a clear cut after their sensational victory in 2004. What made them strong back then today was their biggest weakness. The defense is just not there anymore. Players like Traianos Dellas and Georgios Nikopolidis overperformed at the last Euro and today they are just normal players. So the defending champions are out of the competition and this means we won't have a repeat again. No team was able to defend their title.

So after the second day of matchplay I have to say that the overall performance of the teams in the matches looks a lot better than what we have seen in the 2006 World Cup. It is not as static and boring but instead most of the teams were looking for a goal right from the start. Although the defense looked strong in most matches, there were plenty of offensive highlights. At this moment The Netherlands look like the hot ticket to win it all, but don't count out teams like Germany, Portugal or Spain. Even Italy and France still have a chance to come though to the next round. Huge disappointment for teams like Switzerland who invested a lot of years in this tournament and now have to leave empty handed.
I really hope I won't have to listen to this "Cordoba" stuff tomorrow that much. It's been everywhere, on the radio, on TV, in the newspapers. I'm sick of it.

Euro 2008 Day 7: Oranje bouven

The aftermath of the German defeat against Croatia was just as predicted. Everybody's talking about the game against Austria now. And what's extremely funny as well is that in Germany the whole population thinks of themselves as rather calm and rational people but when it comes to football they go completely nuts. Normally television stations and newspapers always have funny features about how football is percieved in other countries and then they make fun of how e.g. the English fell about their football or how religious the Italians are about their calcio. But, frankly speaking, it's no different around here. They public was overjoyed after the game against Poland and it was only a question of rather how many goals Germany would score against Croatia instead of whether they will be able to win or not. Now, after the 1-2 loss everything has gone to black again and everybody is depressed, frustrated and down.
Now although I consider myself to be a Germany supporter I find this situation rather funny. It is always a good thing to just hang back a little bit and contemplate what's going on around you with a clear mind. I feel that's something not a lot of people in this country are capable of doing.

Italy vs Romania 1-1 (Group C)
Ever since the World Cup semifinal at Dortmund in '06 it has become a favourite pasttime of German citizens to wish Italian football teams all the worst there ist in the world. Germans are especially picky when it comes to dirty tactics like dives and hidden fouls which they think are the things Italy uses to win. Still in this match one has to admit that there should have been some decisions in favour of the Italian side and that they should have won this.
It was a thriller right from the start. Both teams needed a win, they had to settle for a draw. In the first half Italy missed a handful of big chances, one of which scored but was denied because the referee saw an offside position of Luca Toni. After the break Romania suddenly scored first and then Italy responded within a minute. Then Romania get a rather strange penalty decision which is saved by Gianluigi Buffon in a ridiculous way. My personal man of the match was Fabio Grosso who in Germany will forever be publich enemy number one because of his late heroics (a.k.a. the winning goal against Germany in 2006). He was all over the place. He was bringing the balls into the Romanian penalty box and he was great at defending in his own half. There was one scene where a Romanian player had a clear chance for a goal when Grosso came flying in to block the shot. Great stuff.
This was not the hard defending Italy who were only looking for one goal and then they would pull all men back to their own box. No, this was all out football at its best. And with a team playing along as the Romanians did today such a match becomes great entertainment. It would be a pity, just as German TV colour analyst Mehmet Scholl said, to see an Italian side like this crash out of the competition after the group stage.

France vs The Netherlands 1-4 (Group C)
The Netherlands are tearing everything apart at the moment. I have to admit that I didn't see them as strong as they are performing right now. Usually Oranje has a record of falling apart during an international competition and they didn't look very convincing in the run up to the Euro. But what they have shown in their first two matches is simply astonishing. They took Italy apart with clinical precision and tonight they crushed France, a team who just doesn't seem to find their rhythm at the moment. Once The Netherlands get rolling there is no way stopping them and with those two games they are now the hottest bet to win the whole thing. Just think of it: they had Arjen Robben and Robin van Persie coming from the bench. Now know this is the Euro, but still those are resources not every team can rely on. Give credit to the French though, they never let go and tried to stay in the game. But it seems their golden generation (how many golden generations are there anyway?!) is heavily missed. There simply is no one to replace the great Zizou. Franck Ribéry might be a great player, but he's just not the magical playmaker Zidane was. Now it's a final against Italy and there we are again. Remember Berlin?

Euro 2008 Day 6: Watching from a distance

It seems that the aweful weather took a turn up north and ended up in Cologne because it was pouring all day today. If you have to rely on your bike to go somewhere that can be hard at times. So I was soaking wet when I arrived at work today.
The big news came from England and one could get the impression that they wanted to remind the rest of Europe they are still there. Portugal coach Luis Felipe Scolari will be the new manager at Stanford Bridge next season which means that Chelsea FC will have another top level coach again. This is interesting because I don't think that the timing was so great. I wonder how his Portugese team will react to the news since I cannot remember anything about him cancelling his contract with the Portugese FA. For Chelsea it's as good as it gets. They have a new coach who is considered to be one of the best in the business and if you saw the Portugese victory over the Czech Republic you know why. Maybe Chelase will change their style of play in the next season and move from "score-one-and-defend" to a more spectacular football which certainly would suit some of their players better.

Germany vs Croatia 1-2 (Group B)
This was a funny one since I didn't get to see anything. Well, hardly anything. I had to work until 8 pm and the game started at 6 pm, so I head to rely on the radio coverage which was only broadcasting tiny bits and pieces every few minutes. There was, however, a television set outside the restaurant across the street which gave at least some idea of what was going on in Klagenfurt. When the game started some kids were lined up around it, one of them swining a German flag. So the funny thing was that I was only to spot in which direction the game was heading. I could see the penalty boxes and the middle line, but that was it. no ball, no players, the damn thing was simply too small. But I was able to hear the reaction of the guests which ranged from "oooh", "aaah", "nooo", "damn", and so on, with little screams of high pitch voices which belonged to the children outside. Now I seldomly have the chance to observe German fans in full effect since I decided to watch German games at home instead of a bar or some public place. The main reason being that I am simply annyoed by the idiots who show up to watch the match. And when the break arrived you were able to spot all cliché guys in the crowd. Horrible. Which was why I somehow found myself grinning because Croatia were up 1-0 at half time. There's people in jerseys, people with flags on their faces, people carrying flags and so on. But I never really get the impression the people bring all that stuff because they like the team, but instead they want to show off their nationality. And that's the part I hate. I guess I am slightly oversensitive, but I just cannot stand hordes of Germans running around in their national colours.
I have no idea if the game really was that horrible as the radio commentary described it, but I am really looking forward to the final match against Austria. That should be a nice showdown.

Austria vs Poland 1-1 (Group B)
I was already writing about this match while they were still playing in Vienna and it all looked like Austria were packing their stuff as well. It really looked like both host nations were out of the competition after the group stages. Poland had scored an offside goal in the middle of the first half and Austria didn't look like they were able to respond at all. But then they were awarded a penalty in the 92nd minute and Ivica Vastic scored the equalizer. Austria had enormous chances in the first 30 minutes, three times there were Austrian players running at the Polish goal with noone in their way to stop them. Each time they failed miserably. This leaves them with all chances to advance to the next round. Now if - and those are a lot of "if's", but anyway - Austria win against Germany and Croatia beat Poland in the final games, Austria are through. This would mean that Germany has suffered another "Cordoba". Cordoba - in Argentina, mind you - was the scene of a historic defeat the German team suffered against their natural rivals down south. Going into the 1978 World Cup the faces Austria in the second round and went down 2-3, the final goal by Austrian striker Hans Krankl being shown on TV over and over again since. The German media right from the start of the tournament reminded viewers and readers of this and now they have it. There's a chance for another "Cordoba". The last matchday is looking to be very interesting.

Germany vs Austria 2-3 (1978 World Cup, Cordoba, Argentina)

Euro 2008 Day 5: Water games in Basel

I won't be able to watch the Germany match tomorrow afternoon because I have to work and this leaves me in a rather annoyed state. I will try to find a radio station which broadcasts the entire game so while I won't be able to see any pictures I would still be fortunate to listen to a rather decent commentary since all German TV commentators have proven themselves to be completely incompetent and clueless. I am always impressed (and equally annoyed) about how many mistakes they make in 90 minutes of talking. Although there were some bright spots where you have to give some of them credit - I am especially thinking about the first Dutch goal against Italy and the offside debate which raged on in Europe after it - they usually lose, especially to their British colleagues, with their horrible style of speaking and their lack of facts on players, clubs and rules. Sometimes you get the impression that they never had kicked a ball in their entire life.

Portugal vs Czech Republic 3-1 (Group A)
On paper this looked like the top match in this group and it kept its promise, at least from what I was able to see because I had to leave after the start of the first half to meet up with my sister to discuss the birthday present for our mother. Portugal went up 1-0 early after a wonderful combination which was complete by Deco, who somehow pushed the ball over the line in his third try. One touch football at its best. The Czechs responded with a fighting spirit and were rewarded after a corner. Milan Baros is by far the better choice up front because when Jan Koller in playing the Czech Republic is far too easy to read. There will be a long ball into their opponents half and then Koller will try to lay it off to a teammate. Defenders should adjust to this pattern rather easy. Baros creates much more danger.
But this game had it all, maybe it was even better than Spain vs Russia yesterday. Because both teams were on level ground. Now I cannot say anything about the second half because when I tuned back in Portugal was leading 2-1 and it was already the 75th minute. Still the final goal was beautiful as well. With this Portugal will surely advance to the next round as the group winners which will make them likely opponents to Germany in a possible semifinal and that would be a repeat of the 2006 third place match.

Switzerland vs Turkey 1-2 (Group A)
This was intense stuff. The story leading up to this game started three years ago when both teams met in a World Cup qualifiying playoff match which ended in an all ot brawl after the final whistle of the seconf game in Instanbul when quite a few players were going after each other on the pitch and in the hallways of the stadium. Although everybody involved tried their best to play down the issue this was looming over the match all the time. And it was intense right from the start. And just when you thought it couldn't get any better it started raining cats and dogs which led to some very strange scenes on the pitch. You have to give credit to the players though since despite all the controversy surrounding the game they stayed calm and delivered a thrilling performance. Switzerland went ahead 1-0 in the first half after a beautiful counterattack which was concluded by Hakan Yakin, a Swiss born player of Turkish origin. Turkey responded in the second half and from there on it was a thriller. Switzerland had huge chances but it was Turkey who scored in injury time which still gives them hope for reaching the next round. Switzerland are out of the competition now.
This wasn't the brilliant high class tempo football we have seen by teams like Portugal or Spain. This was more like the English grinding their way to victory. Did I say it was intense? This was fighting football and when it is played like this it is really fun to watch. I feel a little sorry for the Swiss team, they should have at least got a draw, but it wasn't meant to be.

Euro 2008 Day 4: Spain on a rampage

When I was riding my bike back home from work yesterday afternoon I came across a street corner where an Italian sports bar is located and it seemed as if the owners decorated the whole place in red, white and green. Cologne has a rather large Italian community so it is not very surprising to see the enthusiasm on the street. Lots of flags, lots of posters and jerseys. But as easy as they get excited just as easy are they frustrated and depressed. When I was asking an italian customer about his thoughts about last night's game he just replied "I am a European, what the hell have I to do with Italy?!".

Russia vs Spain 1-4 (Group D)
This was a demonstration of strength, technique and power. Spain simply outclassed Russia right from the start. It almost looked like the ball was moving on a string in between the Spanish players. The offense is so beautiful, it almost feels like looking at an artwork done by a famous painter. Fernando Torres and David Villa left the Russian defense shattered. The first to goals were world class. The way Torres spotted the by far better positioned Villa was fun to watch and the pass by Iniesta for the 2-0 was brilliant. Xavi was outstanding, he was everywhere. After the break they started to get a little arrogant, forcing their style of play onto the Russians and by doing so forgetting their target to score another goal. They eventually did so (again by Villa), but they looked vulnerable in the defense. Spain always does well when they start a tournament, they are always on the list of favourites but then they fail miserably in the knock out stages. I wonder what it will be like this time. They team looks far more mature, although it still is pretty young. There were some indications of rifts, e.g. when Villa was too lazy to get out of his offside position while a counter attack and his teammates gave him an earful. But the way they responded after the 3-1 was world class again. They could go far this time. The Guardian has them as finalists against Germany. That would be highly interesting.

Greece vs Sweden 0-2 (Group D)
I had my doubts if this match was to continue what was to see in the previous game, especially when you remind yourself of how Greece won the cup four years ago. Strong defending would be a little too much of a euphemism. And I did not know what to think of Sweden since they had not shown much promise in their matches against Germany recently. So after a starting period of around 15 minutes the match settled into a very hectic and nervewrecking mood in which bioth sides tried to minimize the number of mistakes by simply doing nothing at all. It was a little better than the sleeping pill delivered by France and Romania yesterday.
German media was only talking about Greek coach Otto Rehagel, a German coaching legend, who is known for his short, yet playful comments on football. One of them was "Modern is he who wins", which he coined after the championship final in Portugal. Yet Rehagel is known for his conservative approach on tactics and when you keep in mind what Russia and especially Spain had shown earlier this will be a very tough task indeed for the Greek team. The Swedes should be ready as well as they did not look very promising either. So after day one in group D it looks like Russia and Spain will be on course for the knock out stages.

This concludes the gams of the first round of play and if substract France vs Romania and Greece vs Sweden the matches were played much more offensively than the group stages at the World Cup two years ago. Which is something viewers can only be happy about. The surgical knife skills which Spain used to penetrate the Russian defense, the high speed counter attacks of the Dutch, the efficient team effort by the Germans, the glorious effort by the Austrians, all this made a lot of fun to watch. I hope this tournament continues this way.

Euro 2008 Day 3: The Dutch "Wonder of Bern"

Since one of the hosts of this year's Euro is Switzerland the German media keeps on reminding their viewers that there was another competition which took place there some time ago. Yes, it's the inevitable "Wonder of Bern" again and again. Although I always encourage people to dig up the stories most of the people have forgotten over the time, the World Cup winning team of Germany in 1954 has long established itself in German football lore. Every child knows by now that the name of the commentator for the German national radio was Herbert Zimmermann, who screamed his famous line "...aus dem Hintergrund müßte Rahn schießen! Rahn schießt! Tor! Tor! Tor!" ("...from the background Rahn might be able to take a shot! Rahn shoots! Goal! Goal! Goal!"). I might have missed one goal there. There has been a movie two years ago which portrayed the team to a certain extent, although the far more interesting storyline was how a German family was trying to find their place in past-war Germany. Helmut Rahn, nicknamed "The Boss" scored twice in the final against Hungary, the best team on the planet at that time. Everybody knows that it was "Fritz-Walter-Weather", rain the whole day long. Everybody knows by now that the Germans had their secret weapon given to them by adidas owner Adi Dassler, shoes with exchangeable sticks underneath. All of this is known and they told the story hundreds of times by now.
So, what I am trying to say is that I am fed up with always being reminded of the same boring, though glorious past of the German team. It almost sounds like the English whining about how they haven't won anything in the past ... how long is it now? Oh, yes, 42 years.
The German media is going crazy over the performance of Lukas Podolski in last night's match. Well deserved, if you ask me. He was all over the place. The British press meanwhile in one of their (in)famous plays on words labelled him "Good Luk". Brilliant.

Romania vs France 0-0 (Group C)
Let's be honest, this was boring as hell. I guess there always has to be at least one game in the group stages which doesn't excel the expectations some people had before the start. France have all the talent of the world to completely take their opponents apart and yet in the past few competitions they didn't really get going. Their group phase at the World Cup two years ago was like a mill grinding corn, slowly and painful and only after the knock out stages began they started living up to their potential. The games against Spain and Brazil were high class and showed what that squad is capable of doing. Now that the old boys are gone or injured it was up to the young guns to fulfil their promise and they didn't do that. Franck Ribéry played an outstanding season with Bayern Munich and yet in this game he failed when he tried to run through the Romanian defense. The strikers in blue were also a huge disappointment. Former prodigy Nicolas Anelka, who celebtrated his magic at highbury almost 10 years ago, was taken out of the game by the defenders and the next big thing from France, Karim Benzema, didn't have any chances at all. This was really poor stuff. You cannot blame Zinedine Zidane's sucessor Samir Nasri though as he was thrown into an already aweful game.
There wasn't anything to expect from the Romanian side although some people had them as the dark horse in the so called "group of death". Still with a performance like this I cannot see them advance to the next stage. It's one thing to stand at your own penalty box with seven or eight players, but you have to at least try to score a goal.
This looked like two teams who were only out on the pitch for one thing, a goalless draw. There was no movement, absolutely nothing. A huge disappointment.

The Netherlands vs Italy 3-0 (Group C)
And there we have it. The first huge surprise of the tournament. I have to admit I was not quite sure of what to think about the Dutch team who have a reputation to fall apart in times of pressure. With Italy coming in as the reigning World champion this was a tough task. But the way they responded was absolutely outrageous. They did not really take Italy apart, but all it needed were a few great attacks and there were the goals. The first one was quite controversial, but considering what I found on the net it seems to be true that if a defending player is lying behind his own goal line he is still considered to be in play so Ruud van Nistelrooy's goal was correct. The second one was pure brilliance. A wonderful counterattack which took apart the Italian defense like a surgeon during an operation. This was high class.
Italy was not giving in though, but they failed to create any threatening chances. I think their main problem is playing with Luca Toni as their lone striker up front, a system which is too much alike to what the Czech Republic plays with Jan Koller. It is way too see through.
The best match of the tournament so far. The Netherlands are now a force to be reckoned with.