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.
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