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Restated now as the French ARE defeated. That red card penalty which resulted in the first goal for the Italians killed them. These EURO 2008 teams are getting a lot of good practice for the Olympics this August!
Unbelievable team performance put in by the Russians today. Arshavin and Pavlyuchenko were like bread and butter, while Zhirkov and Bilyaletdinov ran the midfield. Semak was alright as holding midfielder, but it's odd seeing him out there with a bunch of 20-somethings. The major weekness I see right now is with Akinfeev. He's 23, he lacks the experience of a major tournament, and he's made some questionable decisions in goal. He got away with them today because the Russians were just pummeling the Swedes, but against the Dutch, he's gotta be flawless.
And for the Swedes, another tournament, another horribly disappointing finish. Ibrahimovic, you could see he wasn't 100%, and he wasn't himself. Larsson and him didn't work well together, and there really was no creativity in the midfield. It was just a bunch of 35 yard cross attempts by Elmander and Ljungberg all match, while Andersson and Svensson showed no creativity in the center of the midfield.
For the next tournament, I'd like to see Kallstrom play more of an advanced role behind Ibrahimovic and Elmander. You'd see a ton more offense, and more creativity.
Nonetheless, major props to the Russians. They came back after being destroyed by the Spaniards after the first match and once again proved Guus is a magician.
Quote:
Originally Posted by LASam
Restated now as the French ARE defeated. That red card penalty which resulted in the first goal for the Italians killed them. These EURO 2008 teams are getting a lot of good practice for the Olympics this August!
Olympics are generally for U-23 National Teams...no way a club side would let them play in two major tournaments in the offseason.
I have to admit that I'm only a casual soccer fan, but I was living in England during the 02 World Cup and it was a great experience. What's going on in the British Isles?? No England, Scotland, or Ireland in Euro 2008?
I'm also a casual fan. I think that there has to be a better way to quantify the game. Americans need statistics (even meaningless ones will do) to understand a sport. If a casual fan could cite stats, they may be more inclined to keep up with the sport. Except for swimming, soccer was by far the most difficult sport I've played (I played in a local league for a couple of season -we sucked). The only word I learned in Spanish was "cambio" (sp? meaning change or substitution - I was tired).
I also got to know the sport better after attending a World Cup game in Pasadena. (USA - Brazil) It was great!
The Dutch have been a pleasant surprise. I however am pulling for Croatia!
I had to explain to some people at my office that Croatia's flag is a lot like their team jerseys, and the team is NOT sponsored by Purina dog chow (red and white checkers).
Nani should have come on earlier -- he definitely livened things up. Some good headed goals, and Schweinsteiger's first goal was a cracker.
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