What A Week!

Posted By: J Drama
What a week it is was indeed. Excitement, drama, upsets, goals, cards, surprises, and unbelievable soccer. We are into the second week and 3rd Matchdays of Euro Cup 2008. There has been some great footballing and I’m sure there is still more to come.

Portugal, Turkey, Croatia, Netherlands, and Spain are all through. Defending champs Greece are out along with Czech Republic, who disappoint yet again, as well as co-host Switzerland.

What a game it was between the Czechs and Turks! There were 5 goals in total and 3 in the last 15 minutes of the game. The Czechs completely stopped playing after almost going up 3-0 and Petr Cech made the biggest blunder of his international career to ensure at least extra time for the Turks. 2 minutes later, however, the Turks slotted one home and were through just like that.

How about Croatia? Beating the Germans 2-1 and solidifying a place in the final 8. If everything plays out how it is now, Germany will have a haunting quarterfinals match against Portugal. How exciting will that game be? All they need is a draw. On the other hand though, Germany are not necessarily through. If they lose, they are out and Austria, their opponent, is through. If Poland beat Croatia and Austria wins, they would need a better goal differential to go on. Exciting times during Matchday 3 in this group.

The Netherlands have been quite a surprise in their “group of death”. Or maybe it’s that Italy and France are in poor form right now. If Romania beats Netherlands they are through. If they draw and Italy and France draw, Romania is through. Italy and France face off and whoever wins needs Netherlands to beat Romania if they want a chance at the quarterfinals.

David Villa is on a tear for the Spanish. 4 goals in 2 games including a hat-trick against Russia. Sweden and Russia will battle it out on Wednesday for the final spot in their group. My vote is Sweden. Zlatan Ibrahimovic has a pair of goals in the tournament and I do not think the Russians will be able to handle him.

What are your thoughts so far about the tournament? Who will win it all? Who is going to get the Golden Boot? Have your say.

Well that’s a wrap. Stay tuned for more and try not to let your eyes get glued to the tele.

Portugal Takes Care of Business

Posted by: The Ol' Onion Bag
Portugal defeated Turkey 2-0 on the first day of Eurocup 2008 thanks to their creative attack and strong, cohesive defense. Cristiano Ronaldo was held to very little possession throughout the entire game, especially in the first 45 minutes. Turkey played Portugal strong for the first 28 minutes when a Simao free kick that sailed just over the cross bar seemed to turn the game into the hands of Portugal.

The Simao free kick was a concerning event for Turkey and Portugal as well, as Simao chose to push Ronaldo off the ball as he was setting up for the kick. Not much fuss was made by Ronaldo as Simao nearly missed the upper left corner of the goal, but free kicks were quickly changed to Ronaldo in the 38th minute.

Ronaldo sent a bouncing screamer from just outside the 18 yard box, but was just saved by the Turkish keeper, and sent away after it hit the far upright. It was the best chance Portugal had in the first half, and it was easy to see that a message was sent out to the field that Ronaldo would be taking free kicks, as he was the lone man around the ball.

Turkey held well on defense for the first 30 minutes, but looked stretched and tired for the rest of the half. The Turkish attack was awkward and forced throughout the games as the midfield fumbled around with the ball as if they were amateurs. The lack of focus that was portrayed by the midfield disrupted many of the few offensive pushes made by Turkey.

Portugal played their game in the second half, and showed me that they may be a contender for the championship. The defense remained solid, and the attack was the creative, high intensity offense you would expect from Cristiano Ronaldo, Nuno Gomez and Simao. The strange thing about it was that the initial goal came from the center back, Pepe in the 62nd minute. An impressive give and go between three tired Turkish defenders led to the go ahead goal. It was only a matter of time as the Turkish defense had been lacking strength since the end of the first half.

Turkey had spurts of near brilliance as they desperately tried to tie the game in the last 20 minutes. All chances were denied as Pepe and the rest of the Portuguese defense kept Turkey scoreless. Portugal then capped the game with a goal in the 90th minute as Ronaldo fed an accurate ball to a cutting Moutinho, who led Meireles to a relatively open onion bag.

I name Pepe as the player of the game not only for his offensive strike, but for his defense. Pepe brought the Portuguese attack alive with the tie-breaking goal, while making a statement in the defense, and showing himself as a man to be reckon with in the tournament. Pepe and Portugal will affirm that they are among the ranks of Germany, Italy, and France as they will give all three a run for the trophy.

Euro Fantasy

For all you fantasy studs out there, time is running out to sign up for Euro Fantasy leagues. There are several out there. The official Euro Cup website, UK Yahoo , and ESPN are the major sites that carry fantasy leagues for this year's Euro Cup.

Get signed up and make sure not to miss the 2008 Euro Cup on ESPN and affiliates. If you are looking for a league to join you can join us at The Soccer Chronicle in our own league. It is through the official Euro website. Here is the link.

http://en.fantasy.euro2008.uefa.com/
The passcode is 93514-17476.

Pick your squad and see if you can beat the experts here at The Soccer Chronicle. Good luck and enjoy the excitement!

Links
http://en.fantasy.euro2008.uefa.com/
http://uk.eurofantasyfootball.yahoo.net/app/
http://euro2008fantasy.soccernet.com/CleverTV/en/espn/na/14/clienthome.do?lpos=spotlight&lid=tab4pos1

Euro Predictions

No one can confidently predict what will happen when the tournament starts on Saturday. We can only hope and pray that our own analysis and gut instincts can accurately predict who will win and who will lose. Copious amounts of research have been done throughout the Euro qualifiers and a sharp eye has been following the tournament extensively. I will now attempt to predict what will happen. Please be gentle.

Group A
Switzerland are the co-hosts of the tournament. They will not want to disappoint their home fans. Tranquillo Barnetta had a fantastic World Cup and should be the Swiss’s go-to guy. The Czech Republic look to avenge a substandard 2006 World Cup where they failed to reach the round of 16. With Petr Cech between the sticks and giant Jan Koller leading the attack, the Czechs will want to prove they can win even without Tomas Rosicky, who is out due to injury and Pavel Nedved who has retired from the international stage. Portugal clearly stand out in this group. Runners-up from Euro 2004 they will be looking for nothing but lifting the trophy come the end of June. Cristiano Ronaldo is the best player in the world right now. Many will be watching him as he leads his team through the tournament. Turkey are the underdogs in this group and will have their work cut out for them if they want to make the next round. Tuncay Sanli needs to work off a back problem if Turkey want to survive.
Winner: Portugal
Runner-up: Czech Republic
Player to Watch: Cristiano Ronaldo


Group B
Austria are the other co-hosts of the tournament. They will have to get their nerves under control as they wait to play in front of their home fans. Croatia were the surprise winners of their qualifying group. They beat England on the last qualifying matchday to eliminate them from the tournament. Luka Modric will be the man to watch for Croatia. The young midfielder recently joined Tottenham Hotspurs for £21 million. He will want to prove that they got a solid player as he has already been compared to the great Johan Cruyff. Germany are the giants in this group. With many stars in the squad, this team will be hard pressed not to win this group. Ballack, Klose, Pudolski, Schweinsteiger, and Lahm are the big guns leading this team. Poland won their qualifying group ahead of Portugal. Euzebuisz Smolarek had 9 goals in qualifying and will need to continue to contribute if Poland wishes to reach the next round.
Winner: Germany
Runner-up: Croatia
Player to Watch: Miroslav Klose


Group C
Romania are being overlooked in this group which is safe to say the “Group of Death”. Led by Adrian Mutu and Cristian Chivu, Romania will need to give bit of energy if they want to survive this group and be a surprise in the tournament. France have a bitter taste in their mouths as they got placed in the same group as Italy. We all remember the whole Zidane fiasco in the last World Cup. New up-and-coming star Karim Benzema looks to feature for Les Blues as the usual suspects, Henry and Ribery, should provide the scoring. The Netherlands boast an impressive squad but have not produced in big tournaments as of late. Ruud van Nistlerooy, van Persie, Robben, and Sneijder will be the scoring providers. They will look to Edwin van der Sar to continue the brilliance he displayed in the Champions League Final. What can we say about Italy? It seems that they always bring great teams to tournaments. Cannavaro will be watched closely as he tries to comeback from an ankle injury. So many weapons and so much skill, teams will have to extract every bit of energy to beat the Italians.
Winners: France
Runner-up: Italy
Player to Watch: Franck Ribery


Group D
The Spanish highlight the last group. Fernando Torres is coming off an outstanding season for Liverpool and will want to continue his scoring onslaught, 33 goals in all competitions. Like the Italians, they have a plethora of amazing talent but can they play as a team? Cesc Fabregas, Xavi, Iniesta will dominate the middle of the pitch. They struggled a bit during qualifiers, but they hope to work all the kinks out by game time. Russia squeaked past England in their qualifying group. They want to prove that it was not just a fluke and that they deserve to be there. Manager Guus Hiddink has done well at the club level with PSV Eindhoven and will rely on young talent to turn a few heads at the international stage. Greece attempt to hold on to the trophy they won in 2004. Winning their group in qualifiers ahead of Turkey, they did not have to break too big a sweat to stay at the top. They should have to work quite a big harder to make the next round. Sweden are always a danger when Zlatan Ibrahimovic is in form. Also, veteran striker Henrik Larsson and defender Olof Mellberg will lead by example. A balanced team, Sweden do not want to go home early.
Winner: Spain
Runner-up: Sweden
Player to Watch: Sergio Ramos

Overall Prediction
Champion: Germany
Runner-up: Italy
Golden Boot: Thierry Henry
MVP: Michael Ballack

Euro Cup 2008

The final countdown has begun. For some it began when qualifiers finished, for others it begins in four days. How ever you are planning for this prestigious tournament does not matter. The only thing that does matter is how you are going to experience it.

16 teams begin their 3 week quest to lift the European Cup. Most of the European giants are making appearances such as Italy, Germany, and France, while some have missed out like England, Ireland, Ukraine, and Bulgaria. The dark horses are always to be feared. Like Ecuador and Ghana in the 2006 World Cup, Croatia and Switzerland will try and follow in their footsteps. And those who have something to prove, Turkey and Romania, will give everything they have.

Anything can happen when it comes to tournament time and we all expect a fantastic tournament put on by co-hosts Austria and Switzerland. It should be a doozy.

Well that's all for now. Stay tuned for predictions, insight, fantasy, etc. That is, if you're not already going crazy from the hype.

Cheers