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Written by The Unlimited
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Thursday, 26 June 2008 |
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 vs 
Two sides that played group D opening match will meet again, this time
with much more at stake. Spain and Russia are fighting for the finals
of the European championship which is a surprising course of events in
this championship that is filled with various twists and turns and
excellent outsider performances.
Spain won the first game easily, 4:1
which led us all to think that Russians will as usually be sitting
ducks for their rivals. But, after that failure, Hiddink’s squad got
serious, managed to win current champions, Greece and then fight their
way to the second round in and excellent game against Sweden.
The rest
is history; triumph over Netherlands is certainly a good message for
Spain: Russians can match any European squad. But let us get back to
the opening game, when Russia paid for being naive; they started the
match with their guard down, missed a couple of chances and got cruel
punishment.
The loose defense was a suicide, Villa and Torres had many
one-on-one situations which they solved easily. The result were four
goals behind excellent Akinfeev’s back.
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Written by The Unlimited
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Wednesday, 25 June 2008 |
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 vs 
After the first EURO 2008 best sixteen were paired up, Turkey and
Germany didn't stand much chance of getting to the semi-finals...
However Panzers have shown that they should never be underestimated
while Turkey made quite a feat by winning Croatia after having beaten
the Czech. The whole country is now euphoric and with the motto: "never
give up" the Turks believe in miracles and that they can win their
mentors, Germany.
Actually, football on Bosphorus was under great
influence from Germany in the past. German coaches like Derwall once
made way for football in Turkey and now Fatih Terim's lads are playing
for the finals. This is not Turkey side’s biggest success in the big
competitions; Six years ago they played in World Cup semi-finals but
before this competition happened it was widely regarded that the
generation led by Hakan Sukur was much better.
Now no one is sure of
that. This game will be more than just a game; about two and a half
millions of Turks live in Germany and some internationals like Hakan
Balta and excellent Altintop were born in Germany and raise in
Bundesliga.
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Written by The Unlimited
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Sunday, 22 June 2008 |
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 vs
This is perhaps the biggest quarterfinal derby on EURO 2008. Old
rivalry will be revived on Sunday night. Although Italians have an
excellent tradition against Spain, that doesn’t mean a thing. Judging
to what we saw from Red Fury so far , Spain will start the match as
slightly favoured.
However they did have easier rivals than Azzurri but
also the possibility to rest their starters in group D third game,
against Greece. In the match between equal rivals, where details
decide, better physical shape of Aragones’ players can be crucial.
After a disastrous opening defeat against Netherlands, Italy managed to
get hold of the second round from the "death group": they won France in
a knock-out match. This boosted their morale sky-high though they price
was also, Gattuso's absence is not so much of a handicap as Pirlo's is.
The creator of the national squad and Milan play will be missed in the
squad that shows lack of creativity. Donadoni will probably insist on
tough play and attacking wingers which is Italian strongest weapon.
Still, Toni’s inefficiency is another reason for worry.
The
preparations show that Azzurri are somewhat afraid of Spanish fantastic
attack. Chiellini and Panucci will face serious challenges against
Torres and Villa.
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Written by The Unlimited
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Saturday, 21 June 2008 |
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 vs
When you take a look at the total efficiency in the group competition,
you see that Netherlands are one of the three teams that have made
maximum efficiency. If we consider that they were in group C, “the
death group" as it was called aright after the draw, they have clearly
showed most quality and they are rightfully considered the No1
favourites for the crown.
Van Basten’s’ style helped him mark fantastic
results; they scored nine goals in the last three matches and seven of
them were scored against Italy and France. 4-3-2 formation was an
enigma for the rivals and the way Oranje midfield play hardly anyone
will be able to resist them.
Russia managed to win Sweden in the
knock-out match and qualify for the quarterfinals. Guus Hiddink, as
usually, did a great job and we can’t remember when have the Russians
seemed so good as in the duel against the Vikings. The only objection
can be the weak materialization since they scored only two goals from
about twenty chances.
Anyway, the nation is euphoric, major investments
have paid off and they have nothing to lose in this duel. Of course,
some lessons can be learned from the opening duel against Spain when
they paid for their offensive approach with four goals inside of their
net. The big question is if Russia can play differently, considering
the profile of the players at Hiddink’s disposal.
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| Results 5 - 9 of 39 |
ZURICH, Switzerland (AP)—Argentina remained No. 1 in the largely unchanged
FIFA world rankings Wednesday, with the United States at No. 21.
