Portugal appoint new boss
July 11, 2008
Sir Alex Ferguson has lost his second hand man Carlos Queiroz to Portugal. Carlos has signed for Portugal and is already looking ahead to the world cup.
Carlos spoke about his departure…
”I am very proud and honoured to be able to go back and serve my country. This is a very special position that any professional would want. The first big objective is to qualify for the World Cup in South Africa in 2010. I also want to thank Manchester United for the agreement reached, which made my return to Portugal possible.”
The Portuguese federation has labelled Carlos as one of the best coaches in Portugal and were happy to appoint him…
“Carlos Queiroz is unquestionably one of the top Portuguese coaches and was my first choice to be head coach. Although I have never worked with him because he was no longer with the national set-up when I arrived, I have followed his career with much interest. The experience he has gained in all the places he has worked will be important in helping us achieve the success we want.”
Turkey beat Croatia
June 21, 2008
Croatia had been backed to cause an upset at Euro 2008 and make a real push to win the tournament. It’s all gone down in tears after they suffered a humiliating defeat to the hands of Turkey. The game itself was very poor, there was not many chances and it was destined for penalties.
Extra time and Penalties…
Turkey are like the comeback kids, they came back against Czech Republic but this was just incredible. Ivan Klasnic headed home from a Luka Modric cross to give Croatia the lead with just one minute to go. One final long ball into the box from Turkey and the unlikely happened. Super Sub Semih Senturk latched onto the ball and his deflected volley went into the top corner. The Turks were level and the game was going to penalties. Star man Luka Modric missed along with, Mladen Petric who missed the vital kick which gave Turkey an unlikely win. All the Turks scored and the crowd went into raptures after the match. Turkey would face Germany in the semi’s and a possible final is on the cards.
Holland thrash France
June 14, 2008
Holland ran rampant again last night after sticking four past World Cup runners-up France. Putting 3 goals past Italy was good, but firing four past France is even better. The football they are playing is unbelievable and they are now surely the favourites to win Euro 2008.
Goals from Dirk Kuyt, Robin Van Persie, Arjen Robben and Wesley Sneijder helped Holland to an unlikely 4-1 victory. Thierry Henry scored for France in what proved to only be a consolation goal.
Dutch coach Marco Van Bastan said…
“We played very well against Italy but tonight we were lucky. We got the goals at the right time. France tried everything that they could and put us under enormous pressure, so I certainly have to congratulate our defence for the way that they coped.”
In fairness France played very well and it was a great game for all neutrals to watch.
Ronaldo fires Portugal into next round
June 12, 2008
Madrid president was probably watching as Cristiano Ronaldo piled on more pounds on to his transfer fee. They are talking £70-80m pounds, the way he is playing its more like £85-90m now. Ronaldo scored one and set up two as Portugal qualified for the quarters.
Portugal take lead…
Portugal started well and got an early goal. After some great one touch football Ronaldo ran after a ball in the box, Cech was out and got a foot to the ball. He could not get hold of the ball though and it ended up with Deco who scrambled the ball home to give Portugal the lead.
Czech’s fight back…
Many though the goal would mean an easy Portugal win, it wasn’t to be so easy as just 9 minutes after Deco scored the Czech’s hit back. A Plasil cross-found the on rushing Sionko to head in the leveller. Portugal could not defend corners and had numerous problems throughout the match.
Portugal regains control…
Ronaldo and Cech had a great battle with the goalkeeper making three fine saves to deny the Man Utd star. Until the 64th minute when Ronaldo found Deco on the right-hand side. He went past the fullback and squared the ball to “that boy Ronaldo” whose shot went flying into the bottom corner. 2-1 and Portugal were in total control. As they did in the first game, they killed off their opponents in injury time. Czech flew everyone up as they pressed for an equaliser. As they did that Portugal broke and a long ball found Ronaldo who ran towards Petr Cech. He could have scored on his own but with his teammate Quaresma trying to make an impression he coolly passed the ball past Cech to give Quaresma the easiest of tap-ins.
Ronaldo proved how good he and his team were and Portugal are the first team in the Quarter-finals.
Zlatan stunner kills Greece
June 11, 2008
Zlatan Ibrahimovic scored one of the goals of the tournament in what was probably one of the worst games of the tournament. Sweden won 2-0 against Greece who did not show any signs of defending the title they won four years ago.
The goals…
It was a poor game and it was going to take something special to break the deadlock. Zlatan provided that moment of brilliance. He played a one two with Henrik Larsson and unleashed a ferocious volley which shot straight into the goal. You always felt that who ever scored the first goal would win the match. It did happen but after Hansson scrambled home the second thanks to a mix up in the Greek defence. The game itself was poor but I’m sure Sweden don’t care, they got the three point and that’s all that matters.
Sweden’s coach said…
“It’s fantastic to win the first match. And we deserved our win.”
Greece’s coach defended his tactics saying…
“If we had applied a different tactic then we would have conceded five goals by half-time. It doesn’t matter where you field the players. They should be creative in whatever position they played in. Franz Beckenbauer was a sweeper and he was very creative.”
Greece were poor and the chance of them winning the tournament is about as slim as it ever could be.
Villa sinks Russia
June 11, 2008
Valencia will be getting some serious offers for their Spanish star David Villa after he struck a superb hat-trick as Spain kicked off in perfect fashion. Fabregas added a fourth with a delightful header in the 4-1 win.
The Goals…
The first came in the 20th minute when Fernando Torres latched on to Joan Capdevila’s ball, the keeper ran out but Torres got there first and squared the ball to Villa who slotted the ball home in the empty net. Read more
Dutch Delight as they hit Italy for three
June 10, 2008
Sizzling Holland wrote off all the critics as they battered the World Cup champions Italy. The Dutch put three goals past Buffon with goals from Ruud Van Nistelrooy, Wesley Sneijder and Gio Van Bronckhorst.
Key moments… Read more
France poor in scoreless draw
June 10, 2008
France put in a very poor performance as they played out a 0-0 draw with lowly Romania.
France played poorly…
They came here as one of the favourites but after this performance, they will not be anymore. They played the game as if they had already won it, even in the final parts of the game they strolled round the pitch with no desire to go and win the game. It was if they were 3 or 4 nil up.
Romania did not go for win…
Romania got 11 men behind the ball for the whole game and rarely ventured into France’s half. When they did, they ran it into the corners and held off the French defenders.
All in all the game was a very poor spectacle and I do not expect neither of these two teams to make it through to the next round.
Croatia make steady start
June 9, 2008
Croatia put in an ok performance to defeat a very poor Austria side. The only goal of the came in the fourth minute when Luka Modric converted a penalty after Austrian defender Rene Aufhauser had a moment of madness when he barged over Ivica Olic in the third minute.
The Croats manager said…
“This win will boost our confidence. We dominated but we were not able to get a second goal and finish them off.”
In fairness to Austria they should have got a draw but the occasion got the better of them. The more experience players like Emmanuel Pogatez and Rene Aufhauser had nightmares and although the crowd turned out in thousands and cheered their team on, nut to no avail and Austria will have to seriously improve if they are to challenge Poland next time out
Podolski sinks poles
June 9, 2008
Germany put in a good performance to defeat Poland. Lukas Podolski who was born in Poland scored a fantastic brace to see off the Poles.
The goals…
Poland were trying to play the offside trap and in the first 20 minutes it worked. Until Gomez put Miroslav Klose in and he squared the ball to Podolski who made no mistake in slotting the ball in the empty net. The Germans had two wait until 72nd minute to finish off the Poles when Klose miskicked the ball and Podolski seized onto the ball and made no mistake from 15 yards out.
After the match, the German captain Michael Ballack spoke…
“It is a very good start for us. Going into the match we knew it was a difficult game for us but we have come through well, From the start we were aggressive and passed the ball very well. We made very few mistakes.
Germany now look to Croatia who also won their opening game thanks to a Luka Modric penalty.
