The Best XI

Hooray for Spain. I can only hope that I'll be able to have that sort of feeling of triumph after my country wins a major trophy that all of Spain must have felt Sunday night. Well, either that or an Oriole World Series will do, but I digress. Anyway, here's my best 11, what a tournament.

GK- Iker Casillas, He didn't have to do all that much this tournament, but how outstanding were those penalty saves? I think he bested Buffon right there, and took the title of the world's best keeper. Edwin Van der Saar gets honorable mention.

LB- Giovanni Von Brockhorst, Except for the Russia game, he had played essentially a perfect tournament. Its amazing what putting on your country's shirt can do, because he never looked to be half this player while at Barca. There were lots of other solid left backs, Zhirkov, the Croatian, but Gio gets the nod.

CB- Marchena, I kept waiting for him or Capedevilla to screw up, but it never happened. To think that Valencia had him, Villa, and Senna and were that poor is flabbergasting. He was the more confident of the two center halves this tournament, and he wasn't afraid to dribble his way out of trouble unlike the nervy Puyol.

CB- The other Kovac, I was expecting Croatia to be terrible at the back, and a lot more games like we saw against England, but I was wrong. This guy was as steadfast as they come, and he probably could have at least hit the target in their shootout with Turkey, unlike some of their better known stars. Honorable mention is the Russian Kolodin for unleashing those 50 yard daisy cutters vs Holland

RB- Sergio Ramos, Call him Jar-Jar Binks if you like, but for all his shortcomings he makes up for with his pure athleticism. He had his two best matches in the two most important games, and he only gets caught out because he's been given license to go forward because of his undeniable offensive skills. Any team would be lucky to have him. Boswinga was solid as well.

DMid- Marcos Senna, Sure defensive mids are overlooked, and its not a glamorous position, but I don't think its all that demanding either. Not to take anything away from Senna, he might be MVP of the Spanish team for the collective tournament, but if you have the energy, and are decent on the ball, this isn't all that difficult of a role to fill. I see Dirk Kuyt becoming one of these players before its all said and done. Honorable Mention is the dutch pair of Engelaar and De Jong

Attacking Mid- Andrei Arshavin Its pretty remarkable when we consider what he accomplished in three games. He's now a shoe in to sign for Barcelona or wherever. It only speaks volumes to the magnitude of this tournament because think about how good he probably was for Zenit all year long. H-mention- Xavi

RMid- Bastian Schweinsteiger He was the most dangerous German player in the knockout stages, no question. That finish against Turkey oozed of class. Its too bad that he got that red card, but it seemed to help him in the end.

LMid- Lukas Podolski He was more of a midfielder than a striker this tournament, and its impossible to think that he will remain on the Bayern bench to rott after this campaign. He looked much more dangerous than Klose, which makes me wonder. Just how good are Bayern with Klose and Toni as their goal sources. Sure its fine in the Bundesliga, but don't bet on them in Europe any time soon. Libor Sionko gets his honorable mention for being the only worthwhile Czech in the tournament.

CMid- Wesley Sneijder For a while there, it looked like the Dutch would cruise to the title with this man as the tournament MVP. But they found their bogey team in the Russians, and despite his best efforts, Sneijder couldn't find the target in that last desperate push where he had several clean looks at the Russian Goal. H-mention Van der Vaart

Striker- Fernando Torres, I guess he is the best striker in the world right now. He's got some moves in addition to his blazing speed, and he reminds me a bit of a young Thierry Henry the way he slices through not only the Premiership, but international defenses as well. I'll keep it with the countrymen theme and give Villa his honorable mention.

Let me know what you guys think, I'd like to see your opinions too.

Si Si Senor

Hours away from kickoff now, and we're all but certain that this game won't feature Michael Ballack and David Villa. I'm more inclined to think that the Germans will miss Ballack more, but it isn't like he's their creator as much as he is their leader in every sense of the word. I have a funny feeling that this is going to be a strange game, with a few twists and turns along the way.

I can only imagine the legacy of this Spanish team if they capture victory today. They would obviously go down in Spanish history, but more than that, they will be remembered as the ones who pulled Spain out of their almost self-inflicted slump, and readjusted the footballing power scale of Europe.

I'm looking for Lehmann to have a big game, and mix it up a bit. Maybe he'll get in pretty boy Torres' face early like he likes to, and make some good saves thereafter. But the Germans are weak down the left. Aside from that goal, Lahm has been pitiful this tournament, and I look for Ramos, Silva, Iniesta, etc. to exploit him. The only problem is that Podolski and Schweinsteiger have proven that they can counter-attack before, and they'll be even more inclined to break down the right side when Ramos gets out of position.

Spain have been the best team in Europe for almost two years now, with their unbeaten exceeding 20 games. There's no reason to think that they can't beat this less than perfect German side. But I'm not going to get ahead of myself. Germany? In a final? Let's hope it doesn't go to penalties...

Its the Final Countdown

Sorry for the delay, and leaving you blogless, but I was at the beach for a few days, and with a predictable effort from Deyan in picking up the slack, well, here we are. Not that you will anytime soon, but if you ever get a chance to watch Daniel Cabrera hit its quite comical. The guy is 0 for 13 with 13 strikeouts in his career.

Anyway, back to the real deal. What a performance from the Spaniards! They straight up dominated Russia, I couldn't really believe it. Ramos looked awesome, Xavi was his usual self, and Fabregas had a huge impact as a sub. Its a blow that Villa will miss the final, but they have ample options for Aragones to choose from. The same can't really be said of the Germans. So Kudos to Spain and Germany for seeing through their halves of the draw. Spain has been tested by trickier opponents, and been forced to play a little better football, but unfortunately, they don't give trophies for that.

It obviously wasn't the same Russian team Thursday night that disposed of the pick of the litter Dutch in the quarter finals. With no other obvious explanation, I think credit is due to Aragones. He's outfoxed the supposed mastermind Hiddink twice now, both by a healthy margins. He's been one of the many who've kept with the theme of silencing their critics this tournament. (Ibrahimovic, Fatih Terim, Croatia) On that note, I'd like to offer some players, who in my opinion, have opened the doors for criticism, I give you, the First Team All-Dissapointment.

I'm excluding anyone from Spain or Germany, because as bad as Mario Gomez was, you can't really be too disappointed when your country is in the final.

Goalie - Petr Cech - A number of candidates did their best to claim this spot (Ricardo, Rustu, Lehmann), but it was Cech's nightmarish gaffe that handed Turkey their biggest gift and kickstarted their amazing run to the semis. I like Cech, but let's hope he saves some of those blunders for the Premiership.

Defenders - Eric Abidal - Not only his sending off against Italy got him here, but his performance was weak against Romania as well. Granted he was out of position, but if he stopped and thought about who he was tackling, (LVP of the tournament Luca Toni) he might have saved France some blushes.

Paulo Ferreria - Let's face it, he's never been that good, as evidenced in the days when Essien was preferred to him at right back under Mourinho. But he inexplicably seems to hang around and win caps, and at this case at left back?! Whenever I see him, I'm always amazed that there's no one better.

Willie Sagnol / Lillian Thuram - We could have put the entire French backline in here, but these two aged veterans looked out of sorts, and overmatched on numerous occasions. Thuram's subsequent retirement on the day after their defeat with Italy was imminent.

Materazzi - Tough to feel bad for this chump. Call it out of form, but he had a terrible season at Inter from what I understand, and Donadoni's decision to drop him was the right one after that torching at the hands of the Dutch

Midfielders - Genarro Gattuso - He was largely ineffective in the games he played. Maybe its the end of an era in Italy, but with AC Milan's crashing out of Champions league, and the Italians following suit to Spain, it may symbolize the end of Gattuso's mainstay in both midfields.

Massimo Ambrosini - I chose Gattuso's countrymen, not only because I don't like him, but because he too was largely inconspicuous for the Italians. Its easy to laud his performances when they win, but when they lose, you really see what he gave you, and most of the time its nothing.

Simao - Lets hope Scolari keeps his terrible selections coming after failing to choose Ricardo Quaresma over this clown. Normally he's bright, reliable, industrious, but he just had a stinker of a tournament, no two ways about it.

Forwards - Luca Toni - See this entire blog...

Henrik Larsson - He played better than I thought he would, but I think it was his failure to be on the same wavelength as Ibrohimovic that cost the gutsy Swedes. It was also his first major tournament he failed to score in...ever. But what can we expect from a 37 year old.

Old Horsey Face - I know this is a bit harsh, and he had a great tournament. But that game versus Russia was there for the taking. He missed a couple of chances that he usually finishes 10 out of 10 times, that would put the Dutch through. Sure he shouldn't be held entirely accountable, but I was looking to him that game to stick the nail through the Russian coffin and it simply wasn't to be.

Coach - Raymond Domenech - This debacle looks like it will claim his job. I'm not saying that it shouldn't France were atrocious. But sometimes, coaches are kept on too short of a leash, but I don't think anyone will be too sad to he the professor go.

Let me know if I missed anyone...

The final promises to be entertaining. One thing is for sure, we can throw out all the record books. This Spanish team doesn't care about history, and this German team could care less what type of football they play. I don't see them coming out all tentative like they did against Turkey, its definitely an advantage to the Germans that they are in fact the underdog. Its all about finding a way to win, even if you aren't playing that well, that's all we will remember in the end. May the best team win.

A Gobble of a Chance?

Down to the semi finals and we have two countries that aren't actually considered to be in Europe, and certainly not the EU. The star-crossed Turkish team comes into this game about as depleted as any team could be in a major tournament. Including their third string goalkeeper, Turkey have 13 players available for tomorrow night's clash with ze Germans. And maybe four of them are arguably preferred when the squad is at full strength. Their only reliable player on the pitch tomorrow might be Hamit Altintop, the Bayern man who knows all about German football. Kazim Kazim is much more effective as a sub, but he'll be forced to start alongside their Semih- sub striker who brought their hopes back from the dead with that wonderstrike against Croatia. As for the rest of their team, they will just be plugging holes on the field, and trying to make life difficult for Germany. Luck is again kind to Germans, inexplicably, and they'll waltz into the final with only won real credible win under their belt, that somewhat comfy win over a much maligned Portugal squad who was horrendous in defense.

I'm not giving destiny's darlings Turkey a chance. Germany 3-0 in a rout. Klose hat trick perhaps??

An interesting sub plot to keep your eyes will be the keepers. Maybe they'll get some sort of proverbial H-O-R-S-E game going, to see who can scare their fans the most with their incredulous acts on the ball. Poor Receber Rustu, that guy is gonna have a long night I fear. A wild ride for the Turks but it ends here. I CANT WAIT for the other match, and to see where Arshavin ends up in the fall.

Spain vs Italy: Ray Hudson's Fantasy

I just got back from the river, and there's not much time before kickoff. Phil Ball wrote a quality piece as usual for the buildup to this game that's worth a read. It just seems all to obvious that the Italians would win, but I hope not. I'll be pulling for Spain.

What about yesterday? What a game, it had everything. Hiddink's celebration, Arshavin's dazzling skills, a horsey face tap in, MVB's questionable decision not to use Robben, it had it all.

Its tough not to feel for the Dutch, Croatia, and Portugal, but it just goes to show, that the group stage doesn't mean anything. So conventional wisdom would tell us that Italy should progress over the fourth team that rested players after securing the group only playing 2 games. But its not as if the Spanish team doesn't have enough history going against them already, so what's one more little pattern?

It looks like my man Acquilani will start alongside De Rossi, thats a nasty midfield, I don't care how many Marcos Sennas are in there to try and stop them. And if Cameronesi has a good game, well LOOK OUT.

But still, I gotta keep the bad predictions coming and go with Spain 2-0! Ole...

So Dutch...

I've really been waiting for this one. This should be one of the more exciting games of the tournament because of both teams' styles. One thing I'll mention about Russia that impressed me, is that they did not celebrate like they just won the world series after the beat Sweden. If you saw Croatia after they upset Germany, you would have thought they won the entire tournament. Russia was not like that. They expect to be here, and they know they are capable of beating the Dutch.

We'll see if the Orange can rally around the delicate Bouhlarouz situation, I cannot imagine playing after such a thing, but apparently he is in the squad. And if that storyline isn't enough, of course there's the whole Hiddink being a "traitor" or wanting to be a traitor. Who knows.

I expect a great game, watch out for Arshavin, he is a monster. 2-1 Netherlands.

Berk to start alongside Altintop in Semis?

In all honesty, who the hell are the Turks gonna put on the field against Germany? Well, we won't worry about that for now. But Evrim should be lacing up those boots and that knock off #6 Rosicky jersey he wears. Actually Evrim should be banned from soccer.

Its amazing how much two minutes can change the entire complexion of a game and how you'll remember a game. Up til the 119th minute I think it would be fair to say that this was the most uneventful, stagnant game of the competition so far, at least that I have watched. But when that trainwreck of a Turkish keeper finally got that half a chance he'd been waiting so patiently for to make the costly blunder that he surely must have thought would see Turkey out of the tournament, he took it. Dale Johnson of soccernet most accurately described the keeper's actions as some kind of a safari walkabout. I pray that they revoke the suspension of their real keeper so we don't have to watch that guy play a game again. Horrendous.

The whistle could have easily gone at 122minutes, especially when you consider that the referee blew the whistle to stop the first stoppage when the full fifteen minutes hadn't even expired. But the ball fell kindly to their sub-striker, who will most definitely feature in the semi, and he buried it in the top corner, assuring the game of penalties.

But up to that hectic two minutes, these teams were admittedly disappointing. Neither played with that reckless abandon we saw in the previous rounds, especially the Turks who had flashes of creativity, but were mostly poor. Their defense is bad, both full backs are inconsistent, I thought Croatia should have tried to play some more over the top balls to really test their center backs too because that Emre Asik guy is slow as shit. At least my Ugor Baral finally got on, but he played as an attacker, while in the Champions league he was Fenerbeche's left back. (that'll tell you something about Fenerbeche).

Anyway, if you look at the penalty shootout, you can't help but feel for Croatia. They were probably still in shock from that equalizer, and the magnitude of that goal might not settle in for quite some time. But Turkey were the much calmer of the two teams, and lets be honest, if 2 guys aren't even making old man Rustu make a save, you're probably not gonna win. I really like Modric, but you could see the Spur in him already. Love it. And Rakitic is a nice player too, but I just wonder why you don't let some of your veterans take penalties, especially the Kovac brothers, (I can only assume Niko was #5 taker).

So Turkey moves on, their third come from behind win on the trot, what a run. Remember in the beginning of the tournament when one of their assistant coaches said that they would "put their trust in allah, and let him decide their destiny?" Look how far its taken them. Most people predicted them to come in last in their group, and look at them now. Its a shame that their team will be so hampered by suspensions and injuries. They'll have a few extra days to recover, but Arda Turan will be out as will Tuncay, as will seemingly their entire defense...too bad.

Man of the Match: The Croatian left back (Prajnic?) He's been solid all tournament, and he's just a little energizer bunny over there too. Some big club will likely make a move for him as his stock is soaring.

Gaffe of the Match: Well, do I need to say it, two days in a row, two horrible keeping decisions.

Lady Luck of the match - The ref not blowing the whistle and giving the Turks a chance. You have to ride your luck in this tournament, any Greek will tell you that, although they may not be so happy on the shittier half of Cyprus tonight.

Again, this is a really rough loss on Croatia, and lets not forget that they were missing their star striker, poor old Eduardo, who has seemingly been forgotten by everyone. They at least proved that their England win was no fluke, and they have a good enough core of young players to stick around the European scene for years to come. By the way, my 3-2 scoreline was obviously the penalty prediction, lets not kid ourselves. Tomorrow should be a GREAT game. I don't know who I'll be rooting for, although its hard to root for Russia...ever.