At Last....After 44 years.

Yes..that is how long Spain had waited to get their hands on the European Championship.They won it last in 1964,they went to the finals in 1984,but lost to France.Last night,they achieve their dreams,and ended the long frustrating wait after beating Germany 1-0 in an entertaining game with Fernando Torres providing the much needed goal to send them and their country on a wild celebration.

They deserve the win.They play such a wonderful and intricate passing game,defence splitting passes and they also defended very well.They outplay,outclass and outpace the Germans in the finals and maintain their 100% record in the tournament.Torres rightfully won the Man Of The Match award and Xavi won the Player Of The Tournament award.

I got my prediction right,although Spain won by a solitary goal,but they can easily won it by 2-0 or 3-0 if not for the goal post and Lehmann great goalkeeping ability even at 38.This will be the last post about football..for now and enjoy some great photos from the finals.

Hey..My Prediction Is Right.

Well..the dust of Euro 2008 semi-finals have already settled,and as what I have predict,the finals tomorrow,or more likely in the early Monday morning here will be Germany vs Spain.

Germany barely make it in the semis against Turkey,but this time it is the German turn to break Turkey's heart in the very last minute of the game,through a goal by Philip Lahm to end the game in Germany's favour,3-2.Turkey took the game to the Germans and deservingly took the lead in the first half,but it lasted only 4 minutes,in a sweeping move by the Germans,Lucas Podolski sent a cross from the left,and Bastian Schweinsteiger was there to guide the ball into the net.The Germans took the lead in the second half,Rustu made a bad judgement of the flight of the ball,allowing Miroslav Klose to get to the ball first and head into the gaping gol mouth.Turkey known for their never say die attitude fight back and got the much needed equaliser 6 minute later and everybody was thinking it will go to extra time,but Lahm have other ideas,he collect a pass inside Turkey penalty area and slammed it in for Germany decisive goal.

The Spain-Russia game is much more anticipated by fans all over because it is between two free flowing attacking teams and with talented players from both side.All eyes are on Andrei Arshavin because since his introduction into the Russian team starting with the game against Sweden,the Russian have a been a different one from the one that lost to Spain 4-1 in their first group game.The game was rain soaked right from the start,but both team do live to the fans expectation with the game going from end to end,with both team trying to make the breakthrough.Spain was dealt a big blow when David Villa,the tournament top scorer with 4 goals,and the only one who manage a hattrick which he did against Russia has to be taken off because of injury,on came Cesc Fabregas,the young midfielder who played for Arsenal,so Spain have to play with one lone striker,Fernando Torres and back-up by 5 midfield man,4 supporting attack,and one as a holding midfield,especially to neutralise the threat of Arshavin.

Many may have thought that Russia will take advantage of the change of formation and personnel to the Sanish side,but it wasn't to be,instead it was Spain who got the lead just 5 minutes after the restart,their two midfielder,Xavi and Iniesta,team-mates at Barcelona combining well for Xavi to score.The Russian was suppose to pick themself up and get the equaliser,but it was the Spaniard who dominate the game and later got two more goals,securing the place for their first European Championship finals in 24 years.They will be hoping to win it to add to the last Championship they have ever won back in 1964.


Many people look at Germany as the favourite to win the title this year,because they have won it 3 times before,they have the experience of big games,but football is sometimes a funny game,it is not about statistic or history,it is all about how the team perform on that day.The Spanish are a young team,but they have the right mentality,just look at how they did it against Italy in the quarter.I've written in my earlier post,if Spain can beat Italy,I think they have a big chance of going all the way and bring the trophy back to Spain.I will go for Spain winning it this time,maybe 3-0.

Football...Again?

I love football and can't stop talking about it,well for now since Euro 2008 is still on going with tomorrow and the day after will be the semi-finals stage with the finals on Monday,until then,still something about football here.When the English Premier League starts in August then I will become football mad again..

The quarter-final stage have ended,4 teams will fight for the two finals spot,while all the 4 losers will be heading home,or already home by now,getting all those needed rest before the new league season starts again all over Europe.For those who have impressed,even though in the losing team,many clubs will be scrambling to get their service for the new season.

The semi-final is between Germany and Turkey tomorrow and Spain again meeting Russia the next day.Some interesting fact about this 4 teams.Only Spain are the group winner,Germany,Turkey and Russia are all the runners up from their respective group.Two teams who have some what find their magic at the very right moment,and two teams with luck certainly seems to be on their side.Let see some interesting photo of the quarter-finals before we look at those 4 teams.

The back from the dead team.
Germany.
Starts their campaign in a great fashion by beating Poland,but against Croatia they just can't find their earlier rhythm and lost 2-1,to make things worst,they lost one player because of a red card,Bastian Schweinsteiger.They went into their last game against co-host Austria knowing only a win will get them through,but still they seem to be lacking it,until their captain,Michael Ballack fires them ahead with a thunderous freekick,and they hang on to win and go through to the next stage.Against tournament favourite,Portugal they found back their normal flowing game,and most of it because Bastian Schweinsteiger are back,and what a fitting comeback because he score the first goal and then setup the next 2 for Klose and Ballack.

Russia.
A very bad start when they were beaten by Spain 4-1,then struggle to beat Greece 1-0.Just like the Germans,they need to win their last game to go through and it is against Sweden,the difference is,in this game they welcome back their playmaker,Andrei Arshavin who miss the 2 opening match because of suspension(He was red carded in Russia last qualifying match against Andorra)and what Sweden saw was a different Russian team from the one that lost to Spain and struggle to beat Greece.They move fast with great and fluid passing,making the old guard in the Swedish team look like little boys,Russia win 2-0 but the way they play it could have easily been a 5 or 6 goal margin win.Then come Holland in the quarter,the team with almost the same style of play,but the Russian shows that they are more superior,and they have a slight advantage for having a Dutch as their coach,Guus Hiddink who was labeled a traitor because he mastermind the exit of his birth country.

The Football God on their side team.
Turkey.
I really think this title suits Turkey more compare to Spain because nothing can describe how they reach this stage.No one give them a chance of even finishing as the top two from their group.They lost their first game 2-0 to Portugal,trailing Switzerland 1-0 in their second game,but come back strongly in the 2nd half to win 2-1,trail the Czech Republic 2-0 with 25 minutes to go in their last do-or-die game,but still won it 3-2 to qualify for the quarter,play a drab match against Croatia that goes into extra-time,and Croatia score the all important goal with 1 minute left of on the clock,but..again,straight from the kick-off,a long ball is send in and..yes..you guess it right..Turkey score to bring it to the dreaded penalty shoot-out and they won it after Croatia fail to convert and Rustu made an important save.I don't know how they will fare against Germany in the semis because they lost so many players through injuries and suspension that they might have to use their reserve goalkeeper as an outfield player!

Spain.
The only group winner who manage to go through.Very impressive in their group games with a 100% record,but have some very strange luck when it comes to playing in big tournament.They have never beaten Italy in any World Cup or European Championship match,they have lost all of their last 3 quarter-finals match in World Cup or Euro over the last 22 years through penalty shoot-out,and all those quarter-finals are played on,you guess what..June 22nd,the same exact date when they play Italy,but this time luck is with them,they came out winners by beating Italy 4-2 in the shoot-out.

Who will go to the finals,your guess is as good as mine,in football,anything can happen.Odds are against Turkey because of the limited players they have,but even though when odds are against them,they still make it through.Spain will meet Russia again,but this time a different Russia because they have their talismanic playmaker,Andrei Arshavin and Guus Hiddink is the coach for South Korea when Spain lost to them in the 2002 World Cup.My pick..Spain vs Germany.

Of Football And Politics.

Euro 2008 are nearing the end,3 teams have qualified for the semi's,with one more team will be decided today between Spain and World Champions,Italy.The winner of this game will meet Russia,with Germany and Turkey contesting for a place in the finals.Heartbreak for Croatia who lost to Turkey on penalty shootout,and The Netherlands who play great attacking football in the group stage to beat Italy,France and Romania,only to lose to Russia,missing yet again another chance of winning a major tournament.Portugal,another tournament favourite have to bow out after losing to Germany 3-2 in the first of the 4 quarterfinals match.

Right after his team lost to Germany,Cristiano Ronaldo made another statement that suggest he wanted to move to Real Madrid for the new season from Manchester United,which does not goes down well with Man U boss,Sir Alex Ferguson,and Man U have made a statement saying that the winger is not for sale,and he still have 4 years more out of his 5 years contract with United.He is currently on a 120,000 pound a week wages,but with the reputation of scoring 42 goals for United in all game last season,plus winning the Barclays Premier League and The Champions League,he will surely want and increase to it,and Real are reported willing to pay United 50million euros or even up to 80million euros with a player or two going United way just to get this star player.Real are looking to start their "Galacticos" era again if they really insist on wanting Ronaldo.They started this trend when they bought the likes of Luis Figo and Zinedine Zidane with record breaking transfer fees but still fail in finding real success.We just have to wait and see in this coming weeks where Ronaldo will be next season.

When a team fails,the blame will fall upon the coach,like what happen to France,finalist in the last World Cup,but fail to win a single game in Euro,and only manage to score 1 goal in their 3 group games.All are calling for Raymond Domenech to be sacked,even players and former players are joining in by saying that he made some bad decision resulting in France failure.This is football,you win,people will heap all the praise on you,but when you lose,these same people will be the first to criticized,asking for your replacement.The political scene here in my country is not much different,when the Prime Minister first took office,and face his first election,the ruling party have a very good win,everybody says that he is a good Prime Minister,he has done a good job since taking over from the old one,yet,4 years later,on March 2008,the ruling party suffer one of their worst defeat in election,but still manage to rule this country,everybody is asking him to step down,even the former Prime Minister who pick him as his successor ask him to resign,saying he made a mistake in choosing him!Tomorrow there will be a no-confidence motion table against him in the Parliament,but I don't think it will materialized.It is just like football,the coach are the one to blame,in politics,since he is the party leader,he is the one they blame for the party failure.Football and politic require team effort,work as a team,and you will be strong,you will achieve your target,but if there is bickering within,one or two person with personal agenda,it will create unbalance in the team,making it weak,and fail to perform accordingly,because each team member have their own responsibility,and they have to support each other.

Blaming someone,forcing them to resign,is a stop gap measure,it won't solve the problem,and there is no guarantee that the new person can bring changes,or make the team perform.It is up to each person in the team to give full support to the leader,and the leader have to listen to what the members have to say,this will not create a perfect system,but at least it will create harmony,and all action taken is based upon collective ideas and agreement,not one made by one person.

Politics are like football,and football suffers when people start politicking it.

Something To Think About.

Someone look at my blog and say that since I touch about religion,he is not interested,he tends to turn his head away when he see something about religion..that is what he say.I don't have anything against him or against anybody who doesn't believe about religion,or that God exist,it is up to them what to believe,but no one,nobody can stop me from talking about it in my blog,this blog is not a religious blog but I sometimes like to talk about it because religion is a universal topic.

I just want everybody to think about a very simple thing,a thing that we do daily but we sometimes doesn't realize we are doing it,because it doesn't need some extra effort from us,unless we are not feeling well or we have some kind of sickness or disease.Breathing..we do it everyday if we are still alive..you will stop breathing when you die or you will die when you stop breathing,people who have asthma sometimes have breathing difficulties which needed some sort of medication to ease it,most of the time by using an inhaler.My question is,can you see what you breath in that keep you alive?You can't,but still you know,if you don't do it,or if you stop doing it,you'll die.In my opinion,that is the simplest way to explain God exist.You cannot see Him,you can never see Him,yet you know He exist,by looking at things that He created,the best way is by looking at yourself.Think about it for a while,you have the whole weekend to do it :-)

OK..lets talk about something else..Euro 2008 have started,some teams have played their second game,there are a few surprises,Italy going down 3-0 to the Dutch in their opening game,the Dutch do look awesome,and what a brilliant display of attacking football.They play France today,who drew their opening game against Romania.Spain beat Russia 4-1,emphatic win for Spain,and ironically,both Spain and Holland are considered the almost team in Europe because of their inability to win major tournament,or failing to live to expectation when it mattered most,but Holland did win the Euro in 1988.Portugal and Croatia are through to the quarterfinal stage after registering their second win in as many match,with Portugal beating Turkey 2-0 and the Czech Republic 3-1.Croatia began their tournament against co-host Austria and winning 1-0 in a very dull game,but they show their true colours when they beat Germany 2-1.Which other 6 team will join Portugal and Croatia in the quarter?My pick is Holland and France from Group C,Czech Republic joining Portugal from Group A,Germany will be along Croatia from Group B and Spain and Sweden from Group D.

Have a good and enjoyable weekend,keep on blogging and keep on reading ;-)

About Bloggers.Com And Euro 2008.

If you look at my side bar,you will find a list of blogs I read daily and blogs of my fellow blogger.I have it before,but there are some changes,and I have to thank Blogger for providing this new element for bloggers user.They call it blog list,you can put your own title,choose which blog you want to put there by adding their URL.The best thing about this new element is that you can choose to arrange it according to latest updates,that means newly updated blogs will be on top,and the title of that latest post will also be display..cool isn't it?

Last month they also added a new feature for Bloggers,scheduled posts.It is a long wait,because other platform have already provided this feature enabling bloggers to write a few post,scheduled it for later days,and it will be publish according to the date and time selected.A good feature because some bloggers wants to post regularly,but other commitments can deny them this opportunity,so writing it in advance,and scheduling it to be publish is convenient to bloggers so they won't miss updating their blog regularly.I did this yesterday to my other blog,wrote an article,and schedule it for today because I spend most of the day today away from my PC.Thanks Bloggers for finally making this feature available to us.


Lastly,Euro 2008 starts today,this year edition are jointly hosted by Switzerland and Austria.The opening match are between Switzerland and the Czech Republic.I don't actually give this tournament much attention because England are not playing.They fail to qualify and resulting in the sacking of Steve McLaren as coach.They appointed Fabio Capello as their new coach with a target of at least reaching the semifinal stage of the 2010 World Cup which will be held in South Africa.Some Man U players will be representing their countries like Edwin Van De Sar for Holland,Patrice Evra for France and of course,Cristiano Ronaldo for Portugal.It is rumored that Ronaldo wanted to join Real Madrid this summer even if he is still contracted to Man U and Man U are reluctant to release him.I actually don't mind if he wants to move to Real,he is a talented and gifted player,but to be a good player,you need more than that.Just let him move to Real,Man U still have other quality players like Rooney,Tevez,Nani and they certainly have the budget to bring in new players.Why keep someone who no longer has an interest in playing for the club.

That is all for now,enjoy trying the new feature for Blogger.com users,may the best team win Euro 2008,my pick is Spain,France and Croatia.Have a good weekend.