Hollywood Popular actors

Netherlands has started their Euro 2008 campaign with a stunning 3-0 victory over world champion Italy on Monday in a mind blowing encounter. The score line might make you puzzled to consider it as a mind blowing match, but the truth is that the score line is inadequate to prove what a classic match world football experienced between Netherlands and Italy in the second match of Group C, which is considered as a group of death.

Except the number of goals, the two sides were equal in terms of their attacking football. Netherlands vs Italy match was a striking contrast with the dull first matches of the day between France and Romania. Holland’s magnificent counter-attacking style of football impressed all football fans, while France also created some real chances in the match but could not score due to lack of quality finishing. This has been the first Dutch victory over Italy in the last 30 years. Italian striker Luca Toni missed two early chances for Italy, while Dutch striker Van Nistelrooy missed a chance receiving Dirk Kuyt’s pass in the 17^th minute. Nistelrooy opened scoring for Holland in the 26^th minute which is a controversial goal as many consider that the striker was off side.

Only five minutes later, Holland doubled their lead thanks to Nistelrooy’s Real Madrid team mate Wesley Sneijder scored from an excellent counter attack. Kuyt steered Van Bronckhorst’s long pass to find Sneijder who sent the ball into the net pretty successfully. Only three minutes before the half time, Nistelrooy missed another chance after receiving a superb pass from Sneijder, but Italian keeper Buffon was up to the mark saving Italy’s hope alive at the interval.

Italy was naturally more aggressive from the beginning of the second half of the match with creating a number of solid chances, but could not manage to score due to lack of well execution as well as superb goal keeping by Manchester United’s Champions league hero Van der Sar. Before Netherlands scored their third goal from another counter attack in the 78^th minute, Van der Sar denied a number of Italian chances from Alessandro del Piero, Toni, Grosso and Pirlo. From another counter attack, Van Bronckhorst scored the third goal for Netherlands. Receiving a pass from Van Bronckhorst, Kuyt made a shot at goal which was successfully blocked by Buffon, before Kuyt regained the control of the ball and sent a cross for Van Bronckhorst to head past Buffon. Holland could have won with a bigger margin if the late attempts from Ibrahim Afellay and Robin van Persie were executed successfully.

Related article:

BBC

Defending Champion Greece starts their Euro 2008 mission on 10 June 2008 in a Group D match against Sweden. Greece stunned the football world winning the Euro 2004 title four years back in Portugal thanks to their excellent defensive approach that worked well for them. Last time Greece came as an underdog side and surprised the football powerhouses to become the winner of the competition, but this time they are considered as one of the favorites of Euro 2008 and share the lime light with some other big names like Germany, Italy, France, Netherlands etc. So, they have got to prove that whatever they did four years ago was not fluke and show that they have enough talent to be considered as one of the big names of Europe. So, the opening match against Sweden is very important for Greece.

Do you know the head to head record of the two sides till date? Well, that would not talk in favor of the Greeks as Greece was demolished 0-9 by Sweden on 28 August 1920 in a Summer Olympic match. This is the only time Greece faced Sweden in the history of football. However, many things have been changed in these long spell of time. Greece is no more an underdog of Europe, while Sweden has also lost many of its past glory by this time. So, Sweden can not take any inspiration from that emphatic victory.

Following Greece’s Europe win, Greece went through a bad spell of time, from where they bounced back in Euro 2008 qualifying round and won a ticket to make it to the Euro 2008 final. Their national hero coach Otto Rehhagel is now gearing up to show another impressive performance in Euro 2008 finishing off all the talks regarding Greece’s ability at these level of tournament.

There is no major injury woe in Greece squad and the good news for Greece fans is that Panathinaikos central midfielder Yorgos Karagounis will be in the starting line up against Sweden, after recovering from knee injury. Captain Angelos Basinas was in excellent form four years back in Portugal. Sweden’s main strength perhaps lies in their star studded attacking line up including Henke Larsson and Ibrahimovic. However, striker Ibrahimovic is not yet sure for the first match due to his minor problem to his knee. Whatever it is, Sweden is expected to throw a strong challenge for Greece in the match.

Related article:

Goal.com

Spain is going to start their Euro 2008 campaign on 10^th June 2008 with the match against Russia. No doubt, Spain is favorite for the match, but considering Russia’s inspirational qualifying form Spain has no chance to relax. Here, it is noteworthy that Russia finished second in their Euro qualifying group behind Croatia, where football powerhouse England failed to qualify from the same group.

Spain is considered as the biggest underachieved side of Europe. Spain always takes part in the major tournament as a favorite but hardly ever live up to the expectation. Their only European success came 44 yeas back when Spain clinched Euro 1964 title. Twenty years later in 1984, Spain played in another Euro final but this time could not emerge winner. Spain is favorite for Euro 2008 as well, but football pundits are skeptical about their success in Euro 2008.

However, Spanish coach Luis Aragones is upbeat about their success ahead of the opening match. Coach is confident two of his top guns: Fernando Torres and David Villa will be leading Spain in the tournament. The coach thinks both the strikers are quick and can score.

BBC reported:

“If we all work hard, there’s no reason to think we’ll lose,” said Aragones.

“Villa and Torres are very quick and can score. It’ll be difficult for Spain to go one game without scoring.”

Both Torres and Villa have been at their prime last season for Liverpool and Valencia respectively. Spain will go into the match on a six-match winning run to face Russia. Spain did not lose any of their last 16 matches since November 2006. Spain seems to be full of confident with two confidence-booster victories against Italy and France recently in pre-Euro 2008 friendly matches. However, no recent records or unbeaten streak would make Spanish fans feel happy until Spain shows something impressive in Euro 2008. Spain went into 2006 FIFA World Cup with 21-match unbeaten streak, but Spain lost to France in the second round. This time, Spain is not considering what they did in the recent past, rather they are focusing on what they are going through and what is coming up next.

For Russia, Euro 2008 is a tournament to prove that they have improved a lot and they are much better side that that played four years ago in Portugal. Guus Hiddink is well-known for bringing success and Russian fans are also looking to Hiddink to continue his success story that he did as South Korea coach in 2002 World Cup leading Korea to the semi final. Russian defense is expected to be a big problem for Spain even though they have some in form strikers like Torres and Villa. Russia is expected to put either 3-5-2 or 4-4-2 formation against Russia in the match as Hiddink very often switch between these two formations.

Now, you can see that both teams have something to prove, have got to prove their ability at this level of competition. So, naturally the match between Spain and Russia seems to be very exciting and interesting.

Related articles:

BBC

Goal.com

France has become the first big team to drop points in Euro 2008 as the Les Bleus was held to a goalless draw with Romania in the opening match of Group C. France was definitely the favorite in the match but they could not manage to clinch three points from the match.

France lost their momentum to the packed Romanian defense. In terms of excitement, the match was not something enjoyable as both sides failed to show anything impressive during the match. In the entire match, there was only one shot at goal which came from Karim Benzema, but Romania goal keeper did not have any problem to save it. In Thierry Henry’s absence, the front line of France was not up to the mark. Franck Ribery, Benzema and Nicolas Anelka failed to put up any effective chance in the match. Besides injured Thierry Henry, Captain midfielder Patrick Vieira was also absent in the match due to injury and that lessen the strength of their midfield. However, according to team officials, the midfielder is expected to become fit by the time France takes on Netherlands in their next match in Euro 2008. Romania, on the other hand, was more focused on their defense.

You know that Group C is considered as ‘Group of Death’ in Euro 2008 in the presence of three favorite teams of the tournament: France, Italy and Netherlands. Moreover, Romania is also in good form as they played superb in the qualifying round. France will have to face world champion Italy and Netherlands in the reaming two group matches. So, for France, it would now be very tough to win one of the two tickets of quarter final from this group after sharing points with Romania. On the other hand, Romania played well in the opening match and if they continue their excellent run, winning a quarter final berth is not impossible for Romania.

Related article:

Reuters

Germany defeated Poland 2-0 in their opening match of Euro 2008 yesterday. Two goals from striker Lukas Podolski ensured three points for Germany from the first match. Germany dominated most part of the match and their performance was satisfactory. Podolski scored one goal in each half of the match to help Germany start the tournament in style.

The first half of the game was very exciting with both sides creating a number of chances. Both sides just went for attack. The first real chance of the match created by Poland but it was not well-executed in the end. Then in the fifth minute, Germany missed a chance that is rare at this level of competition. Two German strikers: Miroslav Klose and Mario Gomez found Polish goal keeper alone, but Mario Gomez failed to touch the pass from Klose in the open post. A few minutes later, Germany missed another chance as Miroslav Klose failed to head a pass from Lukas Podolski. In the 20th minute, Lukas Podolski opened scoring for Germany receiving a pass from Klose and sending it into the open post. Actually, Michael Ballack was behind this goal, as he sent an excellent pass for unmarked Klose from the midfield.

The first goal came as a confidence booster for Germany as they made a flurry of attacks following the goal in the first half. In the 36th minute Poland got another real chance but lack of execution blurred it. A minute later, Germany created another good chance thanks to midfielder Torsten Frings when he went up though the right wing and sent a pass for unmarked Michael Ballack, and Ballack also shot at goal, but Mario Gomez once again failed to touch the ball. Germany had more shots at goal than Poland in the first half. Roger created some good chances for Poland in the first half. Germany was leading 1-0 at half time.

The second half was also full of attack and counter attack from both sides. However, Germany had more control in the second half and created a number of good chances. In the 57th minute, Ballack provided a lob for Miroslav Klose in the box from the left wing, but Klose header missed the target. Then in the 70th minute, Ballack made an excellent shot at goal, but this time it was Polish goal keeper Boruc who saved it magnificently. Germany got the second goal in the 72nd minute thanks to Podolski once again and this was his 11th goal in Euro overall. The origin of the goal was a pass from Bastian Schweinsteiger for Klose who failed to take the shot properly before Podolski sent it into the left corner of the net for Germany’s second goal in the match. Poland also created some excellent chances but throughout the match they suffered for proper execution of the chances, otherwise the result of the match could have been different. Roger played very well for Poland throughout the match, while for Germany, Lukas Podolski, Michael Ballack, Torsten Frings and Philipp Lahm played very well. Germany deployed three men in the attack which worked well in the opening match. However, their defense was not flawless. Actually, Germany controlled the match thanks to their excellent midfield. Germany created huge space in their attack thanks to their two flanks, while in the middle of midfield, Michael Ballack was excellent. So, overall Germany’s performance was very well and they seemed confident. For Poland, it was not a good performance as their defense seemed fragile very often and gave more spaces for the opposition flanks and strikers. Though Poland played well in the midfield, they lacked a quality finisher which let a number of chances being destroyed. Poland’s performance was excellent in Euro 2008 qualifying round, so they should not face many problems to bounce back in the tournament. However, one think is for sure that Polish strikers must find their goal scoring form as soon as possible in the tournament.

Winning the first match, Germany is now a bit closure to get into the next round. Croatia defeated Austria in the opening match of Group B earlier yesterday. So, Germany and Croatia are now leading Group B with their victories in their respective openers in the tournament.

Croatia got off to a good star in Euro 2008 today as they defeated co-hosts Austria in their tournament opener. With Austria vs Croatia match, Euro 2008 kicked off in Austria today after the tournament had officially got underway yesterday at the St. Jakob-Park, Basel in Switzerland. Thanks to the 4th minute penalty goal from Luka Modric Croatia clinched full three points from their first match. After Ivica Olic was illegally challenged by Rene Aufhauser, Croatia was awarded the penalty and Luka Modric successfully sent the Austria goal keeper Juergen Macho wrong way to score the first goal of Croatia in Euro 2008.
It was the first match of Group B and with this victory Croatia has gone a bit closure to win the quarter final ticket from this group. On the other hand, home crowed got disheartened as Austria failed to avoid the defeat. Actually, Austria missed a number of good chances in the match due to lack of proper execution as well as excellent goal keeping from Croatia goal keeper who helped his side keep a clean sheet. Austria will face Germany and Poland in the next two matches. So, it would not be easy for the co-hosts to bounce back and win one of the first two places of the group.

Related article:
AFP

Portugal defeated Turkey 2-0 in their tournament opener on Saturday. Two second half goals thanks to Pepe and Raul Meireles secured all three points for Portugal in the first match. So, the runner up of Euro 2004 has had a good start in the tournament.
Pepe opened scoring for Portugal in the 61st minute. The defender sent the ball into Turkey post after playing one-two with Nuno Gomes. Substituted Raul Meireles scored the second goal in the closing minutes of the match which ensured an easy victory for Portugal. However, Portugal could have scored more goals if they did not hit goal bar thrice and Pepe’s 18th minute header was not disallowed due to off side. However, still Portugal coach Luiz Felipe Scolari does not need to worry about the score line of the match because his top gun Cristiano Ronaldo played very well and appeared as a constant threat for Turkey during the match. Nuno Gomes played excellently well but was a bit unlucky as two of his shot hit the bar and often fall in the off side trap of Turkish defense. However, Turkey was not that much impressive in the match.
With this victory, Portugal is now leading Group A in goal difference. For Turkey, they must win the next game against co-host Switzerland in order to keep their hope of reaching the next round alive. Portugal faces Czech Republic in the next match.

Related article:
xinhuanet

The biggest football extravaganza of Europe, Euro 2008, started yesterday. Following a sparkling opening ceremony, co-host Switzerland took on Czech Republic in the opening match of Euro 2008. However, the excitement of the home crowd did not continue at the end of the match as Switzerland lost the match 0-1 to allow Czech Republic clinching three points from the first match of the tournament.

The only goal of the match came in the 71^st minutes from striker Vaclav Sverkos who came on in place of striker Jan Koller 10 minutes into the second half. However, Switzerland suffered a big blow when captain and the country’s all time leading goal scorer Alexander Frei went off the pitch with a knee injury. According to recent reports, the striker has already been ruled out of the rest of the tournament with this injury.

Actually, Switzerland also got some chances that lacked proper execution, and Czech goal keeper Peter Cech was up to the mark to deny a number of good chances of Switzerland. With this victory Czech Republic went a step closure to winning a quarter final spot, while it would be very difficult for Switzerland to come back in the tournament to clinch a quarter final berth as they are going to face Turkey and Portugal in their next two matches. Let us see if Switzerland can really make it to the next round, without the assistance of their best striker Alexander Frei.

Related article:

xinhuanet

Euro 2008 started on Saturday with Switzerland taking on Czech Republic in the opening match of the tournament. After FIFA world cup, Euro is the most popular football tournament in the world in terms of popularity. Though it is a continental tournament of Europe, football fans across the globe are attracted to this tournament because some of the best footballs playing teams are from Europe and a number of star footballers who have huge fan following around the world are from Europe. That means football fans have a universal attraction to this competition. So, football fans from United Kingdom are also fascinated with Euro 2008, even though no team from United Kingdom is participating in Euro 2008 tournament.

Earlier in an article, I wrote about BBC television channel’s coverage of Euro 2008 in United Kingdom. Actually, the matches of Euro 2008 will be brought live for the U.K. football fans jointly by BBC and ITV television channels. The matches will be available on BBC One, BBCi, ITV1 and ITV television channels. So, some of the matches will be shown live on BBC, while some other matches will be available on ITV television channel. Both the channels will bring the live actions of two quarter finals and one semi final matches each. However, the final match will be broadcast live on BBC One television channel, while ITV1 will show the highlights of the final of Euro 2008 in the evening.

Matches on both the television channels will be available online as well. So, if you are currently in any country of United Kingdom, you can enjoy Euro 2008 matches live on BBC and ITV television channels. If you want to get the TV schedule of BBC and ITV for Euro 2008 matches, then click here.

Related articles:

BBC

Wikipedia

In my last article, I wrote about ESPN Latin America television channel which is broadcasting the Euro 2008 matches for the Latin American fans. However, there is good news for the U.S. football fans as well, because they can also enjoy the tournament live on ESPN and ABC television channels. The two channels will bring the live action of all the matches of Euro 2008 football tournament, in which 29 matches will be shown on different ESPN channels and two matches: one quarter final and the final- will be broadcast live on ABC television channel. 17 matches will be shown on ESPN2, while seven matches will be available on ESPN television channel. ESPN Classic will bring the live action of five matches. Out of 31 matches, 26 matches of Euro 2008 will be broadcast live in HD (high definition) television, but the ESPN Classic matches will not be available on HD. ESPN’s online video service, ESPN 360, will bring the live action of all of the Euro 2008 matches, except the two to be broadcast on ABC. During the tournament, everyday highlights of Euro 2008 matches will be available on ESPN Classic television channel in the evening. ESPN Deportes television channel is covering Euro 2008 matches in Spain language.

Euro 2008 has already begun and football fans are now excited with this tournament. Given the fact that some of the best footballs playing countries are taking part in the tournament and some of the world’s mega footballs tars are appearing with their talent, Euro is perhaps the second most popular football tournament in the world after FIFA World Cup tournament.

You know that soccer (football) is not a popular sport in United States. However, still, ESPN and ABC television channels are extensively covering the tournament because many foreign people from Asia and Europe are currently residing in United States. So, if you are currently residing in United States, you can easily stick to ESPN or ABC television channels in order to enjoy the Euro 2008 matches.

Related article:

Epltalk

Wikipedia