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Five Spices

"One accusation you can't throw at me is that I've always done my best." (Alan Shearer) And our Chairman Damon can never be said to be one to make unfair criticisms.

Harsh, but fair, our Chairman dispenses his trenchant, pithy post match analysis of the overpaid heroes and goats that make up the “Happy Band” of Euro 2008. If you're in the prawn sandwich and skim latte club, or part of the "Dippy Darling" brigade this column is not for you!!

Who's hot? Who's not? Who's left their bottle at home? Watch this space carefully as the tournament unwinds.

Previous Analysis :

Round 1

Five Spices - Round 2

Sweden 1 – Spain 2

A dramatic last-minute winner saw Spain win group D.

The Spanish had found the hard-working Swedes a very different proposition to the adventurous Russians in their opening game, despite going ahead on the fifteen-minute mark when Fernando Torres was on hand to turn home David Silva's driven cross.

Zlatan Ibrahimovic scored a deserved equaliser twenty minutes later as Sergio Ramos, caught the wrong side, lost his footing in trying to recover and allowed the enigmatic striker to collect and squeeze home Fredrik Stoor's right-wing cross.

Ibrahimovic failed to reappear after the break but Sweden remained dogged in their resistance and it looked as if things were going to finish all square before this enjoyable tournament produced yet another sting in the tail.

In the last minute of the game, Joan Capdevila launched a long, hopeful ball down the left. An aerial lunge from Torres took Stoor out of the game, preventing the centre-half from heading clear and the hitherto well-marshalled David Villa latched onto the loose ball and bore down on goal. Cutting inside a hesitant Petter Hansson challenge, the Spaniard was able to finish with cool authority inside Andreas Isaksson's far post and add another couple of million to his pending transfer fee.

Spain, as expected, progress from the group as winners, whilst Sweden only need a draw against Russia to join them in the quarter finals.

Greece 0 – 1 Russia

The defending champions crash out at the group phase after defeat by Russia.

A tactical re-jig saw the Greeks dump their ultra-defensive formation ahead of this game, knowing a win was crucial in keeping alive their chances of progression. Not that they came out and produced scintillating football as a result, mind you, but sometimes it's the thought that counts.

In truth, they always looked second best to a lively Russian side, spear-headed by the excellent but occasionally wasteful Roman Pavlyuchenko, in turn supported by a posse of willing workers.

Just after the half-hour mark, the Russians got the goal their greater ambition deserved but they were thankful to a rush of blood from silver-haired goalkeeper Antonis Nikopolidis for the chance. As Diniyar Bilyaletdinov's cross from the left drifted out beyond the far post, the chasing Serguei Semak looked to be well-policed by centre-back Ioannis Amanatidis, only for Nikopolidis to inexplicably go chasing after the loose ball. Semak, thinking quickly, put the ball back over his own head and into the six-yard box, where Konstatin Zyryanov was on the spot to slot home.

Despite their struggles to get back into the game, the Greeks could still have got away with a draw, as Angelos Charisteas saw his effort probably wrongly disallowed for offside. It wouldn't really have reflected the balance of the game but football results don't always do that and I think the Greeks were hard done-by in this case. Then again, they were let off the hook in spectacular fashion towards the end when Pavlyuchenko blazed a golden opportunity to put the game safe into the crowd.

The Greeks, then, exit the tournament and my suspicion is Russia will likely join them, unless they can discover a sharper cutting edge against the Swedes.

Italy 1 – 1 Romania

An entertaining draw in Zürich left both these sides still in with a chance of making the quarterfinals.

Italy made most of the early running, carving out a succession of chances, whilst Romania looked to play on the break, producing passages of excellent football themselves. Both keepers needed to be sharp and produced several good stops to maintain the stalemate.

Luca Toni looked to have broken the deadlock just before half time, only to see his header somewhat harshly scrubbed out for offside with Alessandro Del Piero late in trotting back to the play.

When the opener finally came, ten minutes after the restart, it owed everything to the anticipation and opportunism of Adrian Mutu, who intercepted Gianluca Zambrotta's weak header before planting the ball emphatically past Gianluigi Buffon into the roof of the net.

The lead was only to last a minute. Italy won a corner and when Giorgio Chiellini headed back across the goal, Christian Panucci stole in at the far post to bundle home. From where I was sitting, the stranded Del Piero looked to be interfering more with the play than he was for the disallowed goal but the Italians had deserved the break.

Smelling blood, Italy looked to step things up a gear but found Bogdan Lobont in the Romanian goal in top form and remained vulnerable to their opponents' clever breaks from the back.

Then, ten minutes from the end, it looked as if the World Champions were going home. Christian Panucci turned from hero to villain in bringing down Daniel Niculae and the impressive Adrian Mutu stepped up to convert. Guessing correctly, though, Buffon threw himself to his left and was able to block the effort with his legs. Italy's lucked had suddenly turned and, when the game played out to the draw, had their destiny back in at least one hand.

Tuesday's game between the Italians and the French now promises to be a highly-charged drama, whilst the Romanians will fancy their chances against a Dutch side that failed to beat them during the qualifying campaign. Fantastic stuff.

Netherlands 4 – 1 France

Laughing in the face of the Group of Death, the Dutch dispatched the French in similarly emphatic fashion to their dismantling of the Italians.

It only took ten minutes for the first goal to come, the maligned Dirk Kuyt making the most of the ridiculous Florent Malouda's aversion to defending to head Giovanni van Bronkhorst's corner powerfully home at the near post.

The early goal had shocked the French out of their rhythm but they slowly worked themselves back into the game and, by the break, looked to be working up a head of steam. Ten minutes after the restart, they worked a great opening but Thierry Henry, running through onto Malouda's overhead kick, was only able to loft his finish over the bar and remains clearly a man still in search of his lost mojo.

With the Dutch counter-attacking sensationally at every opportunity, it didn't take long for the French to pay for Henry's miss when substitute Arjen Robben outstripped the French right flank before squaring to fellow replacement Robin van Persie to provide a fully unconvincing finish through Gregory Coupet.

Cheese-eating they may be, surrender monkeys they certainly are not, though, and France came back at the Dutch again. With nineteen minutes to go, Willy Sagnol found space down the right and his low cross was diverted home sublimely by Henry, providing a reminder of the player he still perhaps can be.

Any hopes of a Gallic fightback were dashed immediately, however. Wesley Sneijder, who continues to impress hugely, freed Robben down the left and the oldest-looking twenty-something in the world unleashed a fearsome drive into the roof of the net from a tight angle. Coupet didn't even see it.

Then, at the death, the coup de grace. Sneijder received the ball some twenty-five yards out and with his back to goal but, with the French defence hesitant in closing him down, he was able to find the time to turn before smashing home a fantastic effort that crashed in off the underside of the bar. Ooh, la la.

Holland has put down a marker that few would have expected ahead of this tournament and, especially, considering the group they'd been assigned. From what we've seen so far, and assuming Spain win group D, there's no team likely to stop them before the semi finals. In football, with its almost infinite capacity to surprise, we so often see the sides that start these tournaments the strongest falling short at the business end. It would be a brave man to bet against the Dutch on this form, though.

For France, all is not yet lost with an all-or-nothing game against Italy to come, though they will be hoping Marco van basten doesn't now take the opportunity to rest his first eleven against the Romanians, with qualification as group winners already assured.

Croatia 2 – 1 Germany

A turn up for the books as a very much improved Croatia beat the favourites to qualify for the quarterfinals as group winners.

The game started cagily but sprang to life in the twenty-fourth minute when Dario Srna left the dozy Marcell Jansen ball-watching and was first to Danijel Pranic’s superb left-wing cross.

Germany responded well but with Mario Gomez looking anything but an international striker and Stipe Pletikosa in the Croatian goal dealing comfortably with anything that came his way, were unable to make a break-through, whilst the Croats continued to carry a threat themselves.

The second half saw the struggling Jansen replaced by the ineffective David Odonkor and the Germans continue to push forward, whilst Croatia were happy to sit and hit on the break. Once again this tournament, it proved a successful tactic as they went two up on sixty-two minutes.

Ivan Rakitic’s cross from the right caught a deflection of Lukas Podolski and Jens Lehmann was slow to react as the ball cannoned off his near post. Ivica Olic got to the rebound first and the Germans suddenly had a mountain to climb but had neglected to pack their crampons.

You can never write Germany off, though, and they finally pulled a goal back when Michael Ballack’s attempted header through to the offside Miroslav Klose was intercepted weakly by the otherwise impeccable Robert Kovac. The ball looped up and, as it fell, Lukas Podolski caught it with what’s fast becoming a trademark left foot volley to give his side a faint glimmer of hope. What he’s doing shunted out to the left to accommodate Gomez is anyone’s guess.

There were to be no more goals, however, the final moments only enlivened by Bastian Schweinsteiger adding to his burgeoning reputation as a bit of a liability when getting red-carded for a petulant shove on Jerko Leko.

It will then be Croatia who enjoys the favoured draw in the next round whilst Germany, assuming they can avoid defeat to Austria, will come up against the Portuguese. Should be a good one.

Austria 1 – Poland 1

A dramatic draw in Vienna left both the group’s outsiders with a slim chance of making it through to the quarterfinals.

The hosts started in sensational fashion and could, perhaps should, have been three up in the first quarter of an hour were it not for some nervous finishing and sterling work in the Polish goal from Artur Boruc.

Poland appeared to have learnt no lessons in defence from their run-around at the hands of Germany, despite drafting in the clod-footed Mariusz Jop to shore up the centre, and were first breached when Martin Harnik got clear, only to see Boruc deflect his effort just wide of the post.

Harnik spurned an even better chance minutes later, shooting straight at the keeper from seven yards out, before it was Christoph Leitgeb’s turn to be denied when through on goal, Boruc again closing down the angle to good effect.

True to the script, Austria paid the penalty for their profligacy when the Poles went ahead against the run of play, Roger Guerreiro bagging the latest offside goal of the tournament when turning home Marek Saganowski’s cross-shot from five yards out.

Pawel Golanski replaced the truly dreadful Jop at half time and Poland finally started to look more solid at the back, as the Austrians struggled to maintain the tempo at which they’d begun the game and appeared to be on their way out of the competition.

That was to change dramatically in the last minute of the game. Mariusz Lewandowski was adjudged to have pulled down Sebastian Proedl during a bog-standard bout of penalty area jostling and Ivica Vastic stepped forward to convert from the spot and write himself into the record books as the competition’s oldest ever goal scorer.

The Poles now need to recover from the late blow and defeat group winners Croatia to stand any chance of progressing. Austria just needs to beat Germany. A piece of torte, clearly.

Czech Republic 1 – 3 Portugal

Portugal booked their place in the next round after overcoming the Czechs in an entertaining and hard-fought game.

It looked as if this might prove a stroll in the park after Deco was allowed two bites at the cherry to scramble in an early opener. But the Czech side, much improved after their opening match, wouldn’t lie down and got a deserved equalizer through Libor Sionko’s powerful header.

The goal briefly allowed the other Portugal to resurface – the cynical and detestable side of this team which makes it so easy to dislike them and overlook the huge amount of talent in the side – but, thankfully, the invisible snipers seemed all to have been rounded up during the half-time interval and the second half saw the re-emergence of the good Portugal.

It was end-to-end stuff with both teams giving a decent account of themselves before Cristiano Ronaldo got ahead of his marker to steer home a Deco pass from just inside the area and put the Portuguese ahead.

The Czechs came back again but, as we’ve seen so often this tournament already, were then caught chasing a goal by a swift counter-attack that finished with Ricardo Quaresma rolling Ronaldo’s square ball into an empty net and it was all over.

Portugal, then, progress to a likely quarterfinal encounter with either Croatia or Poland, whilst the Czechs play off against Turkey for the right to get eliminated by the Germans.

Switzerland 1 – 2 Turkey

The co-hosts crash out at the group stage in an enthralling and dramatic game against the Turks.

Unfortunately, there was no repeat of the mass brawl and bollock-kicking that erupted when these sides met in the World Cup qualifiers but there was enough entertainment on show in a match played in atrocious conditions in Basel.

Torrential rain during the first half meant the ball was all-but-unplayable on the deck and it was the Turks who suffered the most, as their short passing game was constantly wrecked by the myriad puddles on the pitch. Switzerland adapted the better and went ahead when Phillipe Senderos’s long hoof up the park held up on the waterlogged ground, allowing Eren Derdiyok to reach it ahead of the over-committed Volkan Demirel and square it across the face of the goal. Again, the ball stuck well short but Hakan Yakin was close enough to be able to scuff the ball into the Turkish net.

Yakin should have scored another shortly afterward from virtually the same spot but, unbelievably, sent his effort wide after being picked out by Valon Behrami and the missed chance was eventually to cost the Swiss dear.

Half-time saw the ground staff frantically plunging forks into the pitch in an attempt to prevent the match descending fully into farce and Fatih Terim, the Turkish coach, shuffled his deck by bringing on a couple big blokes to negate Switzerland’s aerial threat. Both moves helped the Turks improve and they set about the Swiss with a sense of purpose which was rewarded in the fifty-seventh minute when Swiss keeper Diego Benaglio dived all the way round Semih Senturk’s header.

With a draw no good to either side, the game steadily became more frantic as the half wore on and it was the Swiss who once again seemed to be in the ascendancy, only for Arda Turan to win the game in the last minute when his shot looped up over Benaglio after taking a deflection off the desperate Behrami.

The co-hosts, therefore, are destined to finish fourth in this group, despite a decent showing. Turkey’s victory now means they play off against the Czech Republic (and with both sides having identical goals for and against records, I have no clue whatsoever what happens in the event of a draw, so will go away to look it up).

Spain 4 – 1 Russia

David Villa bagged a hat-trick as Spain destroyed Russia and posted a clear statement of intent.

In a hugely entertaining game, both sides started the match looking to get forward and it was Russia who just about shaded the opening before a great ball out from the back by Joan Capdevila sent Fernando Torres away and, when the galumphing Denis Kolodin missed his tackle, the Liverpool striker was able to square for the incoming Villa to finish.

The Russians carved out a couple of chances in their hunt for an equalizer, hitting the post in the process, but Spain went further ahead when Andres Iniesta’s inch-perfect through ball put Villa one on one with Igor Akinfeev and the Valencia hit man made no mistake.

If anything, the second half was even more open than the first, with the Russians still carrying a threat but absolutely woeful at the back, which was underlined by the ease with which Villa was able to turn the hapless Roman Shirokov and complete his hat-trick, after the Spaniards had carved through the Russian midfield with a lovely sequence of passes.

Faint hopes of a fight-back briefly flicked when Roman Pavlyuchenko thumped a header through Iker Casillas with five minutes remaining and then put a chance on a plate for Serguei Semak, who makes a complete tart’s breakfast of things from seven yards out.

Spain break straight from the keeper and rub salt into Russian wounds when the offside Cesc Fabregas (yes, I checked for mortally-wounded Russian defenders behind the goal and there weren’t any) stoops to head home a fourth, after Akinfeev can only block Xavi’s goal-bound effort.

So once again the Spanish kick off a tournament in impressive form and only time will tell whether they manage their usual collapse later on in the tournament. Russia now has it all to do to make the next round.

Greece 0 – Sweden 2

Zlatan Ibrahimovic’s first international goal in three years lit up a drab encounter as the defending champions slumped to defeat.

Four years ago, Greece affronted pundits and football purists alike by progressing to the title with an attritional style that proved more than a match for all comers. For the first hour or so of this match, they continued where they had left off in Portugal until a spectacular finish from Ibrahimovic exposed their lack of a plan B, should their opponents have the temerity to score first.

It had been a largely forgettable affair until the Inter striker, running onto Henrik Larsson’s return pass, spanked an exceptional finish into the top left-hand corner of the net from a good twenty-five yards out, to register his first goal in Sweden’s colours since scoring for Iceland back in October 2005 and hide the fact he’d actually played a stinker up to that moment.

Things went from bad to worse for the Greeks when, before they’d really had much of a chance to get back into the game, Petter Hansson was allowed to bundle his way through a statuesque defence and squeeze home a loose ball to increase Sweden’s lead.

There was no way back for Greece and, whether or not there’s one for their tournament as a whole depends, I suspect, on who gets the first goal when they play Russia. The likelihood is, though, that it will be the Swedes or the Russians who’ll take second place behind the Spanish in this group.