Minute by Minute: Germany - Spain
June 30, 2008
VIENNA, Jun 29 (SW) - Euro 2008 culminates with today’s final between Germany and Spain. SoccerWay keeps you up to date with the latest.
Final score: 0-1
More match information: Here. Match Video Highlight
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FULL-TIME: It’s all over! Spain win their first major tournament in 44 years and were the better side in doing it. Valiant effort from Germany, but Torres was the difference and Spain are the kings of Europe in 2008!
Minute 90+2: Spain still going for goal. The ball is played in for Xabi Alonso, but Lehmann thwarts him at the last second.
Minute 90+1: Cross comes in from the right, but it’s too long for Gomez. Throw to Spain.
Minute 90: Germany finally manage to get in the area, but Gomez goes into the back of Capdevila. Three minutes added on by Rosetti.
Minute 88: Kuranyi again slides in on Senna, this time earning the striker a booking.
Minute 87: Germany caught offside, but they are playing more side to side, rather than ahead.
Minute 86: Xavi takes it, but it’s well over the top. Germany need to launch an attack quickly.
Minute 85: Kuranyi concedes a free kick in the center of the pitch 25 yards out against Senna.
Minute 84: Spain are on the attack. Needing an equalizer, Germany are spending a lot of time in their own half.
Minute 81: Senna nearly puts the game away! Cazorla’s cross is played back to center by a Güiza header, but the holding midfielder couldn’t quite reach to it.
Minute 80: Capdevila tries a tough shot from a tight angle, but Lehmann has it.
Minute 79: Also a third change for Germany as Mario Gómez comes for Klose. Two identical switches for Germany and Spain.
Minute 78: It’s the third and final switch for Spain, the goalscorer Torres replaced by Dani Güiza.
Minute 77: Torres tries to cross it to the center, but it’s blocked out for a corner, which amounts to a Cazorla cross going untouched across goal.
Minute 76: Torres puts a good move to put Mertesacker on his backside, but the touch is heavy and Lehmann takes it.
Minute 74: Torres is booked by Rosetti for an aerial challenge on Mertesacker.
Minute 74: Germany trying to push forward, but Ballack is offside and Spain can clear their lines.
Minute 71: Frings takes it, but a powerful punch for Casillas clears the threat.
Minute 70: Free kick won by Jansen as Ramos impeded his run.
Minute 69: Iniesta again gets a shot off in the area, but it’s right at Lehmann.
Minute 68: The corner kick is played short to Iniesta, but his laser shot is cleared off the line by Frings.
Minute 67: Poor German defending almost lets Ramos in! Free kick comes in to the far post and Ramos’ header is a free one getting in behind Jansen, but it’s right at Lehmann.
Minute 66: Silva now comes off with Santi Cazorla replacing him. Another defensive-minded switch by Aragonés.
Minute 64: Some players are steaming as David Silva and Podolski looked to try to be headbutting each other. In any event, the referee didn’t see it, and Schweinsteiger’s free kick again sails over the top.
Minute 63: First switch for Spain as Fabregas comes off to be replaced by Xabi Alonso.
Minute 62: Schweinsteiger puts in a good ball that only narrowly misses finding Klose on the doorstep. Better spell from Germany and their best period of sustained pressure in the match.
Minute 61: Great cross from the left by Ballack almost finds the head of a charging Kuranyi, but Casillas just gets to it.
Minute 60: More good play for Germany as Schweinsteiger flicks forward in the center for Kuranyi, but the flag went up on the Schalke forward.
Minute 60: Jansen recovers from losing the ball and crosses in for Schweinsteiger. The midfielder plays it back for Ballack, but his half-volley goes just wide. That’s the closest Germany have been for awhile.
Minute 59: Great service in from Ramos on the right side of the area, but it goes out for a goal kick with Lehmann diving at it.
Minute 58: Kevin Kuranyi replaces Hitzlsperger, giving Germany two strikers up front. This will also likely bring Frings forward a bit more into a tradition 4-4-2.
Minute 55: Xavi’s ball finds Torres who tries to slide in and poke past Lehmann, but the keeper gets there first and is able to avert the threat.
Minute 54: Silva sends in a shot to the far post from the corner, but Ramos fails to re-direct it, and the ball goes out for a goal kick.
Minute 54: Xavi tees one up from outside the area, but Lehmann just touches it out for the corner kick.
Minute 53: Jansen tries to play in Podolski, but he is swarmed by the red shirts of Spain, and there is no danger.
Minute 47: Ball coming over the top finds Klose, but the striker is offside.
Minute 46: One change for Germany as left-back Marcell Jansen has replaced Philipp Lahm, who had a disappointing first half.
HALF-TIME: It’s the midway point of the Euro 2008 final and Spain are in control. They have the goal from Torres, and have looked the more likely to score for most of the opening period. Germany will need to push forward in greater frequency in the second half.
Minute 45: Counter by the Spanish ends with a cross from Iniesta being blocked out for a corner by Mertesacker.
Minute 43: Double booking for Ballack and Casillas. The two captains were jawing back and forth as Ballack committed a foul as Spain broke.
Minute 41: Hitzlsperger’s corner is punched out by Casillas, but Germany get another one.
Minute 40: Ballack is finally back on. Hitzlsperger takes a free kick from the right side, but it’s headed away by Senna. Goes out for a corner, though.
Minute 39: Iniesta slides a pass through into the area for Silva, but he can’t handle it.
Minute 37: Schweinsteiger takes it and uncharacteristically skies it over the top.
Minute 37: Free kick for Germany about 25 yards out in the left channel. No Ballack for it. He’s getting stitched up after a clash in the air with Marcos Senna.
Minute 35: Silva squanders a chance. Iniesta crosses into plenty of open space, but the Valencia man’s volley is ballooned. He could have done much more with it.
Minute 33: GOAL SPAIN (0-1) FERNANDO TORRES looked like he had been bested by the German defense, but he manages to poke it past Lehmann! Xavi’s ball was out in front of him, but the striker brushed Lahm aside and poked past a charging Lehmann.
Minute 31: Fabregas takes a low effort form 25 yards out, but Lehmann is able to trap it after it came through several sets of legs.
Minute 29: Appeals for handball against Marchena, but Rosetti ignores their pleas.
Minute 26: Capdevila, who is playing well so far, crosses low to the near post, but Lehmann confidently snags it.
Minute 25: It comes back into the area for Ballack on the half-volley, but it hits a leaping Ramos in the ribcage.
Minute 25: Podolski tries to cross in from the left for Schweinsteiger, but it deflects for a corner kick. Schweinsteiger’s inswinger is headed down by Puyol.
Minute 23: Torres hits the post! Cross comes in from the right from Ramos, and the striker rises over Mertesacker, but heads onto the upright. Capdevila follows with a blast, but it swerves wide of the target.
Minute 20: The set piece is crossed in, but headed over the top.
Minute 19: Torres’ move for the ball is impeded on the right touchline by Metzelder. Free kick to Spain.
Minute 16: Torres crosses into open space, but to no one in particular and Spain concede possession to the Germans.
Minute 14: Iniesta crosses back to the center, but it goes off an unsuspecting Metzelder, forcing Lehmann into a diving save.
Minute 12: Schweinsteiger’s ball in for Klose is touched out for a corner kick that is taken by Schweini, but punched away by Casillas.
Minute 9: Klose lays it off for Hitzlsperger to crack at from the top of the area, but the midfielder’s shot lacks power and Casillas comfortably gathers.
Minute 8: A nice touch on the left by Ballack slips his marker, but the ensuing cross goes across the face of goal with no one on the end to put it home.
Minute 7: Silva’s throughball finds Capdevila heading for the left corner, but the full-back is a good four yards offside.
Minute 5: Germany build nicely up the left side, but the cross of Lahm is wayward and lands on top of the goal. Goal kick for Casillas.
Minute 4: Xavi plays it over the top for Torres, but the Liverpool striker drifts narrowly offside.
Minute 4: Horrible giveaway by Sergio Ramos whose errant pass finds Miroslav Klose, but his touch lets him down and the chance goes begging.
Minute 3: Spain have held it since the beginning but have failed to advance the ball much as of yet.
Kickoff: They’ve shaken hands, the coin’s been flipped and the whistle sounds. Game on in Vienna!
PRE-GAME: It’s anthem time. Spain’s "Marcha Real" will play first, followed by Germany’s "Deutschlandlied".
PRE-GAME: For those of you in support of referees during football matches, time to dig out your Roberto Rosetti kit for today’s final. The Italian will be assisted by Alessandro Griselli and Paolo Calcagno. The man designated with the task of putting up with the constant bickering of Aragonés and Löw is Sweden’s Peter Fröjdfeldt, today’s fourth official.
PRE-GAME: The closing ceremony is taking place right now. Lots of balloons. It’s colorful and entertaining, but it’s football all the people want to see. About 12 minutes from kickoff.
SPAIN TEAM NEWS: A big blow for Luis Aragonés and Spain, as striker and tournament top scorer David Villa is out with a groin injury. Therefore, Spain will revert to their former one-striker system. Cesc Fabregas goes from the start in an advanced midfield role.
GERMANY TEAM NEWS: Germany captain Michael Ballack was a serious doubt leading up to the match with a calf strain, but he has been passed fit and starts for Joachim Löw, who goes with just one change from the side that beat Russia 3-0 on Thursday as Torsten Frings re-enters the starting XI for Simon Rolfes.
History: Despite the long history between these two nations, this will be the first time they have ever contested the final of a major tournament against one another. Their most recent meeting was in February 2003, a 3-1 friendly win for Spain in Mallorca.
History: Spain were beaten by West Germany in the 1982 World Cup, the Germans ousting the hosts at the second group phase before going on to lose the final to Italy. They also previous met in 1966 in England, and 1994 in the USA.
History: This is the 20th all-time meeting between Spain and Germany/West Germany. Germany have won eight times, Spain five times, and six times they have played to a draw. Competitively, they have faced off seven times before: three times in a World Cup finals, twice in European qualifying, and twice in a European finals.
TEAMS
Germany (4-2-3-1): Jens Lehmann; Arne Friedrich, Per Mertesacker, Christoph Metzelder, Philipp Lahm; Torsten Frings, Thomas Hitzlsperger; Bastian Schweinsteiger, Michael Ballack, Lukas Podolski; Miroslav Klose.
Spain (4-1-4-1): Iker Casillas; Sergio Ramos, Carlos Marchena, Carles Puyol, Joan Capdevila; Marcos Senna; Andrés Iniesta, Xavi, Cesc Fabregas, David Silva; Fernando Torres.
Popularity: 2% [?]
I´ve lost one major final, I don´t want to lose another: Cesc
June 27, 2008
VIENNA (AFP) - Spain’s Cesc Fabregas says that he has no intention of letting Sunday’s Euro 2008 final against Germany slip through his hands.
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The Arsenal midfielder, who set up Spain’s last two goals in Thursday’s 3-0 semi-final win over Russia, knows all too well what it’s like to fall at the final hurdle having lost out to Barcelona with the Gunners in the 2006 Champions League final.
And after the Russian rout which set Spain up for a tilt at their first major honour in 44 years he insisted: "Listen I know what it’s like to lose a major final, I don’t want to lose another one."
Coach Luis Aragones has preferred to start Xavi in midfield throughout this Euro with Fabregas coming on as a super sub late on in the game.
But here at the Ernst Happel stadium Fabregas got called up sooner than expected when striker David Villa had to come off injured in the 34th minute.
Fabregas, who scored the winning penalty in the spot kick shoot out over Italy in the quarters, made what many regarded as a match winning contribution.
After Xavi had set Spain on their way the 21-year-old Fabregas was at the heart of goals from Daniel Guiza and David Silva.
Asked if this was the best game of his life he shrugged: "Maybe, but I’ll have to watch it on video again to have a better opinion.
"I don’t think I changed the game though when I came on, I just played the way I could."
He said converting the penalty that secured Spain’s 4-2 victory over Italy in the last eight had been crucially important to him and the team.
"It was a defining moment, one of the most important of my life. Everything went well, it could have gone wrong."
History now beckons for Spain who have fallen at the quarter-final stage of the World Cup or Euro three times in recent years, with their sole major honour the European championships of 1964.
"History is waiting for us, hopefully! We’ll have to try to play our best game of the tournament (against Germany)," said Fabregas.
"The Germans are very experienced and very competitive but if we play like we did tonight we have a good chance."
He’ll be coming up against an old adversary from the Premier League in Germany’s Chelsea captain Michael Ballack.
"Ballack’s doing an amazing job for Germany and for me he is one of the players of the tournament."
One key to Spain’s run of success which has seen it brush aside the Russians twice, Greece, Sweden and Italy, is their mental fortitude, a point underlined by Fabregas.
"We forged this team spirit in qualifying. There’s always this doubt in Spain. We’ve got through the semi-final and now the final but no one was expecting us to be where we are now.
"We’ve displayed great mental strength, that’s the key."
After this latest starring role Fabregas, who scored his first international goal in the opening 4-1 win over Russia, could quite understandably expect to be named in the starting XI against the Germans back here at the Ernst Happel stadium on Sunday.
But he said: "If the boss says I can play that’s better for me, but I just want to help my team."
Popularity: 1% [?]
Germany v Turkey (Semi Final 1)
June 25, 2008
UEFA EURO 2008 SEMI-FINAL
Date: Wed 25 June Kick-off: 1945 BST Venue: St Jakob-Park, Basel
Turkey coach Fatih Terim has been hit by injuries and suspension
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Germany coach Joachim Low said Torsten Frings could play against Turkey despite suffering from a fractured rib.
The midfielder was back in training on Monday having missed the quarter-final win over Portugal.
Turkey face the prospect of having just 13 outfield players available for their Euro 2008 semi-clash.
Keeper Volkan Demirel will miss out after his two-match ban was upheld for a red card against Czech Republic and Emre (hamstring) was also ruled out.
Coach Terim said Tumer Metin might be able to play the last 30 minutes of the match despite suffering from a groin strain and he may also have to field third-choice keeper Tolgan Zengin because of the injury crisis.
"He could come on towards the end as a sub as last man in defence or a centre forward," he said.
The Turks were without six players when they beat Croatia 3-1 in a penalty shoot-out in the quarter-finals Friday, and lost a further three - Tuncay Sanli, Arda Turan and Emre Asik - to suspension after picking up yellow cards during the match at Ernst Happel Stadium in Vienna.
Striker Nihat Kahveci was ruled out of the tournament on Sunday with a thigh injury, but Uefa insists it will not be making a special dispensation for Turkey to call up more players to their squad.
Defensive midfielder Mehmet Aurelio returns from a one-match ban, but keeper Volkan still has one game left on his suspension.
Uefa spokesman William Gaillard said: "You can’t replace any players after the first game of the tournament has been played.
"We know some teams are facing difficulties, but this is a hard rule of the tournament. We have no intention of changing the tournament rules.
"If a team only had eight players to choose from before a match, then we might call an emergency meeting. But we have had no requests and we would find it a bit difficult changing now."
BIG MATCH STATS
Head-to-heads
Germany and Turkey have played each other on 17 occasions with Germany winning 11 and losing three.
Turkey are unbeaten in three successive meetings with Germany, recording two wins and one draw.
Germany’s last win over the Turks dates back to May 1992, when they won 1-0 in a friendly encounter.
Their only previous meetings at a major tournament came at the 1954 World Cup in Switzerland, when West Germany won 4-1 and 7-2.
Their last meeting in all competitions was a friendly in October 2005, in which Turkey prevailed 2-1 in Istanbul, through goals by Halil Altintop and Nuri Sahin. Oliver Neuville scored the German goal in injury time.
Played five previous European Championship semi-final matches, progressing on four occasions.
Their sole semi-final defeat came in 1988, when West Germany were knocked out by eventual winners the Netherlands (2-1).
Both Germany and Turkey finished second in their group at Euro 2008. The last two European champions (Greece in 2004 and France in 2000) also finished second in their group.
Team facts - Turkey
This is Turkey’s first European Championship semi-final. Their only previous appearance in the last four of a major tournament came at the 2002 World Cup when they were defeated 1-0 by Brazil.
Been in the lead for only nine minutes in their four matches played at Euro 2008. Including injury time, Turkey were in the lead for 2.5 minutes against Switzerland and 6.5 minutes against the Czech Republic.
Player facts - Germany
Bastian Schweinsteiger has a goal, an assist, a yellow card and a red card to his name at Euro 2008. The only other player to have achieved this feat is Denmark’s Klaus Berggreen in 1984.
If he plays, Kevin Kuranyi will win his 50th cap for Germany. He made his international debut in March 2003 in a 1-1 draw against Lithuania.
Michael Ballack has scored in two successive European Championship matches (against Portugal and Austria).
Ballack and Lukas Podolski both need two goals to equal Jurgen Klinsmann’s German record of five in the European Championship.
Ballack has now scored 38 international goals. Only six German players (Muller, Klinsmann, Voller, Rummenigge, Seeler and Klose) have scored more goals.
Player facts - Turkey
By scoring twice at Euro 2008, Arda Turan, Nihat Kahveci and Semih Senturk have all equalled Hakan Sukur as Turkey’s joint top scorers in European Championship history.
If they take to the field, Hamit Altintop will come up against his Bayern Munich team mates Marcell Jansen, Phillip Lahm, Bastian Schweinsteiger, Miroslav Klose and Lukas Podolski.
If he plays, Gokdeniz Karadeniz will win his 50th cap for Turkey. He made his international debut in a 4-0 defeat against the Czech Republic in April 2003.
35-year-old Rustu Recber is the oldest ever Turkish player in a major tournament (European Championship and World Cup combined). Rustu is Turkey’s most capped player with 117 internationals and also the most experienced Turkish player in the European Championship with eight matches to his name.
Tuncay Sanli, Arda Turan and Emre Asik are suspended for this semi-final. Goalkeeper Volkan Demirel is also suspended pending his appeal.
So far, Turkey have received 15 cards at Euro 2008, only four shy of the competition record set by the Czech Republic in 1996.
Popularity: 2% [?]
Cristiano Ronaldo could tip balance if he moves from Manchester United to Real Madrid
June 24, 2008
Real Madrid are famed for their pristine white kit but, given the club’s indebted recent financial history, red might be a more appropriate colour.
A fiscal crisis at the turn of the century was overcome following a deal to sell the club’s training ground to regional government in Spain, and according to recent estimates the debt figure is again in excess of £160 million.
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Club president Ramon Calderon, having seemingly steered away from the controversial ‘galactico’ policy of predecessor Florentino Perez, insisted last night that Real Madrid would "never pay €100million for any player," yet it looks increasingly likely that they will do just that to secure the signature of Manchester United’s Cristiano Ronaldo. On top of that, Calderon is ready to give the Portuguese a £182,000-a-week contract that would dwarf the wages commanded by players such as Kaka, Michael Ballack and John Terry.
At a time of such Premier League strength, Real’s apparent financial muscle may appear surprising. Indeed, if the Ronaldo transfer happens, it would force a re-evaluation of the supposed European financial dominance of England’s leading clubs.
Recent research showed that the Premier League was generating some £600 million more income on an annual basis than Spain’s La Liga, yet revenues are widely split in Spain.
Real were accused of being effectively state-subsidised following the training ground deal, but remain the only club to generate more annual income than United. In 2006-07, according to Deloitte’s Money League, their turnover was £236 million compared to United’s £212 million. The difference could largely be explained by the commercial legacy of the galactico policy, as well broadcast rights. United and the rest of the Premier League clubs sell their television rights collectively, while Real are free to thrash out individual deals in Spain, and have recently signed a contract with Mediapro worth £740 million over seven years. They also generated more than £30 million more in commercial turnover than United, an area of their finances that improved significantly during the period that Zinedine Zidane, David Beckham and Brazil’s Ronaldo were at the club.
As well as the benefit on the football pitch, the acquisition of United’s Ronaldo would also provide a boost to Real’s merchandising. It is, however, widely predicted that United’s turnover will surpass Real’s when the figures for the 2007-08 season are published.
Ronaldo yesterday went on holiday, and no swift resolution is expected. Ultimately, the stand-off highlights the differing styles of the world’s two richest clubs. United’s emphasis on developing emerging young talent has helped ease any temptation to spend excessively on individual players, while Real coach Bernd Schuster has expressed the desire to "pay whatever it takes" to sign Ronaldo.
Indeed, when Madrid have really wanted a player over the past decade, it has generally been backed up by a willingness to spend considerable amounts of money. And, in football, money usually talks.
Popularity: 1% [?]
Euro 2008 - Best of Euro 2008
June 24, 2008
With only one game of Euro 2008 remaining, Eurosport takes a look at the games, goals, gaffes and girls that have caught the eye.
Player of the tournament - To be decided
At this stage of proceedings, no player has yet grabbed the competition by the scruff of its neck and bent it to his will.
Wesley Sneijder was the undisputed star of the group stage, conducting the Netherlands to sensational victories over Italy and France, while Andrei Arshavin sparkled brilliantly before fading completely in Russia’s semi-final defeat to Spain.
The tournament’s top strikers - David Villa, Roman Pavlyuchenko and Lukas Podolski - have impressed only fleetingly, while Spain’s super substitute Cesc Fabregas is yet to start a meaningful game.
Michael Ballack has led the German charge to the final, ably assisted by goalscoring winger Bastian Schweinsteiger, but any one of about six or seven players could land the player of the tournament gong with a match-winning performance in the final.
Goal of the tournament - Wesley Sneijder v Italy
There has been a dearth of quality long-range goals in the tournament, with players struggling to get to grips with a ball that’s displayed the flyaway qualities of one of those 50p balls you find in motorway service stations.
Zlatan Ibrahimovic’s thunderbolt against Greece, Ballack’s net-busting free-kick against Austria and Sneijder’s stunning coup de grace for the Netherlands in the 4-1 trouncing of France are the obvious exceptions, but there have also been some sublime team goals.
Arshavin’s goal in Russia’s 2-0 win over Sweden was a fine thing to behold, but it’s the Dutch who mastered the art of the counter-attack most effortlessly, and Sneijder’s beautifully struck half-volley after a flowing team move in the 3-0 win over Italy was the best of the lot.
Miss of the tournament - Mario Gomez v Austria
19:49 BST, Monday 16 June, Ernst Happel Stadium, Vienna. Germany are playing Austria and need a win to progress to the next round.
With just four minutes on the clock, out-of-form striker Mario Gomez is presented with an open goal by team-mate Miroslav Klose, but from barely four yards out and with the goal at his mercy he spoons the ball into the air and Austrian defender Gyorgy Garics is able to head it off the line.
Hakan Yakin was guilty of a similarly glaring miss in Switzerland’s 2-1 defeat to Turkey, but for the glimpse into a very private hell that Gomez’s miss provided, the Stuttgart striker gets the nod.
Game of the tournament - Turkey 3-2 Czech Republic
There have been some tremendous games in the tournament, with the Netherlands’ thumping victories over Italy and France catching the eye before they were eliminated in stunning fashion at the quarter-final stage by Russia.
Germany edged a thrilling quarter-final against Portugal 3-2 thanks to some appallingly slack defending from Luis Felipe Scolari’s men, but for pure edge-of-the-seat excitement, it has to be Turkey’s incredible comeback victory over the Czech Republic in Group A.
Needing to win to go through, Turkey trailed 2-0 with just 15 minutes to play, but after Arda Turan had halved the deficit Nihat Kahveci took advantage of a howler from Petr Cech to level before curling a superb injury-time winner in off the crossbar to send the Turks into the last eight.
Save of the tournament - Gianluigi Buffon v Romania
With nine minutes remaining of the Group C match between Italy and Romania, Christian Panucci conceded a penalty that could have knocked the world champions out of the tournament.
Romania captain Adrian Mutu stepped up and drilled the ball firmly down the centre of the goal but, despite having already dived down to his left, Italy keeper Gianluigi Buffon shot out his right hand to claw the ball away and keep his side in the competition.
Gaffe of the tournament - Petr Cech v Turkey
Turkey goalkeeper Rustu Recber produced a horrendous flap which enabled Klose to head Germany into a 2-1 lead in the semi-final between the sides, but Cech’s error against the Turks - when he let a high right-wing cross squirm out of his grasp and into the path of Nihat - was probably the worst of the tournament, even more so because it was so completely out of character.
Coach of the tournament - Fetih Terim, Turkey
Dutchmen Marco van Basten and Guus Hiddink oversaw some fine performances from the Netherlands and Russia, but both sides choked when it mattered most.
Croatia coach Slaven Bilic had his side playing some similarly eye-catching stuff, and somehow managed to ally breathless touchline enthusiasm with effortless cool, but for taking a decidedly unfancied Turkey side to the brink of the final - whilst all the while throwing his arms around like an epileptic orangutang - Fatih Terim is our top boss.
Biggest disappointment - France
How a squad containing the attacking talents of Thierry Henry, Franck Ribery, Karim Benzema and Nicolas Anelka could exit the tournament with just a single goal to their name is something of a mystery, but in the end they were undone by too many ageing legs and a collective loss of form.
Insipid against Romania, they were then trounced by the Dutch and didn’t even look like scoring in the 2-0 defeat to Italy.
Still, every cloud has a silver lining, and in Ribery, Benzema, Samir Nasri and Hatem Ben Arfa - not to mention the likely departure of coach Raymond Domenech - there is hope for the future.
Worst match - France v Romania
Sweden’s 2-0 win over Greece in Group D was an absolute stinker, but it did at least boast some goals.
France’s goalless draw with Romania, on the other hand, had no redeeming features whatsoever, with the sides registering just one shot on target between them in the whole game, and that a side-footed pea-roller from Benzema that might not have made it into the net even if Romanian goalkeeper Bogdan Lobont hadn’t been there to get in the way.
Best WAG - Sarah Brandner
A difficult category to judge, seeing as none of the WAGs have actually done anything, but a top three of Noemie Lenoir (Claude Makelele), Sarah Brandner (Bastian Schweinsteiger) and Sylvie Meis (Rafael van der Vaart) provides plenty of food for thought.
Lenoir and Meis both score highly in the glamour stakes, but for sheer commitment (she turned up to every Germany match, quaffed pints of lager and she’s dating a footballer who looks like a pimply adolescent), it has to be Fraulein Brandner (pictured).
Best fans - Netherlands
It’s a massive cliche, but once again the Dutch fans illuminated the tournament with their crazy orange-clad antics and unstinting commitment to wacky fancy-dress.
So impressed was the mayor of Berne with the behaviour of the Oranje fans during their group-stage sojourn in the city that he presented the squad with turf from the Stade de Suisse Wankdorf where they had played.
As useless gifts go it’s right up there with ornamental animals, but at least they made an impression.
Popularity: 1% [?]
