Euro 2008 LiveBlog: Switzerland vs Czech Republic

- Poor Swiss clearance was met by a massive Jankulovski header that put Sverkos through on goal. Sverkos didn’t hit a very clean shot on the bounce (looked more shin pad than boot to be honest) but it rolled into the corner.

71′ Goal Sverkos! 1-0 Czech Rep

66′ Just saw Alexander Frei on crutches. Terrible sight. I think we can assume his tournament is over.

65′ Yakin with a golden chance, meets a cross froim Lichtesteiner but directs his (unchallenged) header just wide. That could have been the opener.

63′ Up the other end, Barnetta makes an important challenge on Plasil as he the Czech winger was about to shoot. I say challenge and not tackle because Barnetta didn’t get any of the ball. Somoene had to stop Plasil though. Resulting free kick from Jankulovski goes over the bar.

62′ Barnetta sends one way over the bar. Do they play rugby in Switzerland?

61′ Rozenhal with some comedy defending as he tries to head back to Cech but heads out for a corner instead. He must have learned that at Newcastle.

59′ Jankulovski’s free kick is met (barely) by Sionko, who’s thin header slices teh ball wide. Hate to say it, but Jan Koller would have bloody buried that.

58′ First yellow of tourney goes to Magnin for an ice hockey check on Sionko.

56′ Surprise Czech sub: Koller off, SVerkos on. Koller didn’t look injured. He did look surprised though.

55′ Behrami also gets in a high cross to the far post, but Streller is too far wide out to head at goal. All Swiss this half.

54′ Behrami with a few more tricks and stepovers. Everyone wants to be C-Ron these days. Not that that’s a bad thing though.

51′ Yakin chips a great pass into the path of Fernandes, who was through on goal. Juts offside though.

49′ Free kick for Swiss in a spot that woudl have been Frei territory. Yakin bends it around the wall but just over.

48′ Magnin with a shot at Cech, who holds. Yakin was nearly there to touch it in.

Interesting development, Switzerland have decided against bringing on young Derdiyok and replaced the sadly injured Frei with the more experienced Hakan Yakin instead.

45′ Second half underway.

Half-Time Alexander Frei is limping out. In tears. Terrible blow, got to feel for him.

45′ Petr Cech with some footskills. He fakes out Streller and then plays a smooth pass out under pressure.

Let’s hope Frei’s OK. To get injured after waiting so long to come back would be a huge blow.

44′ Frei refuses the stretcher (brave little soldier) but he’s limping. 19 year old Eren Derdiyok (who scored a sweet goal against England in February) is warming up.

43′ Uh-oh. Frei is down. Bad news, as he’s only recenlt come back from a very long (about a year) injury lay off. Think it was hip problems that kept him out.

42′ Barnetta tries to slide a pass behind the Czech defence from the left. He hasn’t been all that involved so far, but we know he’s capable of creating something.

39′ Great chance for Sionko (?) after a one two, but he can’t find the space to turn and shoot. 0-0 as we approach the tea-break (well that’s what I’m doing) but either of these teams could score.

- Good pace to this game. Players are all running instead of walking. Maybe the not quite as hot as most summer tournaments weather in Geneva is a boon for the tournament.

35′ Long range effort from Frei, and Cech punches it away. Ball definitely moved. Those keepers who were complaining pre-tourney weren’t joking.

33′ Another cross from the left from the Czechs through Plasil. No one connected, but it looked dangerous. If you had Jan Koller on your team, you’d put a lot of crosses in too.

32′ Another late tackle from Fernandes. Still no card though. But looks like he got a warning form the ref.

31′ No way! Sionko wins a 50-50 shoulder to shoudler ball with Fernandes, but gets pulled bacl for a foul. Is Fernandes dating the ref’s sister or something? He can get away with anuything.

30′ Fernandes has caught Polak with a late tackle around the ankle. No booking though. Ref has been fairly lenient so far, letting it flow.

29′ Great slide tackle from Senderos to beat Sionko to the ball. Extra great given Sionko’s pace.

28′ Cross finally reaches Koller, but he’s offside. Brings it down a treat though. Good touch for a big man and all that.

26′ High boot form a Czech player (didn’t see who) and Magnin’s acting like he got a kick in the face. Replay suggests there was no connection. Hmm.

25′ Swiss defence doing a good job of heading away crosses intended for Koller. Senderos and Muller look like they can just about handle him. Jarolim’s delivery is decent though.

22′ Bad touch from Senderos nearly lets Koller in, but good cover from Muller. Senderos is a beast (in a good way) but he needs a minder like Muller to clean up the odd mistake.

20′ Benaglio beats Koller in the air, and the ball upfield falls to Frei. Definite chance but Cech was off his line quick-sharp to block. That could have been the opener.

18′ Frei finds Imler in a bit of space. The Swiss defensive mid runs though and takes a defensive mid style shot, straight at the keeper.

- I’m liking this. Both teams have giant strikers in Streller and Koller, but neither are settling for long balls. They’re both going down the wings instead, maybe looking to get crosses in for their respective oversized men.

15′ Vehrami rides a tackle and gets a long range shot at Cech. Worth a pop, but you don’t beat Cech from there very often.

13′ A backheel down the line and Jarolim gets it in the box. Swiss keeper Benaglio tips it away from goal.

10′ Great C-Ron like move from Behrami down the right for the Swiss. He looks lively.

- Good opening so far, no? Been fairly end to end.

7′ Sionko puts the burner on donw the right for the Czechs. The man looks fast fast fast.

6′ Swiss free kick from wide and crowd do a great long “aaaaaaaaaaaaah” before he takes it. Rubbish delivery from Magnin though.

4′ Cech was way out of goal, like he was playing at sweeper. But gets to the ball. He knows what he’s doing.

0′ We’re underway. Alexander Frei with an early shot, just wide.

Very polite of the Swiss to let the Czechs go first. Great Czech anthem to. I think it was all vocals and no music. Crowd joined in as well, which is always great.

National anthems. Unlike the opening ceremony, this is one bit of pomp and circumstance that I really like. Adds a proper sense of occasion.

Now that’s behind us, on with the football. Players are in the tunnel about to come out.

OK, the acid trip is nearly over. Climax was at least tournament related as everyone gathered together to form the Euro 2008 logo. And then baloons were released.

Crowd don’t look very impressed by that human domino thing. Why are opening ceremonies always obscure forms of highly interpretive dance? I don’t think the average football fan really wants to see interpretive dance.

Actually, the giant blow up skiiers are quite cool.

-15 minutes or so til kickoff. Opening ceremony is in full flow. Basically it’s a lot of people wearing giant rubix cubes. Or something.

Starting Line ups:

Switzerland: Benaglio, Lichtsteiner, Muller, Senderos, Magnin, Behrami, Inler, Gelson, Barnetta, Frei, Streller.
Subs: Zuberbuhler, Jakupovic, Djourou, Huggel, Cabanas, Yakin, Derdiyok, Grichting, Gygax, Spycher, Vonlanthen, Degen.

Czech Republic: Cech, Jankulovski, Rozehnal, Ujfalusi, Grygera, Plasil, Polak, Galasek, Jarolim, Sionko, Koller.
Subs: Blazek, Zitka, Kovac, Fenin, Sverkos, Vlcek, Pospech, Kadlec, Baros, Matejovsky, Sivok, Skacel.

As for predictions, I’m going to sit on the fence. I see a 1-1 draw on the cards, Czechs to take the lead, Swiss to equalize.

Coverage is underway with some pleasantly dramatic highlights of tournaments gone by, and highlight reels of some of the top players at Euro 2008. Bring it on.

Welcome to the first of our Euro 2008 LiveBlogs. It’s co-hosts Switzerland vs Czech Republic and I genuinely can’t wait for kick off. Watching this one on BBC One where they’re just finishing up their coverage of the Epsom Derby. A horse named New Approach won, in case you’re interested.

But in about ten minutes time, the Derby coverage is over and the Euro coverage begins…