World Cup Blog - Euro 2008 Championships

Edgar Davids: active in integraties issues

Jan — Wed, 31 Dec 1969 18:00:00 -0600

Seventeen years in a row, Edgar Davids spent his days on a football pitch. Last season, he was no longer. Retired? And then suddenly, yesterday, a piece in the news on him, in which he said he wanted to see where he was, physically. "I want to train again. I

Spain 3-2 South Africa; Third Place isn't such a Great Place

Anthony — Wed, 31 Dec 1969 18:00:00 -0600

Sorry for the delay on this but I was on vacation and really didn't have much access to the blog. But like they say, better late than never - here it goes. Despite not being able to write anything about the match, I definitely did watch it and although it

Intro: The Next Buffon?

Paul — Wed, 31 Dec 1969 18:00:00 -0600

Continuing Julian's posts, here's an intro on one of our highly touted young goal keepers:

Vincenzo Fiorillo

Donnerwetter start Louis van Gaal!

Jan — Wed, 31 Dec 1969 18:00:00 -0600

Louis van Gaal's first working day in Munich has been hailed by the German media. The new coach received compliments for his "warm words" during his press presentation. The papers were also very positive about his command over the German language and the way he managed the first training. In

Intro: Salvatore Bocchetti

Julian — Wed, 31 Dec 1969 18:00:00 -0600

Our beloved Azzurri is in a time of transition; I've said that, you've read that on other sites, and you probably think that, too. But what does that really mean? In essence, older players are going to be let go and younger players are going to be brought into the national team setup. "Intro" is a new series of posts that I'm doing to, well, introduce players that are pretty likely to be a part of the Azzurri sometime into the not too distant future. First up is U-21 star defender, Salvatore Bocchetti.

Johan Cruyff: Ajax set Marco up for failure!

Jan — Wed, 31 Dec 1969 18:00:00 -0600

Johan Cruyff was silent this year. The last time he was actually big news was when Marco van Basten told him he didn't want to follow JC's guidelines at Ajax. As a result, JC said: Fine. And walked away. He was also conspiciously absent from Champions League analysis on Dutch

5 Conclusions: Germany U21 4-0 England U21

Jan — Wed, 31 Dec 1969 18:00:00 -0600

Before wrapping up the whole tournament again, factoring in the final as Nick suggested in the comments, it's time for me to collect a few more thoughts on the final itself. Feel free to share your own analysis in the comments.

1. All is well that ends well. Well, at least the comprehensive and dominant victory over England added a glossy finish to Germany's tournament performance. It was a team that had its' flaws but discussing them is academic now. They won the tournament and you can't one up that except for a few style points. It's nothing to be concerned with for the future either, as this team will never play together again. A lot of players will be too old for the next tournament and Horst Hrubesch will go back to his U20 team, with Rainer Adrion taking over the U21 now.

2. Horst Hrubesch is part tactical genius and part lucky bastard. I have to give credit to Hrubesch for making all the right adjustments to the team's tactics. Especially playing Hummels in front of the backline. He argued that he wanted to gain aerial dominance over England to counter their strength from set pieces, but Hummels did much more than heading away crosses and corners with his all around excellent defensive display. He also allowed Khedira to go forward, which really helped his game. Though, as far as Özil's return to his natural midfield position is concerned, we probably have to thank Ashkan Dejagah for his second yellow, which partly forced this adjustment onto Hrubesch.

Pre-season warm up: make yourself heard...

Jan — Wed, 31 Dec 1969 18:00:00 -0600

Hi all, In today's football season, it's hard to determine when it stops and starts, what with play offs, cup finals, qualification games, confederation cups and now the up coming CL qualification games... But let's say we're in pre season warm up phase now. Which means it's time for me to check how

The Specialist determines the tactics...

Jan — Wed, 31 Dec 1969 18:00:00 -0600

In England, Bryan Robson was named the best English player ever. Bobby Robson - no relation - uttered the words in 1990 and there was some logic to it too. Bryan Robson was the embodiment of everything English football stood for. The midfielder was a great passer and could repossess the

Photo: UEFA U21 European Champions 2009

Jan — Wed, 31 Dec 1969 18:00:00 -0600

Passing accuracy was still lacking, especially in the first half, but we didn't expect that to magically change in a couple of days. Predictably England enjoyed the majority of possession. Corner kicks still caused trouble. None of that mattered in the end as Germany's U21 won the final against England