Euro Wrap, June 7th

Well the opening ceremony was a trip. Almost literally. I’m sure any Euro 2008 viewers who came of age in the 60s thought they were having acid flashbacks.

But after that bit of weirdness was over, there was the football. Review and video highlights of Switzerland 0-1 Czech Republic and Portugal 2-0 Turkey below.

Switzerland		vs		Czech Republic
		0-1	Sverkos 71′

All in all, not a bad game to open the Swissaustria extravaganza. Switerland looked bright, and had a fair number of chances. Alexander Frei had one close effort saved by Cech and another bendy long ranger punched away. Frei is recently back from a long long injury layoff and looking likely to produce something for the co-hosts. But then this happened towards the end of the first half. Alexander Frei broke hearts everywhere by limping out in tears. And so Switzerland’s bad luck began.

Example: Patrick Mueller and Philippe Senderos did a great job delaing with Jan Koller. Maybe too good in hindsight. Because Karel Bruckner withdrew the big man and replaced him with Vaclav Sverkos. A few minutes later the Banik Ostrava striker did this.

Looks like a nice finish from Sverkos, but a bit of a David Shin-roller on closer inspection. Great moment for Sverkos nonetheless though.

A brave Swiss onslaught followed, including two handballs from Czech superhero defender Tomas Ujfalusi that could easily have been given without anyone complaining. But it wasn’t to be. Young Johan Vonlanthen came on and hit the woodwork and Frei’s replacement Hakan Yakin headed a goalden opportunity just wide.

So an unconvincing but important Czech Republic win and an uphill battle for the Swiss, especially without their captain.

Portugal		vs		Turkey
Pepe 61′ Meireles 93′		2-0

It took awhile for Cristiano Ronaldo to make a real difference in the game, but in the end he managed it.

The very end. Deep into second-half stoppage time, literally seconds before the final whistle, Ronaldo brought the ball up the left and sent a perfect delivery to Joao Moutinho in front of the goal. The Turkish defenders and keeper were able to cut off the angle and keep Moutinho from shooting, but there was nothing they could do when he sent the ball to second-half sub Raul Meireles, who seemed almost to come out of nowhere on the right. The keeper was off his line dealing with Moutinho, so Meireles had an easy tap-in to seal the win for Portugal.

The goal wasn’t really needed, as Portugal was already up 1-0. But is has to give them confidence going into their second game against Czech Republic on Wednesday.

The first, game-winning goal came on an improbable offensive foray by centerback Pepe. He took the ball straight up the middle, dodging Turkish defenders left and right, then did a sweet little one-two with Nuno Gomes before rounding the goalkeeper and sending the ball home.

So amazing you almost wonder why he’s a defender. At least until you watch him defend. He also headed home a corner in the first half that was called back as offside. An amazing performance for the Real Madrid man. He gets my vote for Man of the Match by far.

Both goals, below.

It could have been much worse for Turkey, as Portugal was denied goals by the woodwork not once, not twice, but three times. And yet Turkey were not pushovers. They played with guts. Not content to defend, like so many teams would have when faced with an arguably stronger team, they took the game to Portugal every chance they got. And they were able to hold Portugal scoreless for sixty-one minutes.

They have to feel good going into their last two games, particularly as neither Switzerland nor the Czech Republic really shone today. With a little work on finishing, Turkey could easily go through as the second team in Group A.