Euro Wrap, June 8th

June 8th, 2008 | By: Daryl | 7 Comments »

The big day


Euro 2008 got started in Austria today, with everyone from Group B in action. Review and video from Austria 0-1 Croatia and Germany 2-0 Poland below…


Austria

Flag Austria vs Flag Croatia

Croatia

0-1

Modric (pen) 4′



So turns out Austria aren’t that bad after all. When Croatia took a 4th minute lead through a Luka Modric penalty, the doomsday disaster scenario looked on the cards. But the Austrian team put in a huge effort and had a tired looking Croatia under a lot of pressure by the end of the game. But still finished with a 1-0 loss.

Maybe it’s the curse of the co-hosts (more or less the same thing happened to Switzlerand yesterday) or maybe it’s a lack of quality up front. Probably both.

But if the Austrians have to blame anyone, they can look accusingly at the experienced (ie he should know better) Aufhauser for giving away the penalty. The defensive mids tackle on Olic wasn’t nasty, but it was the dictionary definition of clumsy.

So Austria’s Euro 2008 effort likely won’t be the predicted national disgrace, but on this showing Croatia’s won’t be the predicted glory either.

Austria Blog - Buy an Austria jersey from the USA or UK.

Croatia Blog - Buy a Croatia jersey from the USA or UK

Bet on Euro 2008


Germany

Flag Germany vs Flag Poland

Poland

Podolski 20′, 73′

2-0


Germany showed themselves to be a cut above on the day, but whether or not they’re ready to fulfill the hype is another matter. The attack will probably be fine, but defense wins championships and theirs looked a bit weak in the legs at times.

The man of the day was Lukas Podolski, the day he’s been eagerly chomping at the bit for after two years of underachieving at Bayern, with his brace. But the first goal was probably half his and half Miroslav Klose’s, who managed to finally thread a perfect ball to Lukas whose only task was to knock in a ball my grandmother could score. The second goal was more impressive, after having fate serve him a ball on a platter, he struck a hard one-timer past Artur Boruc, who has nothing to hang his head about today.

The game got a bit more intense in the second half as two subs, one for each team, came on to make a difference. Bastian Scweinsteiger seemed to make an immediate and noticeable impact upon his pitch entrance, or maybe that was just his blinding hair which made him stick out. Roger Guerreiroski also made a marked difference, bringing with him a flair which was decidedly, umm, not Polish (coughbraziliancough). However, it wasn’t enough to get a ball or two into the back of the net.

Germany is still going to be one of the favorites, but they may not steamroll their way to the final as everyone thought. Croatia didn’t look otherworldly either, so maybe we’ll have to wait until the knockouts for Germany to see whether or not they can cut the mustard.

Germany Blog - Buy a Germany jersey from USA or UK

Poland - Buy a Poland jersey from USA or UK

Bet on Euro 2008



Related Posts


Subscribe
 

rss icon Euro 2008 World Cup RSS Feed

Print
Print this article
Share
del.icio.us:Euro Wrap, June 8th digg:Euro Wrap, June 8th newsvine:Euro Wrap, June 8th reddit:Euro Wrap, June 8th fark:Euro Wrap, June 8th Y!:Euro Wrap, June 8th stumbleupon:Euro Wrap, June 8th

Comments
Username By Michel | June 8th, 2008 at 5:23 pm
top comment
cornercorner

It was really sad to see a Polish Born Player scoring twice against his home country, Poland, in which he was born! Really sad =(

Michel

Posted from Canada Canada

cornercorner
Username By Anthony | June 8th, 2008 at 5:53 pm
top comment
cornercorner

More boring than I expected out all four teams. I wanted to see how Germany was, and Italy has it for sure (I have Italy-Germany in the final).

cornercorner
Username By elle | June 8th, 2008 at 6:07 pm
top comment
cornercorner

so out of curiosity, who would win in a fight, julie foudy or andy gray?

cornercorner
Username By Brigitterozario | June 8th, 2008 at 6:20 pm
top comment
cornercorner

I’m quite disappointed with Croatia. Slaven Bilic says his players were overwhelmed being at such a big tourney. They better get over it asap cos they meet Germany next and they don’t want to be overwhelmed then!

As for Austria, they’re much better than we were all led to believe based on all the flak they’d been getting from their countrymen who wanted them to withdraw. Honestly, what was that all about, really?

Posted from Australia Australia

cornercorner
Username By squiggy | June 8th, 2008 at 6:41 pm
top comment
cornercorner

Well, so far the favorites of each group are prevailing.

I’m not worried about Croatia. Sure they did not look that good but Austria WAS clearly out of their league in the first half. Their positioning was awful. BUT, they did regroup and adjusted well in the second half.

Poland doesn’t look inspired - again. I don’t know if a 4-4-1-1 is right for Poland. It may have worked during qualification but it didn’t today. They may not have enough creativity for this formation. I could be wrong.

But I agree you have to get in high gear quickly at the Euro’s.

I also agree with Anthony. So far the soccer is ho-hum. Tomorrow should be really nuts with Group C.

Posted from Canada Canada

cornercorner
Username By skillz | June 8th, 2008 at 7:33 pm
top comment
cornercorner

Hey, Brigitterozario or what-ever-the-fuck your name is.

I completely agreed with what you had to say about Croatia and Austria.

Lets not open this debate about Podolski. Hes a German citezen and plays for Germany and he could pass for a german too.

cornercorner
Username By Arminius | June 9th, 2008 at 2:12 pm
top comment
cornercorner

My guess for the final: Germany vs. Holland.
Winner: Germany after penalty shootout.

cornercorner


Comments are closed


 
Go to WCB Homepage


Send Your Tips!

Found a great story, photo or video that's perfect for World Cup Blog?
Email tips[at]worldcupblog[dot]org

Euro 2008 Club Football News

SWITZERLAND SOCCER JERSEY HOME RED +EURO 2008 Siz ...
Price: $20.99
CZECH SOCCER JERSEY HOME RED + EURO 2008 (SZ. M) ...
Price: $21.99
Spain National Team Soccer Jersey: Torres, Number ...
Price: $34.99

Powered by

More Euro 2008 Blogs

Monthly Archives

closer