Comments on: Quarterfinal / Semifinal Starting XI

By: Ed

Ed — Tue, 01 Jul 2008 03:54:23 +0000

No heroes this time out, but a verification of the rule that midfield play wins championships. I cannot think of a championship that was won like this, on midfield teamwork, rather than individual accomplishment.

Still, despite a poor final, a deserving team. Xavi, Silva, Fabregas, and Capdevila. Busy Latin little guys finally win. And they win by dominating the midfield. We are used to seeing such teams (Spain, Italy, Mexico) piss us off with poor work in the box. Nay, too much passing in the box. This team was more decisive. But the bottom line? They absolutely dominated from midfield to the box with pace. I thought the Russian rematch would test them, but it did not. There was no team in 2008 that could match their pace at midfield. Deserving winners.

Player of the tourney? Xavi.

By: Josh G

Josh G — Sat, 28 Jun 2008 21:23:38 +0000

Let me pose a question. who do you think is player of the tourney so far?

great showings from sneijder, modric, and buffon, but they were eliminated far too quickly to really be considered. arshavin was absent when it mattered, as were zhrikov and el nino.

its down to either ballack or fabregas for me, depending on the final.

By: Ian Rose

Ian Rose — Sat, 28 Jun 2008 16:55:00 +0000

Martin: You’re absolutely right. Well spotted.

By: Martin

Martin — Sat, 28 Jun 2008 15:32:40 +0000

Minor nitpick: There were actually three players who scored in both the quarter and the semi — Klose did, too.

Martin

By: sjop

sjop — Sat, 28 Jun 2008 10:45:03 +0000

Ed, this is the starting xi based ONLY on the quarters and semis. I’m not a big fan of Schweinsteiger or Ballack, but they did score clutch goals when it mattered.
There are three other starting xis from the group rounds – these xis are based on performances in particular games, not on careers.

By: jonkon

jonkon — Sat, 28 Jun 2008 03:39:30 +0000

DANIELE DE ROSSI

By: Ed

Ed — Sat, 28 Jun 2008 02:55:17 +0000

Interestingly, this looks the worst all-tourney team, well…….ever.

Of the Germans, only Ballack appears to have a world class resume, and compared to the great German mids, Beckenbauer, Schuster, Muller or Allofs if you consider either a midfielder, he is not in the running (he reminds me of Lotthar Matthaus).

There is no Spaniard the equal of Butragueno. No French or Italians among the greats, except perhaps Buffon.

Some of the tournament’s great moments were provided by van Nistelrooy (the deft header against France that did not score was brilliant), Nihat, Sneijder, van Persie, Pepe, Pavlyuchenko, Koller, and Modric. And, deservedly, none are on the all-tourney team.

And yet, in spite of the malodorous team noted above (well, I liked Arshavin a lot), can the case be made that this is the best Euro in two decades? ‘88 was great, but I am partial to ‘80. The Belgians looked a lot like the Great Danes of ‘92, but that German team must rank with the best of all time behind only Pele’s Brazilians.

It can, indeed. This must be in the running for the best Euro Cup. There are six teams that simply ran all out, every time out: the Turks, Portugal, Germany, the Dutch, Spain, and Russia. None were eliminated by a pretender. None were eliminated by a team scoring less than 3 goals.

And perhaps that says it all. Wouldn’t we all wish that 3 goals were the standard? In this Cup, it is the standard. Bully!

By: Ian Rose

Ian Rose — Fri, 27 Jun 2008 23:00:50 +0000

Dammit Tommy … I forgot about the white shirts. Good call. A metaphorical wall of blue then.

By: Sam

Sam — Fri, 27 Jun 2008 22:13:23 +0000

Jeez, i thought this was only for the semi final, I thought “Arshavin”? WAT
but yeah he ruled in the quarter

By: Tommy Wong

Tommy Wong — Fri, 27 Jun 2008 22:12:16 +0000

Regarding Chiellini: Every time Villa, Torres and company got any sort of move started, there was a wall of blue right in their face.

Italy was wearing white that day