The absentees...

It has been a already long football season for the professional but tired legs of many footballers, and the preparation for the coming World Cup in South Africa has meant many teams are seriously weakened. Many players will be sorely missed by their teams as well as by the fans:

• Rio Ferdinand: the normal captain of the English favourites is out with a knee injury he got during training.
  
• Michael Ballack: an extraordinary player who will be missed, is out due to the Ghanaian Kevin Prince Boateng's vicious tackle in the FA Cup final. This seriously weakens the German team, who will also be without Simon Rolfes and Rene Adler.
• Michael Essien: Ghana's and Chelsea's midfield dynamo did not get past his long-term injury, and this seriously weakens Ghana, where also the veteran Stephen Appiah has been doubtful (but he is in South Africa).
  
• Didier Drogba, one of the best strikers in the world and a lethal weapon for the Ivory Coast, fractured his arm in a friendly match against Chile. He is in South Africa, and it seems that he may play, but it all remains highly doubtful.
  
• John Obi Mikel, yet another Chelsea player is out for Nigeria due to a knee injury.
  
• Humberto Suazo, "Chupete", Chile's leading striker, got a hamstring injury in a friendly match against Israel. He is in South Africa, but it is doubtful he will be able to play. Marcelo Bielsa, Chile's coach, is known to push his players very hard.
• Andrea Pirlo: The best Italian player of the 2006 final, and dynamo from AC Milan, suffered a calf injury during training, and will be out for Italy's first two matches, but it is hoped he will be recovered for the knock-out stages. No matter what, his absence is a serious problem for Marcelo Lippi.
• Miroslav Karhan, one of Slovakia's most experienced and veteran midfielders, is out of the tournament due to a hamstring injury.
• Carlos Costly, Honduras' best striker, is out the entire tournament after breaking the foot, and this also seriously hampers Honduras' hopes of upsetting someone in their difficult group.
  

For other teams many players have been doubtful: Simon Kjær for Denmark, Jozy Altidore for the USA, Julio Cesar for Brazil...
Smaller nations, more dependent on their stars, will probably suffer the absence of their stars more than the bigger teams, but the dynamic for each team will be changed.

In the end, the winner of the World Cup may be the team that best manages its injuries!

Germany in the semifinal

I guess it was somewhat to be expected: the Portuguese were unable to stop the efficient Germans who, like in the good ole' days, just become better and better as the tournament goes on.
How far can they go? They will be facing Croatia or Turkey in the semifinal, and neither looks that intimidating after Germany's good game today against an also well-playing Portuguese side. Still, the Portuguese were unable to stop some German players who really excelled: Ballack was incredible (well, he did make a small foul in his third goal, but I am sorry to say, these things happen often, and mostly to the advantage of the defender... I can only blame the referee!), but was closely followed in great performance by many other Germans: Hitzlsperger, Podolski, Lahm and the returning Schweinsteiger.
This team can go far. But how far...?
It is a pity however, to see the Portuguese out again. They play good and positive football, and have some amazing players: Deco was stunning today, and Bosingwa an eternal threat on the right side.
But as a team, they simply were not as good as the Germans, and one is left with the impression that the Portuguese again lost to the cleverer team, just like when losing to Greece in 2004...
Sorry to Portugal, congratulations to Germany!

Auf Wiedersehen

Tonight Germany defeated Austria 1-0 in Vienna. The Austrians are out, while the Germans have made it to the quarterfinals, where they will be facing Portugal.

The current German national team started the tournament with the same charm and offensive play we remember them for in the last World Cup. After what we saw tonight, that seems ages away: we saw a German team play for the result, boringly, against a spirited but inefficient and insufficient Austria side. This German team reminds one more of the 1986 team, and one had some flashbacks to another memorable game in 1982, between the same two teams, where the result was the main thing...

Besides Ballack's amazing free-kick, which gave the Germans the victory, there was nothing really noteworthy in the German side. On the contrary: they were slow, inefficient and at times the defense looked very shaky; if the Portuguese are given the space the Austrians at times had (and wasted), they are in for a bad defeat, and Austria will not be the only Auf Wiedersehen we'll see this week!

I do hope the Germans give us some of the nice playing of what we have seen them do before, because that could make an extraordinary match against Portugal!

In the meantime, thank you and farewell to Austria.

First round of the Euro 2008

First round matches are over, and so far, there have been no major surprises, but too many disappointing teams.
In Group A Portugal confirmed their status as favourites by firmly defeating the never-to-be-underestimated Turks 2-0. At the same time, the Swiss hosts, in my view, disappointed by losing to the Czechs, and will have to show more in their coming matches if they are to hope going through. Portugal should be watched out for surely!
Germany was powerful in group B against a hugely disappointing Polish side, who made such defensive blunders that they qualify as the worse team so far in this tournament. At the same time, the Austrian hosts lost to the Croatians on Modric's lone penalty, but deserved better, and surely should not be underestimated by Germany. The Austrians should defeat the poor Poles.
Group C promises to be thrilling in spite of the Netherlands giving such a powerful display of football: it wasn't that they played so well (everyone should know that the Dutch can play like that), but it was the more amazing considering that they defeated the defending world champions, Italy, by 3-0! It was a powerful display, and the Dutch are looking like serious contenders for the title. The same cannot be said for the world's 2nd, France. They were hugely disappoiting in the 0-0 game against Romania - a match so boring I fell asleep prefering to watch paint dry.
Lastly, Group D started off with an exciting 4-1 victory of Spain against Russia, with three goals by Valencia's David Villa, who thus looks like a serious contender for most scoring player of the tournament. While Spain should also be considered a contender for the title, one should not forget their history of starting off well and disappointing later. Meanwhile, the Swedes were unforgiving in their 2-0 victory against the defending champions of Greece, who are looking at an early exit from the tournament.

In spite of this being the first round only, and many things could still happen, my top-5 favourites for the title are as follows:

1. Netherlands: after their display against the Italians, they seem to be the team to beat. I hope they will be able to keep up that kind of playing, for the good of football!
2. Portugal: Will be more interesting to watch against a big team, but surely played well, and Cristiano Ronaldo seems to be on a roll.
3. Germany: Played surgically with an elegant Ballack leading the midfield against the Poles, who were nevertheless hugely disappointing.
4. Spain: They often disappoint, but if they can play like they did against Russia throughout the tournament, they may put all historical critics (like myself) to rest.
5. Italy: They lost, hugely, but can still bounze back and must show that they are world champions indeed!

But who knows...?