Back in England a week on from the end of Euro 2008, the tournament still looks as impressive as it did in the Alps. I am not relishing another stolid European club season, dominated by the tawdry money of the big teams, so for the last time, I am looking back on what was a refreshing festival of football, the sort of which comes around only every few years: How was the play? Very good, on the whole, refreshingly adventurous and attacking. Only France v Romania seemed to have come from planet boredom. The French appeared to have a cloud over them all tournament, while Romania strangely failed to turn the screw when they needed to in their final group game, so deserved to leave early, too. Croatia v Turkey was not easy to sit through for two hours, but that was rather down to one team buttoning down the hatches and trying to frustrate another which was playing with winning ambition. The Dutch were irresistible for two games, while Spain danced their way to the trophy delightfully throughout. Portugal were also great to watch and Croatia were not bad, while even minnows like Austria and Switzerland showed enough fighting spirit to commend their efforts. Turkey’s late-late comebacks were thrilling, making up for a lack of the beautiful game with exciting attacking. That leaves Poland and the Czechs as fairly forgettable, although they did at least play to win. Germany, as always, never dazzled but dazed as they ground out more impressive results to add to their endless roll of honour, while Greece could not make lightning strike twice with their safety-first and negative game plans. In their defense, one might argue that Greece were only making the most of their limited options, as were Italy when they kept it tight against Spain after losing playmaker Andrea Pirlo through suspension. The host nations, meanwhile, felt an obligation to their populations to go for broke, given they might not have made it to the finals had they been forced to qualify like the rest of the teams. In terms of entertainment overall, Euro 2008 unanimously thrilled viewers more than the most recent comparisons, World Cp 2006 and Euro 2004. It was also more open than the average Champions League encounter, which tends to resemble the sort of high-quality but low-scoring encounter that Italy and Spain served up in the quarter-final in Vienna. Why was this? The cool air and lush grass of the Alpine settings might have helped, but then again the sweltering conditions of USA ’94 produced plenty of goals, while Korea did not seem short of breath in 2002. Some games at Euro 2008 were chilly e.g. it was overcoat time when Spain played Sweden in Innsbruck, but other days were up to 35C. You can’t read too much into climactic conditions. Euro 2008 was great to watch because the zeitgeist had changed, as it does every few years in football for reasons we find hard to pin down. After a negative Italia '90 came a positive USA '94. Likewise, come 2008, most of the coaches had decided to win games by attacking first and defending second. Otto Rehhagel’s triumph with Greece in 2004 thankfully failed to inspire others to follow his defensive example. Ambition, the successful coaches correctly concluded, was the way to advance. If the next World Cup has teams as exciting to watch as the Spanish, Turkish, Dutch, Portuguese and Russians were in the Alps, then we are in for a treat. The play was clean too, with hardly any diving or play-acting, which has blighted previous tournaments. Only when bad-losers Poland tried to make an issue of Howard Webb’s correct application of the laws on shirt-pulling was there any angry argument over refereeing. The debate surrounding ‘was-it wasn’t-it’ Ruud Van Nistelrooy strike against Italy was more interesting. Given the absurdity of deeming a player lying in a heap off the field as an active participant, the rule surely needs changing to avoid any interminable debate over interpretation, but it looks like FIFA are trying to brush this one under the carpet. Was there any tactical revolution? Spain’s victory would have brought a smile to the former FIFA President Stanley Rous, who insisted that at the end of the day, nothing compares to skill. Let us hope Spain's technical prowess and desire to play to feet catches on. 4-2-3-1, a refinement of 4-5-1, seemed to be the preferred system for most teams, with 4-4-2 second, while even the Dutch ditched their old 4-3-3 formation to win games. Spain’s actual shape was more 4-1-1-2-1-1. The anchor midfielder sat in front of the back four (an advanced sweeper if you will) is certainly in vogue, typified by Spain’s exemplary Marcos Senna, who set up as many attacks as he intercepted. Wingers too, were to the fore, with Roman Pavlyuchenko, Arjen Robben and Cristiano Ronaldo reminding us how exciting wide men can be, as indeed did the previously unheralded Colin Kazim-Richards with a stunning one-off appearance for Turkey against Germany in the semi-final. The overlapping full back is still a potent weapon, as Germany’s Philipp Lahm, Portugal’s flying Jose Bosingwa, Russia’s multi-talented Yuri Zhirkov and an unsung hero, Sweden’s Fredrik Stoor, reminded us. Spain’s miasmic midfield brought back memories of some of its finest club sides, who proved how switching positions increases the attacking potential. Wide men Andres Iniesta and David Silva requently swapped flanks, while Xavi reveled in his free role, popping up all over the last third of the opposition half. While we in England make a sport of criticising Latin teams’ lack of recognisable strikers, the mobile centre-forward in the Thierry Henry or Fernando Torres mould continues to impress. Germany reached the final with their real firepower coming from out wide in Lukas Podolski and Bastian Schweinsteiger. The top scorer of the tournament was a penalty-box predator (David Villa) but Spain won the final without him. Daniel Guiza, Jan Koller and Luca Toni stood out as old style ‘raging bull’ No.9s, but watching the stylistic triumph of the Spanish, you could not help thinking they represented the past in football. If there is still room for tall men up front, then they will have to be skilful on the deck too, like Zlatan Ibrahimovic or Van Nistelrooy, as the physical centre-forward role looks dated. In terms of height anyway, the short men (Spain) beat the tall guys (Germany) in the final. Did the finals miss England? As if. No, the tournament managed quite well without them, danke. When Euro 2008 was about to begin, most Anglos and the land’s breweries no doubt, felt the absence of the three lions quite painfully, but now it has ended, the inital proposition appears absurd. A happy, party atmosphere engulfed the hundreds of thousands of fans who travelled to Austria and Switzerland, the sort of feeling England’s travelling hordes have yet to master en masse. The boorish and un-sporting attitude of too many England fans was certainly not missed, nor was the jingoistic nationalism of its tabloids. Only the Turkish fans (and at times a few Germans and Poles), failed to tap in to the party spirit, preferring to taunt opposition fans when winning or failing to look on the bright side of life when losing. Women were more evident than ever at the FanZones, as were ‘adopted fans’, cheering for different countries every night with the appropriate shirts, flags and face paints. This idea of supporting countries other than your own and enjoying the losing as well as the winning is still sadly anathema to most Englanders. Without England there, real English fans of football could appreciate the games without the nagging influence of the national team’s presence. Those English who travelled to Euro 2008 were true fans of the game. As well as some English supporters, I saw small groups of Irish, Lithuanians and some Colombians, identifiable by their national team shirts, who had travelled to the finals for the love of the game and the pleasant experience it can offer at big tournaments. After a fun-filled month of mutual camaraderie in the Alps, I came home to watch the final in a London pub amid shouts of ‘f*** off Ballack’, and ‘Torres you c***’ etc, completely the opposite in ambience to the rest of Europe. England’s boorishness to the spirit of the game was exposed when the UK tabloids ran several racist articles during the country’s hosting of Euro ’96. Forget the nice stadia; if England wants to host the World Cup again it needs to understand how fandom has moved on. We did not miss the ridiculously overladen English media expectation, nor the trashy WAGs behaving like it's hen night every night, without a nod of respect to the culture they have landed in. If we are talking in terms of football, the question looks even stupider. England finished third in their qualification group and not since their 4-1 demolition of Holland at Euro ’96 have ever looked like contributing aesthetically to the world game. Is Russia about to join the elite in European football? Following Zenit St Petersburg’s UEFA Cup triumph, Moscow’s hosting of the Champions League final, Roman Abramovich’s overflowing bank accounts and the national team’s ride to the semi-final of Euro 2008, one could be forgiven for thinking Russia are about to realise their long-held potential as a major football nation. Steady on. The UEFA Cup is hardly the competition it used to be if Rangers can make the final. Rather, it resembles the old Cup Winners’ Cup in the quality of teams involved. At Euro 2008, Russia flattered to deceive - starting badly before improving enormously, only to bow out in the semi-final the way they began the tournament. Their classy 3-1 dismissal of the previously untouchable Dutch will was unforgettable, but one swallow does not make a summer. The Dutch and Russians had met before of course, in the Euro ‘88 final when Marco Van Basten, the coach 20 years later, scored one of the greatest goals of all time. Like the USSR of 1988, Russia of 2008 at their best were a well-drilled machine, exploiting all areas of the field and compensating for a wealth of individual genius. Andrei Arshavin of course was one such talent, as was Igor Belanov in 1988, along with Lev Yashin one of only two Russians to win the Ballon d’Or European Footballer of the Year award (Oleg Blokhin was strictly speaking a Ukrainian). Whether Arshavin or attacking colleague Roman Pavlyuchenko, is truly great I doubt. Arshavin’s age (27) is not important; players flower at different times in their careers. It is rather that he flourished under the shrewd coaching of Guss Hiddink, without whom Russia would not have even made it to the finals. In the event, they scraped in after losing away to England and Israel thanks to England’s inept 2-3 defeat at home to Croatia in their final game. Russia turned on the gas against Sweden before they neutralized the Dutch courage but their semi-final surrender to the Spanish was such a let-down after those wins that their fans probably deserved a refund from Abramovich. That night, the Russians looked more like a moderately good eleven who had scraped into the finals via some good fortune, but in the end did not really deserve to be eating at the high table. And Arsahvin, the prematurely-crowned king of Euro 2008, was nowhere to be seen. How was the tournament organisation and fan culture? Pretty faultless. Two countries with a high standard of living and renowned for punctuality and cleanliness were never going to mess it up. The trains were plentiful, the signposting ubiquitous, the fan zones superb and the accommodation in the cities I visited available, except for around Basel, where not enough had been provided. With a train pass however, it was not hard to hop an hour to another city where there were beds. That organizers tried to thrust a map and fan guide to the city into the hands of every passenger arriving at Vienna’s Westbahnhof or on nearby tram platforms was proof enough for me of their willingness to help visitors. Poland and Ukraine, if UEFA does not get cold feet and withdraw their hosting, have got a tough act to follow. The large fan zones which dominated the city centres of the two countries (I spared a thought for the middle-aged coachloads come to Salzburg to see the Mozart heritage on the day of Spain v Sweden!) should be the model for all future tournaments. Given there are far more travelling fans than match tickets, it makes sense from a security or atmosphere perspective to encourage them to enjoy themselves together in one area. As long as that area is securely monitored with bag checks, stewarding, plentiful big screens, toilets and food and drink outlets, there should be little risk of misbehaviour. In Austria and Switzerland, there was negligible trouble. I read about a few arrests at Germany v Poland but didn’t see a single incident myself across the tournament and never felt any of the simmering tension present at England games overseas. I felt totally safe and relaxed throughout, whatever fans were in town. When I was not inside the stadia, I found the fan zones almost as enjoyable. In many ways, it was a more relaxed way to watch a game because you could stand, wander around, sit down on the ground and drink beer or wine without restrictions on warm summer evenings. What an amazing contrast the public viewing areas in Manchester were on the day of the UEFA Cup final in May. The big screens were the only similarity to the Euro 2008 fan zones. Without any restrictions on alcohol, inadequate facilities and stewarding, plus thousands of Rangers fans stopping the trams from running, the place soon descended into mayhem. Austria and Switzerland got a lot of flack in the media for having only two stadia with capacities over the UEFA minumum of 30,000 seats, as well as some snide Anglocentric criticisms for having overly-cultural cities lacking the requisite grittiness for football. It would be a shame if only England, France, Germany, Italy and Spain could host Europe's showpiece football event, while one can hardly complain if a host venue is clean and orderly. Let's see what happens in South Africa in two years' time before we moan about civilised countries. Was Michel Platini the real winner? Behind the football, UEFA and FIFA have been rattling sabres over Sepp Blatter’s ‘6+5’ law, which will force clubs to field a minimum four players at the start of a game from 2010/11, rising to six two years later. Despite Platini’s pleas for the specificity of football to be recognized, he is against Blatter on this issue and in agreement with the European Union, whose laws permit the free movement of EU workers among member states irrespective of nationality. UEFA believes FIFA’s law would harm the UEFA Champions League, lair of wealthy clubs with multi-national cadres. Unlike the world’s governing body, Europe’s also oversees the world’s biggest club tournament so has to please both the club and country game. As a concession, Platini instead has advocated quotas based on home-grown players irrespective of nationality, which FIFA opposes because it would encourage a scramble for children by foreign clubs. FIFA’s whole beef is based on the fact international football is suffering from the power of the club game. The jaded European players in the 2002 World Cup helped push their arm, as did the fact England failed to qualify for Euro 2008, despite having two clubs in the final of this year’s Champions League. FIFA weasels therefore, probably wanted Euro 2008 to be a damp squib, while UEFA hoped for a successful tournament to show national teams could withstand whatever the club game had extracted from their players over a long season. Battling it out on their home patch – both organizations have their bases in Switzerland, UEFA came out on top. The free-flowing soccer and memorable goals seem to have won the battle, if not the war for now, and Platini, whether harbouring desires for Blatter’s throne in the future or not, has the upper hand. Are Poland and Ukraine in danger of losing the hosting rights for 2012? Apparently so. Maybe it was the shining efficiency of the Austrian and Swiss settings, but the rumours swelled up in the press rooms in the Alps that Euro 2012 could be headed west after all. There have been reports of UEFA’s worry at the Kiev stadium’s refurbishment as well as the country's political situation, and Platini has just completed a short trip to assess both host nations. A curious story going around is that Scotland and Wales have already been in talks to step in should the visit draw negative conclusions. Poland and the Ukraine were always facing an uphill task to live up to UEFA standards. Their entire hospitality, transport and stadia infrastructure are some way behind those of Western Europe, and the distances between the venues are far greater than ever seen before at a European Championship. UEFA have announced a final announcement will be made in September. If they are politely ushered out following this inspection, it will be regrettable, but will come as little surprise. (c) Sean O'Conor & Soccephile Bet with Bet 365 World Soccer News Soccer betting tips Soccer Books & DVDs Tags Soccer News soccer football J-League K-League Betting

So dreams can come true. Even Spanish footballing ones. And they can even come true in a wondrous way. The Cava is still flowing and rightly so. In winning Euro 2008, Spain ended a quest for silverware that at 44 years' length, two more than England's, had defied all sense of fairness or logic. But that they laid their hoodoo to rest in such style makes them the toast of the soccer world. Not since the Netherlands in the World Cup of 1974, or the Hungarians in 1954, has a nation playing such dazzling football reached the final of a major tournament. Unlike Cruyff's and Puskas' teams however, the Spanish vaulted the Germans at the last hurdle. The heart has beaten the head at last and the Beautiful Game is new again. Their 1-0 win was not as delightful as their earlier victories in the Alps, but there was still enough of their mesmerizing passing and movement to leave nobody in any doubt that in more ways than one, the best team of the tournament had triumphed. Germany suffered from Michael Ballack's woes; having missed Saturday training, he took a bloody wound to the eye and got himself booked in a frustrating first 45. Then Philipp Lahm, another key player, fatally hesitated to let Fernando Torres score before leaving the side at half time. In the second half, the Germans looked oddly jaded and unable to test Iker Casillas in Spain's goal, but even had fortune been on their side, you suspect the Spanish would still have been too strong for them. This was indeed a victory for football, if we believe the game at its best is about aesthetics and not just winning. The soccer world had believed for so long that strength, hard work and organisation were the keys to victory, that we had forgotten about the entertaining by-product the fans so adore. Flair players are have been considered liabilities in the quest for results, so set against this background, Spain’s win comes as an refreshing counterblast to the prevailing consensus. Watching them labour to a 1-0 win over the USA in Santander on the eve of the competition, I saw enough of a midfield loaded with attacking talent to know they would be a force at the finals, and I tipped a team from the Iberian Peninsula to win, though I still felt a fit and on-song Germany could edge them thanks to their superior big-game mentality. I was wrong – Spain had that inner steel to balance their twinkle toes. Confidence, that most powerful yet elusive weapon a team can posess, stayed with them until the end. Where the Netherlands, the other truly impressive team from the first round failed, the Spanish succeeded. Their self-belief saw off the challenge of the impressive Russians, devastatingly so (3-0) in the semi-final, before their prowess prevailed once more when Vienna called. A final is like a second home to a German Mannschaft, while for Spain it has remained terra incognita since General Franco was in power. But last night in the Prater, the conquistadors of fútbol sailed crossed their ocean of doubt to plant their flag in the winners' enclosure. It is, one hopes, a new era for European football, a lasting challenge to the German-Italian axis which has scooped so many trophies, and an encouragement to coaches worldwide to teach a beautiful style of play to win. Not that Spain set out to entertain, but their end-product was both victorious and dramatic. Dancing to a flamenco rhythm, their ball-to-feet midfield quickly became a joy to behold. Elvish little terriers like Xavi, Andres Iniesta and David Silva mastered the ball like virtuoso musicians, whipping it around with flair and a panache not seen in an international team for years. That the country which contains club giants Barcelona and Real Madrid could apparently not produce a winning national team in almost half a century remains hard to explain. Repeated exits from World Cups and European Championships left us so hoarse from repeating the old maxim that sooner or later it had to be Spain's year, most of us had given up tipping a nation which seemed immune from success. The return of silverware to their FA leaves England, with its last trophy in 1966 as Europe's most under-achieving soccer nation, a depressing albatross of a boast for the game's motherland. In his masterful book 'Morbo', the first English-language dissection of the game in Spain, Phil Ball suggests the historic dominance of foreigners in La Liga and the cultural divisions of the nation could have rubbed off invisibly on La Selección. Journalist Guillem Balague told me this week he thought Spain had never had a winners' mentality because of repeated failure, so just needed a rub o' the green to have a chance to prove they could be victors at last. While England persist with blind optimism and a fighting spirit despite their poor record, Spain's collective mentality has tended to wither more quickly. Take their 1994 World Cup quarter-final exit to Italy for instance. The Spaniards spurned several chances to win the game before Roberto Baggio finished them off. Valencia winger Vicente summed it up when he replied to a question about Spain's Euro 2004 failure - "What do you expect? We're Spain." By 2006, most of us had given up tipping the Iberians for good. Only two years ago, eight of the Euro 2008 winners took the field in the second round of the World Cup finals, facing an ageing French eleven. Spain took the lead through David Villa and had 62% of the ball, but France ran out 3-1 winners. But then along came a saviour. More prosaically perhaps, we can ascribe the torn page in the record book to Luis Aragones. The 69 year-old might hail from Madrid but his Spanish team have played more 'Catalan' than previous incarnations. Three Blau-grana players featured in the team - Iniesta, Carlos Puyol and Xavi; four if you count former Barça man Cesc Fabregas, while Real Madrid had only two - goalkeeper Iker Casillas and right-back Sergio Ramos. The short-passing 'tiki-taka' style of Spanish play looked a lot like Barcelona to me, while the speed of midfield exchanges and player rotation called to mind the best of Valencia's Champions League endeavours in recent years. David Silva and Euro 2008 top gunner David Villa play for that club. Silva was one of Spain's unsung heroes, as mobile and skilful an attacker as any in the team, while the excellent Brazilian-born holding midfielder Marcos Senna was for me one of the players of the tournament, an award which went in the end to Xavi. The team was short by modern standards, which makes their triumph over the tall and muscular Germans even more pleasing. Their goalkeeper was not perhaps the best in the tournament but was no slouch. And while centre backs Puyol and Carlos Marchena lacked a little speed, and full backs Sergio Ramos and Joan Capdevila weren't the best positionally, they defended stoutly enough to repel the best Italy, Russia and Germany could throw at them and kept clean sheets in the knock-out stages. The statistics are staggering: Across the tournament, Spain had more than twice as many shots on target than Germany and made 900 more passes than them with an 81% completion rate, the highest in Euro 2008, just eclipsing the Dutch. They were No.1 for shots on target and with 12 goals, hit the net more than anyone else: End of story. What a great time to be Spanish. Even die-hard Catalans, Galicians and the odd Basque have had to swallow their pride and join the fiesta. If the frail-looking 69 year-old Aragones can get the bumps, so can they enjoy the special moment, too. All in all, a magnificent victory for Spain and a beautiful day for football. Olé! (c) Sean O'Conor & Soccerphile Bet with Bet 365 World Soccer News Soccer betting tips Soccer Books & DVDs Tags Soccer News soccer football J-League K-League Betting

EURO 2008 FINAL, VIENNA The destination of the Henri Delaunay trophy could hinge on the fitness of Germany captain Michael Ballack, who has a calf strain and missed Saturday training. Tournament hot-shot David Villa is of course also missing for Spain, but the absence of the Chelsea midfielder for Germany looks the more crucial. Cesc Fabrega s slotted in against Russia and pulled the strings, while Daniel Guiza has shown his prowess in the box already. My hunch yesterday was that Germany's big match mentality would keep them a nose ahead of Spain, but news of Ballack's fitness has coloured that prediction. He leads by example and his goals have made the difference for Germany so many times, that you wonder if Lukas Podolski and Bastian Schweinsteiger can carry it off without him. Spain will be boosted by the news. They are already euphoric to have after reaching the final and are brimming with confidence having zapped the Russians' much-fanc ied challenge so convincingly in the semi-final. Luis Aragones' men are unbeaten in 21 games since November 2006 and the country's first final for 44 years has enchanted the nation that more than any other are stamped underachievers on the football field. Yet that over-enthusiasm could be their weakness, and the Germans know it. A florid opening and an early Spanish goal could be just what the Germans, often gentle starters, would relish to push the mselves to grab control of the 90. The German game-plan is as mental as physical: They will try to outmuscle the Spanish at key phases of the game to win the mental battle and disrupt their opponents' flow. Spain might take the lead but a German equalizer would be a heavier punch. With the psychological flow in their direction, Germany will then hit back with set pieces from Ballack or rapier counter-strikes through Lahm, Podolski and Schweinsteiger. Spain's best weapon is to stay confident in their own abilities. Their fan tastic passing skills and technique have so far prevailed over all challengers at Euro 2008, but the biggest test is now, a contest which looks too close to call if both teams are fit. It is hard to remember a team playing such beautiful football making a final, which makes Spain the romantic choice of the heart, yet first the Tiki-Taka game must overcome the most physically imposing and mentally tough eleven of the tournament. Let the style trial commence. (c) Sean O'Conor & Soccerphile Bet with Bet 365 World Soccer News Soccer betting tips Soccer Books & DVDs Tags Soccer News soccer football J-League K-League Betting

The women are coming (no pun intended): The EURO 2008 organisers might have breathed a sigh of relief when the expected English invasion was cancelled by Croatia's third goal at Wembley last autumn, but they did not bank on an even greater influx to the finals, largely unexpected, and female. Hail, hail, the skirts are here. The British Isles might be cast adrift from the goings-on at the European Championship, but most European watchers have by now picked up on the fact that females are in on the footy act in big numbers. The big-match experience in the city centre fan zones, where the majority of fans have congregated for games, have been universally punctuated by shrill feminine screams, girls decked out head-to-toe in the colours of the country of their choice that evening*, and over-zealous female cheering of events of which most (male) remain the wiser. Even Turkey, the only Muslim nation in the finals and thus notoriously a second-class country for women, has been cheered by huge numbers of veiled female fans. It's not the first time that women en masse have got a taste for football, but it is the largest occurrence of this recent phenomenon yet. Are they just bandwagon-jumpers and excuse for a party-seekers, and if they are, does it matter as long as everyone is happy? The ticketed fans still appear to be 90% male in composition in Austria and Switzerland, though you would not know that for the TV editors' sleazily repetitive homing-in on whatever half-decent totty they can locate in the stands. Undeniably, football following has changed over the past few years. Now you are more likely to travel to an overseas tournament without any hope of gaining stadium entry than you are to travel to see the games in person.100,000 English were estimated to have been in Cologne in 2006, 150,000 Dutch in Basle in 2008. While the Swiss and Austrian media had picked up the trend as soon as the fan zones had opened, the latest TV ratings from Germany are astonishing: 14.2 million females watched Germany defeat Turkey as opposed to 13.5 million males. The World Cup effect in Germany has also translated into Vfl Wolfsburg having a 30% female fan make-up, and Hanover 96 selling a quarter of its season-tickets to women. The most prominent of the EU leaders at EURO 2008 has been female. German Chancellor Angela Merkerl was seen chatting to Bastian Schweinsteiger in the stands and made it her business to be the first person to speak to coach Joachim Löw after the referee sent him to the stands during the Germany v Austria clash in Vienna. The old command issued to English fans to not travel if you don't have tickets was overturned by sheer numbers of football-holidaymakers, of whom women formed a large part. The increased interest in football as a pastime and entertainment has inevitably entailed an increase in female fandom. After the countrywide party atmosphere of Germany 2006, EURO 2008 has seen girls and women quite happy to face-paint and wear country colours to watch games quite independently of any male contact. Football has suddenly become more sexually egalitarian, and I welcome that. While it is fair to say the average male fan possesses a deeper knowledge of the game than the average female fan, all, irrespective of origin, must be made welcome. The ugliness of hooliganism withers faster than ever the more women are around football, which can only be a good thing. Only boneheads and misogynist dinosaurs argue for sexism in football in 2008, inspired by a fear of change and a rage at the passing of time, but their position is one they would not dare transfer to other arenas of public life. Racism was once the norm in society, so let us hope sexism in soccer becomes as wholly unnacceptable, too. At the end of the day, the world's number one game has to be there for everybody to partake of without exception, and unreconstructed males will have to evolve to stop using football as a private cell of frustration release, or die out. When there are pretty and fun-loving females only a stone-throw away, apparently mad about football, what sort of man would turn a blind eye anyway? * 'Fan tourism' has been more visible than ever before at this edition of the Euros. You would have been hard pressed to find a Portuguese amongst those wearing red and green against Germany, ditto a bona-fide tulip from the orange-clad hordes in Vienna against Russia, etc (c) Sean O'Conor & Soccerphile Bet with Bet 365 World Soccer News Soccer betting tips Soccer Books & DVDs Tags Soccer News soccer football J-League K-League Betting

EURO 2008 SF: Germany 3-2 Turkey, Basel Boral 22', Schweinsteiger 27', Klose 79', Semturk 86', Lahm 90' "They can play games like this, when maybe they are not the best team, and still win. That is why they are so good." Fatih Terim, Turkey's coach, could have uttered these words tonight, but in fact it was Bruce Arena after Germany had edged the States 1-0 in Ulsan in the 2002 World Cup quarter-final. Only two years ago, we were talking about how long, or rather short, Germany would last at home in the World Cup. Jurgen Klinsmann's team had been the most inept German 'elftal' (eleven) in living memory in the run-up to the 2006 tournament, but then surprised the doubters by reaching the semi-final. Now the Mannschaft have reached the EURO 2008 final with a 3-2 win over an arguably better team, nodding heads are attributing their triumph to simply being German, a synonym for depressingly successful. A Protestant work ethic (Colombia's Achilles Heel), physical force and endeavour (Portugal's downfall), mental toughness (the Dutch weakness), self-belief (count out the Spaniards), efficient organisation (bye-bye England) and a resolve to keep fighting until the end (Au revoir Les Bleus) in an 'all for one, one for all' spirit of teamwork have been in the German genes for so long, their roll of honour comes as no surprise: SEVEN World Cup finals (won three of them) and SIX European championship finals (won three of them so far) is an amazing record confirmed by Euro 2008. England have, in comparison, reached one final ever... In 1994 and 1998, Germany exited the World Cup before the semi-final stage. A colourless performance at Euro 2000 had everyone expecting them to collapse in the 2002 World Cup; instead they reached the final. Then another weak German eleven in Euro 2004 boded ill for the following World Cup, yet Germany finished third. Even in eras of weakness, they bounce back strongly. But wait a minute, didn't Croatia beat them 2-1 in this tournament? Did not the Germans look clearly second best that night, their status as early favourites following their victory over the Poles suddenly diluted? A week is a long time in football; Croatia have now been eliminated, Germany have beaten their conquerors, Turkey, and have reached yet another final, prolonging an extraordinary record. "They always put up a good show," a drunken Finn opined to me about the Germans, slumped on a Swedish park bench in Norrköpping at Euro '92. He was not wrong. Despite all the close scrapes and near misses of outrageous fortune, 'Germany are always there' is the shrugged conclusion we must draw once more, however short memories are in football. Incidentally, thank God tonight's game was in Basel and not Vienna. The Austrian capital witnessed a thunderstorm so strong it forced the evacuation of the central FanZone fifteen minutes before the end of the game. Two people were trampled in the rush to escape the tempest, requiring hospital treatment, while those who did make it to nearby bars would not have seen Miroslav Klose's strike, as the Austrian TV channel showing the game, ORF1, lost its signal for eight minutes due to the inclement weather. German TV suffered a similar break in transmission, thanks to a thunderstorm near Basel knocking out the picture relay. Vienna's central FanZone, the largest at EURO 2008, has played host to crowds of up to 100,000 people on match nights. * * * Charlie Dempsey, the Scots-born New Zealander who was President of the Oceania Football Confederation for an amazing 36 years, has died aged 87. Dempsey famously hit the world's headlines when he abstained in 2000 from voting for the destination of the 2006 World Cup, thereby handing the tournament to Germany instead of its expected hosts, South Africa. The world's cameras were suddenly focused on a rather doddery old Scot who had decided not to vote as a member of FIFA's 24-strong executive committee on the most important sporting tournament in the world. Dempsey claimed others had attempted to bribe him and that he had no wish to make enemies by voting. As it happened, Germany ran a hugely successful World Cup in 2006 and South Africa got four more years to prepare to host it, winning the vote for 2010 unopposed. Dempsey rather should be remembered for promoting football in a country obsessed with another sport (rugby union) and getting Oceania to join FIFA as a full member confederation in 1996. Soon after the World Cup vote in 2000, Dempsey quit as President, dismayed at the media assault on him and his family on account of his perceived cowardice. Oceania is still fighting for a permanent place in the World Cup Finals, after New Zealand's poor performance at the 2005 Confederations Cup persuaded FIFA President Sepp Blatter to change his mind about awarding it an automatic qualification slot, precipitating Australia's unprecedented move to the Asian Football Confederation in 2006. Dempsey's proudest achievement was seeing his beloved New Zealand compete in the 1982 World Cup Finals in Spain. (c) Sean O'Conor & Soccerphile Bet with Bet 365 World Soccer News Soccer betting tips Soccer Books & DVDs Tags Soccer News soccer football J-League K-League Betting

All eyes seem to be on Spain for tomorrow's Euro 2008 final. Neutral fans are mostly dreaming of a beautiful team who play the Beautiful Game slaying a 44-year old jinx in a red and yellow climax. But if big-match history counts for anything, the winners' enclosure will be black and white instead. Joachim Löw has touched upon the German secret of success in the run-up to the Euro 2008 final, but the reason for them reaching 13 finals still remains somewhat elusive. “We believe we can win such games - we have a winner's mentality,” he explained. "We know we can do it and our morale is high, that's what matters." Like all successful teams, the Germans do not seem mired in complex Howard Wilkinson-style tactics talks, or go to bed reading Don Revie-style dossiers. “As for the gameplan, we'll just go back to basics," Löw added. "You have to move and pass the ball around. I don't think it would make much sense for us to sit down and analyse the semi-final; it is of no use now. Any coach's task before the final is to re-energise his players and motivate them. We won't train very hard between now and the final, recuperation is the key." The latter sentiment sounds a bit like Brian Clough’s insistence on rest for his players when playing in Europe, part of a philosophy which bagged two European Cups for a provincial team like Nottingham Forest. Whatever the reason, the continued success of Germany always bears repeating. 13 finals must mean they have got the basics right, and success breeds a confidence dyed in the lederhosen. With the groundwork of a winning formula established, their natural Teutonic practicality and level-headedness ensures the Germans do not get carried away with their astonishing record. “They do arrogance, but not complacency,” opined the BBC’s Alan Hansen, although their calm first half against Turkey risked letting the game run away from them. Löw is still approaching only his second year in the big job, but despite a record, insists the much-cited German footballing values are exaggerated. “We must not go back to those days of overreliance on our traditional values,” said Löw. “Players from San Marino can run around and fight, too.” Arsene Wenger cites their mental strength as the reason for their permanent class: "Germany are one of the few countries I know of who can have a go at each other in the newspapers one day and then go into the match united and mentally strong," said the Arsenal coach. A look back over the years shows that rather than always being the best every tournament, Germany tend to begin among the top five teams in the hunt, yet often end up in the final. In the World Cups of 1982, 1986 and 2002 no one rated them favourites at the start, but each time they made it to the final game, while the common consensus was that an ordinary Deutscher Fussball Bund eleven won Euro ’96. In Belgium at Euro ’72, Sweden at Euro ’92 and at Italia ’90, the Germans were the bookies’ favourites at the start and duly reached the finals, but they have reached so many finals when apparently not being one of the top teams, that there must be a secret formula at work. They have been the team to beat as long as I have been alive, their only lean period spanning their elimination by Croatia in the quarter-final of the 1998 World Cup until their third place finish at the 2006 edition. Taking up the baton, the current coach of the Mannschaft, who landed in the job with a international reputation of just having been Jürgen Klinsmann’s bench buddy at the 2006 World Cup, has certainly now made a name for himself. Löw, whose name means lion in his native language, has guided his team to the final of his first tournament, cut a dash in his tight-fighting touchline apparel, and put smiles on the faces of watching millions by sneaking a cheeky fag in the stands after being sent off against Austria. Löw’s much-travelled playing career as an attacking midfielder was followed by solid if usually unspectacular spells in charge of six different teams, including Fenerbahçe in Turkey and Stuttgart, whom he guided to the 1998 Cup Winners Cup final, won by Chelsea. Löw’s career was hauled up from the shallows when Klinsmann made him his surprise choice as national team assistant in 2004, having earned his coaching badges alongside him a few years before. Assistant manager has never been the most glamorous of football jobs. Seconds-in-command often seem lacking in charisma compared to the ‘special ones’ in the hot seat, and for good reason. Coaches are personalities beyond mere instructors. Their egos need space, but also thrive on having a tempering, disciplining safety-valve to their genius sat beside them to rely on. A meeting of two powerful egos rarely lasts for long, and too often the assistant fails to replace them adequately after they leave. Think Roy Evans at Liverpool or Steve McClaren at England. Appointing the assistant is often seen as a risk by big clubs or countries, which is why Chelsea’s No.2 Steve Clarke was never in the running to succeed Jose Mourinho. They are considered personal assistants rather than deputies, it often seems. Löw is no Mourinho. He makes friends rather than enemies and appears to have no desire to forge a personality cult. Already in Euro 2008, he has changed tactics on the insistence of senior players but has maintained their respect as the results have followed, an echo of Bobby Robson in Italia ’90. Michael Ballack, Germany’s talisman, was instrumental in urging him to switch from 442 to 451 against Portugal, which finished 3-2. "Of course,” confirmed Löw . “I would not be a good coach if I didn't listen to them. But my players listen to me too. One cannot pass from one system to another by just doing it. It has to be an agreement, a discussion, even if it is me who takes the final decision." Win or lose in the final, Löw is now making a name for himself out of Klinsmann’s shadow, should lead Germany into the World Cup of 2010 and at only 48 years old, can be expected to coach big club sides in the future. A victory in Vienna on Sunday will complete a remarkable coaching debut for the man from the Black Forest. The Austrian capital will be familiar turf for ‘Yogi’, as Löw is nicknamed, where he coached Austria Vienna for a season in 2002. (c) Sean O'Conor & Soccerphile Bet with Bet 365 World Soccer News Soccer betting tips Soccer Books & DVDs Tags Soccer News soccer football J-League K-League Betting

EURO 2008: Austria 0-1 Germany, Ernst-Happel Stadion, Vienna Ballack 49' Germany advanced to a tasty quarter-final clash with Portugal after ending Austrian hopes 1-0 in Vienna tonight. A rocket of a set piece from Michael Ballack was the only goal of the 90 minutes, but the Chelsea man's strike was enough to see off the challenge of the co-hosts on their home patch. For all the national euphoria stirred up on this side of the Alps over the past few days, Austria still took the field at the Prater massive underdogs, the 92nd ranked team in the world looking for a win against the fifth best and pre-tournament favourites. Josef Hickelsberger's men were backed by thunderous support from two thirds of the arena, creating a cauldron of sounds, but the red hordes never quite materialised into a twelfth man to push the Germans onto the ropes. Ballack's missile of a set piece, won after the impressive Phillipp Lahm had gone on a buccaneering run through the Austrian midfield four minutes after half time, was a world-class strike, the type of which Austria, for all their desire and energy, just could not match on the night. The German skipper had called for his team to play at 'full power' for the 90, but the suspicion as the second half wore on was that the three times world champions were in mild cruise control, hoping the clock would wear out the Austrians, and in expectation of a sterner test with Portugal on the way. The Prater was a maelstrom of noise by kickoff, with every Austrian advance met by booming roars, harking back to the great nights in the old stadium's history. Germany began with aplomb, and almost succeeded in snatching an early strike to puncture the Austrians' atmospheric advantage. An underfit backpass by Gyorgy Garics in the third minute has Vien nese hearts in mouths, but the Austrian right back redeemed himself with an extraordinary back header off the line moments later, after ponderous German forward Mario Gomes had fluffed an open goal chance. Germany looked ominous for the first five minutes, their superior movement and physique turning the red shirted defence several times. But having weathered the early scares, Austria moved back into contention and settled into a more assured rhythm, enough to let them hope of getting a break to hit the Germans on the counter. By the 18th the Austrians had grown in confidence sufficiently to have a pop at their more-fancied opponents. Good work on the right by Garics and Umit Korkmaz allowed Martin Hiden to whip in a cross. Erwin Hoffer, who had stolen a march on the German back four, wasted the priceless opportunity by failing to control the ball and the chance was lost. Two minutes later Rene Aufhauser fancied his chances from 25 yards and drew a diving save from Jens Lehmann, matched by an even more venomous drive at the other end from Lukas Podolski moments later. With a third of the game gone, Austria were more than the 40% in the game their manager had predicted, although Germany had shown more sharpness up front. If the game was not absorbing enough already, the Prater's 51,000 eyes turned to events off-field in the 42nd minute, which ended bizarrely with both Joachin Low and Hickersberger being given their marching orders by Spanish referee Manuel Gonzalez. The two shook hands and followed each other up the stairs, Low stopping to talk to German Chancellor Angela Merkel before placing himself between Bastian Schweinsteiger and Oliver Bierhoff in the stands. Germany finished the half having enjoyed almost 60% of the ball, and having played 206 passes to Austria's 145. But with the score at 0-0 Austria went into the dressing rooms still confident of creating an upset. The red sea was soon calmed however. Lahm had rampaged 30 yards before being upended by Andreas Ivanitsch, who became the third Austrian to enter the touchy referee's notebook. Then the punishment became a goal when Ballack drilled an unstoppable missle into the postage stamp, beyond the reaches of the diving goalkeeper Jurgen Macho. With Germany in the lead and Austria needing two, the game rhythm changed as Austria began to chase. Hickersperger had made his three substitutions by the 66th minute, the last of which, Roman Kienast, immediately added a lively presence up front beside Erwin Hoffer. Korkmaz on the left was the source of much of Austria's good work, cutting inside German right back Arne Friedrich and helping win a number of corners. But with fifteen minutes to go, Lehmann had still not had a save to make in the second half. For all their endeavour and admirable desire to pass the ball to feet, it looked like Austria just did not possess the quality in a number of positions to turn the screw on their opponents. They had no Ballack, no Lahm and no Podolski. Germany defended competently, poised to push the destroy button as soon as they got a break. They almost ended the contest in the 80th when Macho punched Torsten Fring's inswinging corner off the line, but Austria were not finished yet. Ivanitsch passed two coasting defenders moments later but was tackled by the last man. With six minutes to go, Austria were in the last-chance saloon, but there was still a chink of light. Having spread their line of attack spread right across the field to guarantee space, Garics managed to pierce the German defense on the left, but Hoffer's finish flashed wide of Lehmann's upright. Austria were still prodding methodically until they got to around 20 yards from goal, but Jurgen Samuel's tame grasscutter in the 88th summed up their lack of bite up front. Germany should have killed the game off earlier, but had more chances in the final seconds. Miroslav Klose failed to beat a brave Macho from close range, and Torsten Frings and Oliver Neuville missed sitters, before the referee finally threw in the towel and blew for time. An atmosphere of relief rather than triumphalism came from the German end, while the red majority of the Prater applauded their heroes' gallant efforts. The better team had clearly won, but Austria had not died without t rying. The final stats showed Austria had enjoyed 56% of the ball after the break, but had only registered three shots on target to Germany's six. Austria can exit EURO 2008 with some pride intact at having avoided the three thrashings some had feared and can now look forward to the start of World Cup qualifiers in the autumn. For Germany though, a tough quarter final with Portugal in Basel on Thursday looms. AUS -Jurgen Macho, Martin Stranzl, Emanuel Pogatetz, Christian Fuchs, Rene Aufhauser (Jurgen Samuel 63'), Andreas Ivanitsch, Umit Korkmaz, Gyorgy Garics, Martin Hiden (Christoph Leitgeb 55'), Martin Harnik (Roman Kienast 67'), Erwin Hoffer GER - Jens Lehmann, Arne Friedrich, Clemens Fritz (Tim Borowski 90'), Torsten Frings, Mario Gomez (Thomas Hitzlsperger 60'), Miroslav Klose, Michael Ballack, Phillipp Lahm, Per Mertesacker, Lukas Podolski (Oliver Neuville 83'), Christoph Metzelder. Att: 51, 428 (c) Sean O'Conor & Soccerphile Bet with Bet 365 World Soccer News Soccer betting tips Soccer Books & DVDs Tags Soccer News soccer football J-League K-League Betting

EURO 2008: Austria v Germany, Ernst-Happel Stadion (Prater) Vienna Austria owes a lot to Howard Webb. If he had not awarded a last-gasp penalty (and he was well within his rights to punish repeated Polish shirt-tugging in the box), Austria would already be out of Euro 2008 and the nation would have reverted to its staid indifference to all things bacchanalian and tribal. How fortunes hinge on the merest of moments. Webb’s courage saved EURO 2008 from another loss of blood following Switzerland's exit and the Austrian economy has benefitted to the tune of many a Euro, shifting the red and white souvenirs and surplus beer that had been ordered. 200,000 fans are expected in Vienna’s fan mile on Monday night but the real figure could be higher. After failing to win their two opening games, Austria has the luxury of one last chance to make it to the second round. They could have been blessed by easier opponents than Germany to overcome, but any chance will do. Add to that the historical significance of the clash, and Monday night at the Ernst-Happel Stadium is all the more anticipated. "We wanted a final and now we have got one!" be amed the Austrian FA President Gigi Ludwig. "Our country will come to a standstill on Monday at 8.45pm. Germany v Austria is our biggest football match for years." Americans may find it hard to understand, but once again, international football crosses the boundaries of sport and enters the field of national identity. How does one sum up the Austrian attitude to Germany? Or indeed, who and what are Austrians? The country is officially only 90 years old, forged from the ruins of the Austro-Hungarian Empire after World War One. Vienna was the centre of a vast central European empire for hundreds of years, an empire which looked east and north instead of west to Germany. While Tyrolean Austrians might superficially appear Bavarian with their lederhosen and felt hats, that is only one region of the country and the capital is further east than Prague or Zagreb. Austria is therefore the last ‘Western’ country, sticking out into Eastern Europe. True, they are linguistically German, but ethnically have a lot more Slavic and Swabian blood than the Germans have in them. Nevertheless, the Austrians were th e only people who cheered the Nazis invading their country in World War Two and today have strong economic bonds with their big neighbour to the West. But the people are keen to forget their wartime record and the fact Hitler was Austrian, preferring to honour their 'liberators' with a vast war memorial to the Russians in Vienna: The statue, which dominates Schwarzenbergerplatz is nicknamed, 'The Monument to the Unknown Rapist'. The tourism industry prefers to focus on Austria's cultural heritage: The land of Mozart, Freud, Haydn, Schubert, Mahler and Strauss, the Vienna's Boys Choir, Symphony Orchestra and Opera, the Spanish riding school and the grandeur of the numerous Austro-Hungarian imperial buildings, whose monumental majesty seems out of place in such a quiet and non-confrontational country today. Austria has re-defined itself post war as an insular, peaceful social d emocracy without the problems Germany has witnessed including terrorism, mass immigration and integrating another country. The standard of living is famously high, another reason to stand apart or perhaps above, their neighbours. In clichéd terms, the Viennese coffee house appears more refined than the Bavarian beer Keller, and while coach loads of Germans holiday in lower Austria, the locals never return the compliment. But thousands of German fans have flooded into Vienna for the big match, conspicuous by their replica shirts and un-Austrian accents. ‘Deutschland’ is ringing out in the city’s streets for the first time since the war. When it comes to sport, there is nothing the Austrians want more than to defeat their big brother. Rest assured, if Germany win in Vienna on Monday night, no Austrians will be happy. Viennese newspaper Kurrier struggled today with the differences between the two races, calling it ‘the endless duel’. It concluded Germany beats Austria for beer drinking, education, writers, entrepreneurship and the fact the Pope is German. Austria, however, wins for mountains, lakes, quality of life, food, sex and winning Eurovision. Austria is not a country which flies its national flag from every building like America, or which gets passionate about an international football tournament like England or Italy. So if the 8 million citizens of this country wanted to test their national identity, what better way than in a do or die clash with the Germans? "It’s all or nothing", shouted Kurrier’s front page on Sunday. "Hope l ives" said a t-shirt I spotted in town, referring to the game. "Das Wunder von Wien" (The Miracle of Vienna) screamed a front page on Friday after Ivica Vastic and Webb had kept them alive. "A nation head over heels," "Here comes the reckoning", "The Germans are nervous," and "Vienna must become Cordoba" shouted others this morning. The significance of Cordoba, which is probably lost on most foreign readers, is that it is the Argentine city in which the Austrians defeated Germany 3-2 at the 1978 World Cup finals. "Cordoba 78" is being mentioned all over the Austrian press, while rather like their war record, no one is mentioning the stitch up in Gijon four years later. Germany's Bild Zeitung has retaliated with "Auf WIENERsehen", calling their opponents 'Austrian sausages'. The Germans, knocked back by the defeat to Croatia, are taking no chances in their pre-match vocabulary: "After our win against Poland I had said that we did not need to fear anybody. Now I think we have to fear even Austria," said Joachim Löw, German national team coach. "In the Ernst-Happel Stadium on Monday, we can beat any team in the world," proclaimed former Austria star and coach Hans Krankl, awash in patriotism. But current manager Josef Hickersberger sounded some welcome caution against the euphoria. "We are talking about three times World and European Champions here. Germany is the clear favourite." (c) Sean O'Conor & Soccerphile Bet with Bet 365 World Soccer News Soccer betting tips Soccer Books & DVDs Tags Soccer News soccer football J-League K-League Betting

VIENNA - The celebrations went on long into the night here after 38 year-old Ivica Vastic's last-gasp penalty kept the host nation just about in the competition. Only joking, old Vienna is as quiet as a mouse as usual. Bacchanalian revelry is just not in the Austrians' nature, though we'll see what might happen if the Osterreicher Mannschaft beat the Deutsch equivalent on Monday. Assuming Poland do not beat Croatia by a cricket score, the Austrians have only to defeat their former masters at the Prater to advance to the quarter-finals with the Croats. Memories of the 1982 World Cup disgrace loom large. In Gijon, Spain, on the 25th of June that year, Austria and Germany conspired to arrange a result that would send them both into the second round of the tournament. A greater margin of German victory would eliminate Austria, an Austrian win Germany. Algeria was the unlucky loser, eliminated on goal difference despite having miraculously defeated Germany 2-1 in the group. Germany dominated from the off and scored within ten minutes through Horst Hrubesch. For the rest of the game the players passed the ball between each other but made no effort to threaten the opponents' goal. The fans in the stadium quickly sussed a deal had been brokered and whistled and waved handkerchieves. Austrian TV asked viewers to turn off at half time. Oh to have been a journalist confronting the players and coaches after that game! This 'anchluss' (annexation - Hitler's term for incorporating Austria into the German Reich) was referred to by the German international Karl-Heinz Forster at the time as a Nichtangriffspakt - non-aggression pact, a label which has stuck. Shameful the episode was, but FIFA had let the door open for chicanery by not having the two final group games kickoff at the same time in 1982, as they do now. The other benficial consequence of the game was that FIFA started seriously considering banning back-passes to the goalkeeper to help the game flow better, a rule which arrived after the 1994 World Cup finals in America. Match-fixing is still to be found in the nooks and crannies of football, and even some international games, such as the USA's 2-1 defeat of Colombia in 1994, have been heavily rumored to have involved 'bought' teams (the latter allegedly told to lose by Pablo Escobar's Medellin drugs cartel). But peace-treaties during games are rarer, although the suspicion of possible connivance is always there when countries with linguistic and/or cultural ties play each other. Eire and the Netherlands appeared to take it easy for the closing minutes of their 1990 World Cup clash when news of England's lead over Egypt filtered through, meaning an unchanged scoreline would send them both through to the next round as well. Then, in 2004, Viking neighbours Denmark and Sweden enraged Italy at the European Championships by apparently conspiring to finish the game 2-2 and eliminate the Azzurri. What was saddest about that day in Gijon was how Algeria were cheated out of a place in the second round. Who knows, an African team might have starred on the world stage eight years before Cameroon did in 1990. Thankfully, this time there cannot be any deal-making in a winner-takes-all eliminator. Both sides cannot qualify. So 26 years on, Austria and Germany will slug it out in a major finals for real. (c) Sean O'Conor & Soccerphile Bet with Bet 365 World Soccer News Soccer betting tips Soccer Books & DVDs Tags Soccer News soccer football J-League K-League Betting

Results 10th June: Spain 4:1 Russia (Villa 20' 45' 75', Pavluchenko 86', Fabregas 90'), Innsbruck Sweden 2:0 Greece (Ibrahimovic 67', Hansson 73'), Salzburg Now we have seen all the teams, what have we learnt so far? Ibrahimovic's golazo against Greece was the most spectacular goal, Spain's 4-1 torching of Russia the most alluring and the Dutch's 3-0 thumping of Italy the stand-out result of the first slew of games. Fears that the Oranje would miss Arjen Robben proved groundless as they trounced the World Champions, defeating the Azzurri for the first time since Nottingham Forest were last crowned English champions. Italy has been awash with soul-searching today after such a clamorous capitulation. Italian back fours are supposed to be as compact as ranks of Roman legionary, not crumble like old Garibaldi biscuits left in the tin for too long. In midfield and attack too, the azure blues were decidedly off-colour as the Dutch sailed past them time and again, bagging three goals when it could have been more. All of a sudden, the in-vogue formation of 4-1-4-1 looked rather ropey. How fortunes change. Marco Van Basten is once again the Netherlands' poster boy after serious doubts were raised following his team's heavy weather in qualifying, while the blissful memory of the World Cup triumph in Germany has begun to fade. My suspicion is the Dutch are yet to prove they can be consistent so let us not get carried away. Remember how the Dutch steamrollered Yugoslavia 6-1 in the Euro 2000 quarter-final before grinding to a 0-0 draw and defeat on penalties against Italy in the semi-final. More recently, they began the 2006 World Cup at a canter, dispatching Serbia 6-0 in the first round before succumbing dismally 1-0 to Portugal in an ill-tempered game that produced four red cards and eight yellow cards. It was a Dutchman who coined the phrase 'sexy football' but it wasn't his countrymen playing the hottest soccer so far in the Alps. That award goes to Spain, who followed a stop-start 1-0 win over the USA in their final preparation match with a 4-1 mutilation of Russia and Guus Hiddink. How much should we read into Spain's deliciously simple pass and move soccer I am not sure. Russia were rubber in defence and, here comes my two cents, I could not imagine England being so outplayed had they qualified in place of them. Russia, let us not forget, were woeful 3-0 losers at Wembley in qualifying and also lost away to Israel, only scraping into the finals courtesy of England's self-destruction at home to Croatia in their final game. Guus Hiddink may be one of the world's top coaches, but his CV looked creased after Spain had finished with his latest team. Other sidesvmaking up the numbers are Poland and Turkey, who were utterly insipid losing to Portugal. And Greece, you might say, but I shall defend Otto Rehagel's team for providing some welcome entertainment. The sight of the Salzburg arena booing and whistling the Greeks for their negative play was wonderful theatre. Yes, we all want to be entertained and God forbid every team played like Greece, but I have a sneaking admiration for a team who managed to win Euro 2004 without any flair and who have the gall to turn up four years later with the same coach and same tactics! Plus we like to boo the baddie. The Czechs and French have yet to convince me while Sweden and Croatia's victories confirmed they will be tough nuts for any team to crack. Romania have yet to show what they are about, if anything while of the twin hosts, Switzerland could yet make it to the second round if results go their way. After, Holland, Portugal and Spain, the fourth and last team in the A-League thus far is of course Germany, who looked a much improved and more confident team than two years ago. That the Germans could be on the road to another final is demoralising on the one hand, but only to be expected on the other. There will be tougher tests than Poland ahead for Joachim Low's side, but there was an inescapable feeling during that game that we have been down this familiar road many times before. (c) Sean O'Conor & Soccerphile Bet with Bet 365 World Soccer News Soccer betting tips Soccer Books & DVDs Tags Soccer News soccer football J-League K-League Betting