Dazzling Dutch Destroy shell shocked Italians

The most eagerly anticipated match of the opening fixtures of Euro 2008 pitted two of world football’s heavyweights. The Netherlands, European Champions in 1988, against Italy, the reigning World Champions. For the neutral, this promised to be an enthralling game, certainly of more entertainment value than the other Group C match earlier in the day as France dismally failed to break through a stubborn Romania in a 0-0 draw.

History pointed towards the Azzurri. Their last defeat to the Dutch had come way back at the 1978 World Cup and had beaten Holland in the last competitive game between the two countries, in the Euro 2000 semi finals. But they were missing injured captain Fabio Cannavaro, sidelined for the entire tournament. Marco Van Basten meanwhile had to contend with injuries to key men such as Arjen Robben, as well as the withdrawl from internationals of AC Milan star Clarence Seedorf.

But still they fielded a potent side in Berne. As a Scotland fan, I watched with a veted interest- to see how Italy, who defeated us in the final qualification match to seal their spot in the Alps ahead of us, would progress, and also to look at the Dutch, who will provide formidable opposition in the race to qualify for the South Africa 2010 World Cup.

But back to the present and the game started at a ferocious pace, with both sides showing their attacking intentions clear. Italy, famed for their defensive qualities, began with an adventurous formation, Antonio di Natalie and Mauro Camoranesi supporting front man Luca Toni, while the Dutch deployed Ruud Van Nistelrooy up front, supported by Wesley Sneijder.

The Bayern Munich and Real Madrid strikers exchanged early chances, with Toni heading a Rino Gattuso cross wide, then Van Nistelrooy latched onto a Dirk Kuyt pass and rounded Buffon but he couldn’t quite turn the ball into an effort at goal.

But the Oranje didn’t have to wait long for the opener, which arrived in controversial fashion. An inswinging free-kick from Rafael Van der Vaart was punched clear by Buffon, but fell to Sneijder at the edge of the box. His shot was touched in by Van Nistelrooy from inside the 6 yard box, and the striker looked offside but the Swedish officials failed to spot it and the goal stood.

Italy were furious, but part of this observer felt it quite ironic. Their winning goal against the Scots at Hampden in November came from a free-kick for a non-existent foul on our full back Allan Hutton. Karma.

But if they felt an injustice there, they could do nothing to prevent the second goal six minutes later. An Italian corner was cleared from the line by Giovanni Van Bronckhorst, who embarked on a lung bursting run upfield following the release of Van der Vaart down the right hand side. He switched the play back to Van Bronckhorst, who in turn crossed the ball beyond the Italians far post to Kuyt. The Liverpool forward nodded the ball into the path of the onrushing Sneijder, who planted a half volley beyond the helpless Buffon.

It was one of the greatest counter attacking goals you are likely to see, and an early candidate for goal of the tournament. Van Nistelrooy should’ve put Holland out of sight before half time after being put one on one with Buffon, but the world’s most expensive keeper made a fine save.

Donadoni’s side were shell shocked and came out for the second half in determined mood, and created a few chances. Subsitute Alessandro Del Piero forced Edwin van der Sar into a save, while Toni wasted a golden chance as he lobbed over the bar with Van der Sar beaten from close range.

The Manchester United keeper was then forced into a brave block to deny World Cup final penalty hero Fabio Grosso before inspiring the goal which sealed a famous night for the Dutch. A vicious Andrea Pirlo free-kick was superbly saved by the Holland number 1 at his near post, and Andre Ooijer started a move which saw Sneijder on the left hand side move over halfway and release the tireless Van Bronckhorst. The Dutch left back squared the ball to Kuyt, with just 3 Italians defending. His shot was saved by Buffon but Kuyt retrieved the ball on the right and crossed back into the box for the unmarked Van Bronckhorst to head home, despite the best efforts of Gianluca Zambrotta on the line.

A second astonishing counter-attacking goal from Holland and a great goal and fitting topping to the performance of former Rangers and Arsenal man Van Bronckhorst, who had an outstanding display all night. Italy in fact had played well in the second half but they simply couldn’t put the ball into the net. It was Holland’s night and they are now firm favourites to qualify for the quarter finals, topping the group by 2 points.

The Italians have it all to do against Romania, who they play next, and France but they can take heart from their second half showing- certainly, Italy played better than France did against Romania. That tells you the vast difference in quality there was between the games played on day 3 of the championships.

But Van Basten can be proud of his team, a wonderful start and fabulous display featuring the famed Dutch “total football”. I said in my previous post that Germany are my tip to win it, but on this evidence, Holland will not be too far away. 20 years ago, they triumphed in Germany, with Van Basten the star as a player. I feel they have a very good chance of progressing far if they continue the way they did in their opening match.

Good news for Holland, bad news for Scotland and the rest of our World Cup rivals……..George take note- the Dutch are good. In fact, they can be very very good.

Germany and Portugal the early stars of Austria/Switzerland

Euro 2008 finally got underway on Saturday afternoon after weeks of anticipation across Europe. Not that you would have known in Britain, as the country’s media have chosen to somewhat ignore the showpiece event until the week of its kick off after none of the home nations managed to make it to the Alps. And this lack of interest even threatened, albeit briefly, to spill on to me, as I was unsure about including it on my blog.

But, with a feast of football to look forward to over the next month, I had to include it. Switzerland kicked off proceedings with the Czech Republic, who in my opinion are definitely one of the dark horses to look out for in the championships. The Czechs impressed me in their 3-1 defeat of Scotland prior to the tournament, though George Burley’s team were very much understrength.

The Swiss themselves have a decent pedigree in recent years, so a close content was anticipated. And it was, with the Czechs scraping a one goal victory thanks to Vaclav Sverkos. The Swiss, who will be without captain Alexander Frei for the rest of the tournament due to a knee injury sustained in the game, had a dramatic late penalty appeal for handball turned down, as well as hitting the bar through Johan Vonlathen in a second half dominated by the co-hosts.

So it was a nervy start for Karl Bruckner’s Czechs, but it was not so for another fancied team, Portugal, as they confirmed their status as Group A favourites with a comfortable victory over Turkey in Geneva. Phil Scolari’s team played with a zest and a flair throughout that the Turks couldn’t match, with Cristiano Ronaldo in menacing mood, hitting the post with a first half free-kick. Striker Nuno Gomes also hit the woodwork before he played a one two with centre back Pepe, who slid home the opener on 61 minutes.

The Portugese were impressive to watch and Gomes hit the bar with a header before Sporting Lisbon captain Joao Moutinho set up Raul Meireles to seal the win in stoppage time. A convincing and well deserved win, and you feel it will be hard for either Switzerland or Turkey to qualify for the quarter finals at the expense of the Group A pacesetters.

The opening matches of Group B took place yesterday and it was Austria’s turn to light up their own tournament. They were up against the much fancied Croatia, and this author has them down as real dark horses to go all the way. Having witnessed at first hand Slaven Billic’s side at Hampden in March, I believe they are a good side with excellent individuals, technical ability and a great team ethic. The Austrians are ranked 92nd in the FIFA World Rankings, as opposed to Croatia in 15th. On paper, it was a total mismatch in favour of Croatia.

But this didn’t matter little, as Austria put up a very creditable performance in the Ernst Happel Stadion, which will host the final. However, Luka Modric’s 4th minute penalty after Rene Aufhauser felled Ivica Ollic was enough to give Croatia a win they barely deserved, as the hosts threw everything at them in the second period. Umit Korkmaz saw a shot well saved while Roman Kienast headed narrowly wide as Austria narrowly missed out on a draw they at the least deserved.

A win then for Croatia, but much for Billic to mull over ahead of their next game, against Germany. Comparing the performances of Croatia and the Germans, Billic’s team will have to up their game significantly if they are to defeat the 3 time world champions as they impressively dismissed Poland in Klagenfurt.

This was an eagerly anticipated game, given the history between the two countries and the rather heated build up in the Polish and, to a lesser extent, German media. I expected a fierce contest but what we got was a competitive game played in the right spirit, with some good football. While the Poles certainly played well in spells, particularly at the start of the second half, they lacked penetration to hurt the German rearguard, even though they did look shaky at times.

And Germany punished them and deserved the win, handed to them by a Polish born striker. Lukas Podolski, who moved from Poland to Germany when he was 2 years old and subsequently went on to represent Deutschland, fired them on the path to victory on 20 minutes, aided by some horrific Poland defending. They were static as Miroslav Klose broke free and squared for Podolski to tap home.

Germany’s attacking play was a joy to watch, with Torsten Frings and Michael Ballack in impressive form in midfield, initiating their side’s attacking play. While their opponents had them on the back foot in the second half, Chelsea star Ballack forced a brilliant save from Celtic keeper Artur Boruc after a fierce drive before Podolski wrapped up the win with 18 minutes to go.

There was good fortune about it, as Klose completely miscued what appeared to be a shot from a Bastian Schweinsteiger pass, which fell to Podolski who smashed home a brilliant volley past the helpless Boruc. This was a confident, assured and at times classy German display, and they showed why they are my tip for the tournament.

Poland however simply must win against Austria on Sunday to have a chance of going through, and the same has to be said for the Austrians. Germany take on Croatia next and I feel that will be a lot closer than tonight’s game for Germany, and I expect a much a much improved Croatian display. However, I expect both to progress from Group B.

So there we go then, impressive early starts for Germany and Portugal. Croatia and the Czech Republic look nervy early on. Later today I’ll focus on Group C, or the ‘group of death’. France take on Romania at 5pm, before Holland and Italy play at 7.45 in what is a mouthwatering clash. Its a game where the beers are being well chilled in preparation.

Until then, Auf Wiedersehen……..

“Champions” League? You’re havin’ a laugh!

Now that the dust has settled after Manchester United’s victory over Barcelona last night, attention switches to the second semi final to determine who will play Sir Alex Ferguson’s men in the Champions League final at Moscow’s Luzhniki Stadium. Will it be Chelsea, hot on United’s heels in the Premier League, or their arch enemy Liverpool?

While I believe that Chelsea will just about edge the tie thanks to the 1-1draw they secured in the first leg at Anfield (goals from that are below), that isn’t the point of this latest post. My latest whine is one which has bugged me for quite a while, and that is the set-up of Europe’s elite club competition.

This year’s final will be the third in which two sides from the same country will go head to head for the European Cup, as it was known when the tournament first started. In 2000, Real Madrid defeated Valencia 3-0 in Paris, while in 2003 Ac Milan edged Juventus on penalties at Old Trafford after a forgettable 0-0 stalemate. We are now guranteed an English winner of the competition.

Listening to Richard Bacon’s show on Radio 5 Live last night, he urged callers to phone in with regards the difficulties in which fans of the English clubs will face getting to Moscow and while they are there. Main concerns included the cost of flights and accomodation, with one Manchester United fan telling how he’d spent £5,000 to be there, as well as visas which are needed to enter Russia. These can take a while to process and while UEFA are confident the visas will be issued on time to supporters of the clubs involved in time for the final, fans are still worried.

So cue calls for the game to be moved to Wembley, the home of the English game, to make it easier for fans. Undoubtedly it would, but it shouldn’t be moved, and neither should there be as many as 42,000 visas to process.

Because, my friends, the Champions League should live it to its name- ie, be for Champions only. Since the tournament began in 1955, the cup was solely for the league winners of each European country. Other qualifiers included the Fairs Cities (now UEFA) Cup and the now defunct Cup Winners Cup, which was, you’ve guessed it, a tournament for domestic cup winners across the continent.

But in the 90s, UEFA in their wisdom ditched the CWC (the last ever final played in Birmingham and won by Italian side Lazio) and increased the Champions League, allowing runners up in domestic leagues to qualify for the tournament. Indeed, Manchester United qualified for the 1998/99 tournament after finishing 2nd in the English league to Arsenal, and went on to lift the trophy.

It has now been extended to the point where up to four teams from the bigger leagues in Europe can qualify for the tournament. Whats “Champion” about that? Why not rebrand it the “1st, 2nd, 3rd and 4th place” league?

While there is no doubt that the bigger sides in Europe can provide entertainment, there is a detremental effect. There is no doubt that the big name advertisers of the competiton, for example Sony, Mastercard and Vodafone, would rather the big guns participated all the time and provide much more revenue.

But, as the rich get richer, the poorer get poorer and we now see the winner of the tournament is near enough guaranteed to be an English, Spanish or Italian team, barring some exceptions, such as Porto in 2004. What chance have clubs from the Belgian league or Swedish league have of competing if they face a couple of rounds to qualify, despite winning their league, while the likes of Arsenal can qualify after finishing third in theirs, simply because the English league has a higher standing according to Michel Platini and the UEFA fat cats? It isn’t fair.

In 1994, Sweden’s IFK Gothenburg knocked Manchester United out of the Champions League. Now, it’s a struggle for Sweden’s champions to even participate. The worst thing UEFA could do was get rid of a successful competition in order to create a bigger Champions League to benefit the bigger clubs.

Some might say they’d far rather watch Liverpool V Chelsea instead of an Anderlecht V Barcelona as the gulf in the latter game would be massive, while the former would be close. Me? Well, give me the latter. If clubs from around Europe, not just the big names, were given a fair and equal shot at qualifying, the experience and finance they’d generate would enable them to compete in the coming years. As it stands, games we see at least twice a season domestically are becoming four or more due to being on Europe’s biggest stage. Its dull and its wrong.

“Champions” League? You are indeed having a laugh.

Can Smith’s Dogs of War hound Lisbon out of Europe?

Yes, I will admit, this is shocking. Given my stance on what I think of both halves of the Old Firm, it is somewhat unbelievable that I find myself about to type a blog post about one of them. However, I will give a stout defence of this.

I am sitting in the Sports department of BBC Scotland’s magnificent complex on the banks of the River Clyde in Glasgow, as I carry out my work experience for our 3rd year. After spending two days with television, I am now stationed with the radio team and part of my remit for today is to be part of the preparation and production from the studio for Sportsound’s live broadcast of Rangers‘ cruch UEFA Cup clash with Sporting Lisbon at Ibrox, which is clearly visible as I peer out the windows to my left.

So, then, its an ideal topic to discuss, with the Light Blues the only British side remaining in the competition, after Everton, Tottenham and Bolton fell in the last 16. And the latter’s conquerers will roll up on the southside of Scotland’s largest city aiming to end Walter Smith’s hopes of an unprecedented quadruple.

Despite the disappointment of Champions League elimination after a 3-0 home reverse to Olympique Lyonais, Smith’s side have advanced much further in UEFA’s secondary tournament than they might previously have envisaged. They knocked out Panathanikos on away goals in Athens before defeating Germans Werder Bremen 2-1 on aggregate, a result quite significant in that many tipped Werder as potential tournament darkhorses.

But Rangers have not advanced this far playing exhilarating football. Indeed, flair has not been the forefront of Smith’s agenda since he returned to the club just over a year ago. Then, Rangers were a mess, completely disorganised, and were out of all domestic competitions in January, as a memorable win for my team Dunfermline sent them spinning out of the Scottish Cup.

So the first task for Gers’ management team was to make them disciplined, organised and hard to beat, the same task Smith carried out excellently when he helped transform the fortunes of the national team after the shambolic Berti Vogts era. And this formula has Rangers with one trophy in the bag, six points clear of Celtic in the title chase and have the chance of a Scottish Cup semi final to look ahead to.

One radio commentator remarked this week that Smith’s second Rangers side are “Dogs of War”, not too dissimilar to the side Joe Royle built at Everton in the mind 1990s. Then, Royle, without signing any “star” players, transformed the Toffees from perenial relegation battlers to FA Cup winners within a year. The similarities between them and Smith’s current squad are quite clear.

This is not to say Rangers are devoid of good players, far from it. Skipper Barry Ferguson is having a tremendous season for club and country, with Carlos Cuellar, the vastly experienced David Weir and goalkeeper Allan McGregor have formed a titanic trio, with Rangers only having conceded 21 goals in the league. Up front, man mountain Jean Claude Darcheville has proved vital to Smith in his preferred 4-5-1 system, while Kris Boyd is always a massive threat to come off the bench, as evidenced as his 2 goals and winning penalty snatched the CIS Insurance Cup from the grasp of desperately unlucky Dundee United.

Saturday’s Old Firm game was another case in point. Celtic enjoyed the early play at Ibrox but once Rangers edged in front through Kevin Thomson, Rangers overall were content to soak up anything Gordon Strachan’s team threw at them and in the end comfortably staved off the threat of the Hoops. Not the most expansive football compared to Smith’s first stint, where players like Paul Gascoigne and Brian Laudrup graced Govan.

But as good as they were domestically, they struggled badly in Europe, with early Champions League and UEFA Cup exits the norm. But Smith, with his more cautious approach, has led Rangers to their best ever UEFA Cup run and will hope to carry on to the final at the City of Manchester Stadium in May.

His tactics this evening will be important. Sporting may adopt a more defensive, counter attacking game, much like Panathanikos did in the round of 32. If they do so, they will rely on two richly talented players to snatch a critical away goal on the break in Brazilian striker Liedson, who has scored four goals in his last two games, and Joao Moutinho, who at 22 is Sporting’s second youngest captain and is already being talked about in the same breath as Manchester United superstar Cristiano Ronaldo.

But if Rangers don’t score, keeping them out at the other end will be critical. The Gers haven’t conceded at home in Europe since Lyon and only Stuttgart have netted at Ibrox other than the French champions. And Rangers away form, including a great win in Lyon and the draw in Greece, indicates that even a 0-0 draw wouldn’t be the worst result, especially as Sporting struggled to defeat a vastly understrength Bolton side at home in the last round.

But with the 2005 UEFA Cup finalists struggling in 4th place in the Portugese League, Rangers couldn’t have asked for a better tie to progress to the last four and a potential meeting with Fiorentina or PSV Eindhoven.

And given the way his team have snarled their way throughout this campaign, you wouldn’t back against it being a memorable night for the Ibrox club tonight.

 For live commentary on Rangers V Sporting Lisbon, tune in to BBC Radio Scotland on 810 MW from 7.15pm tonight. Host Richard Gordon will be joined by Murdo MacLeod, Craig Paterson, Billy Dodds and Chick Young. You can also listen online by clicking here.