Further to media reports, Chelsea Football Club can confirm we have made an offer to Real Madrid today (Thursday, August 7) for the transfer of Robinho.

What do we do now? We didn't get Ronaldo. But we got van der Vaart. But Sneijder is injured. If van der Vaart covers up the hole left by Sneijder, who will cover up for Robinho. Guti? But Guti is not a winger. And Robinho is. We do not know whether Robinho surely wants to leave or not. We do know that Scolari wants him.  There have been rumors that he is unhappy and is looking for a move. Does he want to leave Real to of all clubs, Chelsea, that too at a time when the Ronaldo transfer has been abjured. If he does it would be the most indiscreet decision he would have ever made. Why does he want to leave anyway? Is it because we didn't treat him properly when we were all for Ronaldo. I don't think so. Moreover he has traveled to Colombia with us and played for us at the Emirates Cup as well. Why should he still leave?

Chelsea already have enough midfielders on their squad. SWP, Joe Cole, Malouda, Essien, Ballack, Lampard, Obi Mikel and now Deco. And the number of strikers they have isn't any lesser. Where would he fit in? The only thing he would be getting there is more money and more time on the bench and not to forget the problematic press. The only attractive thing is that he will be a part in the 'Premier League'. I certainly don't see anything else.

Real Madrid signed Robinho by agreeing to pay 60 percent of the buyout clause in his contract belonging to Santos (€24m). He played his first La Liga game on August 28, 2005 in a 2-1 win against Cádiz CF, coming on as a 65th-minute replacement for Thomas Gravesen. He scored 8 goals in his first sesaon itself. In all he has made 131 appearances for Real Madrid scoring 35 goals in total.

Last seson alone came 15 goals. He was the best player for us on many occasions and we suffered a lot without him especially in the champions league. Do we sell such a player? The answer is simple. No we don't. We must do all that we can for him to stay. But the question that again comes up is will he?

I guess we must wait and watch and hope that he stays.

Hala Madrid!!

Tre av de mest tongivande holländarna i det landslag, som bitvis dansade en sommar i EM, uppträder nämligen nu i den helvita dressen: Ruud van Nistelrooy, Wesley Sneijder, Royston Drenthe, Arjen Robben och (senast) Rafael van der Vaart.

Fattas bara att Marco van Basten luras ner till Francos gamla favoritklubb.

In an interview to Marca, Arjen Robben said his greatest goal is to be fit this season and to prove his worth on the team.

Has anything changed inside you in the past year?

I hope so. I naturally want to play more games this season, that’s my main goal. I want to be fitter, not get injured so often. I can be a very strong and confident player when I’m in good form. I couldn’t be as important as I wanted in my first year. I proved what I am capable of in several matches, but I have to play more this year.

How can you achieve that?

I need to be fit from the very start of the campaign, something I haven’t been able to do in the last two years here and at Chelsea. I began both campaigns with an injury, which makes it very hard to recover and keep up with the team’s pace.

Are you less vulnerable to injuries now?

I think so, but that’s always hard to know for sure. I can tell you I currently feel very well, but anything could happen tomorrow to change that... That’s why I don’t like talking about this much. I do my best to avoid getting injured; I work extra with our physios and recovery experts to strengthen my body. There’s nothing more I can do, really.

Is the work you do at Real Madrid very different to what you did at Chelsea?

Not much. There’s always something different when you join a new team; you discover new things and work slightly differently. It’s all been good work till now.

Which is the main problem you have with injuries?

Many things affect this matter, but it basically has to do with my back, which can affect my muscles negatively if it isn’t completely right. That’s the main problem, but I’ve nevertheless read articles on this matter that have made me laugh out loud because of how stupid they sounded. People sometimes look for strange explanations. I know I have to work hard on my back and to develop strength and flexibility in my muscles.

Is it sometimes more important to work on the mind than on the body?

I don’t think so. I feel strong in my head. I don’t suffer from anxiety and I am not scared about getting injured. That’s not the problem. It is nevertheless true that you feel rather frustrated when you get injured three or four times; it’s much harder to come back from that. I would have many more problems if this had affected my mind. I’ve always come back stronger from my injuries. It’s just a physical problem.

You’ve had one year to adapt to the team. May that help?

I don’t think that will have much influence on me getting injured less. I feel happy here and I get along very well with all my teammates. I like to live in Madrid. Everything’s great; I just want to play more and prove myself at Real Madrid, the greatest Club in the world. I want to show Madridistas that I am a great football player, that’s all.

What can Real Madrid achieve this year?

Our goals are always the same: La Liga and the Champions League.

Can this team be even stronger?

Hardly anything’s changed for now and we don’t know what’s going to happen. The important thing is that the team doesn’t change much. We are a young squad that can only do better.

Will you strive to play as well as you did at the end of the previous campaign?

Yes. That was great, but I can do much better. I think my best performance came in the match against Barcelona. It helped me gain more confidence.

You can find the match report of the final match here.

Out of the23 best players in the tournament, three of them hail from Real Madrid. Iker Casillas, obviously was one of the three best keepers. Pepe was amongst the list of defenders and like I mentioned earlier is amongst the elite midfielders.

UEFA EURO 2008™ Team of the Tournament
Goalkeepers: Gianluigi Buffon (Italy), Iker Casillas (Spain), Edwin van der Sar (Netherlands).

Defenders: Bosingwa (Portugal), Philipp Lahm (Germany), Carlos Marchena (Spain), Pepe (Portugal), Carles Puyol (Spain), Yuri Zhirkov (Russia).

Midfielders: Hamit Altıntop (Turkey), Luka Modrić (Croatia), Marcos Senna (Spain), Xavi Hernández (Spain), Konstantin Zyryanov (Russia), Michael Ballack (Germany), Cesc Fàbregas (Spain), Andrés Iniesta (Spain), Lukas Podolski (Germany), Wesley Sneijder (Netherlands).

Forwards: Andrei Arshavin (Russia), Roman Pavlyuchenko (Russia), Fernando Torres (Spain), David Villa (Spain).

The champions on their return to Madrid were given a grand welcome by hundreds of thousands of people. All gathered in the centre of the city as the Kings of Spain welcomed the Kings of Europe. It was a delightful sight. The King was there to greet the champions and it was one helluva celebration.

Sergio Ramos paid tribute to the late Antonio Puerta who was a close friend of his during his Sevilla days. He wore a specially printed t-shirt which had a photo of Antonio Puerta and the words, "Always with us"  on the front and the number '16' on the back.

A night to remember indeed!

Hala Madrid!!

Goalkeeper: Gianluigi Buffon

Defense: Yuri Zhirkov, Christian Panucci, Pepe, Razvan Rat 

Midfield: Luka Modric, Wesley Sneijder, Arda Turan, Andrei Arshavin

Strikers: Roman Pavlyuchenko, Ruud Van Nistelrooy

Super subs: Semih Senturk, Arjen Robben, Ivan Klasnic, Rustu Recber, Hakan Yakin

Coach: Fatih Terim

Here are blogs on prior All Star teams from the tournament

All Star team after 3rd round of group play

http://centerhalf12.wordpress.com/2008/06/19/all-star-team-3rd-round-of-group-play/

All Star team after 2nd round of group play

http://centerhalf12.wordpress.com/2008/06/15/all-star-team-second-round-of-group-play/ 

All Star team after 1st round of play

http://centerhalf12.wordpress.com/2008/06/10/all-star-team-first-round-of-group-play/

Replacements and more:

Ricardo Carvalho:

Should Ricardo Carvalho leave Chelsea, I think we have a regular replacement in Alex. We have a decent person to cover up our bench with Ivanovic but we would probably have to keep on Ben Haim. I don't want to keep on Ben Haim so we should pick up a 4th string central defender.

Didier Drogba:

I'm not a fan of losing a prolific striker. We were in the hunt for Torres and Villa. Villa isn't a guy we can play a 4-3-3 with. You would want a big target man. Amauri and Gomez would be good immediate replacements. Bafetimbi Gomis of Saint-Ettiene would be a good long term project. If you want to play a 4-4-2 put in Podolski and Villa as one grouping and Anelka and Sheva in on the other group. Someone with the goalscoring capabilities of Drogba will be hard to replace.

Frank Lampard:

Many people think Frank Lampard is irreplaceable. I would beg to differ but I don't want Super Frank to leave. Should he leave he will be difficult to replace. We need a goal scoring midfielder and decent playmaker. Deco can fulfill his playmaking role and Ballack can do playmaking and scoring. We may need some cover when they need resting or injuries. In this situation, we should go after both Diego of Werder Bremen and Rafael Van Der Vaart. Van Der Vaart had a great showing with the Netherlands. He was probably undershadowed for no particular reason by Sneijder, Robben, Van Nistelrooy, and Van Persie. Diego is a great player with scoring abilities and is very young. We may be able to sign him on the cheap because he's Brazilian and he may be undershadowed by European players right now.

Additions:

Bastian Schweinsteiger:

This guy is a quality winger and he works well with Michael Ballack. We could have a real dangerous threat on the wings with Joe Cole. It would take tonnes of pressure off our forwards because of so much danger up front. He had a quality showing against the Portuguese and was very impressive against Scolari's national club. He would be a good grab 15 million Pounds but we probably won't be able to get him for less than 17 million pounds.

First of all I am really sorry about the long break that I took from posting here at Hala Madrid (Ah! Feels so good to say it, doesn't it?!). I just wasn't ready to make a post until this very moment. But it looks like there is so much stuff that has happened about Real esp. with the speculation surrounding the one and only Cristiano Ronaldo that I just cannot finish every thing off in a single post. Thus what I've decided is that I'll be dedicating this post solely to everything relating us and Cristiano Ronaldo.

It has been a little more than two weeks since the last time I was here. Where I had left was when Manchester United lodged a complaint over our pursuit of Ronaldo. I wonder what the 'precise content and nature' could have been. Maybe, they would have sent a video of Fergie and Queiroz crying and pleading with the Portuguese to stay at Old Trafford? Beats me! I've already posted this quote before. Just don't mind reading it again.

While FIFA were looking over this issue, Bernardine Schuster insisted that he would be happy to have Ronaldo in his squad next year but he isn't all that obsessed about the issue. By the look of it, I really think Ze Manager will be a happy man by the beginning of next season.

Coming back to the complaint, Ramon Calderon wasted no time in telling the world that Man United had no evidence regarding the whole issue. Well said Senor! Whether United like it or not that is the truth. We haven't made any contact with the player himself despite photos showing him flirting with the club's staff. If you are going to believe that then you must be a regular at Goal.com (I cannot insult a football fan anymore than this!). In an interview with The Sun, he also reiterated the fact that price is not an issue for Real and gave our signing of Zizou as an example. Does he really think that Ronaldo is twice as worth as Zizou Himself? WTF?!?!

Cristiano Ronaldo showed that he has not lost his sense of humor amid all the speculation that he may join Real Madrid by stating that he liked Portugal's all white kit.

I like a white kit...the white kit of the national team that is.

Does Madrid and Marca really need this kind of shitty humor? I'm seriously surprised. We could've just kept someone like Ivan Helguera or Walter Samuel or maybe even Jonathan Woodgate if it is humor that we wanted. Does anyone remember Woodgate's debut game for us in the league?

After David Beckham, Ruud van Nistelrooy it was not Gabi Heinze's turn to speak out about what Ronaldo should do. Like the other two, he also has played for United and suggested that Ronaldo too should join the screw-you-united gang. He in an interview with the Daily Star said that Ronaldo is as good as God Himself when it comes to football. The Argentinean defender Heinze had supposedly struck up a close relationship with Ronaldo during his time at Old Trafford. Now I realise how close they are. No offense meant! Anyhoo, if Ronaldo does finally land in Madrid, Arjen Robben would be a part of the welcoming committee. He made it clear that he doesn't mind having Ronaldo on his side and also said that playing alongside him would pnly be good for him. Hmmm.. Robben and Ronaldo! Sounds really good. Especially after seeing Robben in the form that he is!

And finally, FIFA was done deciding. They found us Not guilty of any breach of the rules that they framed millions of years ago. The statement said. It's a long one, I myself didn't read it. So here it is in case you are interested.

We can confirm that we received last week a formal complaint from Manchester United related to the player Cristiano Ronaldo and the club Real Madrid. From the documentation received, no breach of contract appears to have occurred yet. Therefore, in accordance with the applicable practice, no kind of formal procedure has been opened by Fifa regarding this matter. The Spanish Football Federation has been informed of the complaint lodged by the English club and been asked to remind its member club Real Madrid about the potential legal consequences of a breach of contract without just cause during the protected period and of a possible inducement to such a breach of contract, as established by the Fifa Regulations on the Status and Transfer of Players.

Basically, FIFA will take no formal action against Real Madrid. The page also has an interview with Ruud who says that Ronaldo is a complete player. Okay!

Meanwhile, The Portuguese was still competing in international action at Euro 2008. He insisted that he was still focussed on the Euros. He reiterated the fact that he will remain silent about his future until the competition itself is over. Again and again and again! I am hating this! Real Madrid meanwhile made it clear that they are waiting for Cristiano Ronaldo to declare his interest in a move to Santiago Bernabeu before opening talks with Manchester United. And after Portugal's loss to Germany, he said that his decision is imminent and that he'll announce his future in the near future. Obviously!! When was the question you cunt! And then he told Sky Sports' guillemballague.com that:

It is a dream, a step forward, you can call it what you want. For me it is a great opportunity, and as Scolari says, that train passes by only once, and we have to take advantage of it. You will soon know what I want. You do know what I want and that is why I don't want to say anything else. Let's wait. I want to give more details that is why I cannot say much more.

It was United's turn to talk. Despite all the talking that was going on they did have any change of plans. They remained persistent that Ronaldo was not for sale.

The other Dutch lad who hadn't spoken all this while, in Wesley Sneijder admitted that he wanted to play alongside Ronaldo for Real. I too would like to see that happen.

And the last person as of now to have spoken about the issue is God himself. Heh, in the form of Zizou. While speaking to Marca he said that if Ronaldo wants to move to Madrid then a  move was inevitable. He also said that money has never been an issue for Real.

Real Madrid has shown that when it wants a player, it gets him. That club is not afraid of paying a lot of money for a player.

I am not eligible to comment on what Zizou has said. If he says something then he must be right.

Thats about it as far as the Real-Ronaldo saga is concerned. Several other articles were published in papers like The Sun and the the Guardian regarding this issue which repeatedly said that Ronaldo wants to move, Real wants to buy him, United doesn't want to to sell him, he's costly, he's good, Real will get him etc etc etc. Thus I've stuck with Sky Sports only. It was the best of the rest and a Madridista like they have been saying in recent times always goes for the best.

Hala Madrid!!

After that, the Dutch tried everything to get back into the game but most of their efforts involved long range blasts by Sneijder. Unfortunately, my prediction for man of the match, Arjen Robben could not play due to injury and that limited Dutch penetration on the wings. They played too narrow which didn't work against the Russians who packed it inside and didn't give Van Nistelrooy or Sneijder much room. Meanwhile, Van Der Sar and De Jong somehow managed to keep Russia from scoring with Ooijer and Mathijsen clearly struggling with the pace of Arshavin, Pavlyuchenko and Zhirkov. However, there was just one free kick too many for the Russians and Ruud headed in unmarked to tie it up in the 86th minute. The game may not have ended the way it did if not for the referee overturning his decision to give Kolodin a second yellow card for a foul on Sneijder after consulting with his linesman who told him the ball had gone out of play before the foul. I have never seen that happen before. Good thing he did, because otherwise it would have unfairly given the Dutch an advantage in extra time, as replays showed no contact.

In extra time, it was clear that the Dutch were just hanging on and that it was Russia's to win. Man of the match, Andrei Arshavin, demonstrated clearly that he was the best player on the park by showing the same pace at the end of the game as he did in the beginning. His stop start left his defender standing before he crossed for Torbinsky to turn the ball inside the far post when Van Der Vaart and Gio Van Bronckhorst left him get between and ahead of them. Arshavin finished the scoring with a diagonal run, received a throw in and put it between Van der Sar's legs. Wenger, you better add some more millions to that transfer fee.

The result didn't surprise me. As I had suggested in my pre-game post, IF both teams played the way they could, I thought the Russians would win. The Russians played the way they can and the Dutch didn't even reach their regular potential. Russia and Turkey in the semi finals. What a tournament.

Pre-game prediction: Russia 1 Holland 3

Result: Russia 3 Netherlands 1 (a little dyslexia from HC21)

Scorers: Roman Pavlyuchenko, Dmitri Torbinsky, Andrei Arshavin (Russia) Ruud Van Nistelrooy (Netherlands)

Spain, could you please win one for the pre-game favorites and have CH12 at least correctly predict one of the four quarter finals...

Having said all that, and built Russia up (huge weapon is Hiddink's ability as a coach and his knowledge of the Dutch game), it's hard to go against the Dutch given the fact that their skill players are in good form.  They are not older and fatigued like the Swedes.  Robin Van Persie, Arjen Robben, Rafael Van der Vaart, Wesley Sneijder, Ruud van Nistelrooy.  That should be more that enough.  I think Robin probably comes off the bench so that Van Basten can have Engelaar and De Jong or Heitenga to slow down the Russian offense.  In any case, it's going to be won on speed on the counter and which defense plays better.  I think the Dutch will be a bit more disciplined and, with Van der Sar in goal, should have enough to win the game.  Key matchup will be Zhirkov v Bouhlarouz.  I can't imagine how he can focus enough to play after the tragedy he has just suffered. 

Pre-game prediction: Holland 3 Russia 1

Player of the game: Arjen Robben

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Firstly, I would like to say sorry to the Dutch. Did you get that everyone? I admit it, I owe Holland an apology. Not for all I have said about their past conduct resembling that of snivelling, diving, whining, ill-natured schoolboys; I shall stand by that until they get through the whole tournament without displaying any of these 'qualities', though I admit we have thankfully seen none of them so far.

However, I did suggest in my previous post that Holland may be tempted not to play entirely competitively against Romania in order to assist the elimination of potentially dangerous semi-final opponents Italy and France. Holland in fact displayed an exemplary attitude in beating the Romanians with as much ease as they had earlier despatched the Italians and French, and left the World Cup finalists to fight out second place in Group C. What's more, they enhanced their own growing reputation still further by winning comfortably with the reserves out, and now look worthy tournament favourites.

There. That actually hurt a lot less than I expected. Now let's get on with it.

Italy cantered through to the quarter-finals of Euro 2008 at the expense of the diabolical French; the Italians worst fears of a Dutch rollover against Romania were dispelled in the second half as news came in of Oranje success. Amusing though the French demise was, it all went off without any real drama, and when you consider what might have happened with different results, we were actually robbed of some high-class entertainment.

These were just some of the possible permutations:

• Any win by Romania sent them through, any failure to win by Romania would send the winner of France v Italy through. Two draws would also have seen Romania progress. Nothing but a win was good enough for France. The interesting scenario would have been a Romanian defeat and a draw between the French and Italians, leaving all three sides on two points.
• In this situation, the nature of the draw between France and Italy would have made a difference; if Italy had achieved a score-draw against the French, their head-to-head record would have been better than Romania's, having scored more goals. A 0-0 however would have left Romania and Italy clear of the French, but inseperable by their own head-to-head record, and therefore we would have moved on to the criterium of goal difference from the group as a whole to separate those two.

Keeping up so far?

• Now, with a 0-0 draw between France and Italy and a Romanian defeat by anything less than three, Romania would have progressed with a better group goal difference than Italy. If Romania had lost by more than 3, it would have been Italy who had the superior record (try and remember that the French are already out of the equation by this point).
• If Romania had lost by exactly three, their group goal difference would have been the same as Italy's, but if they had done so by any score besides 3-0 (i.e 4-1, 5-2, etc), then Romania would have finished above Italy on group goals scored. If, however, Romania had lost 3-0, they and Italy would have been inseperable using the first 5 criteria in UEFA's rules: Head-to-head points, head-to-head goal difference, head-to-head goals scored, group goal difference, and group goals scored. If this scenario had materialised, Italy would have progressed on criterium number six - a better UEFA coefficient rating.
• The coefficient is UEFA's version of cricket's Duckworth/Lewis system, the rating is found by adding up the total points gained by the sides concerned in all qualifying matches for Euro 2008 and the 2006 World Cup, and dividing that number of points by the number of matches played.

Just to recap, It would have taken only a 0-0 draw between Italy and France, and a 3-0 defeat for Romania in order for Italy to have qualified on this preposterous basis. Now, was that really too much to ask?

Now, the reasons for my choosing to explain all that are: a) it's far more interesting than what actually happened, and b) to try and give you an idea of the fun we were denied. No, no, I'm not talking about merely watching baffled players and coaches trying to figure it all out whilst still playing the match; what I'm really disappointed about is that we didn't get to hear John Motson try and explain all of the above, with Mark Lawrenson's help! Can you imagine what these clowns would have made of it? They would have more chance with the theory of relativity. The TV event of the year, snatched from our grasp.

What did take place was a very comfortable Italian win against an appalling French side that were in total disarray from the kick-off. Admittedly they did not need the additional unlucky blow of a serious injury to Ribery, but France would be very unwise to try and cite this as an excuse. Italy should have been over the hills and far away by half-time, and would have been had Luca Toni not continued with a display of profligacy that suggests he may have Austrian blood. Toni must have been clean through at least five times in the first half, and though the chances had varying degrees of difficulty, we should surely expect better from a man who scored 39 goals for Bayern Munich in the regular season.

The fact that Toni seems unacquainted with a barn door makes the decision of Eric Abidal to bring the striker down when once again through on goal a questionable one; he may have been better off taking his chances on letting the striker try and finish the chance. Nevertheless, Abidal clumsily brought the big man to the ground with the goal at his mercy, and was quite rightly shown the door by the referee. The decision was met with agreement by all except Mark Lawrenson, who doesn't think that bringing someone down when clean through on goal ten yards out and in the act of shooting constitutes a red card offence under current rules.

Abidal only found himself in the unfamiliar position of centre-back thanks to the late withdrawal of Lilian Thuram, who claimed that 'his head wasn't right'. This would barely be acceptable from an 18 year-old debutant, but from an ageing member of the squad selected specifically for the stability his experience brings, this is quite unforgiveable. Unless of course this is all a cover story and Raymond Domenech had decided that Abidal had better aspects on the day, perhaps after seeing Capricorn shafting Aquarius on Jupiter with the help of Taurus while Gemini looked on from Mars in amazement. Or something.

The ten Frenchmen were probably better than the eleven had been, but then again they could hardly have been any worse. After somehow surviving to half-time trailing only to Pirlo's penalty, they actually showed some (gulp!) fighting spirit in the second half, before a deflected free-kick by De Rossi finished them off. As news came through that there would be no mysteriously convenient result to eliminate them as there had been four years previously, the Italians relaxed and enjoyed themselves for a change.

De Rossi was magnificent, and the man-of-the-match by a mile. His form will be a relief to the Italians, and they will despearetely need him to maintain it in the quarter-final, as the rest of their central midfield, Pirlo and Gattuso, will be sitting out the clash with Spain after picking up second bookings.

As for Raymond Domenech's future, where else can we look but to the stars:

Aquarius: Everyone wants a piece of you today, you are the centre of attention, and it will seem like the whole world is queueing up to speak to you. Be careful though, as towards the end of the day your backside may be met by a large shiny boot, which will propel you in the direction of a long queue. You should take heart from this, and see it as the springboard for a new career. Remember, never look back, and don't be tempted to give your current role another try. The stars would like to reiterate: Please, please do not be tempted.

The Dutch continue to make a fool of me, and my hopes for an undignified implosion are starting to wane. The non-performace that many expected never looked like happening, and Romania appeared fortunate to get away with only losing 2-0. Mind you when your 'reserves' include the likes of Robben, Van Persie and Huntelaar, you probably should be winning with a degree of comfort.

Watching this one, and indeed the entire group, you have to wonder what on earth the Dutch were up to finishing behind Romania in qualifying. I can only assume they were indulging in their usual tantrums, but if that's true then Marco Van Basten has done something very shrewd at some stage since, because there has been no hint of it so far at these championships. If he can get the Dutch squad through the whole thing without any signs of a temperament issue, it will be a miracle. Furthermore, Holland will probably win the tournament because, as usual, they have far more ability at their disposal than anyone else.

The scariest thing about the Dutch victory was the post-match celebration on the pitch. So much happiness! They all did a lap of honour together; there was laughing, joking, babies being kissed, the lot. It was Croatia-esque. Anyone would think they were friends. In fact you have to wonder if Holland haven't got a little ahead of themselves with the celebrating; you wouldn't get this from the Germans after the first round.

Romania exited Euro 2008 with a whimper, and according to our press, regretting Adrian Mutu's missed penalty against Italy. According to me, they should have far more regrets over their failure to beat the French, and their rather joyous celebrations at having done so now look rather silly. Had they had more attacking inclination in that match, they would probably have won, and Italy would have been in a far more perilous position when the two sides met.

The fact that every group winner was decided after two games is slightly spoiling the fun of this round of matches; as is digital TV, which allows the TV companies to show both games and leave it up to the viewers to choose. It was much more fun when we used to have confused TV directors having to swap from one match to the other every five minutes as developments kept changing the emphasis.

As it is, we are left with another group with just one match that offers any interest, and one completely dead rubber. Mind you the same was true of group A, and that didn't turn out too badly. Russia will welcome back Andrei Arshavin of Zenit St Petersburg, destroyer of Rangers in the UEFA cup final, who brainlessly got himself booked in the final qualifier and thus suspended for the first two games here. Russia will need him, as the draw belongs to Sweden tonight, and they will probably need all available craftiness to break down through the well-drilled yellow and blue barricades.

That said, Sweden should beware. In a one off encounter where winner-takes-all, the last place I would want to be is on the opposite side to Guus Hiddink.

Die Niederlande zwei Jahre nach der verpassten WM sehr souverän und beherrschend, die Rumänien überraschend defensivstark, die Italiener und Franzosen unter ihren Möglichkeiten. So könnte man die Gruppe C kurz zusammenfassen.
Holland spielte den besten Fußball des Turniers! Mit Italien und Frankreich demontierten sie in den ersten beiden Spielen Weltmeister und Vize-Weltmeister, um es gegen Rumänien ruhiger angehen zu lassen, aber dennoch mit einer B-Elf 2:0 zu gewinnen. Vor allem Robin van Persie und Arjen Robben, die beiden Flügelstürmer Marco van Bastens, zeigten sich in absolut bestechender Form und demontierten die Defensiven der Gegner. Durchschnittlich drei Treffer pro Partie sind eine beeindruckende Bilanz, vor allem in der stärksten Gruppe des Turniers. Dass sich die so genannte «Todesgruppe» aber für Frankreich und um ein Haar auch für Italien zu einer solchen entwickelte, hätte vor den ersten Spielen aber wohl niemand prophezeit.

Rumänien schwächelte in der Offensive und verpasst deswegen das Viertelfinale. Mutu harmlos, der Rest abgemeldet - damit gewinnt man keine Spiele.
Frankreich zeigte sich uninspiriert und musste im entscheidenden Spiel gegen Italien die Verletzung von Franck Ribéry und die frühe Rote Karte gegen Verteidiger Eric Abidal in der 24. Minute hinnehmen. Insgesamt war Frankreich aber in allen drei Spielen zu ungefährlich, beim torlosen Unentschieden gegen Rumänien enttäuschte Raymond Domenechs Elf auf ganzer Linie.

Umso spannender wird die weitere Entwicklung von Italien sein. Druck können die Italiener aufbauen, doch selbst im Frankreich-Spiel, wo Roberto Donadonis Team einen Mann mehr auf dem Feld hatte, blieb die Defensive nach Fabio Cannavaros Verletzung ein Risikofaktor. Dazu kommt, dass Luca Toni im Sturm immer wieder gute Chancen hat, aber das Tor nicht trifft. Gelingt es der italienischen Innenverteidigung, David Villa und Fernando Torres im Viertelfinale auszuschalten, dann hat der Weltmeister tatsächlich gute Chancen, das Halbfinale der EM zu erreichen. Eine große Frage für die Italiener: Schafft es der junge Alberto Aquilani den im Viertelfinale gesperrten Gennaro Gattuso zu ersetzen und das spanische Mittelfeldspiel zu zerstören?

Wenig Zweifel bestehen beim weiteren Turnierverlauf für die Niederlande. In bester Form und mit geschonten Spielern wird Marco van Basten wohl keine Probleme haben, «Oranje» gegen Schweden oder Russland ins Halbfinale zu führen.

Gwiazdy nie pomagają piłkarzom, czyli jak zmarnować potencjał. Radość Holendrów po strzelonym golu. Piękna bramka Henry'ego. Głębokie rezerwy pomarańczowych. Kącik aberracji umysłowych. Panowie z Polsatu uczcie się od Wołka. Jesteśmy lekko zaniepokojeni, czyli rzecz o Janie Tomaszewskim.

For Arjen Robben, the UEFA EURO 2008™ experience has totally changed in the space of a few days. The Real Madrid CF attacker suffered an injury before the Netherlands' opening game against Italy but returned against France to really make a difference.

Fitness battle
"I was ready and really looking forward to the tournament when my world fell apart a bit," Robben told euro2008.com. "Only two days before the tournament I broke down with a groin injury. But I had to focus very fast, and tell myself, 'Go for it' and we worked very hard to restore my fitness."
Robben did just that and made the perfect UEFA EURO 2008™ entrance as a substitute against France.

'Reward for hard work'
He first laid on an assist for Robin van Persie to put the Dutch 2-0 ahead and then scored their vital third goal, shortly after the French had reduced the deficit. "It was a perfect moment to score. They had made it 2-1, and you saw they gained strength from that, you saw them thinking 'There is more in this' now. But we ended all that by scoring the third," Robben recalled with a twinkle in his eyes. "When you get rewarded for hard work, by coming in like this and proving important to the team, then that is just fantastic."

Family joy
The Dutch players celebrated qualification for the quarter-finals with family and fans in the stadium afterwards. "It's great to share that joy with the family, certainly with the kids. It should be like that. That also has to do with the Berne stadium. It's a beautiful stadium, the stands are close to the pitch and the families are nearby, without any fences separating us."

Madrid connection
Alongside Ruud van Nistelrooy and Wesley Sneijder, it meant there were a total of three Real Madrid CF players involved in the defeat of France. "The three of us have an excellent relationship, on and off the pitch," Robben said. "There's a good connection with Wesley, he knows exactly where I want the ball. It can only be an advantage that we play together with Real. The euphoria from the fans and press is logical considering we have beaten big nations in the way we did.

Feet on the ground
"But we have to keep our feet on the ground and just keep on performing at the level we did before, looking for improvements," he continued. "We are in the quarter-finals now, and can go into the Romania match without pressure. We always want to win and perform and after that it doesn't matter who we meet in the quarter-finals. We must only look at ourselves. If we keep up this quality level, we don't need to fear any opponent."

Defense: Vedran Corluka, Andre Ooijer, Olof Mellberg, Razvan Rat 

Midfield: Arjen Robben, Franck Ribery, Luka Modric, Deco

Strikers: Ruud Van Nistelrooy, Cristiano Ronaldo

Coach: Marco Van Basten

Legende: In den Tabellen sind die fett markierten Mannschaften bereits für das Viertelfinale qualifiziert, kursiv dargestellte Nationen können noch rechnerisch weiterkommen.

Gruppe A

Portugal ist garantiert Gruppensieger, konnte die ersten beiden Spiele gewinnen und sich als erste Mannschaft den Einzug ins Viertelfinale sichern. Dabei spielte die Mannschaft von Luiz Felipe Scolari, der nach der EM Nachfolger von Avram Grant beim FC Chelsea wird, einen durchaus überzeugenden Fußball. Vor allem das erste Spiel der Portugiesen war sehr überzeugend!
Tschechien und die Türkei, beide mit drei Punkten und der gleichen Tordifferenz, streiten sich am kommenden Sonntag um den zweiten Platz. Endet die Partie unentschieden, geht es - der Punkt- und Torgleichheit sei dank - direkt nach den 90 Minuten ins Elfmeterschießen. Sowohl die Türken als auch die Tschechen konnten sich in ihrem zweiten Spiel spielerisch steigern, vor allem die Türken lieferten eine hochklassige Partie ab.
Die Schweiz ist bereits ausgeschieden.
Mein Tipp: Die Türkei kommt weiter, sagt der Bauch.

Gruppe B

Kroatien startete mit zwei Siegen in das Turnier und ist als erste Mannschaft der Gruppe B für das Viertelfinale qualifiziert, wo der Gegner entweder die Türkei oder Tschechien sein wird. Damit ist zumindest eine Überraschung perfekt: Deutschland ist nicht als erste Nation weitergekommen, was vor allem an der desaströsen Partie gegen Kroatien lag.
Dementsprechend sorgenvoll blickt die DFB-Elf jetzt auch in die Zukunft. Am Montagabend muss das Spiel gegen Österreich gewonnen werden, bei einer Niederlage wäre Österreich weiter. Wenn Polen gegen Kroatien nicht gewinnt, dann würde den Deutschen auch ein Unentschieden reichen. Unangenehm wird es jedoch in jedem Fall: Im Viertelfinale wartet mit Portugal ein starker Gegner. Den wollte man, so hieß es im deutschen Lager vor dem Turnier, eigentlich umgehen und frühestens im Halbfinale auf die Scolari-Elf treffen.
Mein Tipp: Deutschland hat die klar beste Ausgangslage. Mit mehr Laufbereitschaft als gegen Kroatien dürfte der Sieg gegen Österreich, das zwar gefällig kombinierte, aber immer etwas langsam auf den Beinen wirkte, zu keinem Zeitpunkt gefährdet sein.

Gruppe C

Die vor dem Turnier angesichts der vermeintlich starken Gruppe als ein Kandidat für das frühe Ausscheiden gehandelte Niederlande zeigte sich in bärenstarker Form. Bondscoach Marco van Basten hat sowohl eine abgeklärte Defensive als auch eine kreative Offensive aufgebaut, vor allem über die Außenpositionen kommt mit Arjen Robben und Robin van Persie sehr viel Druck, während Ruud van Nistelrooy in der Angriffszentrale dafür zuständig ist, die in seinen Laufweg geschlagenen Bälle vor der gegnerischen Verteidigung zu erreichen und ins Tor zu befördern. Klappt gut, die niederländische Elf! (Und kaum jemand hatte sie auf dem Zettel, wahrscheinlich wegen dem Aus in der Qualifikation für die WM 2006.)
Italien und Frankreich enttäuschten bislang. Während der von Roberto Donadoni trainierte Weltmeister hauptsächlich am eigenen Pech scheitert, gelingt es Frankreich nicht wirklich, Druck aus dem Mittelfeld aufzubauen. Vor allem auf den Außenverteidigerpositionen, die in den letzten Jahren ja zunehmend eine wichtigere Rolle im Angriffsspiel einnehmen und für Flanken sorgen sollen, ist die Elf von Raymond Domenech schwach besetzt. Rumänien ist zwar momentan auf einem überraschend guten Platz 2, wird aber nach dem letzten Spiel wohl doch ausscheiden. Einzig Adrian Mutu ist ein Spieler von internationalem Format, alle anderen Spieler sind gehobener Durchschnitt, der als eingeschworene Mannschaft ordentlich funktioniert. Wenn Frankreich und Italien sich steigern, dann sieht es schlecht aus für die Rumänen, die als nächsten Gegner auch noch die Niederlande vor sich haben.
Mein Tipp: Rumänien fliegt raus. Frankreich und Italien waren zuletzt außer Form, jetzt müssen sich beide steigern. Ich denke, dass Italien durch ein Tor von Luca Toni gewinnt. Bedingung dafür ist, dass die nach der Verletzung von Fabio Cannavaro geschwächte italienische Defensive Thierry Henry unter Kontrolle bekommt. Gennaro Gattuso wird dafür sorgen, dass sich Franck Ribéry wünscht, nicht aufgestellt worden zu sein und der Druck aus dem französischen Mittelfeld wird aus genau diesem Grund zusammenbrechen.

Gruppe D

Spanien setzt sich mit einer relativ überzeugenden Leistung durch, auch wenn das Tor gegen Schweden erst kurz vor Schluss fiel. Der überragende spanische Angriff mit Fernando Torres und David Villa stellte selbst die defensiv sehr gut organisierten und strukturierten Schweden vor große Probleme. Ist die Mannschaft von Luis Aragonés ein Favorit auf den Titel? Eher nicht... Die linke Abwehrseite der Spanier offenbarte einige Mängel, die Schweden immer wieder nutzen konnte; bei präziseren Zuspielen wären hier weitaus mehr Tore gefallen.
Griechenland kann nach dem Spiel gegen Russland bereits die Koffer packen. Die Rehhagel-Elf konnte in zwei Spielen kein einziges Tor erzielen und damit ist das frühe Ausscheiden des amtierenden Europameisters eine relativ klare Sache.
Um den zweiten Platz in dieser Gruppe duellieren sich Schweden und Russland, die am kommenden Mittwoch die Klingen kreuzen. Während Hiddinks Russen einen Sieg brauchen, reicht für Schweden ein Unentschieden.
Mein Tipp: Der alternde Larsson und Ibrahimovic sorgen mit dem eingewechselten schnellen Johan Elmander für Wirbel in der russischen Abwehr. Ein knapper, aber verdienter Sieg für Schweden. Die russische Abschlussschwäche war ja schon im letzten Spiel gegen Griechenland offensichtlich.

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There is a common football cliche, which I refuse to utilise here, that has never been so appropriately applied as it would be to last night's match between Holland and France. Suffice to say that the football that took place after half-time was unrecognisable from that which had done so beforehand. I had a couple of friends over to watch the game, and both left with terrified haste at half-time, as if feeling threatened that I would use force in order to ensure that they stayed the distance, having had to suffer the full horror of the first 45 minutes.

In short, the first half lived up to my expectations of this game, the second lived up to everyone else's. As far as ensuring a spectacle was concerned, the game received the worst possible start - an early goal for the Dutch. Kuyt headed in a corner aided by questionable French marking, and Holland had exactly what they wanted, namely an excuse to go on the defensive. So the scene was set for Euro 2008's worst 45 minutes so far, the only previous contender having also involved the French.

Commentators often makes excuses for bigger sides when the game is poor, referring to the game as 'tactical' or claiming that the sides 'are cancelling each other out'. John Motson last night remarked that the first half had become a "tough battle in the midfield", which is another one. This wasn't a case of the sides' tactics negating each other, they were just rubbish. After the 9th minute goal, the first period became a lamentable exhibition of dreadfully misplaced forward passes, niggling fouls, lazy non-movement, and poor decision-making. Holland went into extreme safety-first mode, often working the ball back to Van Der Sar from deep inside the French half. The BBC studio appeared to have been shown another game as Alan Hansen claimed to have enjoyed the first half, which I can only put down to a lack of defensive errors.

When the teams returned for the second half, and I found myself a lone spectator in my front room once again, it was as if UEFA had exchanged the two sides for twenty-two virtual reality replicas, programmed to play properly whilst there were some viewers left. Seriously, the transformation was down to the French, though you have to wonder where they got the inspiration from, as I can't imagine too many players responding to the half-time reassurance that "it'll be ok lads, no problem, it's quite clear that Venus is entering the Moon's third quarter, you can't lose!".

Whatever the reason, France were awake at last, and the game became more inkeeping with the tournament, as the Dutch began to revel in the opportunities offered to them by the more expansive French game. All of a sudden, the level was raised, and incisive passing movements began to cut through defences at either end. France created clearcut opportunities for the first time in the competition, but unfortunately for them they all fell to Thierry Henry, who looks a shadow of his former self after a season warming Barcelona's bench/treatment table. Henry spurned chances he would have gobbled up in an Arsenal shirt, and inevitably France left themselves exposed to the Dutch rapid response service, enhanced greatly by the introduction of the flying machine Robben.

Robben got clear down the left, streaked clear, and laid on a second for fellow sub Van Persie. This was, thankfully, the signal for the two sides to forget themselves completely and launch into all out attack. The French though, had left it too late. They quickly reduced their arrears thanks to a deft finish from Henry, but within seconds had the stuffing knocked out of them again, as Robben took advantage of lazy defending by Thuram to squeeze one in from an impossible angle. Sneijder plopped a great big cherry on top of it all in injury time, with a sensational fourth. France were deservedly thrashed, deservedly because they couldn't be bothered taking part until one and a half games had elapsed.

I still think Holland have a little to prove, they haven't been put under any pressure whilst the score has been level, their back-four looks vulnerable, and their infamous temperament will be put fully to the test should they fall behind. It's two successive games without any questionable antics though, and that's a big improvement on previous years.

Italy will be in no doubt that the world is against them once more; after suffering the Van Nistelrooy offside decision, yesterday's match against Romania saw them suffer more misery at the hands of the officials. Luca Toni has enjoyed plenty of luck so far, and all of it rotten. The big striker had one chalked off incorrectly for offside, then was stopped in his tracks by another erroneous flag when he was about to find the net for a second time. The Italians must also be very confused about UEFA's amendment to the offside rule in this tournament, which I'm guessing must read "If it pisses off the Italians, it's fine by us".

Italy ended up having to rely on a classic skin-of-the-teeth escape that they must have become quite accustomed to over the years. Despite enjoying the vast majority of the game, they found themselves first of all behind to an excellent Mutu finish after a complete howler by Zambrotta, then after equalising immediately they later found themselves on the brink of falling behind again, this time to a penalty correctly awarded against Panucci. Mutu's kick failed however, thanks to an extraordinary save by Buffon who, having dived the wrong way, stuck out a trailing hand, palmed the ball onto his boot, and away to safety.

The Italians really should have been out of sight by then, the two bad offside decisions aside, the Italians created plenty of other opportunities to bury the lightweight Romanians, but were let down by frustrating marginals, final pass slightly off target, crosses slightly underhit/overhit, goalbound shots blocked, slightly slow to he second ball, etc, etc. The run of the ball hasn't been with Italy in this tournament for sure, but you felt yesterday that they just needed to up their level and these scraps could easily have been turned into feasts.

The Italians did win one contest, in fact they proved themselves to be the undisputed champions at looking aggrieved at a referees decisions. Never have you see so may raised shoulders, upturned palms, and wide, offended blue-eyed stares in your life. Especially at the award of the penalty, all eleven of them striking the same incredulous pose. Wonderful.

As it is, the Italians', like the French, have relinquished control over their own qualification. If Romania beat Holland, who have already won the group and will surely be planning to rest players, then Italy and France are on their bike, whatever happens in their own game. The Dutch, I'm sure, will be terribly concerned about playing fair given that the Italians or French would be their likely semi-final opponents should either get through at the expense of Romania.

I am starting to come to terms with the idea that before this tournament is out, I may have to heap praise on a Dutch side. Which is a terrifying prospect. Far less likely at the moment is that I will have to do the same with the French, so it's not all bad.

Interestingly, a Romanian victory over Holland on tuesday night is already as short as an 11/10 shot. In fact Holland are barely favourites for the match, having scored 7 goals in two games against the two World Cup finalists. Hmm. The words 'Rat' and 'Smell' spring to mind.

1-0, Dirk Kuyt

2-0, Robin van Persie

2-1, Thierry Henry

3-1, Arjen Robben

4-1, Wesley Sneijder

Holendrzy grają futbol totalny, a Robben strzela genialną bramkę. Dwa paski Johana Cruyffa. Grupa śmierci dla tych z tytułami. Pechowy 13 Mirela Rădoi. Włosi skrzywdzeni bardziej niż Polacy. Powoli zaczynamy myśleć o ćwierćfinałach...

I suppose I'd better touch on the Toni goal that was disallowed wrongly for offside - yeah, it should have stood. Other than that, the referee had a pretty good game, but Italy will feel very aggrieved. They will probably see it as karma that Mutu's penalty was later saved by an excellent Buffon dive.

Basically, that could have been the only game of the day and I'd have felt good about it, but no, there was even better to come. Holland 4 - 1 France was by far the best game of the tournament so far, featuring more stunning Dutch counterattacking and a fightback from the French. I certainly felt throughout the game, even when France were bombarding the Dutch box early in the second half, that Holland could probably go and score another goal at will, which they then proceeded to do in jaw-dropping fashion. All the goals were impressive, Dirk Kuyt's opener because he connected with the header while being wrestled determinedly to the ground by Florent Malouda (how did he get picked again after the Romania game, by the way? He hardly justfied his selection last night), Thierry Henry's clever touch into the corner to make it 2-1 for its precision and subtlety, and the other three were all sparkling examples of playing on the break.

Gregory Coupet was unlucky not to keep Robin van Persie's effort out - it was so quick and difficult to save but he got a hand on it and nearly kept the score to 1-0 - but he had no chance at all with the third and fourth. Arjen Robben's instant reply to the French goal, even quicker than Panucci's equaliser, was absolutely stunning. The angle of the shot was just insane. Since his introduction at half-time, Robben showed exactly what he can be week-in, week-out, but isn't because of his penchant for moodiness, diving and disinterest - he was my man of the match. Finally, Sneijder's finisher in the final minute of stoppage time was an unstoppable rocket executed after a perfect turn around the French defender. I'll need to see them all again to decide on the best, as well as Sneijder's goal in the Italy game and Ibrahimovic's wonder strike the other day, but I feel my life is enriched for having seen that game. It was the perfect example of the best of international football - on its day, it's infinitely more entertaining than any club game. Tomorrow can't possibly top it - right?

David Pleat Watch

Italy v Romania was one of Pleaty's better days, but of course it was that man Mauro Camoranesi who proved his kryptonite. "Caroramesi", "Canomaresi", and "Camaresi" all made appareances. We were also informed that Romania were using Mewtwo, the popular Pokemon, as their penalty taker. Hmm.

However, they are through as the winner of Group C, which means they will probably play either Russia or Sweden in the quarter finals. They can beat both those teams, which means they will either play Italy or France or Spain in the semi finals. They have beaten the first two handily and I have doubts that Spain's central duo can keep this squad from scoring. I don't know that Ooijer and Mathijsen can keep Torres and Villa off the scoreboard either, but based on current form, I am a believer in the Dutch. So it's looking good for the Dutch to get to the finals. Normally, you would be concerned with the Dutch in knockout matches given their poor record in penalties. However, this team has great penalty takers - Ruud, Van Persie, Gio Van Bronckhorst, Arjen Robben, Wesley Sneijder and Rafael Van der Vaart - and Van Der Sar is one goalkeeper I would have all the confidence in the world in, given his recent winning save in the Champions League Final in Moscow.

France outplayed Holland - yes, I will refer to them as Holland till they lose (and the dead match against Romania doesn't count since they will probably rest some of their starters and players on yellow cards) - for the first 60 minutes and had the bulk of possession during that period. However, as so often happens, the Dutch had two real chances and put in two goals while the French couldn't put away their chances much like Italy couldn't against Romania. Henry, in particular, was wasteful. I don't understand why the strikers at Euro 2008 aren't rounding the keeper on breakaways. With his speed, he should have gone around Van der Sar. He chose to try to lob it instead. Why, Thierry, would you lob with the top of the boot instead of sidefooting the lob given that you had enough time and space? One has so much more control when one does that. Instead, he put it over the crossbar. Yes, Ooijer should have been penalized for his handball off Henry's blast, but c'est la vie. There is no way France should have given up goal #3 to Robben within a minute of cutting it to 2-1... and the angle he scored from was hard to swallow. People are blaming Coupet, but sometimes, you just have to admit that a blast to the top of the goal from that angle is unexpected and hard to stop when struck with that pace. You just can't get your palms up fast enough to push it over the top of the bar or block it back.

Domenech, you are terrible. No Nasri or Benzema. Can't you see that your old guys aren't getting it done - look at the Dutch team to get a clue? And you play Maka the whole game when you are trailing. Terrible decision making. I hope Les Blues fire you and bring in Laurent Blanc or Didier Deschamps as coach of the national team.

On the other hand, Marco van Basten, you are the MAN. I LOVE YOUR SUBSTITUTIONS. I suggested you get more speed in midfield by bringing on Robben or Van Persie in the second half. You bring on BOTH! Forget protecting the lead. You rightly believed that a good defense is a good offense. Fans, like CH12, bray for that all the time, but then we don't have the pressure to get results. Few coaches ever subscribe to that cliched philosophy. But, you did - the cynics may say you already know you are leaving for Ajax after the tournament, so what the heck. However, it was brilliant and that's why I am rooting for the Dutch to win the Euros 20 years after they last won it in 1988, when Van Basten scored one of the most unbelievable goals ever in the final against Russia ("rooting" not predicting - this is the Dutch team after all). If you think Robben's angle was tight, check out that goal. So your two subs combine to score the second goal and Robben scores the third. Wesley, master strike for the fourth goal. The final compliment is to Ruud - the Zidane-step-on-the-ball-and-spin for a pass move!?? Who knew?! It absolutely set up Robben's lane down the wing and led to the second goal.

Pre-game prediction: France 2 Holland 1

Result: France 1 Holland 4 ( "If one is going to be wrong, sometimes it is best to be spectacularly so" - CH12 June 13, 2008 )

Scorers: Dirk Kuyt, Robin Van Persie, Arjen Robben, Wesley Sneijder (Holland) Thierry Henry (France)

Man of the match for Holland was Arjen Robben; for France: Ribery again.

CH12 is now 6 and 8. Got to come back strong tomorrow to get back to even. Maybe I will use Van Basten's philosophy and go with the thought that the best defense is to go with the offense...

"Dit is heavy", zei Marco van Basten, toen tijdens de loting Frankrijk, Italië en Roemenië uit de bus rolden als tegenstanders van Oranje in de groepsfase van het EK. Iedereen was het er over eens: Nederland was in een 'poule des doods' terecht gekomen. Maar in tegenstelling tot Italië en Frankrijk, is Oranje na twee duels springlevend.

Nederland kende in het vrijwel compleet oranje gekleurde Stade de Suisse een droomstart. Al na tien minuten was het 1-0, door een doelpunt van Dirk Kuyt. De Katwijker toonde zich bij een hoekschop van Rafael van der Vaart sterker dan zijn directe tegenstander Florent Malouda en kopte de 1-0 tegen de touwen. Een ideaal scenario voor Oranje, dat tegen Italië bewees dat het bij een voorsprong kan uitgroeien tot een flitsende counterploeg. Met deze 1-0 op zak kon Nederland de Fransen het spel laten maken en loeren op de tegenstoot, zoals het tegen de Italianen tweemaal succesvol deed.

Aanvankelijk had Frankrijk, dat bij puntverlies plaatsing voor de volgende ronde niet meer in eigen hand zou hebben, moeite om het initiatief te grijpen. De ploeg leek even te moeten wennen aan de nieuwe formatie die coach Domenech bedacht had. De trainer had Franck Ribery naar het centrum gehaald, waar hij een vrije rol had achter spits Thierry Henry. Aan de buitenkanten van het middenveld moesten Sidney Govou en Florent Malouda voor gevaar naar voren zorgen.

Pas na een half uur kwamen de Fransen in hun spel. Keerpunt in de wedstrijd was een harde overtreding van Claude Makelele op Rafael van der Vaart, die daarvoor ook zomaar rood had kunnen krijgen. Arbiter Fandel hield het echter bij geel en Makelele leek met deze actie zijn teamgenoten wakker te schudden. In het kwartier dat nog volgde tot de rust, waren de Fransen immers ijzersterk. Edwin van der Sar zag binnen enkele minuten schoten van Malouda, Govou, Ribery en Henry op zich af komen, maar Oranje had geluk dat al deze doelpogingen geen succes hadden.

Ook in de eerste fase na rust had Oranje niets te vertellen tegen de Europees kampioen van 2000. Zo ontsnapte de ploeg van coach Marco van Basten aan een strafschop na een handsbal van Andre Ooijer en kwam Thierry Henry na een prachtige omhaal van Malouda ineens helemaal vrij voor Van der Sar te staan. De Franse aanvalsleider faalde echter hopeloos.

En zoals een oude voetbalwet voorschrijft, valt het doelpunt in dergelijke wedstrijden, waarin één ploeg verzuimt om te scoren, aan de andere kant. Na een geweldige counter kwam de bal via Ruud van Nistelrooy en invaller Arjen Robben bij een andere invaller, Robin van Persie, terecht. Hij zorgde via de handen van doelman Coupet voor de 2-0.

Even leek Oranje het hierna nog zwaar te gaan krijgen, toen Henry in de 71ste minuut op randje buitenspel de 2-1 binnentikte, maar lang duurde deze fase van onzekerheid niet. Amper dertig seconden na de goal van Henry was het immers Robben, die geweldig inviel, die voor de 3-1 zorgde. Na wederom een razendsnelle aanval passeerde hij Coupet met een prachtige knal hoog in de korte hoek.

Na deze goal van Robben was het verzet van de Fransen gebroken. De buit was binnen voor Oranje, dat door een oogstrelende goal van Wesley Sneijder zelfs nog uitliep naar 4-1 en nu zeker is van groepswinst in de 'poule des doods'.

Frankrijk en Italië zijn nu afhankelijk van het resultaat bij Nederland-Roemenië, over vier dagen. Winnen de Roemenen, dan kunnen beide toplanden naar huis. En Oranje? Dat gaat nog lang niet naar huis. Eerst de wedstrijd tegen de Roemenen en daarna mag de ploeg van Van Basten naar Basel. Daar wacht op zaterdag 21 juni de nummer twee uit Groep D.

Italia vs Rumania, Zurich, 18:00 CET

Roberto Donadoni menyadari sepenuhnya kekeliruannya mengabaikan pemain senior Alessandro del Piero, yang baru diturunkan pada menit 64 babak kedua, di saat nasib tim italia sudah hampir tak dapat di tolong lagi. Karena itu, dalam pertandingan nanti malam, del Piero akan dimainkan sejak awal dan dipercaya memegang tampuk kapten. Masalahnya, mampukan del Piero menjawab tanggung jawab besar untuk menyelamatkan Italia dari kehancuran? Jangankan kalah, seri pun mungkin akan mempercepat tim Azzuri mengepak koper dan pulang ke Roma, sambil harap-harap cemas menunggu lemparan telur dan tomat busuk dari para tifosi yang kecewa berat.

Secara teknis, seharusnya Italia setingkat lebih unggul dari Rumania. Namun beban mental yang dipikul pasca kekalahan telak dari Belanda menjadi kendala tersendiri. Roberto Donadoni kemungkinan akan sedikit mengesampingkan pemain muda, dan lebih mempercayai para senior untuk mengembalikan moral pasukannya. Di sisi lain, keberhasilan Rumania menahan imbang tanpa gol Perancis, akan meningkatkan moral Christian Chivu dan kawan-kawan. Pengalaman beberapa anggota skuad Victor Piturca merumput di Serie A seperti Chivu, Mutu dan Radu mungkin akan cukup membantu meredam serangan Italia yang hasu akan kemenangan.

Perancis vs Belanda, Berne, 20:45 CET

Kegagalan Perancis memaksimalkan penampilan timnya dalam menghadapi Rumania, boleh jadi akan membuat Domenech merombak starter timnya. Thierry Henri, Patrice Evra, Patrick Viera, kemungkinan akan mendapatkan jatah tampil mendampingi Franc Ribery, Karim Benzema dan pemain muda lainnya. Sementara Belanda akan tetap mempertahankan formasi the winning team. Satu keuntungan Belanda adalah dengan kembali fitnya Arjen Robben, yang kemungkinan akan dioptimalkan kemampuannya oleh van Basten , baik sebagai starter maupun sub-bench.