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| Euro 2008- Group B (R); AUT, CRO, GER, POL | |
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| Tweet Topic Started: May 22 2008, 10:43 AM (676 Views) | |
| Merengue | May 22 2008, 10:43 AM Post #1 |
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A place to discuss the Group B games involving Austria, Croatia, Germany and Poland. Reuters provided squad previews of these teams: Austria: http://sports.yahoo.com/sow/news?slug=reu-...uters&type=lgns Croatia: http://sports.yahoo.com/sow/news?slug=reu-...uters&type=lgns Germany: http://sports.yahoo.com/sow/news?slug=reu-...uters&type=lgns Poland: http://sports.yahoo.com/sow/news?slug=reu-...uters&type=lgns |
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| Merengue | May 30 2008, 10:01 PM Post #2 |
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In addition to the squad previews above, here are the final rosters and player numbers for the teams in this group, AUSTRIA Goalkeepers: 1-Alexander Manninger (AC Siena), 21-Juergen Macho (AEK Athens), 23-Ramazan Ozcan (TSG 1899 Hoffenheim). Defenders: 14-Gyorgy Garics (Napoli), 12-Ronald Gercaliu (Austria Vienna), 17-Martin Hiden (Kaernten), 13-Markus Katzer (Rapid Vienna), 16-Juergen Patocka (Rapid Vienna), 4-Emanuel Pogatetz (Middlesbrough), 15-Sebastian Proedl (Sturm Graz), 3-Martin Stranzl (Spartak Moscow). Midfielders: 6-Rene Aufhauser (Salzburg), 5-Christian Fuchs (Mattersburg), 10-Andreas Ivanschitz (Panathinaikos), 11-Umit Korkmaz (Rapid Vienna), 8-Christoph Leitgeb (Salzburg), 19-Juergen Saeumel (Sturm Graz), 2-Joachim Standfest (Austria Vienna), 7-Ivica Vastic (Linz). Forwards: 22-Erwin Hoffer (Rapid Vienna), 18-Roman Kienast (Ham-Kam), 9-Roland Linz (Braga), 20-Martin Harnik (Werder Bremen). CROATIA Goalkeepers: 1-Stipe Pletikosa (Spartak Moscow), 23-Vedran Runje (RC Lens), 12-Mario Galinovic (Panathinaikos). Defenders: 5-Vedran Corluka (Manchester City), 2-Dario Simic (AC Milan), 4-Robert Kovac (Borussia Dortmund), 3-Josip Simunic (Hertha Berlin), 15-Dario Knezevic (Livorno), 6-Hrvoje Vejic (Tom Tomsk). Midfielders: 22-Danijel Pranjic (Heerenveen), 11-Darijo Srna (Shakhtar Donetsk), 10-Niko Kovac (Salzburg), 14-Luka Modric (Tottenham Hotspur), 19-Niko Kranjcar (Portsmouth), 16-Jerko Leko (Monaco), 7-Ivan Rakitic (Schalke 04), 8-Ognjen Vukojevic (Dinamo Zagreb), 13-Nikola Pokrivac (Monaco). Forwards: 21-Mladen Petric (Borussia Dortmund), 18-Ivica Olic (Hamburg SV), 17-Ivan Klasnic (Werder Bremen), 20-Igor Budan (Parma), 9-Nikola Kalinic (Hajduk Split). GERMANY Goalkeepers: 1-Jens Lehmann (Arsenal), 12-Robert Enke (Hanover 96), 23-Rene Adler (Bayer Leverkusen). Defenders: 21-Christoph Metzelder (Real Madrid), 17-Per Mertesacker (Werder Bremen), 16-Philipp Lahm (Bayern Munich), 3-Arne Friedrich (Hertha Berlin), 2-Marcell Jansen (Bayern Munich), 4-Clemens Fritz (Werder Bremen), 5-Heiko Westermann (Schalke 04). Midfielders: 13-Michael Ballack (Chelsea), 15-Thomas Hitzlsperger (VfB Stuttgart), 6-Simon Rolfes (Bayer Leverkusen), 8-Torsten Frings (Werder Bremen), 7-Bastian Schweinsteiger (Bayern Munich), 14-Piotr Trochowski (Hamburg SV), 18-Tim Borowski (Werder Bremen), 19-David Odonkor (Real Betis). Forwards: 11-Miroslav Klose (Bayern Munich), 20-Lukas Podolski (Bayern Munich), 9-Mario Gomez (VfB Stuttgart), 22-Kevin Kuranyi (Schalke 04), 10-Oliver Neuville (Borussia Moenchengladbach). POLAND Goalkeepers: 1-Artur Boruc (Celtic), 12-Tomasz Kuszczak (Manchester United), 22-Lukasz Fabianski (Arsenal). Defenders: 13-Marcin Wasilewski (Anderlecht), 4-Pawel Golanski (Steaua Bucharest), 2-Mariusz Jop (FC Moscow), 6-Jacek Bak (Austria Vienna), 14-Michal Zewlakow (Olympiakos Piraeus), 23-Adam Kokoszka (Wisla Krakow), 3-Jakub Wawrzyniak (Legia Warsaw). Midfield: 18-Mariusz Lewandowski (Shakhtar Donetsk), 5-Dariusz Dudka (Wisla Krakow), 16-Jakub Blaszczykowski (Borussia Dortmund), 19-Rafal Murawski (Lech Poznan), 15-Michal Pazdan (Gornik Zabrze), 10-Lukasz Gargula (Belchatow), 8-Jacek Krzynowek (Wolfsburg), 20-Roger Gerreiro (Legia Warsaw), 17-Wojciech Lobodzinski (Wisla Krakow). Strikers: 9-Maciej Zurawski (Larissa), 7-Euzebiusz Smolarek (Racing Santander), 11-Marek Saganowski (Southampton), 21-Tomasz Zahorski (Gornik Zabrze). |
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| Simon | Jun 8 2008, 07:38 AM Post #3 |
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Time for Group B to get underway. First up is the hosts Austria against Croatia. Okay, so we expect Croatia to win but I'll be interested to see if the Austrians are genuinely as bad as they've been painted to be. Usually the host nation are able to pick their game up once a tournament actually gets underway, and it's never easy playing two years of friendlies either. No Croatian striker has actually scored a goal since their last qualifier (I can't remember what that last qualifier was... <_< ) but if that's playing on their minds a bit then, by all accounts, a game with Austria should be a good tonic. Sounds like Mario Gomez and one other up front for Germany against Poland, either Klose or Podolski. Germany have no fitness problems at all, while meanwhile Blaszczykowski and Kuszczak have been ruled out for Poland. The latter isn't too big a loss as he was 2nd choice keeper, but the first chap (I can't be bothered typing his name again!) will be missed as he was expected to start down Poland's right. Germany haven't actually won a game at a European championships since Bierhoff's golden goal gave them the Euro 96 title, which is amazing considering their historic pedigree in the tournament. I don't think the Poles will provide especially daunting opposition today though. |
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| Simon | Jun 8 2008, 02:44 PM Post #4 |
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Understatement of the year! Germany actually started Gomez, Klose AND Podolski, and I suppose it's not surprising that they changed their usual shape given Schneider's absence and Schweinsteiger's poor recent form. Really, they could have played whatever formation they liked today, as Poland were toothless up front and totally disorganised at the back. They seemed to be trying to play an offside trap but it was the easiest thing in the world for one straightforward ball to continually put 2 or 3 Germans in on the keeper. Klose muffed the first one with a bad pass to Gomez but later set up his fellow Polish-born striker Podolski to tap in the opener. Really Germany should have been several goals ahead at half-time and they were flat in the second half, perhaps because it was so easy, but it almost cost them when Poland put the ball in the net and it was questionably ruled offside. Klose didn't do too well, continuing his poor end-of-season form but his horrible miscue at least set Podolski up for a cleanly-struck second. No problem for Germany who were efficient rather than impressive but who won at a canter. The earlier game was pretty poor, unfortunately. I feared for Austria when they went behind with virtually the first attack of the game on a correct penalty call, but they rallied bravely and to be honest they would have deserved a draw against a really disappointing Croatia. Austria battled bravely but lacked any real quality, but as far as I can recall Croatia didn't create any chance besides the goal other than a volley that Petric blazed well wide. They'll need a huge improvement if they're to do anything in the tournament and were even hanging on for dear life at the end, but considering what we saw of Austria and Poland they should still make the quarter-finals easily enough. I'm looking forward to the group of death tomorrow, we should see a better couple of games than we've seen so far. |
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| rosarino | Jun 8 2008, 02:54 PM Post #5 |
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Poland lacked force in attack and were often reduced to long shots but I was not impressed at all by Germany. I thought their first goal should have been called back for offside, as should have been that earlier chance when Klose broke through but couldn't connect his final pass to Gomez. Poland passed the ball fairly well in this game and their Brazilian Guerriero, (Guerrierzinski?) added some life in the second half but they never really threated Lehmann. Yesterday some talked about Portugal's Ricardo looking a little shaky on high balls but I thought Lehmann looked even shakier. Germany scored their second to put the game away when Klose mishit a ball and it fell perfectly for Podolski to hammer a volley home. If Poland can create more chances they'll have a good opportunity to beat Croatia so long, as Simon pointed out, they don't try that offside trap, or they get a linesman who can see! Podolski was Germany's best player and looked good in his new position as an outside attacking midfielder. Frings worke dhard in midfield and FRitz ran a lot on the right but other than that I didn't like how germnay looked. I only saw the first half of Croatia-Austria and it was enough for me to turn the match off and walk the dog! |
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| shelsoccer | Jun 8 2008, 03:01 PM Post #6 |
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If there's a lesson I've taken away from the first two days, it's that the favorites have been less than impressive and at least two of the underdogs have been unlucky. Portugal and Germany were OK, registering comfortable wins without really having to stretch themselves, but not really impressing with their football. While limited, the two co-hosts, Austria and Switzerland, were unlucky not to come away with at least draws. |
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| libero | Jun 8 2008, 07:38 PM Post #7 |
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I call it the Italy syndrome! Teams like Portugal and Germany with aspirations to go far know that the group play it is less important to impress than to advance. Just do enough to get out of the group then you start to show all you have. It is a strategy which has worked well for Italy over the years. Unfortunately in Italy's case this year they are in such a tough group they'll have to come out with guns blazing from the start! As rosarino noted I too thought Podolski looked pretty good as a left winger. He isn't a traditional one like Bruno Conti or even Arjen Robben but he looked pretty effective out there. But Lehmann will still be Germnay's biggest question mark going into the knockout stages. |
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| Martin | Jun 8 2008, 08:11 PM Post #8 |
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I agree completely with this assessment libero. I can't even recall the last time a team won a major national team competition after beginning with an impressive start. Usually those teams fizzle out as the tournament progresses. Those that play steady at the start and do enough to win, as both Portugal and Germany did this weekend, are the ones who often have ultimate success in these types of events. Like others here Podolski also impressed me in his new found role on the left. I expected more from Gomez but he never seemed on the same page as Klose and his other teammates. And Thorsten Frings looked back to his all action best, one of the world's great defensive midfielders. Simon, earlier I believe you asked what happened to Bernd Schneider and why he wasn't on this Euro 2008 roster. I read today he has a back injury. Fritz did a decent enough job replacing him on the right. I watched about a half hour of Austria-Croatia and just couldn't take it any longer, like rosarino I decided I had better things to do! |
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| Yogi | Jun 8 2008, 09:29 PM Post #9 |
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I don't think Poland did that badly, I also thought Germany got the benefit of a missed offside on their first goal. It came down to Germany putting away their chances though. Plus to their credit Germany also restricted Poland's opportunites to long range shots. Not surprising considering Poland have NEVER beaten Germany. That's just an amazing statistic. I'm not sure of the schedule but based on what I saw Poland still have a legitimate shot at finishing second in the group behind Germany. It should come down to their game versus Croatia. |
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| historyman | Jun 8 2008, 11:08 PM Post #10 |
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I watched both games yesterday at a neighbour's house. He and his family are from Poland, and they held a barbecue and invited a load of their fellow exiles around to the house to get into the mood for the clash with Germany. In football terms the atmosphere was a little muted because nobody expected Poland to seriously challenge the Germans, so it was fortunate to have the beer and sausages to fall back on! They were a bit more entertaining than the Austria/Croatia match. And of course that's exactly how that game turned out. Like Portugal the night before, Germany should have had the game killed off much earlier than they did, especially as the Polish defence was all over the place for most of the first half. Great performance by Lukas Podolski, who of course is Polish born. I expected a bit of friendly booing from the Polish guys in the room with me but again I think that they just accepted Poland's fate with an air of resignation. They were a bit more animated during the second half when Poland at least strung a few chances together, but then came that killer second goal from Podolski. Libero and Martin mentioned that teams like to do just enough to win matches in the group stages before showing what they're really capable of in the knockout rounds. Good point, but you could also argue that this failure to kill your opponents off may come back to haunt you. Portugal, Croatia and Germany should have settled their games long before they did, and I just wonder whether that will cost them in the long run. We'll have to see how the other sides get on later this week. |
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| Simon | Jun 9 2008, 01:52 AM Post #11 |
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I take the point about teams just doing enough in their group games, but you must always wonder about their capacity for more. Portugal kept the ball well and showed good movement from their endless array of wingers against Turkey. They lacked a cutting edge but they found a couple of goals from somewhere. I don't think that was them 'just doing enough' in their first group game, I think that's pretty much all they've got. Thing is, that could quite feasibly be enough to win the tournament provided they can keep finding those goals and provided the suspicions about their backline prove unfounded. Besides, Bosingwa, Pepe, Carvalho and Ferreira are all good players and the Turkish chances I mentioned in the other thread mostly stemmed from a lack of communication between them. Once the semis come round they'll have played 4 matches and should be a far more cohesive unit. Like others, I wasn't too impressed with Germany but I'll stick with my prediction of them to win it as I don't think there are outstanding candidates elsewhere, though Italy, Spain and maybe France must have a decent chance. The German squad doesn't look too strong to me. Neither Gomez, Klose or Podolski are what you'd call world class strikers. Ballack and Frings will be a powerful midfield axis, Fritz is a hard worker and their defence, while not impregnable, should hold up pretty well. I have my doubts about their full-backs though, especially as United keep getting linked with Lahm who never wholly convinces me. The point about Lehmann is definitely a valid one - he can be erratic at the best of times and it's significant that he's spent the whole season sitting on Arsenal's bench. Whether all this adds up to a European Championship-winning team, I'm not sure, but it's hard to conceive of how they won't be semi-finalists at least. I would say we've seen one decent game (Portugal Turkey) and three poor-to-average games so far, so I'm looking forward to what should be two exciting games in the group of death! |
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| badgerboy | Jun 9 2008, 04:09 AM Post #12 |
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I actually think Austria deserve a bit more credit than they've been getting so far. They certainly deserved a draw (which has already been said) but I didn't think the game as a whole was as bad as most people have been suggesting. Croatia were excellent for the first 25 minutes - & not bad on the break in patches in the second half. But even if "clear cut chances" were lacking I was impressed with Austria'a application. Kienast did enough after coming on as sub to suggest he should start the second game (probably with Harnik) but I was also disappointed that Erwin Hoffer (who scored a decent number of goals for Rapid Wien as they won the Austrian Championship last year) didn't come off the bench. Maybe he will against Poland? I'm not suggesting for a moment "another 1982" but it's interesting that if Germany were to beat Croatia comfortably (2-0 or more) & Austria beat Poland then Austria 1 Germany 0 would see both teams through to the quarter-finals... As for Poland - bad defending and the team that's looked least likely to score of all those on show so far (and that's saying something). They - like Turkey - might actually be much better than their first showing suggests though. It's irritating to me how many of these teams get "overawed" against the "big names". Given that Croatia were less impressive than I expected & Austria better while there's a "hung jury" on Poland I'm now far less sure of who will go through (with Germany) than I was at the start. |
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| Mr. Pither | Jun 12 2008, 10:02 AM Post #13 |
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Well this group has just become very interesting with Croatia beating Germany 2-1. This was the Croatia many had been expecting to see after their fine qualifying campaign. They were strong defensively and on the ball they had much more skill than Germany and they spread the German defense out. Srna's goal came after a very good buildup and Kranjcar nearly had a second in that first half. In the 2nd, Olic scored after reacting quickest to a rebound off the post. Podolski scored yet another fine volley after a scrambled ball for Germany's consolation but in injury time Schweinsteiger, who lifted Germany when he came on was sent off, maybe harshly but he retaliated. Croatia looked quicker, more skillful and frankly even better organized than Germany who looked far from one of the tournament favorites today. Well deserved win for Croatia. |
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P-I-T-H-E-R ...as in Brotherhood, but with PI instead of the BRO and no HOOD | |
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| Simon | Jun 12 2008, 10:57 AM Post #14 |
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Hmm I don't know whether to stick with that! I've long said that I don't think too much of Germany but that they should have an easy route to the semis and after that their spirit and organisation may be enough. Well, the cat is among the pigeons now! Germany were very poor today. I mentioned their weak full-backs the other day and it may well be that we've seen the last of Marcell Jansen who was ripped to shreds in the first half. But Lehmann and Metzelder only started 13 games between them this season, and I'm not sold on Lahm either. Germany just looked a mess at the back, Frings and Ballack looked lost and I think the Germans lack class in attack. Nor do they really have any depth. Who were they to bring on up front, old man Neuville? Odonkor didn't contribute anything in the second half, Schweinsteiger at least was lively before he was sent off. I won't write them off though as I'm sure they'll beat Austria and even if they must play Portugal in the quarters rather than the semis I think they may just profit against a Portuguese side who are questionable in certain departments. Croatia looked much better than they did against the Austrians, which admittedly isn't hard, but they looked skilful in their quick passing and pretty sound at the back for the most part. Their big achilles heel remains the lack of a goalscorer - they missed enough first-half chances to put Germany to bed and good as they were and poor as Germany were that almost came back and bit them in the end. |
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| raconteur | Jun 12 2008, 11:39 AM Post #15 |
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Croatia out thought, outworked and outplayed Germany today. Germany's defense was really exposed by the Croatians whose passing was very impressive. Simon is right though to say that Croatia still misses a pure goalscorer but if they can keep playing like they did against Germany they'll have a good run in Euro 2008. It is halftime of Austria-Poland and Austria, like Switzerland, just seem to lack good fortune. |
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