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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 (679 Views) | |
| Yogi | Jun 12 2008, 01:11 PM Post #16 |
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Austria finally got their good fortune at the end of the game with an injury time penalty. Good call too as the Polish defender pulled an Austrian down and veteran Ivica Vastic expertly struck the resulting penalty kick. Final score 1-1. Austria had their chances in that first half but Boruc the Polish golaie was excellent. Croatia played superbly against Germany and deserved the win. Everybody talked about Germany's attacking ability but other than Podolski, their forwards have not looked good in the tournament and Croatia's passing and wing play really opened up a static looking German backline. Croatia now lead the group with 6 points and have automatically qualified as group winners. Germany are next with 3 points while Poland and Austria each have 1 point. Final games Poland-Croatia and Austria-Germany. |
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| enganche | Jun 12 2008, 01:28 PM Post #17 |
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Germany often struggles against teams that know how to pass the ball and Croatia does do that well. Ballack had an awful game and every time he or Frings touched the ball Croatia were sending defenders right at them to press them and make them give the ball up. Smart strategy by Croatia. |
| Prefiero morir de pie que vivir arrodillado | |
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| Simon | Jun 12 2008, 01:29 PM Post #18 |
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...and, in common with so many other teams in Euro 2008, someone they can rely on to stick the ball in the net! They missed endless great chances in the first half, let in an (offside, unless Panucci was lying behind the goal somewhere) sucker punch goal and were behind at half-time. Poland controlled the second half but neither side played that well. Austria probably deserved something and they got it via the penalty spot at the end when an Austrian player was hauled to the ground at a set-piece. On this evidence we're very unlikely to be seeing either of these teams beyond the group stage. |
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| dafyd | Jun 12 2008, 01:48 PM Post #19 |
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Simon, you beat me to it. What a stupid penalty to give up by Poland! |
| Leper In A Stange Land | |
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| libero | Jun 12 2008, 01:54 PM Post #20 |
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At least Austria were able to enjoy a brief moment in the sun as they celebrated that late game tying goal. You wouldn't expect either Austria or Poland to go through now but Croatia won't have anything at stake in their final game against Poland and may play some reserves. And Germany after tonight's wretched game will have alot to prove against Austria but that is practically a local derby at the national team level and shouldn't be a cake walk for the Germans. |
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| Martin | Jun 12 2008, 06:20 PM Post #21 |
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I noticed that too enganche, and nobody else in the German midfield was willing or capable to help them out until Schweinsteiger came in off the bench. But his stupid red card will keep him out of the decisive match versus Austria. With so many Bundesliga players, Croatia knew Germany's game well and they exploited the wings very well. I get the feeling we won't be seeing much more of Marcell Jansen in this tournament after he was run ragged today. The other thing which has surprised me in this tournament so far has been how ineffective any German forward not named Lukas Podolski has been. There just doesn't seem to be much understanding between Klose and Gomez. The Kovac brothers showed they still have some gas in their tanks and their midfield really played well. The build up leading to the first Croatian goal was wonderful. With qualification assured, Croatia can take it easy and rest a few players in their next game. Life is good now for Croatian fans. |
| Club Sportivo Desamparados | |
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| historyman | Jun 12 2008, 09:15 PM Post #22 |
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That was one of the main points that I took away from the match. Krancjar spurned two golden opportunities to finish the Germans off in the first half and most of the great German teams of the past would have made Croatia pay for such profligacy in front of goal. Compare Krancjar to Podolski, who put away a similar chance late in the second half to at least give his side a chance to get something from the game. I looked at the qualifying groups for Euro 2008 and it was surprising to see that Croatia were one of the top scoring teams in the qualifiers. I think though, like Simon, that their inability to take most of the chances that come their way will cost them as the competition progresses. I didn't see any of the Austria/Poland game, but the match reports seem to indicate that Austria were good value for their 1-1 draw, despite requiring a late penalty to gain it. It sets up an intriguing encounter between old rivals (and sometime allies) Austria and Germany for a place in the quarters. What price a repeat of 1978? The Shame of Cordoba |
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| Hector | Jun 12 2008, 11:54 PM Post #23 |
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I couldn't get the link to work historyman, it sent me to the right page but the specific page from the book you linked to would not open for me. When I think of Austria and Germany I recall the wretched game of non aggression between the two played at Gijon in the 1982 World Cup, a result which allowed both Germany and Austria to advance and eliminated Algeria, who had upset Germany in their first game in that World Cup. I have not pulled for either Austria or Germany since then! I was impressed with Croatia yesterday. Modric, their young rising star had a very good game but it was really a team function. True they probably should have had more than the two goals against Germany but after their slow start against Austria, this game versus Germany showed us how Croatia eliminated England from this tournament. Crisp passing and tactical discipline. |
| iPuerta amigo, Sevilla esta contigo! | |
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| badgerboy | Jun 13 2008, 01:52 AM Post #24 |
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Great performance by Croatia. Their win was fully deserved. If I was Croatian (or had bet on them to get to the Final!) my main concern now would be that they avoid Portugal in the quarter-finals. Aren't they better as the "underdogs"? Germany again suspect defensively - especially on the left. While I probably only consider Gomez the most disappointing player at the tournament because I bet on him to be top scorer :angry: As for Austria-Poland. What a frustrating team the Austrians are. It was as if "concede goal" was their on-off switch. They did nothing against Croatia until they conceded a goal & this "switched them on". And they were pretty good/not bad for the rest of that game & the first half hour of this one (three unbelievable chances to score). Then they conceded another goal & this seemed to "switch them off" again & they did basically nothing for the rest of the game. I'm also pretty frustrated by the Austrian coach's substitutions. OK - maybe Erwin Hoffer will turn out to be pretty "useless" at this level - who knows. But if you need to chase the game (preferably scoring two goals) why not throw on an extra striker? I can't believe anyone is much worse than Linz in the first place - so getting him off was right (although I don't think he should've started in the first place). Kienast did well as a sub against Croatia so deserved to come on (although for me should've started in place of Linz). But for me throwing on the relative youth & hunger of Hoffer as opposed to a 38yo (I'm sure another Austrian could've taken the penalty) would've been much more positive. As for the penalty. It's strange for me to see most people's opinion on it (on other forums at least - people seem to talk sense here!) . Most of the time when I watch something - even on TV with loads of replays I have my doubts. Pundits say "clear penalty" and I'm thinking: "didn't the striker "play for it" by going into the defender" or "what was the defender supposed to do - get out of the way?" But this to me was 100% clear. It wasn't a "slight physical contact" - the Polish defender had such a tight hold on Prodl's shirt he basically pulled him off his feet. Now I know people say: "there are dozens of these incidents every game". Well I'm not so sure there are - not that blatant. Some physical contact in the penalty area where a defender is trying to move in synch with his opponent etc. is unavoidable - almost like a "dance". But that's completely different to hauling someone to the ground. One other comment on Croatia & their goalscoring - or lack of it. I'm sure it's been mentioned before - just not in the last few posts. But there's one big factor here: Eduardo. That's why the Croatian media went on about it for days - if not weeks - after his injury. Had he been fit they would've really fancied their chances to win the competition. He's a huge miss for them. |
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| Winslow | Jun 13 2008, 05:21 AM Post #25 |
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Excellent point about Eduardo, Badgerboy. And speaking of naturalized Brazilian Slavs, Simon is dead right that Guerreiro's goal for Poland was offside. Austria is incredibly lucky to survive after missing all those first-half chances. When Poland scored I thought "game over," because so many teams like Austria fold when they go down like that. Now there's something left to play for on Monday. I would not be surprised if the DFB has already appealed Schweinsteiger's red card, and it should. It was a stupid retaliation, but IMO not worthy of a sending-off. |
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| libero | Jun 13 2008, 07:35 AM Post #26 |
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For those of us like myself who live in the US, I've really enjoyed Andy Gray's studio commentary on the ESPN broadcasts. I am not sure how they got him way from his British TV network job (I assume they are still covering Euro 2008) but he's been a very good analyst and one thing he mentioned yesterday about Schweinsteiger's red card was that referees are almost always going to give out a red when one player pushes or hits another in the face which is what Schweinsteiger did to the Croat. If he had pushed him just a little bit lower it would then likely have only been a yellow according to Gray. And regarding Austria's late penalty, Gray again made an excellent point that just prior to that the ref had gone to both teams and had warned them both to stop the grabbing and pushing inside the box. On the ensuing free kick, the Polish player grabbed the Austrian and the ref rightly pointed to the spot. Gray has been a refreshing addition to ESPN's commentary of Euro 2008. |
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| Simon | Jun 13 2008, 09:18 AM Post #27 |
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Andy Gray works for Sky Sports in the UK and it's the BBC and the main commercial channel ITV who are sharing Euro 2008 coverage, so Gray is free. Out of interest, is ESPN owned by Rupert Murdoch or News International? Sky are, but their American arm is Fox who have their own 'soccer channel', right? Interesting that Gray should turn up for ESPN rather than FSC but he is a well-regarded analyst, along with the BBC's excellent Alan Hansen who won all those league titles and European Cups with Liverpool in the 1980s. The Scots can certainly talk a good game! |
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| shelsoccer | Jun 13 2008, 10:41 AM Post #28 |
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ESPN and ABC are owned by Disney, not Fox. They have the Euro '08 rights here in the US, so Gray working for the Fox Soccer Channel isn't in the cards (unless he wants to double up by doing commentary on MLS games). |
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| Merengue | Jun 16 2008, 08:53 AM Post #29 |
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So tonight can Austria repeat their glory from 1978 against Germany? No Schweinsteiger for Germany and I wonder if Low is finally going o bench Gomez after two disappointing starts from him? Austria have been awkward opposition for both Croatia and Poland, so you wonder if they turn up the tempo like the Turks did last night if they can pressure Germany and their so far less than stellar defense? The amosphere should be incredible tonight, hopefully the game lives up to that too. |
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| libero | Jun 16 2008, 02:25 PM Post #30 |
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Croatia 1 Poland 0 Germany 1 Austria 0 Croatia beat Poland even with making 9 changes from the team who beat the Germans last week. Goal by Ivan Klasnic, and a good story at that as he's come back from two kidney operations. I didn't see the game so won't comment about it other than to say unliek portugal yesterday, Croatia's subs came through and did their job. That can only help the team morale going inot the quarterfinal versus Turkey. Germany beat the host country on a missile by Michael Ballack. A powerful free kick which nearly ripped ahole in the back of the net! Mario Gomez did end up starting merengue and afew minute sin he missed as easy a chance as he'll ever get in his career, 2 meters out with an empty net and he popped the ball up then didn't jump for it as an Austrian cleared off the line! I think with Schweinsteiger coming back for the quarterfinals, Gomez will head to the bench. As Andy Gray commented, Austria were willing but just lacked sufficient enough ability to trouble Germany. Looked to em like germany did just enough to beat Austria. They haven't really looked impressive yet but this is where germany becomes very dangerous, in the elimination rounds. I don't think Portugal are looking forward to playing them next. |
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