Croatia vs Turkey – 0-0 after 90 mins

The game has been a  complete bore so far.

Croatia have tried to win the game but Turkey have closed the doors and seem to be happy to try their luck at penalties. An understandable  ploy with the knowledge that their keeper is indeed a good shot stopper.

In fairness though you would have to feel for Croatia if they go out, as they are the only team trying to play some football.

I feel both of these teams would really struggle against a temam with any height in it though, but having said that, Croatia have already beaten Germany once and Turkey beat the Czech’s. Both of them boasting some tall players.

Roll on tomorrow when hopefully the Holland vs Russia game will be much better.

Croatia vs Turkey – could be the game of the round

Last nights game between Portugal and Germany was enough to wet the appetite of any one looking forward to the coming season of football.

Ballack was outstanding for the Germans and they thoroughly deserved the victory despite the Portuguese crying out for fouls and any other help they could get.

Tonight see’s Croatia take on an improving Turkey side. this game has not had any of the big billing that other games in the round may have had, probably due to the fact that neither team has what we would deem to be a superstar player.

What they do both have though are hard grafting team players, which Germany proved last night, can lay the brightest teams to the sword.

This is one of the reasons I am thinking this could actually turn into one of the games of the tournament.

Bilic has done what can only be described as an amazing job with the Croatia team. He always seemed to give 100% as a player and it is clear his players now look at him with huge respect. I guess he was one of the first players to emerge from Croatia into the big European leagues and the youngsters of Croatia who are now in his national team remember him as a man that helped put them on the map.

Let’s not pretend though that these guys can’t play football, their win over Germany was no fluke they where the better team fair and square. Whether they would have beat the Germany team last night is nether here nor there, as I don’t believe the croatia team would have allowed Germany to boss the game early on as the portuguese did.

Let’s not pretend that this is a walk in the park for croatia either.

Turkey have come good, and it wasn’t long ago they where world cup semi-finalists.
Their come back against the Czech republic was awe inspiring.
(I admit to turning the game off after Turkey went 2-0 down and switched it back on not too long after to see them win 3-2.)

I feel both teams want to raise their profile once again and I hope that the result will be an absolute cracker!

Germany defeated but not yet pole axed!

Croatia deserve huge credit tonight for their performance against the favoured Germany in Euro 2008.
They played some swift well controlled football and exposed the gaps in the German defence to earn a well deserved 2-1 victory.

Germany found it hard to live with the pace of the Germans and their tag as favourites must surely now wave in the balance, although this is the Germans we are talking about, only a fool would rule them out of it.

Germany did prove one thing once again though. If you give Schweinsteiger a sniff of goal he will happily bang one in. He got his third of the tournament as they tried to pull themselves back into the game.

As an Everton supporter I have to say I am really pleased for Slavin Bilic, he’s done a superb job with his team and they must remain dark horses. One thing for sure, nobody will relish having to face them as they look to work as a superb unit from back to front.

European Championships – Austria / Switzerland 5 Days to go

I love the big International football tournaments.
Everything about them gets me excited, the passion, the skill, the colours.

Obviously the big two for me being The World Cup and The European Championships. Ok so this year it will be a bit strange that there’s no British teams to support, but I don’t think it will make the tournament any less enjoyable. It’s not as if any of the home nation teams ever do anything exciting like looking as though they stand a chance of winning it anyway. So this year I’ll adopt a team, and cheer them on.

Most people I speak to seem to think that it’s going to be between Croatia, Portugal and Spain and I’d be a fool if I said I don’t think they’ve got a chance. Spain in particular look a bit tasty with Torres in fine form.

My favourites though are the Italians. Ok they’re not everyone’s cup of tea but hey they’re World champions and still have a quality set up. I think if they can get through their group, which will be an achievement in itself, they’ll become their usual tight at the back unit who can pull off a one nil against anyone.

With the recent turmoil and scandal involving italian clubs I think it would be a fitting return to the top of the pile and I dare say UEFA would like to see some good reports about Italian football at the moment, so don’t be surprised if there’s one or two dubious decisions in favour of the Italions and they end up with another trophy.