Tuesday, June 26, 2012

Five things we learned from the first round of group games


Darren Norris

1. Russia are pretty decent

We should have known it anyway given the swashbuckling nature of their victory over Ireland in Dublin and the unrewarded pummelling they dished out in Moscow in the qualifying campaign for these finals but this Russia side are a little bit tasty.
The draw has admittedly been kind to the Russians, pitting them in the weakest of the four groups but you couldn’t but have been impressed with their display against a limited Czech Republic side. Dick Advocaat’s side looked a threat every time they attack and their direct approach opened the Czechs up time and again. It’s hard to see Russia not winning their group but once they reach the quarter-finals the bar will be raised significantly given they’ll face one of Germany, the Netherlands, Portugal or Denmark.

2. The Netherlands are in a spot of bother

Before the tournament began the Group B script seemed pretty clear.
The Netherlands and Germany would advance at the expense of Portugal and Denmark with the only issue being which side would win the group. Sadly for the Dutch, Denmark forgot to read the script and now the game against bitter rivals Germany has even greater implications for both sides than first appeared likely.
The Netherlands’ defeat to Denmark leaves the World Cup finalist of two years ago in danger of an ignominious first round exit. They now have no room for error, the worst possible situation to be in when Germany are your next opponents. For the Germans it’s a case of opportunity knocks as they know victory tonight would not only guarantee their passage to the quarter-finals, it would send a fellow favourite crashing out. The stakes are high.

3. Ireland are not as defensively sound as we thought
The one thing we didn’t expect from Ireland was that we’d give away goals cheaply. That, however, is exactly what happened against Croatia as normally reliable players such as Shay Given and John O’Shea were punished for sluggish performances on a bitterly disappointing night. Perhaps we shouldn’t have been all that surprised given that one of the one the centre-backs, Leicester City’s Sean St Ledger, is plying his trade in the championship while another member of the back four, Stephen Ward, was an ever-present in a side relegated to the same division last season after a nightmare campaign in the Premier League.
However Ireland’s defence under Giovanni Trapattoni has invariably amounted to more than its sum of parts and it was a shame that things unravelled so spectacularly on the biggest possible stage.

4. Spain don’t need a striker
How do you cope when you realise your star striker is not going to win his battle for fitness for a major tournament? How do you replace him?
Vincente’s Del Bosque’s solution was a radical one. He didn’t. Instead, in the absence of Barcelona striker David Villa, the Spain coach opted for a stating XI of a goalkeeper, four defenders and six midfielders in the opening game against Italy.
Not that Del Bosque had suddenly decided to park the bus or anything. This novel strategy still saw Spain largely dominate possession and kept a well-drilled Italy defence on its toes. At times the absence of a focal point up front hindered Spain – Fernando Torres definitely stretched Italy when he came on — but they still created quite a few chances and while it’s likely they won’t persist with this tactic, if there’s a team in the world capable of winning a major tournament without starting a striker it is the reigning champions.

5. Shevchenko still knows where the goal is
When Andriy Shevchenko scuffed a decent chance harmlessly wide in the first half of the Ukraine’s opening game against Sweden it seemed fitting. This, after all, is a player who seems to have been in decline for an eternity at this stage.
To put it generously his big-money to Chelsea in 2006 wasn’t a success and Shevchenko has slowly but surely slipped out of the public consciousness. That was until the 54th minutes of Monday night’s game against Sweden when, with the co-hosts trailing 1-0, the 35-year-old Shevchenko rolled back the years to remind the world how great a player he had once been. His brave header hauled the Ukraine level before seven minutes later he put the hosts on their way to a vital three points with another brilliantly taken header that he somehow sneaked in at near post. If, as appears likely this tournament proves his swansong, this was quite a parting gift.

Source: http://feeds.examiner.ie/~r/iesportsblog/~3/88NLWtiaAwA/post.aspx

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