Go Wild Soccer

2008-06-19T09:39:00.000-07:00

The matches have been set for Euro 2008 quarter finals.

Germany vs Portugal

The first game will be Portugal Germany. This game is a battle of 2 powerhouses both have the potential of winning the whole entire tournament. Portugal will win because of Cristiano Ronaldo. He will be the key to a locked door in the German defense and will score at least 1 goal. For Germany's Podolsky and Miroslav Klose will have to get at least 2 goals to defeat a very good Portuguese squad.

Croatia vs Turkey

Turkey barely scraped by the group stage off of a great comeback from 2-0. Croatia's group stage made me believe that a less well known Croatian side was a heavy contender. They beat a heavily favored German squad, plus they beat Poland and Austria. Croatia will win this game with ease.

The Netherlands vs Russia

The Netherlands shocked the world by cruising by every team in the Group of Death. They beat Italy, France and Romania. Russia surprised everybody by even beating the defending champions Greece but they didn't stop there, they then beat a strong Swedish squad. There is almost no way that The Netherlands can lose this game, they are just too strong to lose to a mediocre team like Russia.

Spain vs Italy

Italy didn't impress anybody by losing 3-0 to the Netherlands and tying Romania. But in the clutch they came through and beat France 2-0. That just goes to show that when life is on the line Italy comes through and that is the reason that I would predict Italy to beat a strong Spain team. Although Spain won all three games that they played I don't think that they will be able to handle a team that has such an aggressive style of play.

2008-06-18T13:31:00.001-07:00

Wow

2008-06-17T19:36:00.000-07:00

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In the group of Death, at least one powerhouse team had to leave the Euro's before the group stages were over. France was that team this year. After being beaten by a very strong Italian team, it was all over for the runner up in the World Cup. Italy needed a win and a loss or tie from a shockingly good Romania team. That was the case and The reigning World Cup champions made it through the group stage after a rocky start. France needed the exact same thing, but for them there was no happily ever after ending to the story.

Clinched

2008-06-14T12:56:00.000-07:00

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David Villa leads Euro 2008 in scoring having scored 4 goals in 2 games. Against Russia he scored a hat- trick as Spain cruised by Russia 4-1. In a tight game against a powerful Swedish team he showed that he could come through in the clutch, scoring in stoppage time. Spain as a team has done incredibly well as they clinched Group D winning 2 games in a row. Spain looks to carry the momentum into the quarter finals and win the whole entire tournament.

Will They Make It?

2008-06-13T15:25:00.000-07:00

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Will they get through? What happened? Is it over? These are some of the questions being asked by Italian fans. Italy only has 1 point through 2 games and has to play France. After an

upsetting tie to Romania things are looking bleak for the strong Italian side. They need a win against France and even that won't guarantee that the Italians make it through to the quarter finals. With Holland clinching the group Holland probably won't bring their strongest squad against Romania. That gives Romania a chance to sneak a win and get through and in that case you can say Ciao to the Italians.

Big Upset

2008-06-12T14:49:00.000-07:00

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The Germans didn't expect a hard game from the Croatians but they were oh so wrong. Croatia struck a blow to the Germans with a beautiful goal from Srna. In the 62nd minute Croatia widened their lead with a beautiful goal from Ivica Olic that just scraped by the outstretched arms of Lehman. Germany was still on the attack though as they struck in the 79th minute off of a ball from Ballack right to the foot of Podolsky. From there on out it was a battle, both teams wanting it so badly. Germany trying to equalize and Croatia trying to protect their lead. Croatia prevailed holding off a powerful German team and shocking the world.

Battle of the Group C Heavy Weights

2008-06-11T16:30:00.000-07:00

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Both teams playing were supposed to get through to the quarterfinals but with Turkey and Switzerland both in contention this game could well have decided who got through and who didn't. Portugal showed that they wanted to go through with a goal in only the 8th minute off of a pass from Ronaldo to Deco. Portugal may have thought the game was over but they were definitely mislead. In the 17th minute Libor Slonko struck a beautiful header past the grasps Ricardo. For a long while it seemed that Portugal and Czech Republic were both going to come away with 1 point but Portugal wanted all 3 points. Cristiano Ronaldo was supposed to be the star of every game and of this game he was. He struck a ball right by Peter Cech who could do nothing to save the ball. The Portuguese weren't done yet off of a beautiful pass from Ronaldo to Quaresma for an easy goal. Cristiano Ronaldo was supposed to shine and shine he did, scoring once and having 2 assists.

Domination

2008-06-10T11:51:00.000-07:00

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This game was over before it even started, Spain vs Russia, a power house vs a mediocre team. Spain made quick work, scoring in the 20th minute off a beautiful pass from Fernando Torres to David Villa for an easy goal. Russia had some chances they just were not able to finish. Soon enough the game was put out of reach from Russia with another David Villa goal. But the Spaniards weren't done yet, Villa got his hat-trick on a nice pass from Cesce Fabregas. Russia then got a junk goal off of a corner. The Spaniards wouldn't have it as they got another goal in the 90th minute just to rub it in. The game ended 4-1 in the Spaniards favor.

A Bad Day For the World Champions

2008-06-09T13:18:00.000-07:00

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The Netherlands started off the scoring in the 26th minute with a goal by Ruud Van Nistelrooy. The goal was questioned by everyone as it appeared Van Nistelrooy was offside. The group of Death looks like a rough group with 4 yellow cards in both of the games. In the 31st minute Sneijder struck his first goal of the tournament with a marvelous shot over the head of Gianluigi Buffon. In the 79th minute the first goal of the tournament off of a header was scored by Giovanni Van Bronckhorst. Italy has never lost by three or more goals in Euro Cup history, and they have never let up 3 goals in a Euro Cup. Italy now has ground to make up as they are in last place in the group of Death. The Netherlands takes over 1st place; France and Romania are tied for second.

A Deadlock in Switzerland

2008-06-09T10:15:00.001-07:00

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France was the easily favored team in the this game but the Romanian squad wasn't just going to lie down and die for them. In the 51st minute Willy Sagnol slid in from behind and tripped up Romania on the run. He was immediately given a yellow card. This had been the story all day with 4 yellow cards given out in the game, it was like a blood bath; there had been a many hard tackles. It was a back and forth game, France would dribble down the field and shoot, then Romania would dribble down the field and shoot. Although the game was a tie it felt like it was a victory for Romania. If they can beat either the Netherlands or Italy they could just squeeze on through to the quarterfinals. For France this must seem like a loss. It was the only game that they were easily supposed to win but they tied. Now they must beat Italy or The Netherlands to have a chance at getting through, which is exactly what they didn't want to have to do. Romania got a very good result but France couldn't win against arguably the weakest team in the Group of Death. Romania will play Italy and France will play The Netherlands.

Bad Bad Loss Austria

2008-06-08T12:31:00.000-07:00

http://slam.canoe.ca/Slam/Gallery/Soccer/2007/07/05/under_4.jpg

On June 8th the Co-host Austria was defeated 1-0 by the strong team of Croatia. Croatia struck in the 4th minute off a penalty by Luka Modric. Nearing the ending of the match it looked like Austria might make a comeback by dominating the entire game. Austria had 19 shots and 64% of possession to Croatia's 9 shots and 36% possession. Coach Slavin Bilic of Croatia said "We are happy to collect three points from the opening match which is always tough".

Euro 2008 Opener

2008-06-07T11:16:00.000-07:00

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Today in the opener of the Euro 2008 Czech Republic beat Switzerland 1-0. Switzerland dominated the game with 11 shots (5 on target) to Czech's 2 shots (1 on target) but the Swiss could not maximize on their chances. The Czech's goal came from Vaclav Sverkos (70).

What Were They Thinking?

2008-06-07T06:44:00.000-07:00

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The problem with Chelsea is that they expect to win the leauge every year. Although when your in the Barclays Premiership with Man U and Arsenal your not going to win year in year out. Avram Grant brought Chelsea back from the dead and the way that Chelsea rewards him is to fire him, it sounds a bit cliche doesn't it? Grant got them all the way to the finals of Champions Leauge and he almost won them the league but ended up losing by a hair.

Are They In Trouble?

2008-06-07T06:35:00.000-07:00

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After two straight friendly losses, the USA seems to be having problems with their defense. In England they were dominated losing 2-0 and not even contending. In Spain the USA just got dominated on defense and were lucky to lose 1-0. It seems that the USA has a lot of trouble against power house teams. If the USA want to be able to contend in 2010 they're going to have to find a better lineup to play. The USA needs to load up on defense and stay with their offense.

Streamers Galore

2008-06-05T13:43:00.000-07:00

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The MLS has a serious problem with fans throwing things onto the field. A certain incident was when Brad Guzan had to run through streamers to get to a cross. It was a ridiculous event and should definitely not happen. He said “he wasn’t exactly happy with the support of the fans”.

The MLS has to stop this behavior because officials have to stop play just to clear the field of beer bottles, soda cans, streamers and almost anything you can imagine. I think that Don Garber has to do something and stop sitting back and watching. He has to penalize fans for throwing things onto the field. Garber went off looking for a fan that made a racist comment yet that happens all the time, a fan gets drunk and rowdy and says something stupid.

Thats All Folks

2008-05-11T11:35:00.000-07:00

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Today after their win 2-0 over Wigan Manchester United clinched the Barclays Premier Leauge. After their collapse Chelsea was right back in the race but today Man U won it all.

They've Done it

2008-05-11T06:18:00.000-07:00

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Fulham beat Portsmouth today 1-0 on a header by Danny Murphy. Fulham fans roared after Danny Murphy scored in the 27th minute. It would be the goal that put away Portsmouth and keep Fulham in the Premiership.

Yeah, He's That Good

2008-05-10T18:53:00.000-07:00

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Landon Donovan has already scored 8 goals in 6 games. Besides the fact that Donovan leads the MLS the Galaxy are even doing well which only helps him even more. And to top that he's also sharing the ball with 3 assists, Landon Donovan is dominating the MLS. Although some attention has been drawn away from Donovan and given to David Beckham who finally is doing something for the team. He has 3 goals and 3 assists. The duo will hopefully get the Galaxy a MLS Cup.

Soccer Vids

2008-05-10T18:47:00.000-07:00

Great Soccer vidioes

2008-05-10T18:42:00.001-07:00

A Tight Race in England

2008-05-10T17:58:00.000-07:00

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Everybody said Chelsea was out of it and that Manchester United had won it all but in Chelsea's last 11 games they have won 7 and tied 4 times (they beat Manchester United). Manchester United is now ahead of Chelsea only on goal differential. Man U has to much of a goal differential for Chelsea to catch up so they're going to have to beat them on points. Man U has completely melted down in their last 5, they have lost 1 won 2 and tied 2. The two are scheduled to meet on May 21st in Champions League but it still should be quite a battle.

Bright Future for the U.S.A.

2008-05-10T17:26:00.000-07:00

The future of US soccer is looking pretty good. The U-23 team qualified for the Olympics in Beijing. Plus they have a rising star, Freddy Adu and Adu was transfered to Benfica but unfortunately it was announced that he would not play for the rest of the season. It seemed that there was a clause in his contract that if he played 20 games, he would have to be payed a huge bonus. Still He could play for the US in the world cup and even maybe in the olympics .http://www.sport24.com/var/plain_site/storage/images/autres-sports/diaporamas/le-week-end-en-images-27-10-2007/freddy-adu-benfica/1551693-1-fre-FR/freddy-adu-benfica_diaporama.jpg

To Go Down or Not to Go Down

2008-05-10T16:33:00.000-07:00

http://www.football.co.uk/shared/images/news/400x400_1188659733_spt_ai_fulham_v_spurs_17.jpgFulham has come back from the dead. On April 19th after their loss to Liverpool things looked bleak for the club. But since then there has been a change in spirits. Fulham has now won two matches in a row 2-3 over Manchester City and 2-0 over Birmingham City. Are the causes that brought them out of the relegation zone. They now are leading Reading on goal differential by six goals, and are ahead of Birmingham by one point. ( Derby is behind by 22 points). Though they play a tough game at Portsmouth, a victory could almost secure a spot in the Premier Leauge next year.