Switzerland vs. Czech Republic
It's all going to start soon. I'll be back at the half.
posted by gooner71 @ 11:24 AM
Lakenheath Old Boys
We are all former students at Lakenheath High School and other public schools in East Anglia. We were in school in the 70s and 80s and drank deeply from the well of British culture of those decades - the pints, the telly, and of course the footie!
Saturday, June 07, 2008
It's all going to start soon. I'll be back at the half.
Lakenheath Old Boys
We are all former students at Lakenheath High School and other public schools in East Anglia. We were in school in the 70s and 80s and drank deeply from the well of British culture of those decades - the pints, the telly, and of course the footie!
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8 Comments:
Here are the sides:
Switzerland:
1. Diego Benaglio
5. Stephan Lichtsteiner
20. Patrick Muller
4. Philippe Senderos
3. Ludovic Magnin
19. Valon Behrami
8. Gokhan Inler
15. Fernandes Gelson
16. Tranquillo Barnetta
9. Alexander Frei
11. Marco Streller
Czech Republic
1. Petr Cech
6. Marek Jankulovski
22. David Rozehnal
21. Tomas Ujfalusi
2. Zdenek Grygera
20. Jaroslav Plasil
3. Jan Polak
4. Tomas Galasek
14. David Jarolim
7. Libor Sionko
9. Jan Koller
I'm checking in during the lunch break of my conference via ESPN360, which has a brilliant live stream of the match.
Well, the coverage has been brilliant but the game? Not so much. A fairly drab affair with codgers such as Frei and Koller unable to break down efficient defenses.
I'm looking forward to the Cronaldo show this afternoon, though.
Key Moments so far include
03.00-Frei shooting wide after Czech defensive breakdown
15.22-Behrami shooting directly at Cech after leaving his defender for dead
18.51-Frei shooting directly at Cech after Czech defensive breakdown
20.19-Frei again shooting at Cech
29.01-Koller finally escapes Sendaros , but comically offside
34.00-Koller open, but cross is woeful
44.00-Frei takes a strong tackle, leaves the field, and is shown gimping towards the dressing room openly weeping at half-time. Could his tournament be over? The heavy bandage on his knee is not encouraging.
Overall, the Czechs look capable of holding the Swiss at bay. That said the Swiss defenders have shut Koller down. I expect the Czechs to begin the second half as they finished the first, tighter in midfield and bringing the ball into the middle. Their flank play has been easily dealt with so far. They must however defend more sharply because there have been some very sloppy moments from the Czech center backs that a better finish from Frei, Behrami, or Stroller would have punished.
Tommy Smyth has had a cracker.
4.48-First mention of Man United winning the CL. Now looking for a moment to mention Roy Keane
30.37-Replay shows Czech Polak getting his foot stepped on. Meanwhile Smyth is insisting that he was caught on the knee. Does he have a monitor to watch or not?
44.00-Frei's knee in the replay of his injury definitely moves in a way human knees shouldn't. Tommy is focused on the Czech midfielder's touch on the ball as he ploughs through the player. Tommy's verdict?-Fair tackle!
Interesting stat to start the match apropos of nothing to do with this game.
The top tournament scorers playing in these finals -- Henry 5, Baros 5, Gomes 4. Does that seem low to anyone else?
I'll also mention that opening ceremonies should be scrapped. They're pointless and expensive and really need to go.
Thanks for the Tommy Smyth blow by blow - I had to stifle a laugh that wouldn't have been appropriate while the speaker was speaking about the constitutionality of district-wide busing programs.
I also loved the food and drink based graphics on the postings, Gooner. I'll bet that Fateh Tarim enjoys a Turkish Delight now and again.
I've still one eye on the proceedings (thank you privacy screen!)
GOAL: Svercos races through and slots home the Czech Republic's opening goal. A question of offside perhaps? I'll have to check the videotape later.
1-0 Czechies
Full-Time: The hosts have lost their opening match of Euro 2008 1-0. Not good news for them and it puts pressure on the Turks to get something from this afternoon's match.
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