Euros First Round. My Review.

At last, the tournament is at full speed. Two games a day, no pushovers, an ideal dose of high emotions (and sometimes level) football for all the fans. Here is how I saw the games so far (if you care to be interested).

Switzerland-Czech Rep 0:1
The most unjustified result so far. The new generation of Czech players are not as talented as their predecessors. Jarolim is no Rosicky and Plasil is no Nedved. I hate a strategy where every ball is a long one towards Koller. The Swiss played far more creatively. Alex Frei was great in the first half, they also have good midfielders in Inler and Fernandes. Very unlucky, but they should win against Turkey. Yakin should play from the first minute; I would also bench Streller, but I don’t know if the Swiss have any more good strikers.

Portugal-Turkey 2:0
A confident performance from the Portguese. I liked the way both Deco and Moutinho distributed the ball. Pepe also looked more classy than I expected. Ronaldo was non existent in the first half, but showed some of his trickery in the second. He’ll perform better in the next games. As for the Turks: nice performances from Nihat, Kazim Kazim and this scary central defender Servet, who seems ideal for teams like Everton or Bolton. Nobody to drive their play forward, Emre was especially disappointing. I also don’t know if playing Hamit Altintop as a right back is a good idea, he’s creative and has a good shot, hence he should play closer to opponent’s goal.

Austria-Croatia 0:1
Austrians were better than expected and Croats were worse than expected. Still, the result was expected. Austria played horribly in the first 20-30 minutes, they didn’t look like a team on an Euro level. They looked better in the second half, mainly beacuse of enormous motivation and good physical preparation. Austrian coach made good changes, both Vastic and Korkmaz improved the game. Croatia, on contrary, played like Euro favourites in the first 30 minutes. Modric made the play, great offensive runs by both Srna and Corluka, Olic looked like an Iron-man, ready to fight for every ball. However, they simply ran out of steam in the second half. A team with such potential shouldn’t have got dominated by Austria. Look out Croats, Germans also play from first till last minute.

Germany-Poland 2:0
You can read my review here.

Romania-France 0:0
The most boring game of the Euros. I’m disappointed with both teams to be honest. France couldn’t change the tempo of their play, they played far too slow. Toulalan is no Vieira, he always chose the safest option, which is not how you gain ground in games like that. Lack of cooperation between Benzema and Anelka, Malouda looked like during the whole season at Chelsea, which means he played horrible. Ribery tried some individual plays in the second half, but even he’s not good enough to run past 4 defenders. Romanians were satisfied with the result and did absolutely nothing to score. They certainly didn’t win me over.

Netherlands-Italy 3:0
The best game so far. What a performance from Oranje! At last, v.d. Vaart and Sneijder played like thay were really players of a star-like potential. And what runs from Gio, like in his best times at Barca when he cooperated with Ronaldinho. Van Nistelrooy dangerous as always. Sneijder’s goal has been the best in the tournament so far. I now wonder how v. Persie and Robben will going to get incorporated in the team in the latter stages of the tournament. Italians? How can you expect to perform when you have only one creative player (Pirlo) on the field. I don’t think he needed a cover of both Gattuso and Ambrosini. De Rossi and Del Piero must start next time.

Spain-Russia 4:1
What a performance by Furia Roja! A very interesting strategy by Aragones as they played without wingers. Everytime time Spain had the ball both Silva and Iniesta ran towards the centre of the field. It allowed a huge number of diagonal passes for Villa and Torres, who outrun Russian central defenders easily; great movement from both strikers. Old fox Aragones outplayed Hiddink tactically. Only Spanish defense looked vulnerable, especially Sergio Ramos played with his head in the clouds. At the same time, I would’t write Sborna off as they had a number of interesting offensive plays in the first half. I just wonder if their confidence is not destroyed at this point.

Greece-Sweden 0:2
I’m so glad that Greece lost that. If Rehhagel thought that a lightning can strike twice he was mistaken. Greece didn’t look like even thinking about attack until they lost their first goal. Three central defenders exchanging passes- a most horrific sight in football. Sweden needed Ibra’s magic to win it, and they got what they wanted. And Hansson’s Greece2004-like goal provided us with some irony. Still, Sweden’s game was quite chaotic, I’d prefer to see Kallstroem instead of Andersson or Svensson. Shame about Wilhelmsson.

Most impressive individual performances: Cech vs Switzerland, Deco and Moutinho vs. Turkey, Podolski and Ballack vs. Poland, Sneijder and Gio vs. Italy, Villa and Xavi vs. Russia.

Tomorrow it will be exclusively Poland once again as the tension rises before the Austria game. I’m already thrilled, I think I’m gonna suffer a heart attack on Thursday.