Greece 1 - Portugal 0 Are Greece one of the best international teams in the world? Probably not. But, are the unheralded mediterranean side worthy of the title European Champions? Definitely. Any team that can defend in the European Final like they did for 90 minutes deserve their rewards. Coming into the final as massive favourites, tournament hosts Portugal were... more
Group D provides the other marquee matchup of Euro 2004’s initial slate of games. Both Germany and the Netherlands have the ability to win this tournament, yet both sides have also been notably inconsistent in recent years. Lending credence to the belief that these heavyweights are both talented and awkward at the same time, this match provided one bizarre goal... more
Latvia, isn’t that the country that Dr Doom rules with an iron fist? Either way, as the most unfortunate underdogs of the tournament, Latvia inhabit a Group D that also harbours Germany and the Netherlands, this little known team from an ex-Soviet territory gained much respect today as they nearly upset the powerful Czech Republic. Right before half time, Latvia... more
In what was first commanding victory of the tournament, Sweden made up for Euro 2004’s miserly goal tally with five succesful assaults on the Bulgarian net. It was a fine display from the Swedes who took their one goal lead into the second half and then completely dominated the Bulgarians. Freddie Ljungberg opened the scoring against Bulgaria on the 32nd... more
Perhaps a more appropriate scoreline for this match would read: Italy’s Gianluigi Buffon 0 - Denmark’s Thomas Sorenson 0. This Group C match proved to be another tight, defensive encounter in what is appearing to be a very tightfisted European Championship. But rather than blame poor finishing, the Italian and Danish goalkeepers defined this game through their clutch shot-blocking and... more
It’s been a long time since plucky little Croatia won the hearts of neutrals with their dazzling third-place performance at World Cup ‘98. Gone are the glory days of a strike force led by Davor Suker and Alen Boksic. Instead, after the goal-less draw of today’s match, this latest generation of Croatian footballers seemed as ordinary as the little known... more
England played their perfect game. Frank Lampard had headed in a David Beckham freekick on the 38th minute. The English defence had soaked up everything France had thrown at them for ninty minutes. The hard-fought win was complete. But then absolute horror struck in extra-time. A foul by Emile Heskey at the stroke of extra time handed Zinedine Zidane a... more
First of all, this was a much better game than Portugal vs Greece. Granted, it wasn’t a stellar match either, but atleast neither Spain nor Russia came onto the field as apathetic and sedated as Portugal had earlier in the day. Having learned the value of fielding true wingers in World Cup 2002, Spain faced a Russian side that was... more
It was a less than impressive beginning to the European Championship. There’s nothing wrong with an upset, but such a match generally boils down to the more talented side taking a flyer on the day. Portugal can atleast consider itself a generous host for handing Greece a shocking victory over the greatly heralded team in red and green. Greece were... more
§ Rugby
I was once leading Ann through a sporting goods store when, gazing perplexedly at a wall-mounted TV, she asked, "Kavin, why are all those men hugging?" What she was confused by was, of course, the peculiarly frenetic mess of a Rugby scrum. The image of two groups of burly men trying to continuosly pummel each other while minding an imaginary... more