So as a quick catch up... In group C, the Dutch were through before the final match day and the Italians went through assisted by a tough red card to the French in the first 30 min of play. In group D, Los Matadores were already through and Russia earned a spot into the next round with a decisive win over Sweden.
Now for the Second Round analysis, who would have thought that Portugal would be out so early after such
brilliant runs at the last Euro and the World Cup. I think the Germans were a difficult match up for the Portuguese due to the Germans rumored ability to defend (not observed yet in Euro play) and their ability to dominant crosses in their attacking third. In the end the inability to defend services into their defensive area (particularly due to some indecisive goalkeeping) is what sent Christiano Ronaldo and his teammates packing much earlier than experts thought. At the same time I think it is also appropriate to applaud the German team for their effort. The first goal off transition was counter attacking worked to perfection and in the end the tactical speed of Podolski timed brilliantly with a succinct near post run by Schweinsteiger left the Portuguese defense with one option ...... to pray for an errant touch. But it wasn't to be and Germany progressed through to the semifinals and Christiano Ronaldo gets to consider his options for the future and Big Phil Scolari gets to start his reign under the Russian dictatorship at Stamford Bridge.Turkish delight PART II. There is not a commentator I heard from who thought the Turks had anything left in their tank after their dramatic win against the Czech Rep. Well so much for the experts... After a full 90 minutes the game was forced to extra time and a poor decision by the Turk's new goalkeeper, Rustu, had Croatia up 1-0 in the 116th minute and already planning the
training sessions for next week. Well so much for 1-0 as Rustu sent a ball 90 yards and with the last touch of the game the Turks forced a penalty shootout. The Turks prevailed in the penalty shootout and face the Germans in the next round and YES .. I am sticking with my pick of the Germans continuing through. I would have loved to see a Germany-Croatia rematch to see if the Germans could re-establish themselves after their earlier 2-0 loss in group play but I'll be interested to see if the Turks have one more game in them after the past two dramatic matches.. there's no way they have anything left in their tank.. or do they.. are the Turks the Greeks of 2008? We'll see...Youth Soccer Focus: So I've already mentioned the "goal monster" that is the far post run. Well while goalscoring opportunities are often with a far post run..... they aren't as often but are ten times as lethal with a near post run (See Mr. Schweinsteiger's goal vs. Portugal). Near post runs predominantly work effectively due to good timing. The runner needs to hold their run (not coming to a stand still) until the ball is played in from the flank, and the ball from the fland needs to be played to a position that is just outside the 6 yard box. If contact is made with the ball by the near post runner it does not need to be a powerful touch but rather a simple re-direct as the keeper won't be ready to respond to the re-direct as the keeper is anticipating to follow the ball across the front of their goal mouth. A simple touch will do just fine in this situation( and in most situations with crosses that are coming in from the flank) ... regardless typically the most difficult part of this is getting the near post runner to hold their run. The runner needs to be patient and be ready to sprint towards that near post when the appropriate ball comes across. Timing is what makes this one of the most difficult but most exciting plays in the game.
Preview for the next set of matches: Well I think the odds on favorites to win the tournament after the first round would have to be the Dutch and Spain and I think it is going to be difficult to keep them out of meeting each other in the semifinal. However, the Russians looked improved in their last match vs. Sweden and who knows what the Italians will do anymore when they step on the pitch. Both games should provide some high level football. I'm going with the experts and taking the Brilliant Orange and Los Matadores.
Yours in the beautiful game,
Coach Butler
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