Sporting Madness

The Scribblings of the Scribes of Sport book review series is back! Leave your own thoughts on the book in the comments below, or get in touch with me at andrew_bucholtz@hotmail.com if you have suggestions for other books for me to review! The World Is A Ball: The Joy, Madness and Meaning of Soccer, by John Doyle The World Cup is over, but soccer rolls on. North American soccer is in full swing, and things are looking good for Canadian teams at the moment, with Toronto FC finding success in MLS and Vancouver and Montreal both having solid USSF Division II campaigns. There have been plenty of interesting international friendlies, including the Kansas City Wizards' surprising win over Manchester United [ The Telegraph ] yesterday, and the English Premier League's set to kick off in just a few short weeks. With soccer, and particularly with major international competitions, it's important to remember that it's about much more than just the results. Sure, we'll ...

Photo : Fernando Torres sneaks by Philipp Lahm en route to scoring the only goal of the Germany-Spain final Sunday (Photo from BBC Sport ). Breaking down the European Championship final ... Spain 1, Germany 0 Well, that was a bit of a lackluster final compared to some of the tournament's other games. There was still some good soccer on display, but not a ton of great offensive chances or climatic moments, in my mind at least. Also, the Spanish team fell left, right and centre whenever a slight breeze came up: it worked, but they really didn't need to spoil a good game with a diving exhibition. Spain certainly deserved the win on the basis of their play yesterday, and they probably should have had at least two goals. Perhaps I'm just a grumpy German, but I don't think their win somehow prevents them from criticism, though, and I certainly haven't been drinking the same Guinness as those pundits who are heralding them as the greatest side in the world. The praise that...

Photo: David Silva scores for Spain in their 3-0 win over Russia Thursday [Photo from Virgin Media ]. Breaking down Day XVIII of the European Championships... Spain 3, Russia 0 Well, Spain did a lot to dispel their reputation as chokers, but they still have the most difficult task of all remaining. The first half was reasonably even, but Spain poured on the jets in the second while the Russians came out flat, and they were soon rewarded with a beautiful Xavi Hernandez goal. To their credit, the Spanish continued to attack, and added insurance goals from Daniel Guiza and David Silva later on to clinch the win. Russia, on the other hand, looked much more ordinary than in their stunning victory over the Netherlands. Still, they held the Spanish attack in check for an entire half and created chances of their own as well, no mean feat. The best team won, but the Russians' accomplishments here shouldn't be minimized. I think they'll probably knock off Turkey in today's third...

Photo: Wingback Philipp Lahm seals the Germans' place in the finals with a stoppage-time goal. [Photo from The Daily Telegraph ] Breaking down Day XVII of the European Championships... Germany 3, Turkey 2 What a game that was. Unlike their snooze-fest against the Croatians, the Turks went for the throat right from the start and created chances by the bushel. The Germans, meanwhile, seemed to be caught flat-footed, and could only defend for the first little while as Turkey racked up 10 shots to their two in the first 20 minutes: amazing, considering the short bench Turkey was left with due to suspensions and injuries. The offensive pressure soon paid off for the Turks, as Ugur Boral drilled a rebound off the crossbar through the legs of Jens Lehmann in the 22nd minute. However, Germany quickly equalized four minutes later against the run of play on a great combination from Lukas Podolski and Bastian Schweinsteiger, and it was 1-1 going into the half. In the second half, watching beg...

Breaking down the Euro 2008 quarter-finals... Germany 3, Portugal 2 This game came with the billing of a clash of ancient titans, and it didn't disappoint. Both sides turned in fantastic displays of attacking football, but Germany's team effort proved superior to Portugal's Ronaldo-centric strategy in the end. Bastian Schweinsteiger returned to the German lineup in fine form after a suspension, scoring the side's first goal and setting up the other two with excellent set pieces. The Germans' strength in the air proved vital, as did their skillful attacks down the left flank from Philipp Lahm and Lukas Podolski. They certainly look to have regained their form after a loss to Croatia and a close win over Austria in the group stage. Related: Stephen Brunt's excellent column on the match [The Globe and Mail] Turkey 1, Croatia 1 (3-1 Turkey on penalties) 118 minutes of mostly boredom topped off by two of the most exciting minutes in the tournament so far is the best...

Apologies for the lack of blogging here lately: I've been swamped between work at the Journal and my new gig at the Langley Times. Things should get back to a more normal volume shortly. Anyways, here's the quick pick for today's Euro 2008 quarterfinal between Germany and Portugal, which should be quite the match. Can Michael Ballack, Miroslav Klose and the team-first Germans best the individual brilliance of Cristiano Ronaldo and the Portuguese? My money says they can. Prediction: Germany 2, Portugal 1

Photo: Russian midfielder Konstantin Zyryanov celebrates his goal against Greece, the only tally of the match (Photo from Shanghai Daily ). Breaking down Day Eight of the European Championships... Match XV: Spain 2, Sweden 1 Spain got it done with an injury-time strike from David Villa, taking a 2-1 win over the Swedes. However, they weren't terribly impressive over much of the match, and some potential trouble spots materialized, especially when they were on the defensive side of the ball. As John Doyle writes at On Soccer , "Spain came out for the second half looking more lively and focused but still manged to play with terrible laidback style. Atrocious defending all over the place. They won it thanks to a very late goal from Villa, easily their best player. Now Spain is through to the quarter-finals, but I'm not liking their chances against a tough, physical team. Brunt and all the others are correct - Spain tease and disappear." I agree: Spain are likely to pla...

Photo: Dutch players celebrate a goal against France. (Photo from Unprofessional Foul ). Highlights and lowlights from Day Seven of the European Championships... Match XIII: Italy 1, Romania 1 Not a particularly inspiring performance from the Italians. I thought they'd bounce back harder after getting thumped by the Netherlands, but they didn't look fired up at all, even after the massive lineup changes manager Roberto Donadoni brought in at the start of the match. Full credit to Romania again: they played excellent defence, and could have taken all three points if Gianluigi Buffon hadn't made a brilliant save off of Adrian Mutu's penalty. Still, the tie was probably a fair result, as Italian striker Luca Toni had a goal called back due to an offside. Romania is now in prime position to qualify from the Group of Death, a result few (including myself) envisioned at the start. If they win their final match against the Netherlands (who will probably be resting their stars)...

Photo: Croatia's Ivica Olic (right) celebrates with teammate Luka Modric after scoring his team's second goal against Germany Thursday. (Photo from The Daily Mail ). Breaking down Day Six of the European Championships... Match XI: Croatia 2, Germany 1 A reasonably shocking defeat for the Germans, given their marvelous form against Poland and Croatia's struggles against Austria. Still, Croatia is a strong side, and one many thought could cause an upset or two coming in. Fortunately for the Germans, the draw between Austria and Poland means they're still in prime position to advance: they only require a draw against the Austrians to advance. Unfortunately for them, Croatia's already clinched Group B (the first tie-breaker is head-to-head results), so it looks like they're slotted in to face Portugal in the quarter-finals. That will certainly be an interesting match. Related : - " Germany does some soul-searching " ( The Associated Press , via The Globe ...

Photo: Cristiano Ronaldo celebrates with teammate Deco after the two combined for one of Portugal's three goals against the Czech Republic Wednesday (Photo from CristianoRonaldos ) Breaking down Day Five of the European Championships... Match IX: Portugal 3, Czech Republic 1 So much of the talk about Portugal so far has been about moves taking place beyond the pitch, with the endless transfer speculation about Cristiano Ronaldo to Real Madrid and the just-confirmed appointment of Portugal manager Luis Felipe Scolari to take over Chelsea after the championships conclude [Ben Knight has some good analysis of that move at On Soccer : Stephen Brunt also weighs in ]. Their performance Wednesday against a very solid Czech team showed that they deserve lots of credit for their play on the pitch, though: they dominated the entire match, scored three brilliant goals, and ensured their qualification for the next round after Switzerland lost to Turkey in the late game. It wasn't just th...

Photo: David Villa celebrates with fellow Spain striker Fernando Torres after notching one of his three goals Tuesday in a 4-1 win over Russia. (Photo by Paul White, The Associated Press , via Slam! Sports ) Breaking down Day Four of the European Championships... Match VII: Spain 4, Russia 1 Well, the Spanish won in glorious style as usual, and their striking pair of David Villa (who recorded a hat trick) and Fernando Torres looks to be one of the best in the tournament. The Russians were a bit unlucky that the score wasn't closer, as they created several good chances and rang a few off the woodwork, but Spain certainly deserved the win. Don't read too much into this for the long-term, though: Spain has a long history of excellent play in the group stages and then sudden collapses in the elimination rounds. As Stephen Brunt writes , they've broken plenty of hearts before. "We have all been there, tempted by a car or a watch or another, sucked in by the magnificent aest...

Photo: Dutch striker Robin van Persie comes on for Ruud Van Nistlerooy (photo from The Malta Times ). Breaking down Day 3 of the Euro 2008 championships... Match V: France 0, Romania 0 I was expecting much better from this one. Instead of going for a win, both teams played not to lose and generated remarkably little in the way of offense. That's perhaps understandable from the Romanian side, as they were the underdogs, but it was disappointing to see from the French. There were some strong individual performances from the likes of Franck Ribery, Claude Makelele, Lilian Thuram and Karin Benzema, but on the whole, it wasn't a good day for the Tricolour (yes, there are more teams with that nickname than just Queen's). Consider these quotes from Makelele on the Euro website: "Claude Makelele conceded that France 'should have taken the three points' as he took the Carlsberg Man of the Match award following Monday's 0-0 draw with Romania in Zurich. The 35-year-ol...

Photo: Lukas Podolski, who scored twice for Germany against Poland (Photo from soccerati.net ) Breaking down Day 2 of the Euro 2008 Championships... Match III: Croatia 1, Austria 0 I didn't get the chance to watch this one live, as I was watching the Jays finally snap their losing skid . Still, I caught up with the details afterwards, and according to reputable authorities such as the Globe 's John Doyle , the Austrians surprisingly gave the Croats all they could handle. In the end, the only difference between the sides was a fourth-minute penalty kick. Croatia did well for the first half, but the Austrians rallied and were the dominant side for much of the rest of the contest. Really, the only reason this finished 1-0 was Croatian keeper Stipe Pletikosa, who was recognized for his superb play with the award of Man of the Match. As Doyle points out, this not only shows that the Austrians (ranked 92nd in the world going in, beneath Iceland, Qatar, Mozambique and Armenia and a wh...

For the three people who didn't hear about it yet, the 2008 European Championships got underway yesterday in Switzerland (the matches in Austria will start later today). In honour of this fabulous tournament, I've decided to present a new feature: a daily recap of past games with a look ahead to the next day's action and predictions for the upcoming matches. The plan is to call it "Earning the (re) cap". Aside: For the non-soccerphiles, a player is said to have earned a cap when he appears for his country in international matches: thus, the player's number of matches played for his country is referred to as his caps. This comes from the old tradition of wearing caps in soccer, which Colin Jose suggests originated in the English public schools. When international matches began, all players were issued with a cap for representing their country, and the term stuck even after that practice stopped. So, without further ado (and certainly without further Adu or Ed...

Photo: The Euro 2008 Trophy (Photo by Petros Giannakouris, Associated Press , via Daylife.com ) Well, one of the greatest tournaments for any (European) football fan is set to kick off tomorrow, as 16 teams from all over take to the pitches in Austria and Switzerland for the 2008 European Championships (popularly known as Euro 2008). Over at Out of Left Field, Duane makes the argument that this tournament’s superior to the World Cup. I don’t agree for a couple reasons: first, any tournament that doesn’t include the likes of Brazil and Argentina is a step down in my books, and second, it’s much more fun to see sides from all over the world competing than merely those from around Europe. He also suggests that the weaker teams in European tournaments are usually better than those in the World Cup. As he writes: "The World Cup is sexier. It’s a World Cup, after all. And, it must be said that the samba beat of a Brazil doesn’t hurt either. But, the hardcore soccer fan understands that ...