Sporting Madness

Germany - Uruguay Score: 3-2, GER My prediction: 3-2, GER This one turned out to be just as spectacular as many imagined [ The Globe and Mail . Both offences put on a show and produced one of the most entertaining matches of this World Cup [ Glen Levy , TIME ]. Thomas Mueller made a spectacular return from suspension, putting Die Mannschaft ahead 1-0 in the 19th minute. Uruguay again refused to give in after falling behind, though, and Edinson Cavani equalized in the 28th minute. The South Americans then took the lead six minutes after the half when Diego Forlan continued his brilliant World Cup, receiving a cross from Egídio Arevalo Rios and smashing a thunderous volley from 20 yards out into the corner of the net for one of the most unbelievable goals of the tournament. It would have been all too easy for the Germans to get discouraged and fold after that spectacle. They're still a young team, and they had already acheived more at this World Cup than many had pre...

I'm going to be doing previews of every World Cup game from here on in. Next up, the third-place match. Here's Uruguay - Germany, which will be televised at 11:30 a.m. Pacific (2:30 a.m. Eastern) on CBC tomorrow. Uruguay: Record:(W-L-D, regulation time) 3-1-2 GF: 9 GA: 5 Top scorer: Diego Forlan , four goals Germany Record: 4-2-0 GF: 13 GA: 3 Top scorers: Thomas Mueller and Miroslav Klose , four goals each Try your luck at sports betting ! Normally, the third-place game in a major soccer tournament is more of a distraction than anything else. Many teams knocked out in the semifinals no longer care and turn in a mediocre effort in the consolation game. I don't think that's going to be the case tomorrow, though. First off, Germany and Uruguay both weren't expected to get this far by many, so it's not like they're horribly crushed by coming up short in the semis. They also both favour attacking football, more so than either the...

I'm bringing back the Earning the (re)cap series for the remainder of the World Cup. Here are quick breakdowns of the semifinal games. I'll do another breakdown of the third-place match Saturday evening and then recap the final on Monday. Each match will also be previewed the day before. The Netherlands - Uruguay: Score: 3-2, NED My prediction: 2-1, NED This match appeared like a possible blowout to some thanks to the talented Dutch and the absence of four Uruguayan starters, but it turned out to be an excellent clash. Uruguay was outgunned, but they played with plenty of heart and were right in the match throughout. The Netherlands took the lead early through a spectacular 18th-minute effort from Giovanni Van Bronkhorst [ Stephen Brunt , The Globe and Mail ], but the Uruguayans fought back and Diego Forlan continued his sensational play at this World Cup, scoring a brilliant equalizer just before halftime. If not for a disastrous five-minute stretch [ George Johnson...

I'm going to be doing previews of every World Cup game from here on in. Here's one on the Spain-Germany semifinal, which will be televised today at 11:30 a.m. Pacific (2:30 p.m. Eastern) on CBC. Spain: Record:(W-L-D) 4-1-0 GF: 6 GA: 2 Top scorer: David Villa , five goals Germany Record: 4-1-0 GF: 13 GA: 2 Top scorer: Thomas Mueller and Miroslav Klose , four goals each Try your luck at sports betting ! This hotly-anticipated semifinal clash, a rematch of the Euro 2008 final, should be a great one. Spain entered the tournament as co-favourites with Brazil, but they got off to a slow start with a loss to Switzerland. They haven't been particularly impressive since then either, but they've gotten it done, winning their group at the last second and then beating Portugal and Paraguay to make it to the semifinals. They've turned in a solid team effort defensively, only conceding two goals in the entire tournament to date, and that's be...

I'm bringing back the Earning the (re)cap series for the remainder of the World Cup. Here are quick breakdowns of the quarterfinal games. I'll do another breakdown of the semifinal matches Wednesday evening and then recap the final on Monday. Each match will also be previewed the day before. The Netherlands - Brazil Score: 2-1, NED My prediction: 2-1, BRA I figured this would be a close one, but I wasn't expecting the Dutch to be able to come away with a win. It's interesting how this match turned out, though; it featured two sides that have historically been known more for their attacking efforts than their solid defence, but both Brazil under Dunga and the Netherlands under Bert van Marwijk have focused on improving their sides' defensive performances. As Richard Williams of The Guardian pointed out , it was largely that defensive intensity that allowed the Netherlands to come away with the win against Brazil. The South Americans dominated the early g...

I'm going to be doing previews of every World Cup game from here on in. First up, the quarterfinals. Here's one on Argentina-Germany, which will be televised tomorrow at 7 a.m. Pacific (10 a.m. Eastern) on CBC. Argentina: Record:(W-L-D) 4-0-0 GF: 10 GA: 2 Top scorer: Gonzalo Higuain , four goals Germany Record: 3-1-0 GF: 9 GA: 2 Top scorer: Thomas Mueller , three goals Try your luck at sports betting ! To me, this is the most exciting matchup of the quarterfinals. Argentina, Germany and Brazil have looked like the best sides of the tournament to me, so two of them facing off in the quarters is a tremendous prospect. There's also a good rivalry between the sides dating back to Germany's elimination of Argentina on penalties at this stage in the 2006 World Cup, and that appears to still be on the minds of all involved . Argentina has been superb so far. Lionel Messi is leading them, and he's perhaps the one pre-tournament star 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...

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: 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 ...