Monday, June 16, 2008

Euro 2008

Has this been the best tournament so far? Absolutely. Dramatic late goals, remarkable upsets, stunning strikes, and all this with supposedly jaded players and no England!

Holland, Croatia and Turkey have been an absolute revelation in Austria-Switzerland, and you never know quite what to expect from each match.

Take the latest one, for instance. Czech Republic were 2-0 up and cruising when Turkey's Arda Turan showed a remarkably cool 21-year-old head to pick his spot low inside Petr Cech's near post.

Then Nihat Kahveci pounced on Cech's flap at a cross to pull Turkey level. Best keeper in the world? You're having a laugh. Look no further than Edwin van der Sar.

Finally, Nihat broke the despondent Czech offside trap to curl an absolute beauty outside of Cech's reach, off the crossbar and in the top corner.

And I'll tell you what: this isn't and won't be the most dramatic match so far. Arjen Robben's immediate riposte to Thierry Henry's goal in Holland's 4-1 win over France comes to mind. Wesley Sneijder's stunning last-minute goal was a thing to behold. Sneijder for Ronaldo anyone? Croatia's 2-0 ousting of favourites Germany?

This has been a dream of a tournament.

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