Coming up - season 2008/2009 in Europe

The top-tier domestic leagues across Europe are about to kick-off season 2008/2009. Needless to say, I'm very excited, as would all football afficionados. Now, the leagues will all kick-off next month, in August.

Ligue 1 in France will be the first to start, on the second weekend. Then a week after that, the German Bundesliga, Belgian Jupiler League & English Premier League will kick-off. The Dutch Eredivisie, Italian Serie A & Spanish La Liga will kick-off around the last weekend in August. Then, there is also the preliminary qualifying matches in the UEFA Champions League. The teams that that survive the preliminary stages will join the other teams in the group stage of the Champions League. The Champions League group stage will start in September.

Of course, there's various other domestic leagues in Europe which will also kick-off next month. And I can go on & on discussing the prospects of various teams in the various leagues for the upcoming season. If I do that, I'll be blogging right through tonight & continue beyond that! I can't do that, because I got to work! So, I'll leave it here by saying, bring on season 2008/2009. So much football to follow, which is good. Always good :)

I resigned!

The waters appear calm, as a group of animals drink by the river bank. Then suddenly, out of nowhere, a crocodile's head pops out of the water. The crocodile grabs the neck of one of the drinking animals, gripping it & dragging it into the river.

Got the picture? Yeah? Well, my resignation today was as sudden as that crocodile attack. It would appear sudden to my colleagues, anyway (it certainly was to my boss). But not so to me - because last week, I had already accepted a job offer with another organisation (a global/multi-national accounting & business advisory firm). So the wheels were already in motion, & I started this week knowing (& planning) that I would be handing in my resignation notice today. And I did so, much to the dismay & disappointment of my boss. The resignation took him by surprise - he appeared shocked & claimed that he never expected this to happen (presumably, he was oblivious on the days that I turned up to work more well-dressed than usual - for job interviews). Uh huh, after the relatively calm waters of the past few working days, bang, my resignation notice this morning (just before 11am) did seem like a crocodile ambush attack out of nowhere.

And while still in shock & feeling rattled, my boss proceeded to grill me with lots & lots of questions, to probe into the reasons behind my resignation. He obviously didn't like my decision (he said he was struggling to understand it), & he obviously felt there was more to it than I told him face-to-face. And with the boss going about it the way he did, & with his office doors closed, it certainly felt like a police station interrogation. But I remained steady & calm, as I did expect my boss to come out firing with questions. Finally, the interrogation was over, after it was clear that I would not revoke my decision to resign. Then I left my boss' office. And well, no, I didn't do the Michael Jackson moonwalk on my way out, & I didn't offer my boss any high-fives, either. Neither of these would have gone down well (plus I might have looked so silly if I attempted the moonwalk).......

Once out of the boss' office, I informed my closest 2 colleague/teammates (Tammy & Wei) about my resignation. Barely a few minutes after that, Tammy was called by my boss to his office (with the doors closed). Then Tammy came out & then it was Wei's turn (again, with the doors closed). My boss had questioned them both, as to whether they knew I was going to resign., & assessing if both were happy at work as he didn't want any further staff departures. Maybe he was also trying to "fish" around to find out if there was anything I told Tammy & Wei that I didn't tell him. I went out to lunch with both of them, & we recapped the day's events & had some good laughs. My colleagues found it "amusing" that they haven't seen boss so stressed & worried in a long time. Yeah, we did poked some fun at our boss, but we didn't say anything too mean about him.

Even after we came back from lunch, my boss was still at it. He popped by my workstation & asked: "Just wondering, with that email u got yesterday from the client, did it push u to the edge?". My response: "No, I made my decision well before yesterday, & it had nothing to do with that email. Having said that, I'm pleased to know I'll never have to deal with clients like that again".
And then later, Tammy came out of a meeting/discussion in the boss' office & told me: "You know, we were just talking about work. Then when we come to talk about Greg, he asked me: 'Do u think he resigned because of Greg?' " (Greg is the team manager, whom I pulled an office prank on a couple of months ago. He is on another vacation & will come back next week - he'll be shocked that I resigned).

Sheeeeesh. What an eventful Wednesday this turned out to be! I knew my boss would be unhappy, but I didn't expect him to go about things the way he did (interrogating Tammy & Wei etc, because of a decision I made). Tammy & Wei said it is because he regarded me so highly that he went about it like that. But goodness gracious, I didn't think he'd value me that much. I mean, in a way, it's nice to be thought of like that by my boss. But I feel like telling him: just get over it, cop it & move on. Hopefully, he will get over it quickly. Otherwise, between now & my last day at work, it's going to be a bumpy ride......

It's so cold!

Ok, to post on something totally "random" or "mundane", let's talk about this cold cold winter.

I do wonder if it's just me, but the weather is verrrryyy cold, here in Brisbane. It's winter right now. And to me, it feels like this winter is one of the coldest, possibly the coldest winter I've experienced in Brisbane. I mean, the winds are so so chilly. And we are only talking about Brisbane. I mean, if Brisbane is already this cold, then imagine how "bad" it must be in Sydney & Melbourne.

I can't seem to do anything without feeling the chill. Move the quilt a bit, cold. Stick my toes out of the quit, cold - which makes it so hard to get out of bed to get ready for work. Get off my chair after turning off my PC, cold. And don't get started with coming out of the shower....duh.....who wouldn't feel it????

Anyway, I wonder what the other Brisbane residents out there think of the weather. One of the coldest winters around? Is it just me or do u feel the same way??

Not that I'm complaining or see the cold weather as a bad thing. It's good, actually (especially for sleeping in during weekends). Hope it means that we will have another relatively mild summer at the end of this year. The last summer was the coolest over the last few years. Hopefully, the trend will continue.....

Joke - The lie detector

LIE DETECTOR!

John was a salesman's delight when it came to any kind of unusual gimmick. His wife Marsha had long ago given up trying to get him to change.

One day John came home with another one of his unusual purchases. It was a robot that John claimed was actually a lie detector.

It was about 5:30 that afternoon when Tommy, their 11 year old son, returned home from school.

Tommy was over 2 hours late.

"Where have you been? Why are you over 2 hours late getting home?" asked John.

"Several of us went to the library to work on an extra credit project," said Tommy.

The robot then walked around the table and slapped Tommy, knocking him completely out of his chair.

"Son," said John, "this robot is a lie detector, now tell us where you really were after school."

"We went to Bobby's house and watched a movie." said Tommy.

"What did you watch?" asked Marsha.

"The Ten Commandments." answered Tommy.

The robot went around to Tommy and once again slapped him, knocking him off his chair once more.

With his lip quivering, Tommy got up, sat down and said, "I am sorry I lied. We really watched a tape called Sex Queen."

"I am ashamed of you, son," said John. "When I was your age, I never lied to my parents."

The robot then walked around to John and delivered a whack that nearly knocked him out of his chair.

Marsha doubled over in laughter, almost in tears and said, "Boy, did you ever ask for that one! You can't be too mad with Tommy. After all, he is your son!"

With that the robot immediately walked around to Marsha and knocked her out of her chair.

Joke - Little Johnnie

I got this joke recently at work. So, yeah, I am just a messenger, lest anyone thinks I am anti-Rudd. Far from it - I voted for Labor at the federal election last November. So there......


****************************

Australian PM Kevin Rudd was visiting a primary school and he visited one of the classes. They were in the middle of a discussion related to words and their meanings. The teacher asked Kevin if he would like to lead discussion on the word 'tragedy'.

So Kevin (the saviour of 'working families') asked the class for an example of a 'tragedy'.

A little boy stood up and offered: "If my best friend, who lives on a farm, is playing in the field & a tractor runs over him and kills him, that would be a tragedy."

"No", said Kevin, "that would be an accident."

A little girl raised her hand: "If a school bus carrying 50 children drove over a cliff, killing everyone inside, that would be a tragedy."

"I'm afraid not", explained Kevin, "that's what we would call great loss."

The room went silent. No other children volunteered. Kevin searched the room. "Isn't there someone here who can give me an example of a tragedy?"

Finally, at the back of the room, little Johnny raised his hand...

In a quiet voice he said: "If a plane carrying you and Julia Gillard was struck by a 'friendly fire' missile & blown to smithereens, that would be a tragedy."

"Fantastic!" exclaimed Kevin. "That's right. And can you tell me why that would be tragedy?"

"Well," says little Johnny, "it has to be a tragedy, because it certainly wouldn't be a great loss and it probably wouldn't be an accident either!"

FC Barcelona - the players in & out

OK, with Spain winning the Euro 2008, Spanish football supporters must be buzzing in anticipation of the upcoming new season in the Spanish league. With Spain having shown that they are indeed Europe's best side, the feel-good factor must be at unprecedented high levels amongst Spanish fans. So they must be really excited with what the upcoming season unfolds with their respective football clubs.

In that regard, my club FC Barcelona are in a rebuilding phase. They will start the new season with a new coach at the helm, former player Josep Guardiola. Some players have left, while new signings have arrived. Here's the list of the main player departures from the club:

Ronaldinho (attacking midfielder/forward) - to AC Milan
Deco (central midfielder) - to Chelsea FC
Giovanni dos Santos (attacking midfielder) - to Tottenham Hotspur
Thuram (central defender) - retired
Zambrotta (right/left back) - to AC Milan

There might be a couple of other departures, but the above are the main ones.

The biggest name is undoubtedly Ronaldinho. I'm a bit sad to see him leave, but not devastated, as he hasn't been able to reproduce the form of 2-3 years ago. Now had Ronaldinho left Barcelona 2-3 years ago, then I would have been feeling really down. But leaving now doesn't hurt quite as much. The young Argentinian sensation, Lionel Messi, will now be seen as the club's new leader (as the club's best footballer, rather than as captain).

Deco is also a big name. He did well for Portugal at Euro 2008. But while Barcelona will miss his ability & experience in midfield, the feeling is probably that he is not indispensable.

As for the young Mexican, Giovanni dos Santos, now this one I'm very unhappy about! He is the player on that list that I'm most upset at seeing leave. Honestly, I'm even more sad with dos Santos' departure than Ronaldinho's departure. Because dos Santos is very young, very talented & I feel has so much to offer Barcelona. I just can't understand how the club can let him leave just like that. Sheesh. Now he's gone to London club Tottenham, whom my friend Damian Ong supports - Damo must be undoubtedly be pretty happy with the signing. (I haven't yet had a chance to give Damo some "choice words" with his club "pinching" dos Santos).

As for Thuram & Zambrotta, well, I'm not that bothered with their departure. Appreciate their service to the club, but it's time to move on.

Right then, let's look at the players that Barcelona have signed so far:

Aleksandr Hleb (attacking midfielder) - from Arsenal
Gerard Pique (centre back, right back) - from Manchester Utd
Daniel Alves (right back) - from Sevilla FC
Seydou Keita (central defensive midfielder) - from Sevilla FC
Martin Caceres (central defender) - from Villarreal FC

So, Barcelona's signings have come from the top clubs in Spain & England. I'm particularly happy with the signing of young Pique, who now returns after leaving Barcelona as a 17 year old in 2004. I feel neutral with the other signings - not unhappy, but not excessively excited either. In a way, it's good that they are looking to strengthen the defence with Daniel Alves & Caceres (plus of course, Pique). Daniel Alves should prove to be good for the right back slot, but I haven't seen much of Caceres to be able to judge properly. As for the 2 midfielders (Hleb & Keita), I think they could prove useful, but I'm not entirely sure if they can actually lift Barcelona to another next level. That, plus the fact that Giovanni dos Santos' departure still leaves me disgruntled, makes me think that the club should get at least 1 more attacking midfielder, preferably one that can occupy the left side of midfield. Why not try to get one of Angel Di Maria or Damian Escudero? Both are young Argentinian attacking midfielders, & both can play on the left side.

And perhaps Barcelona could also have thought of trying to sign Ever Banega, another Argentinian midfielder, from fellow Spanish club Valencia FC. Banega is a central midfielder, more so than Di Maria & Escudero. Barcelona might also need to sign 1 forward. That's because the Cameroon striker, Samuel Eto'o, may leave or he might end up staying at the club. Likewise, Thierry Henry, with his status at the club being far from certain. But so far, I don't think Barcelona have signed any forwards. I know Spanish teenage sensation Bojan Krkic (Serbian father, hence the surname) will play a more prominent role this season, but it wouldn't hurt to sign another forward.

The 2008/2009 La Liga season starts on 30/8/08. I hope the squad (new signings) will settle well to the new coach. They are going through a transition phase, & the squad may take time to gel. But even allowing for that, still it would be good if they put in a strong challenge on all fronts - Spanish league, Spanish Cup & UEFA Champions League. What are their chances of winning some of those honours? I'd say they got a fairly good chance of winning something. It's hard to say whether they have a better chance of winning the Spanish league or UEFA Champions League. Conquering Europe would be nice. But perhaps the aim/priority should be to recapture the Spanish league, & try to go as far as possible in the Champions League & the Spanish Cup. I might revise my expectations as the season progresses....

Hola Barca!

Family friends here

Our family friends, the Wang family, are here in Brisbane. They came to attend Mark's graduation at UQ next week. The brigade included Mark's eldest brother Paul & his American wife Britt-Marie, both of whom came up from Canberra where they had been based (apparently, they will both return to the US next month). Mark's parents, Luke & Eunice all flew in from Malaysia. The only Wang family member missing is James, who is not able to come.

We had them over for dinner a few nights ago. It's great to see them all again. All of them (except Britt-Marie & James) were here last year for Val & Andrew's wedding. I was happy to be able to meet Britt-Marie for the first time (already added her as Facebook friend long time ago, but haven't actually met her until now). She's friendly, nice & godly.

The Wangs will be do their own touristy thing - they hired a car & will be driving around various places in Queensland, & possibly NSW (I dunno what exactly their itinerary is). They are so adventurous. But it's always great to catch up with them. We will do so again at the end of the year, in Malaysia. Yay!! Ohhh yeah, & of course, congratulations, Mark, on finishing your university studies!

Staff review was better than expected

My annual performance & salary review went fairly well. Fairly well, but not excessively well. Nevertheless, it was better than I had expected, for I had walked into the meeting room, with low expectations. I deliberately set low expectations to minimise any potential disappointments. In the event, on the whole, things turned out better than I thought possible.

My boss/director & manager were both present. We talked about how the past year went by, especially my performance during that time. The boss & manager were both complimentary towards my work, by my commitment & dedication, by how well I seem to get along with everyone. Both were pleased by my contribution to the firm. My boss also talked about my future role within the firm - he said he sees me as a key member & quickly touched on how my role will evolve. It was nice to get all those compliments, but I do wonder if they (especially the boss) are saying those things (including the spiel on how my role will evolve) just to get me to want to stay at the firm. Anyhow, I'm not sure if my role will really evolve the way my boss talked about, & even if it does, I think it'll be a long time before it happens. I can't wait for that long....

I narrowly missed out on the annual bonus, but I wasn't surprised by that, because I had a feeling I would miss the annual billing target. I wasn't able to meet that target thanks to the tardiness of some of my clients - they don't respond to information requests quickly enough, so that meant I couldn't complete their work as quickly as I would like, & that meant I couldn't bill them by the billing target cut-off date, so at the end I was just under the billing target. However, I got an unexpectedly high increase to my base salary. The size of the pay rise took me completely by surprise, & I did my best not to look shocked. I was told the pay rise was done in consultation with the other directors, taking into account my performance & overall contribution to the firm. My director did say that he can't guarantee similar pay rises in future. Fair enough, I completely understand that.....

Well, it's nice to be rewarded that way, & it's nice that all my hard work was recognised. However, the work-related issues that I raised were played down or "brushed aside". The issues mainly relate to the client tardiness & certain type of work I've not enjoyed but have been compelled to do for those tardy clients. It's as if the issues I raised were not significant enough to warrant further attention. Anyway, I guess I'll be pretty justified if I were to look elsewhere for something that will give me more satisfaction & opportunity to progress my career....

Overall, I'd say my review went pretty well. I left the room trying my best to put a straight face, so my team mates will not be able to tell what I felt about my review. It didn't work. Wei & Murray could tell, from my behaviour during the rest of the day, that I had a good review. They guessed that I did get a pay rise & that I was happy with the scale of the pay rise. I tried my best to play things down, but wasn't convincing - I wasn't a good enough actor...hehehe....

Anyway, I just want to say I'm thankful to God that the review went reasonably well & thankful for the unexpectedly good pay rise. I hope I will be able to use the money wisely for His Kingdom, & I hope that God will ensure I am humble by reminding me that all good things come from Him.

Annual staff review

It's that time of the year again - the annual staff & performance review. That will happen tomorrow. I've completed my appraisal form & will raise a number of issues that I have with work. I will do my best to be diplomatic.

As for the pay rise, well, hmmmmm.....I would like my annual pay to be doubled. Or insert "1" at the start of my current annual pay packet. Or insert an extra "0" at the end of it. Or just up my pay packet by $35,000 plus superannuation. Hahaha.....

Jokes aside, anything can happen. I won't be that surprised if I don't get much of a pay rise. That would give me extra ammunition or an excuse to look for a position elsewhere. Although to be absolutely honest, I have more issues with work rather than just the pay. So if I were to look elsewhere, the main reason(s) would not necessarily relate to pay. Anyway, like I said, I will try to be diplomatic. But a couple of team members think that I'm the type to openly voice any issues or concerns, based on a couple of times they have seen me speaking to my boss with more than a hint of anger & frustration over the work-related issues I have been experiencing. One team member even consider me to be pretty direct & "in your face". But hey, by being open & telling it as it is, no one can accuse me of sucking up for favours, & at least people know where I stand. Anyway, hopefully tomorrow's annual review goes well, & I hope that those couple of "episodes" I had with my boss don't come back to bite me ;)

Euro 2008 review

Overall, I thought Euro 2008 was a reasonably good tournament. Some good goals, lots of enterprising team play. It was a tournament where midfielders & forwards shone. The midfielders who have shone include Spain's Xavi & David Silva, Sneijder of the Netherlands, Russia's Arshavin, Croatia's playmaker Modric, Turkey's young Arda, Germany's Michael Ballack & Deco of Portugal. The forwards who caught the eye include Germany's Podolski,Spain's David Villa & Russia's Pavlyuchenko. (have I missed anyone?)

However, the defending in the tournament has not been that great. For me, the tournament did not produce any outstanding defenders. At the 2006 World Cup, Italy's Fabio Cannavaro was the stand-out defender. Euro 2008? Nobody. I don't think there's any defender at the moment who is at the same level as Cannavaro 2 years ago.

Ok, I've already posted about the teams that contested the Euro final, Spain & Germany. Here are my thoughts of the other 14 teams:

Russia:

This is surely the best Russian side since the break-up of the Soviet Union. Russia did extremely well to reach the Euro semis, considering the heavy defeat in the opening group match against Spain. In their next 2 group matches, Russia improved & showed what they can do when they get the basics right. Their tournament highlight was surely their superb quarter-final performance showing which eliminated the highly fancied Dutch outfit. The Spaniards again proved too strong in the semi-final, where Russia simply could not repeat their quarter-final showing & succumbed to second-half strikes. Still, the Russians can be proud of their Euro campaign. Much credit should go to Dutch coach Guus Hiddink for his wonderful work with the Russian players. With him continuing at the helm, expect Russia to be a force in the 2010 World Cup qualifying campaign.

Turkey:

Like Russia, Turkey had a memorable campaign. Few would have backed them to progress after their opening loss to Portugal. Yet the Turks would show "never say die" in their subsequent matches, to beat the Swiss (from 1 goal behind) & the Czechs (from 2 goals behind) to get past the group stage. Then, they eliminated Croatia on penalty shoot-out in a remarkable quarter-final. The game was goalless until the last 2 minutes of extra-time, Croatia scored with 1 minute of extra-time left, only for Turkey to incredibly equalise in the very last minute of extra-time to make it 1-1 to take the match to penalties. But by the time they played Germany in the semis, Turkey's squad had been ravaged by injuries & suspensions. So Turkey could not stage another comeback win, but they lost with honour. Sure, the Turks may have had some luck in the tournament. But considering their hard work & injury list, they earned their fortune, & Turkey's talent & ability cannot be questioned.

Netherlands:

Many thought the Dutch would go all the way, especially after sweeping aside all their group rivals. And it's not just that they won all 3 group matches, it's the stylish & devastating manner of those victory that led many to predict the Netherlands as winners. Yes, they seemed unstoppable. But it all came unstuck in the quarter-final, where the Dutch were well-beaten by Russia. It was probably a combination of a few things that led to the Dutch demise: a "bad day in the office" (the Dutch didn't or couldn't reproduce their group stage performances), the insider knowledge of the Dutch team by Russia's Dutch coach Hiddink, & the ability, fitness & motivation of the Russian side. The relatively premature exit was probably not what coach Van Basten had hoped for, as he leaves the Netherlands coaching job to coach Ajax Amsterdam. Nevertheless, Van Basten leaves the Dutch team in a good shape, & it is hoped that Dutch fans would find the tournament satisfactory overall.

Portugal:

Like the Dutch, Portugal would feel they exit the tournament too early. It's such a shame, given their impressive form in the first 2 games. But coach Scolari made wholesale changes for the final group game against the already eliminated Swiss. That was probably a bad move - Portugal not only lost that match, they also lost much of the momentum gathered from the first 2 games. They never really recovered thereafter, & came unstuck in the quarter-final against Germany. That in itself is no disgrace, especially considering that Germany produced their best performance in the tournament against Portugal. But I get the feeling that many Portuguese fans would feel that their team could have achieved much more. The loss against the Germans showed that Portugal's defence was not as strong as previously thought. And once again, Cristiano Ronaldo appeared to have "gone missing" just when his country needed him to step up. Such a shame....

Croatia:

Croatia are probably one of the unluckiest team in the tournament. They won all 3 group games, generally showing impressive form & some splendid passing football. Then in the quarter-final against Turkey, they opened the scoring near the end of the second-half of extra time. You would have thought that would be it, but the Turks managed to equalise just before extra-time finished! So off it went to the penalty shoot-out. Given the circumstances, it was understandable that the Croatians lost the shootout - they would not have been in a state to take the penalties after the shock of conceding that "later than late" equaliser. Narrowly missing out on the semi-final should not take anything away from the good work of the Croatian coach (Slaven Bilic) & the footballers. Their midfield in particular is very talented & creative, especially the playmaker Luka Modric. Croatia are a side well worth keeping an eye on.

Italy:

Italy had a disappointing tournament. They did show some flashes of decent football, but only in patches - nowhere near enough for world champions. The Italians never really got going after being demolished 3-0 in their opening game against the Netherlands. They recovered enough in their next 2 group games against Romania & France to get to the quarter-final, although that was because the Romanians & the French in particular were even less inspiring. They were ousted by Spain in the quarter-final via the penalty shoot-out, though in truth Spain should have won the tie without the shootout. Italy would not have deserved to have gone any further. They missed Cannavaro in defense. The midfield was ok, even if lacking creativity at times. But their forwards misfired badly, especially the normally dangerous Luca Toni. As expected, the coach Donadoni has already been sacked - failure to reach the semi-final is not tolerable, even if their Spanish conquerors would prove to be the eventual tournament winners.

Czech Republic:

The Czechs had a mixed campaign, perhaps a little disappointing. They started well enough, with a fortunate win over the Swiss co-hosts. Then they were well beaten by Portugal. In the last group game against Turkey, they let slip a 2 goal lead to lose 3-2, & that featured a goalkeeper blunder by Petr Cech that gifted the Turks the equaliser. Cruel & unlucky, perhaps. But the truth is the current Czech Republic side are not as good as the one that reached the Euro 2004 semi-final. Indeed, the Czechs appear to be in decline since 2004 - they didn't get past the group stage in the 2006 World Cup, & the same has happened at Euro 2008. Perhaps it's time to bid farewell to some of the veterans, & bring in the star players from the Czech youth team that reached last year's World Youth Cup final.

Romania:

Quite simply, Romania was uninspiring. True, they didn't really disgrace themselves. True, they achieved honourable draws against France & Italy. And true, they didn't finish last in the Group of Death. But the Romanians were overly cautious in all their group matches, even in the must-win final game against the Dutch (which they ended up losing). Consequently, they paid the price for their excessive negativity. They can look back with regret on the last-minute penalty miss by Mutu against the Italians. But they really have no one to blame but themselves for not taking a more adventurous approach. Romania may no longer be blessed with the playmaking genius of the great Gheorghe Hagi, but still they definitely have enough talent to have warranted more positive displays than what we saw at Euro 2008.

France:

The French were very disappointing, to put it mildly. In fact, probably the biggest letdown of the tournament. Not just because of their results (they failed to win a single match). But also because of the way they played. France were simply abject. First, a goalless draw against Romania, where more was expected of France. Then shockingly, they were massacred 4-1 by the Dutch. They then lost to Italy in their last match to complete a miserable campaign. The coach Domenech should get most of the blame. He made questionable squad selections (no Mexes, no Flamini were just some of the blunders) & employed tactics which did not made effective use of the squad he picked. Quite simply, Domenech is not the man to coach France. The fact that Zidane no longer plays is no excuse, for France is blessed with more than enough talented players to have done far better than they did. The problem was the coach - he left out some of those talents for the tournament, & made such sparing use of the ones that he did pick. What a terrible waste.

Sweden:

The failure of Sweden to reach the knockout stages is not surprising. Their squad is full of players past their best. They simply have to rejuvenate their squad with younger faces. To be fair, Sweden started the tournament well enough with a 2-0 win against the defending champions Greece. But that has to be tempered with the realisation that the Greeks were woeful. Spain & Russia would prove far superior in the next 2 group matches, & so the Swedes head home early. Part of the problem lies in the fact that Sweden seem to over-rely on their talented forwards, Ibrahimovic & the ageless Henrik Larsson. But they were hampered by overcautious tactics employed by the coach Lagerback. And their midfield was not good enough to support the forwards adequately, although that be partly due to those overcautious tactics. Yes, Sweden lost to 2 teams who went far (in Spain's case, all the way). But that should not obscure the fact that the squad needs to start afresh. And badly, too.

Greece:

Played 3, lost 3, only 1 goal scored. That is Greece's record at Euro 2008; a stark contrast to their surprise triumph at Euro 2004. This is probably the worst attempt at defending a title by a defending champion at an international tournament. The Greeks adopted the same unadventurous, defensive, "grab a goal & defend to death" approach as they did 4 years ago. This time round, the results were very different, because the element of surprise (which worked 4 years ago) is gone. Their group opponents all knew what to expect. Not many people believed Greece would get past the group stage this time. It's almost as if Greece were greatly subdued by the low expectations. Given their uninspiring play, few neutrals would have been saddened by their early flight back to Athens. Despite that, German coach Otto Rehhagel will remain in charge. He will have to introduce new ideas & make a fresh start.

Poland:

Once again, Poland crashed out in the group stage of an international tournament, just as they did in the last 2 World Cups. Stage fright? Maybe. This was their first appearance at the European championships. And it wasn't a tournament to remember for the Polish fans. The Poles just couldn't reproduce the form they showed in the Euro qualifying series. They were tame in all 3 group matches, & for many periods, were outplayed by their opponents. Poland suffered losses against Germany & Croatia. Sandwiched between those matches was a draw against Austria in a match that Poland should have lost, but could have won but for a late Austrian penalty. Poland's displays were often pedestrian & they never really tested their opponents or pose much of a threat. Perhaps Poland have not improved sufficiently under the Dutch coach Leo Beenhakker. He has stepped down, & whoever takes over will have a lot of work to do.

Austria:

No expectations, no disappointments. Actually, in Austria's case, expectations from their fans were very low. So the expected failure of the Austrian team to reach the knockout stages would not have surprised many, & the Austrian fans would not have been too disappointed. Not that they should, given the commitment, spirit & hard work of Austria's footballers. Like Poland, Austria lost the matches against Croatia & Germany, but Austria provided sterner resistance than the Poles offered. Against Croatia, Austria conceded an early goal, but rallied strongly to ensure that no further goals were conceded, though they couldn't get an equaliser. The Austrians should really have beaten Poland, but were denied by bad misses & Poland's goalkeeper, & so needed a late penalty to get a draw. That left them heading into the last game needing to beat big cousins Germany to advance to the knockout stages. But the Germans proved too strong. While Austria lacked the quality to trouble the top sides, they were certainly not as bad as many had expected. They really need to find at least 1 top quality forward, & sooner rather than later.

Switzerland:

Like fellow co-hosts Austria, Switzerland crashed out during the group stages. However, more was expected from Switzerland, given their reasonable showing at the 2006 World Cup. The truth is, the Swiss were unlucky at Euro 2008. They suffered a blow then their captain & forward Alex Frei was injured in the first half of the tournament's opening match against Czech Republic. Frei would be ruled out of the tournament, & everything went downhill. The Swiss ended up losing to the Czechs, somewhat unluckily as they were generally the better side in the match. They were also unfortunate to lose the next match, against Turkey, after having gone a goal up & having chances to extend their lead. That made Switzerland the first team to be eliminated from the tournament. Their win against Portugal in the last group match proved academic to both sides (Portugal had already qualified by then). But at least it was a good way to farewell the outgoing coach Kobi Kuhn.

Euro 2008 - Spain are European champions!

Spain won Euro 2008, beating Germany 1-0 in the final in Vienna on Monday morning (Brisbane time). Fernando Torres, arguably Europe's best forward, scored the goal via Xavi's pass & outpaced Philip Lahm before slotting the ball into the net. This allowed the Spaniards to win their first trophy in 44 years.

The win was fully deserved. In fact, Spain, after overcoming a nervour opening 10 minutes, could have scored more goals as they controlled most of the rest of the match. Germany was comprehensively outplayed & outclassed by the technically superior Spaniards. Spain's midfield, in particular, was dominant & showed much more creativity than their German counterparts. This allowed Spain to display their classy, passing, attacking football, making Germany look ordinary in the process.

To be fair, Germany did play very well in their quarter-final win against Portugal. However, the Germans never again scaled those heights. They only managed to squeak narrowly past an injury-ravaged Turkish side in the semi-final. Turkey exposed Germany's fallibility, & Spain did the rest in the final. That Germany only lost by a single goal said as much for their fighting spirit as for Spain's lack of luck at scoring more goals.

But back to the Spanish. They have been the best & most stylish side at the tournament, not losing a single game & are thoroughly deserving European champions. Their triumph is a huge achievement, given their reputation for underachievement heading into the tournament. Spain's success is a triumph for attacking football. Many, including myself, would have enjoyed watching them. Viva Espana!

Spain's players celebrate their victory in Euro 2008 final

Iker Casillas lifts the trophy, signalling Spain as the best team in Europe!

And the richly deserved celebrations continue

Spanish fans in Madrid in party mode, awaiting the arrival of their beloved footballers

The Spain squad arrive in open-top bus, parading the Henri Delaunay trophy

The Spanish air force pay colourful tribute to the European champions

Source of photos: various