Euro 2008 as it is unfolding...

And we are into the knockout phase of the Euro 2008. The initial round saw the elimination of both hosts, the formal World Champion France and the defending Champs Greece. Portugal, Croatia, Netherlands and Spain marched into the quarterfinals as group leaders while Turkey, Germany, Italy and Russia advanced being the runners up in their respective groups.

The first quarterfinal was played between Portugaland Germany.The odds were against Germany and Portugal started off as favourites. The sympathies of non Germans were with Portugal as well but Germany did perform well and defeated the Portugal 3-2. Bastian Schweinsteiger, Miroslav Klose and Michael Ballack scored one each to see them through
to Semis.

The second quarter final was sensational, played between Croatia and Turkey. Croatia was all settled to book their place against Germany when Ivan Klasnic headed the cross in to goal in the 119th minute. No body would have fancies Turkey chances at that time, however as they have did in the last couple of games, they rebounced and Semih Sentürk scored the equalizer in the stoppage time and it was left to penalty shoot outs. The last minute goal shattered the dreams of Croatia and their body langauge suggested that they were down with confidence. They fired two shots wide of goal post and the other was saved by Rüstü to make it 3-1 in favour of Turkey.

The third quarterfinal was between Holland and Russia. The city of Basel was overcrowded with around 80,000 orange shirts, few days back the Bern was hosting the 80,000+ Dutch fans (the population of Bern is around 120,00). Holland, who bulldozed all opponents to make it into the knockout stage was stunned by goal from Roman Pavlyuchenko in the 56 min but thanks to Ruud van Nistelrooy , Dutchs were able to equalize in the 86 min which led to extra time for the second consecutive time. The Russia again took the lead in the 113 min when Torbinski converted a cross from Arshavin and the lead was further increased by one goal in the 117th min to make it 3-1. The Dutch hopes were dying as they struggle to score the goal(s) and their hopes could not see light of day. Despite excellent performance it was said end for Dutch who lost 1-3 and Russia marched past them to semis. We are already getting a pattern, teams starting off well are going out, Portugal, Croatia and now Holland-all leaders eliminated, will Spain be the next in the same league as well?, let see tomorrow.

Not really, Spain continued its journey towards the destination by edging out Italy 4-2 on penatly shoot out after 0-0 in allocated time.

The first semi final was between Germany and Turkey, Turkey was playing without its first choice playing eleven but they put on great show and gave some scary momments to Germany, specially when they scored the equalizer in the late 80 to remind the Germany that they are still in but Germany was able to score another goal in the dying momments to make it 3-2 in their favour and marched in to the final.

The second semi final proved to be a walk in the park for the Spain, they outclassed Russia 3-0 and confirmed their seat in Euro 2008 FINAL.

THE FINAL was thrilling, Spain remian unbeaten through out and outclassed Germany to win their 2nd UEFA title after 1964, the score was 1-0.

Is it really going to happen......

Quite often in history the inventions were viewed skeptically, the inclination to adopt the new technology was non-existing. Here are some of the quotes regarding different inventions spread over the last few centuries....

1800:
What, sir, would you make a ship sail against the wind and currents by lighting a bonfire under her deck? I pray you, excuse me, I have not the time to listen to such nonsense.

Napoleon Bonaparte views about steam boat

1864:
No one will pay good money to get from Berlin to Potsdam in one hour when he can ride his horse there in one day for free.

King William I of Prussia on invention of trains.

1865:
Dear Mr. President: The canal system of this country is being threatened by a new form of transportation known as "railroads" ... As you may well know, Mr. President, "railroad" carriages are pulled at the enormous speed of 15 miles per hour by "engines" which, in addition to endangering life and limb of passengers, roar and snort their way through the countryside, setting fire to crops, scaring the livestock and frightening women and children. The Almighty certainly never intended that people should travel at such breakneck speed.

Martin Van Buren-the then NY Governor.

1927 :
Who the hell wants to hear actors talk?

H.M. Warner, Warner Brothers

1957 :
I have traveled the length and breadth of this country and talked with the best people, and I can assure you that data processing is a fad that won’t last out the year.

The editor in charge of business books for Prentice Hall

1968:
But what . . . is it good for?

Engineer at the Advanced Computing Systems Division of IBM, views on microchips

1977 :
...there is no reason anyone would want a computer in their home.

Ken Olson, President, Chairman, and Founder of DEC (Digital Equipment Corporation)

1981:
640K ought to be enough for anybody.

Bill Gates on size of RAM in PCs.


(The quotes above have been adopted from different sources on the internet)

The week that was......

Wow, what a season for sports enthusiast, competitions ending like Hollywood thrillers, from English Premier League to Champions League and now Indian Premier League. What a sensational stuff it has been. The unexpectedly one sided affair in both semi finals (of IPL) made it necessary for the final to be as thrilling and exciting as it was. The last ball finish was truly Hollywood scripted thriller with all the necessary ingredients in the form of undisputed king of leg spinner Warne(the best captain that Aussies never had), axe whirled batting style of Dhoni, the magic of Murali, the unorthodox action of Tanvir and the last ball thrilling end.

Stuart MacGill-the Australian leg spinner who was supposed to fill in the shoes of magical Warne has announced his retirement from international cricket. The announcement came on the same day as IPL final so was dumped in the hype. The last test of the leg spinner was forgettable for him, in both innings he conceded over 180 runs and grabbed only single wicket, to rub salt into the wounds he was also docked 100% of his match fee for missing the team bus on 2nd days play of test.

Pakistan version of McGrath, Muhammad Asif is again in the news and obviously for the wrong reasons, after the drug scandal, getting hit by fellow speed star Shoaib, missing World Cup, somehow not so good IPL, the seamer is allegedly caught at Dubai Airport carrying banned substances in the wallet. The substance is confirmed to be banned substance. The funny part is that Asif has admitted carrying the substance for long and he is of the view that the same was provided to him by a Hakeem and he is having no clue that it is banned substance. (One excuse too many times.) Probably he does not even know that ignorance of the law is NO excuse as well.

The Portuguese football club, Porto FC has been banned for one year in UEFA Champions League by UEFA. They were involved in bribing the referees in 2003-04 season. They went on winning the national title and also won their second UEFA Champions title. Porto FC is planning to challenge the decision on the same lines as that of AC Milan in 2006. AC Milan was also barred from UEFA Champions league for corruption scandal which was subsequently turned down and they won the UEFA Champions League as well, so is Porto FC will be the new champs of the next season if their ban decision is reverted.

So let’s keep out finger cross for the Euro Cup kicking off this Saturday at Basel, Switzerland and watch out for the drama that will unfold.

"I do believe that to the ordinary people of our country, games like hockey and football have [more] significance than the world of cricket." The Indian PM is not impressed with IPL in general and cricket in particular.