The Euro Final: Spain vs. Italy Round 2

Well, come 12:45pm Sunday afternoon, I’ll be with some friends watching the final match of this great tournament. Spain and Italy have both come a long way since their opening match of Group C. Spain, one of the two tournament favorites coming in, haven’t looked as good on the field as they’re used to. Mind you, a bad Spanish showing in a game is on par with many other teams having good games. Iniesta and Xavi haven’t looked like their normal dominant selves in the midfield, and anyone who knows anything about soccer understands that your midfield dictates your possession and flow in a game.  Their knockout games against France and Portugal were sub par showings for a normally dominant team (save perhaps the extra time portion of their Portugal semi). One positive for Spain is that their defense have been doing quite a bit better than usual. Casillas hasn’t really been tested much in this tournament; not conceding a goal since the opening match against Italy. He is one of the top keepers in the world though, so you have to assume that when he does get peppered with shots that he will hold his ground.

Italy on the other hand had the opposite road of the Spanish. They started off slow in the group stage, but have now established two dominant games against England and Germany in the knockout. Buffon has looked very impressive in this tournament so far allowing only three goals (one of them a PK) in five games. The defense, which was the highlight of the Italians coming in, has been their bread and butter this tournament. Pirlo has been probably the player of the tournament thus far, resurrecting the amazing player we had known from the ’06 World Cup.  The pleasant surprise of the tournament for the Italians has been their possession and passing in the midfield. They have been controlling the ball so smoothly, that they are able to generate countless scoring opportunities for their attack (Balotelli, Cassano, DiNatale, Diamanti) which was shown off in their game against England. The finishing hasn’t been the best for the Italians, but all it takes is one or two good shots/chances to win a game. The more chances, the better.  

So, it seems like I’ve been bragging up the Italians. As mentioned in previous posts, I am biased towards them, but their play has been impeccable of recent. I certainly didn’t expect them to make it this far, especially after getting Germany in the semis. On paper, Spain still looks like the better of the two talent wise, especially since they had most of the possession in their group match. However, I have to go with my gut, go with my heart and go with the more dominating team of recent and say Italy is going to pull off another “upset” and beat Spain. 1-0.

Enjoy The Final!

Penalty Kicks. Some Thoughts

The shootout. Penalty kicks. The twelve yard free kicks. They certainly are an exciting aspect of soccer/football, but should it be? I think they’re great as a spectator, and for those spectators who actually don’t enjoy watching footy, they probably love shootouts because of the goals. But as a player and a coach, I’m not a fan of penalty kicks deciding who wins the game. There is still a component of soccer skill and mental strength involved, but I’ve always felt that the game should be won on the pitch playing with all aspects of the game. I’ve loved the golden goal format for a while (play extra time until the first goal is scored, to which that team wins the game). I understand that time restraints can be hard for media, as well as playing longer games could physically drain players for games that occur shortly after in a tournament. I just know I would’ve been pissed if Italy had lost that game to England in the shootout. I also feel Portugal should have had a fair shake at winning the game. If teams are worried about players been drained for upcoming games, maybe should we allow unlimited substitutions in extra time? Soccer’s an old sport that doesn’t like rule changes (look at all the video replay stuff happening in the news now), but it was just a thought.

My philosophy for penalty shots is whoever is most confident should be taking the shots. Nerves are the biggest contributing factor towards success in a shootout. When I coach younger players, I will usually pick the strongest shooters, because at young ages, there is still a big gap between your top players and your bottom players (this assuming it is competitive youth, obviously I’m not that thinking of this kind of stuff with recreational soccer). Once you get older though, shooting abilities tend to level off, especially at the professional level. As well, everyone thinks pressure is on the goalie to make the save, when in reality, all pressure is on the shooter. Shooters have to assume that a goalie will guess the right way (quality keepers are really good at reading body language and positioning before and during a run-up). That doesn’t leave too much room for a shooter to aim for. Basically they have to aim for a corner and hit it dead on. If players miss the net, then they look even worse (cause in theory, most people think they just have to hit the net. It is a ‘big’ net).

Another comment I have to make is why in the world was Ronaldo kicking last for Portugal? Was he hoping to have all the glory of sealing a Portugal win by kicking last? I understand that you could make an argument for putting your best kickers at any place in the order. The commentators I was listening to were arguing that Ronaldo should have kicked first or second, since he was a top player.  The player with the most pressure though, would probably be near the end. My thoughts are that your top players should be in the #4 slot, maybe #3. These are the points in a shootout where the pressure actually starts to build. If you’re behind, a top player can ensure you survive to see another kicker. If you’re ahead, a top player can put the game out of reach. If it’s tied, there’s that much more pressure to not screw up, which usually gets to players. Look at the Italy-England game. They had two players who did not have an exceptional game by any means take kicks #3 and #4, which were a miss and a save. Italy went on to win. Ronaldo will now be spending his summer thinking about the penalty kick he never took…

Euro Semifinals in Hindsight

Well, those were certainly some interesting semifinals we had. I guess my good predictions throughout the tournament were a build up for the ones I’d miss now. That Portugal/Germany match-up sounded great in my head, but instead we have a rematch of the Group C opener between Italy and Spain (and as a fan of Italia, I have no complaints). We’ll start with a reflection of the previous matches.

Portugal came out at the beginning of the game against Spain dominating offensive chances. They were giving all the skeptics reasons why not only they were able to compete with Spain, but could win the game as well. The Spanish attack looked non-existent. I think the biggest problem for Spain was the lack of their strength, which is a solid midfield that has a focus on playing a beautiful, fluid passing game. The Spanish were having problem moving the ball from the mid to their strikers and attacking mids on the wings. Portugal won the first half. Spain came out much stronger in the second half and seemed to finally (after about an hour of soccer) find their groove. I think second half could have gone either way. Extra time was all Spain, who showed shades of the champs we’ve come to know. Lucky for Portugal, they were able to hold off the defending champs for the thirty minutes and set up a finals berth via penalty kicks. I think if you asked Portugal if they would like to go to penalty kicks against Spain, that they would have taken that opportunity.

We started the penalty kicks with a save by each keeper and it looked as if there was never going to be a goal in this game. They traded a couple more goals. But when Bruno Alves tried to take a shot for Nani, he definitely didn’t look confident, and he still looked nervous going up. I’m not sure if it’s allowed (maybe someone can write and let me know) but that’s when Ronaldo as the captain should step up and pick someone else to kick for him. Nonetheless, Bruno Alves stepped up, looked shaky, and missed the shot. It was all on Fabregas to put Spain through to the final. As an Arsenal fan, I guess I couldn’t wish ill on Cesc’s shot, but I certainly was hoping Portugal would still have a shot (especially since I not only predicted Portugal to move on, but have them in my Euro pool). Fabregas had a perfectly placed shot though (at first I thought it was curving wide).  There was no way Patricio was getting to that shot. Spain to the finals.

In the other semi final, the favorite Germans had their hands full with Super Mario and the Italians. The normally tactical Germans couldn't seem to string their passes well together. Passes were often off target, or placed in an area where an Italian could easily fight for it and steal it off their German counterpart. It wasn't until some second half substitutions when the Germans finally started to find their rhythm. Unfortunately for them, it was too late. Thanks to Balotelli's gorgeous goals and a strong midfield, the Italians dominated the first hour of the game. Even with the Germans pressuring near the end, the Italians had a great counter attack developing with DiNatale and Diamanti creating some great scoring chances. The Germans showed up to this game far too late. It was nice though to see the Azzurri finally capitalize on quality chances on goal.

More posts/thoughts to come later today. Prediction for the final as well as my thoughts on shootouts. Stay tuned! Same Bat time, same Bat channel!

Euro Semifinals!!!

Big games coming up now! The quarterfinal matches were very entertaining. I love stroking my ego; we should make note that I went four for four last week, even calling the Italy penalty kick win, with Buffon coming up with a huge save to seal it for the Azzurri. It's nice to see four high quality teams in the final four spots; I don't think you can say any of the four teams don't deserve to win the title.

Spain vs. Portugal:
Ever have that over-achieving neighbor who has it all and has been show-boating their luxuries and achievements? I bet Portugal feels like they do. Spain's won the recent World Cup as well as the last Euro. They're getting a lot of attention and they deserve. Spain has dominated the world stage. Will this be the time Portugal gets to steal some of that spotlight from their neighbors to the east?

This will definitely be an interesting semifinal. Spain hasn't quite looked as dominated as they could have been, but maybe that's just due to hype. They are getting by without their top scorer in David Villa. Fabregas and Torres have done a decent job handling the attack. But Spain still looks a little shaky and not as comfortable in the attacking end. Spain's strength comes with their passing, especially in the midfield. If Portugal can slow down the midfield and provide an impressive counter attack at the hands (or feet) of Christiano Ronaldo like they've been doing thus far in the tourney, it's hard to count the Portugese out of this. There are way too many questions marks going into this game, but I'm going to take a chance and see the underdog Portugese pulling out an upset. 1-0.

Germany vs. Italy:
If people think Portugal are underdogs to Spain, what does that make Italy to Germany? Germany came in to the tournament as the favorites and they have supported that belief by executing perfectly in each game. Have they dominated? Other than the Greek game, I would say not; but they definitely haven't looked bad. In four games, Italy has only scored four goals. And they had a TON of chances against England. They will not have the same amount of quality chances against Germany like they did against the Three Lions, so if they even want to plan to compete with the Germans, they need to capitalize on their chances. I will throw my remote at the television if Mario Balotelli or DeRossi miss that many chances again. One thing the Italians do have though is a solid defense (especially with Chiellini returning from card accumulation) as well as Luigi Buffon who has only allowed two goals in four matches (as well as an impressive shootout win against the English). So do the Italians have a chance, ya, they sure do. Is it high? No, not really. But if things falls into place, they could win. And yes, I do want them to win. I am biased...but Germany wins 2-1

Sick Dunk

If you haven't seen it yet, here's the link. RIDICULOUS dunk from 'Jus Fly' of Toronto, Canada in a LA Nike dunk competition.

NHL 2012 Draft

Well, this will be a relatively shorter post. The NHL 2012 Draft is starting shortly. I'm not going to give any in-depth analysis of picks or predictions because I simply don't know enough about the minor league players.  I just have some general comments I would like to make.

First off, no matter who the Oilers pick with the number one (if they keep the #1), the Oilers are going to be a dangerous team in the future. Look at what happened with the Penguins. They were a pretty crappy team until they got Sidney Crosby, Evgeni Malkin, Marc Andre Fleury, Jordan Staal. Then in 2008 they are Stanley Cup runner ups and the year after that, they are Stanley Cup champs. Make note, the Edmonton Oilers will win the Stanley Cup in 2016! I think any of the top three could go #1, but based on what I've heard and read, it does seem like Yakupov has the most natural talent. However, the Oilers desperately need a defenseman, so Ryan Murray would also be a good fit.

After losing Jeff Carter and potentially losing Rick Nash this summer, I would think Columbus would be more desperate for a skilled forward, especially after adding Jack Johnson in the Jeff Carter trade.

As for my team, Les Habitants, it's nice seeing the excitement of having a high draft pick (only good thing about this dismal season). I think another young defenseman in Ryan Murray would be great, to mature alongside PK Subban for many years to come. Yakupov would also be a nice pick-up, but I think it may be doubtful those two would be available when Montreal picks, so I think they will likely grab Alex Galchenyuk. He's a great playmaker who would fit well on an opportunistic Montreal offense.

Enjoy the draft. I'm hoping to see a few trades while it's happening. How did your team do in the draft this year? Do you think they'll make an impact this summer in preparation for 2012/2013 season?

Euro 2012 Cup - Quarterfinals!

Well, we have gotten rid of half the teams. Down to the final 8! Some surprises, but still a lot of high quality teams left, let's take a look.

Pool A winner Czech Republic vs. Pool B runner up Portugal:
Not many people picked this to be the quarterfinal matchup. I did though  :)  check the last post. I was actually surprised the Czech Republic bounced back after that horrid 4-1 loss to Russia. Cech hasn't looked as solid as I thought he would be, and that loss to Russia is making me thinking twice about my earlier decision of Czech Republic making it to the semis. I knew Portugal would be playing well this tourney, stepping up their game in the group stage. They lost a close game to Germany, showed their tenacity by scoring a late goal to capture three points against Denmark, and Ronaldo found his form in the game against a Netherlands team who had many chances but were obviously from the Netherlands because they had no Finnish. I gotta go with the consistent team thus far in the tourney and go with Portugal to move on. 2-1 Portugal

Pool B winner Germany vs. Pool A runner up Greece:
I don't know too many people outside of Greek fans who will be taking them to beat the Germans. The Germans seemed to casually get through their group. Looking at their scores, you would think that their three one goal wins during group stage meant they didn't dominate their opponents. Then you have to consider that  Germany was in the Group of Death and that those measly one goal wins were against skilled teams in Portugal, the Netherlands and Denmark. Have I been wowed by Germany so far in the tourney; not so much. But I am impressed in their consistent play and how they seem to be a well-oiled machine. They should have no trouble with a Greek team that stumbled out of a weak group (so upset Russia didn't get through). 3-0 Germany

Pool C winner Spain vs. Pool D runner up France:
Spain's normally offensive style stumbled out of the block in their first group game against Italy. It seemed like they weren't sure how to fill the hole left by David Villa up front. Well, they certainly fixed that problem with Fernando Torres and Cesc Fabregas stepping up. Spain's starting to look like the World Cup champs we know and love. I don't think they'll have too much difficulty with a France team that seems to be very inconsistent right now. They had a decent showing against England and Ukraine, but Sweden broke them apart in their final group game. Needless to say, I haven't been blown away by their play and a game against Spain isn't really the best place to try and find it. France keeper Hugo Lloris will have some big saves like he did in the Sweden game, but it won't be good enough. 2-0 Spain

Pool D winner England vs. Pool C runner up Italy:
I am biased. I do believe this will be the game to watch of the quarterfinals. I am cheering for Italy. I do think  that England had an easier group. It seemed that none of their three opponents really tested them. The game against Sweden was the most entertaining one and technical one, but the games against France and Ukraine were a bit lackluster from the Brits. Now that it is the knockout stage though, I expect England to really step it up though. Italy has been consistent in their group stage games, but other than the 1-1 draw to Spain, hasn't looked too impressive. This will be a game for one team to step up. If Wayne Rooney and Mario Balotelli can stay calm and not gather any stupid fouls or cards, expect a tight game! 2-1 Italy in penalty kicks! Buffon with a big save.

Really felt Russia deserved a berth in the quarters. Hard to believe that the team that beat the group winner 4-1 isn't moving on. Also felt Sweden deserved a better fate. They had amazing games against England and France, but a poor opener against Ukraine held them back. Enjoy the quarters folks! Italia!

Euro 2012 Bracket Predictions

Well folks, I'll see if I can get post more often, so here are my predictions on the Euro 2012 cup that are starting today.

Group A: Czech Republic (1st), Russia (2nd), Greece (3rd), Poland (4th)
Every tournament, World Cup included, there are always those surprise teams that make it to the quarters, semis or even finals. I think this group's Czech Republic or Russia could be that surprise team. Poland will surprise Greece in the first game, maybe a draw, to give the host country some excitement in their first game. Czech Republic will take the group on Petr Cech's back. I think Russia will be playing in some really exciting games though.

Group B: Germany (1st), Portugal (2nd), Netherlands (3rd), Denmark (4th)
Yes, Germany no surprise...but Portugal!?!?!? I'm thinking Netherlands will be the surprise giant to not make it through. There offense is still dangerous, but I do question their defense. I think it's time for Portugal to fully step into the spotlight of being a top contender. They've been hearing the parties of their neighbors in Spain and want to join in on the success. I think Christiano Ronaldo will really step up for Portugal and they'll get a surprise point or three against Netherlands. Does Denmark really have a chance with these three powerhouses in their pool?

Group C: Spain (1st), Italy (2nd), Croatia (3rd), Ireland (4th)
Not too much variability in this group. Spain are the clear favorites, which I agree. I have some bias, since I will be cheering for Italy, but I do believe they can make it out of group stage. Croatia is a dangerous team though; it will all be dependent on the type of Italy team that shows up; the '06 WC team or the '10 World Cup team?

Group D: England (1st), Sweden (2nd), France (3rd), Ukraine (4th)
I honestly think that this could be the group that any of the four teams could make it through. England's lost a lot of players to injuries, Sweden has improved in leaps and bounds, France has the experience and Ukraine is a host team. Benzema is a dangerous player, but I don't think he can do enough for France to bring them out of the hole this country has been digging at international events. I think losses or ties to Sweden and/or Ukraine kills their chances. I do like Sweden's chances of surprising France and Ukraine and moving through to the knockout stage.

I'll do a reassessment after the group stage is done, but just in case I'm awesome and everything falls where it should, here are my knockout predictions:
Quarters:
Czech Republic over Portugal
Germany over Russia
Spain over Sweden
Italy over England

Semis:
Spain over Czech Republic
Germany over Italy

Finals:
Germany over Spain

Not a very detailed Euro breakdown, but I wanted to get my thoughts in before the tournament. Get my predictions in so that when I'm right, I can say I told you so. Enjoy the games!

Coaching Something You Know Very Little About...

I have finally finished my last sports trip of the school year. Finally a sigh of relief, a step back. I now only have a couple weeks to spend all those afterschool hours wrapping up my academic stuff rather than athletics. Needless to say, I will be looking forward to the summer so that I will finally have time to recuperate and do things for me. I've done lots of coaching throughout the year. I ran some cross country practices, coached the senior girls basketball team, helped run junior boys and girls basketball practices, coached junior and senior high badminton and coached junior and senior high badminton. I was coaching from late November straight through to early June. Being an athletic person and the phys ed teacher at the school, I took it upon myself to do a lot of the coaching in my small school of 130 (gr.7-12) (small town of 800). I wanted to give my students quality chances to improve on their athletics. Aside from soccer, badminton is probably the sport I know most about, so coaching that was not only easier, but enjoyable. I've played basketball before and enjoy playing. I knew little about coaching defense though, but I learned as the season went on. My biggest struggle was coaching track and field.

So, my track and field experience goes all the way back to grades four to six where I did well and collected lots of ribbons   :p   Other than that, I don't even remember my high school of 800 students having a high school track team. So, I was in charge of coaching track and field with no experience under my belt. Now, track isn't like other sports, it's a collection of many different events. Students can only enter a maximum of four events, so you can't just coach one thing at a time because some athletes aren't competing in that event. So for practices, I'm trying to set up a bunch of different stations; we have athletes throwing javelins, shot puts, discus,  long jumping, triple jumping, long distance runners, sprinters and hurdlers. Yes, I did get help from students, but it's still hard to put in a good coaching effort for each athlete, especially when we only had two weeks to practice before divisionals (another shitty thing about coaching other sports, didn't start track and field practice until badminton was completely done with).

Like I said before, I knew very little about track and field, but I wanted to do my best to help out my athletes. I found that I reverted to my academics to help me out. I was using a lot of my undergraduate university degree to help me out, especially my biomechanics course. I kept asking myself while watching a student, "How can this athlete get more torque, how can they get more speed, how can they get more spring?" I found I could actually help out my students with the science I took in my kinetics program. I also took a little time to look at some YouTube videos of some events, but understanding the movements behind it made it easier to actually coach it.

The great thing about my students though, is that the ones that come to practices are ambitious. They actually care about getting better, they care about doing well. For the most part, these are the students who are also ambitious in school (oh how I wish all my students had ambition). I am lucky enough that my students are great at coaching each other. This was especially important in the throwing events (javelin, shotput, discus; events I have very little experience in and ones that the majority of my athletes competed in). I had some great seniors who did an amazing job helping out up and coming athletes work on their technique. They taught me quite a few things, what to watch for, which helped me to give feedback to them as well as other athletes.

In the end, I had around twenty athletes compete at divisionals. Sixteen of them made it to zones (regionals) to which half of them walked away with a medal. I was able to take three seniors to provincials in Edmonton. Considering that they were seeded very low, my boys did really well. We had one athlete who had a great chance of medalling in javelin, but an elbow injury prevented him from competing to his potential. To put it into perspective, the gold medal provincial throw was as far as my athlete's divisional throw...which was against the wind. Next year I have high expectations for my athletes. Last year one athlete made it to provincials, this year three, next year I aim to double and bring six students to provincials. Now that I got my first year under my belt, I look forward to next year (as long as we actually get some time to practice)

A note on provincials, it was an amazing experience. It was like watching the Olympics. Seeing teenagers reach accomplishments and distances of unimaginable proportions for that age was ridiculous. In retrospect, I probably watched future Olympians compete, which is cool to think of! Seeing these athletes compete also made me feel terrible about my own personal fitness. In high school, I was never lucky enough to be that kind of caliber athlete (probably thanks to a combination of no external push from others and little ambition to be the best; I'm glad that has changed). It also made me feel pretty crappy about my fitness level right now. Oh well, you can never have too much motivation to push yourself! Best time to start is now.