Spain Champions of Euro' 08: The Armada Sails Again

The perennial underachievers Spain have done justice to the long acknowledged talent. Defeating Germany in an entertaining final 1-0 at Euro '08 at Vienna. Fernando Torres scored the only goal of the game in the first half. Spain deserved the cup as they had played good football through out the tournament.They were also undefeated through the tournament.

Going in to the final the Spanish were the team with the most important change David Villa was out with a muscle problem. The 69 year old Luis Arogones decided to go with a five man midfield with the lone striker formation. A brave man some would say considering it was D.Guiza the top scorer in La Liga who was being overlooked.

In the first few minutes Spain seemed to be suffering from a case of stage fright as they just seem to freeze and were playing with no intensity. The midfield having Iniesta, Xavi, Silva and Fabregas appeared to be a zombie unit. But just as the Germans were beginning to control the game, Spain snapped out of their slumber and awoke to life. Slowly and steadily their movement, passing and intensity was getting better and better.

As Spain began to get sharper the chances began to come. Forcing some spectacular saves from Lehman. Torres even hit the upright with a header, one just felt the goal for Spain was only a matter of time. And it was, Torres latched on to a ball from Iniesta, to sweetly dink it over a fast approaching Lehman to open the scoring. Torres who has had a quiet tournament by his high standards showed that form is temporary and class is permanent with that goal.

The second half went pretty much the way the first ended, Spain dictating the pace. The Germans brought on Jansen, Kurayni in search of the equaliser but to no avail. It just seemed the Spanish midfield had just run the Germans out of the game, something that does not happen very often. Marcos Senna had a chance put the game beyond doubt but missed the ball with the goal at his mercy. But Spain reached home comfortably to take there second European trophy.

Personally I felt that the scoreline flatters the Germans and the match was not as close as the score line suggests. The Germans Uncharacteristically lacked belief, imagination and intensity.
After a long time a team playing the beautiful game has won the tournament. Spain completely deserve to be crowned champs and it has been a long time coming.

Viva Espana!!!

Euro'08: The Russians are Coming!!!

If you were one of those who thought the performance of Russia against Sweden was a flash in the pan, their game against Holland is one highlight film you must watch. The Russians who were comprehensively outclassed, outplayed and routed by Spain in their opening game seem to bear no scars of that defeat.

In the game against the Dutch, the Russians were a team which bore no resemblance to the one that played Spain and Greece. They outran, out hustled and outplayed the Dutch in every department. They never let Dutch play their brand of flowing football and gave them a taste of their own medicine by changing defense to attack with incisive passes and swift movement. The score line of 3-1 in the favour of Russia was deserved. In my opinion it should have been so by the end of normal time.

The cause of the Russian transformation has been the return of their general Andrei Arshavin. This versatile play maker who missed the first few games through suspension has transformed the Russian side to potent attacking force with vision, speed and control. But to call the Russian side a one man show in my opinion would be unfair to the team.

If Arshavin is the general then his most able soldiers are Kolodin, Yuri Zhirkov and Roman Pavlyuchenko. Kolodin and Zhirkov are the the back bone of the defense and they also push forward with intent. Zhirkov deserves please mention for his quality delivery from set pieces
and Kolodin for his long range shooting skills which posses both accuracy and power.

But the player who complements and combines amazingly well with Arshavin is the Russian forward Roman Pavlyuchenko. A center forward of the old mould, big, strong and with a good first touch. His movement and his aerial presence is also of the highest quality. The chemistry between the two was very evident in the game against Dutch.

This Russian team is very young with average age of 26 and plays mostly within Russia. Based on their performance against the Dutch, you would not bet against them going all the way. One more thing that is certain is that most of these players are going to be for big European clubs come next season. Also one must give credit to the 'Miracle Man' Guus Hiddink, who seems to have the ability to bring success to any team on the International Stage.

It is no more a case of the Russians are coming, They are already here.

Euro'84 - Platini
Euro'88 - Gullit
Euro'08 - Arshavin???

May be a little to early put him that column but what the hell ! !
I am fan of his game

Euro '08: The Beautiful Game Alive and Well

The matches of Euro 2008 has reflected what has always been said about European national teams. Their leagues may have the flair and panache but national sides always seem to play with the intent of not losing rather than playing for win. The faith in this view was reaffirmed by the performance of teams at Euro 2008.

But as always there exceptions to any theory and the performances Holland, Portugal & Spain have been a testiment to that. The perennial under achievers Spain and Holland have made an explosive start to their campaign this time. The Dutch have been the team of the tournament during the group stage. Their crisp passing, lighting counter attack and resolute defending has seen them dispatch teams such as Italy and France with great ease.


The stand out feature of the dutch game has been their counterattack with crisp one touch passing. Players such as Van Bronckhorst , Sniejder and Kuyt have been the center pieces of their attack. One has to just watch the Italy game for a master class on how to play counter attacking football.

Spain have also been a revelation, we have always known of their potential but they have always flattered to deceive. This time around they seem to have a lot more focus and intensity about themselves. The team seems to have come of age with players such as Torres, Villa, Iniesta, Fabregas working well as a unit. With Puyol and Casillas marshaling the defense Spain will prove to be a tough nut to crack.

Their performance against Sweden was a good example of their new found spirit.One thing for sure is David Villa is going to be on radar of many a big club.


Portugal in my opinion has been the best of the rest. The lack of pure world class center forward is very apparent in their play. Their game is backed by an assured defense and based on highly creative and skilled mid field. With likes of Ronaldo & Simao running the wings and Deco pulling the strings in the center, their play has been pleasing to the eye.

What these 3 teams have shown is that the beautiful game can be played European teams too. They can also entertain us just as much the south American teams if not more. Call it Total football or whatever you want, these teams are the one's I would gladly pay money to watch.

P.S I would watch Italy too ( Froza Azzuri )

Dasavatharam: A Confused Creation

The movie Dasavatharam is credited with being the most expensive Indian movie ever created. So now comes the critical question was it worth all that money?? I think the producers got ripped off!! in a big way. The high point of the movie is the acting of kamal Hasan, unfortunately that is the only highlight of the movie.

We all know that Kamal is an actor who can play any character or role seamlessly passing the lines by which other actors bound. Which leads me to the question as to why at this point of time in his career did he choose to portray ten different characters? I am not implying he did a bad job. Just that the movie could have done with out his portrayal of characters like the villain, the freakishly tall Muslim guy and the malayalee activist.

The movie attempts to bring multiple small stories together along the lines of the Oscar movie crash. The intent is to show that individual events on their own may have very little meaning but have a bearing on the larger scheme of things and also that we are all interconnected in some way or the other.

All this is good and jolly but for some reason integration of all the stories in the movie was not smooth. Certain sequences will leave you wondering what was this for? Mallika Sherawat's role as the vamp is pretty short, uneventful but for a change it is not a skin show. The low point of the movie was definitely the graphics they seemed pretty kiddish and definitely not worth the astronomical figures quoted for the effort.

Personally I loved kamal's potrayal of the telugu RAW officer and George W Bush.

Overall the movie is not an awe inspiring or thought provoking. I would say it is a time pass movie that you can watch once. Also I think that Mr.Hasan was being a little self obsessed in naming the Movie Dasavatharam just because he played ten characters.

Do not be surprised if you come out of the movie hall asking yourself what was the movie about??

Bandh: Holding a Country to Ransom??

In the past few weeks I am sure all of us have seen the protests and bandh's about the petrol price hike, the Gujjars demand for ST status, the protest against inflation, renaming of brands and institutions that have the name Bombay to Mumbai and any many more.

Off late, the frequency & reasons for these protests and manner in which they have been carried out have gone beyond boundaries of common sense.

Let us start with path carnage left behind by the Shiv Sena in Mumbai. After getting bored of vandalizing Archie's outlets, Shiv Sena activists damaged and demonstrated against all Organizations and institutions that have name Bombay in their title. The Shiv Sena wanted institutions such as Bombay dying, Bombay stock exchange and the school Bombay Scottish to replace the name Bombay with Mumbai. The reason being Marathi Pride. Is the Marathi pride so superficial? Does the issue warrant the destruction of Property? Is the issue even worth protesting?
Next up is the Gujjars protests. This community based mainly in Rajasthan wants the government to change it's status from a backward caste to that of a schedule tribe. Yes, they want to be moved further down apparently non existent caste system. This is to ensure a greater bite of the reservation pie.

Now somebody explain to me how can this justify the blocking of national highways, blocking the railways and damage to public property. The other day it was announced that the railways has incurred a loss of 6.5 -7 crore's due to the actions of the Gujjars. Bringing the life line of the country to stand still is no way of putting forth your issue. You can not hold the country to ransom to forward your personal ambitions.

Recently in West Bengal a bandh was called for to protest the hike in fuel prices. The left was behind this action, the same political organization which is in power in the state and supports the central government. That sounds ok rite? So now comes the disturbing part the airport was also closed. Yes, that is right the closure was supported by the state government.

These bandh's more often than not are politically motivated. I have to go to work this Saturday because last Friday some wise political organization wanted to protest the hike in fuel prices and called a bandh. These apparent "wise men" actually thought there would be no rise in prices of fuel despite the fact that internationally the prices had doubled over the last 12 months.

The fact is, these protests, demonstrations and Bandh's call them what you want; have become nothing but a public inconvenience to common people i.e people who are not politicians. The only way we can ensure these people are punished is by ensuring they do not get to positions of power. The only way that can happen is if people like you and me exercise our right to vote and vote for the right people.

What is a Garib Rath ? The truth

Yesterday I day I was travelling from Bangalore to Hyderabad on a train named as a Garib Rath. The Garib Rath is the railways version of a low cost airline. At least that is that they want us think.

The Garib Rath is a completely air conditioned train that has only A/C 3 tier coaches and a few A/C chair car coaches. I guess the railway’s is trying to eat into the Volvo road travels market. A train meant for the “Garib” or what the government likes to call the “Aam Admi”(common man ).

So now the interesting facts about the train firstly, each bay of every compartment has nine berths. Now how is that you ask? well, the railways have introduced a side middle berth. So now you have another reason not to take those crammed side berths.

Just to get a better idea of what I am saying. Imagine you are on a side lower berth and about two yards from your face there is another berth. The side upper has been pushed further up to make space for the new berth.

Fact number two, if want the bedding which you receive in an A/C coach you have to pay for it. The fee is RS 25/-.

Now comes the fact that disturbs me the most, the number of tickets available in tatkal for Garib Rath is nearly 40% of the total. I do not know how many tickets are normally to be given under tatkal ? But on train that is meant for the “Aam Admi” 40% of tickets priced at nearly twice the normal rate (Rs 824/-).

Now judge for yourself is this Garib Rath a train for the “Aam Admi”? But lets also give credit where it is due, our honorable minister for railways. As the Indian railways has also learned the tricks of the trade when it comes to profit making. The Garib Rath, you will feel Garib when you get of it.

May be we may have to soon pay for this too.