Spanish PM sets sights on World Cup after Euro 2008 win

MADRID (AFP) — Prime Minister Jose Luis Rodriguez Zapatero is dreaming of glory for Spain at the 2010 World Cup in South Africa after his side beat Germany 1-0 to win Euro 2008, its first major title in over 40 years.

“They deserved to win and this is only the beginning. The best is yet to come. We have to go for the World Cup now,” he told private Spanish television Cuatro from Vienna, Austria after congratulating the squad.

“I am happy, really happy. Its a privilege because I believe I am the first premier of the democratic era who has presided over a title win. My generation had the right to enjoy seeing its national team win a championship like this,” he added.

Spain last lifted the European Cup in 1964, when right-wing General Francisco Franco ruled the country with an iron grip, with victory over the former USSR in what was its only triumph at a major tournament to date.

Spain was ranked fourth in the world by FIFA before the Euro 2008 final while Germany was ranked fifth.

Source: http://afp.google.com/

Spain ecstatic at Euro 2008 win

Thousands of euphoric Spanish fans have been celebrating in Madrid after their football team won Euro 2008, beating Germany 1-0 in the final.

Fernando Torres’ goal gave Spain their first major trophy in 44 years.

The capital was awash with the red and gold national colours as fans draped in flags danced and sang in the streets.

The BBC’s Steve Kingstone in Madrid describes noisy scenes of jubilation in the Plaza Colon, where thousands of people gathered.

‘Works of art’

Spanish newspapers revelled in the victory.

“We are the Champions” crowed the Marca and AS dailies on Monday morning.

Coach Luis Aragones was praised for sidelining some top stars, and deciding to field a young side.

“Aragones has been the hero, the saviour, the key figure in the success,” the Sport daily proclaimed.

AS used lofty language to hail the Spanish triumph.

It said football “has evolved over a century and a half. This team is at the apex of this development and has won with a succession of works of art”.

Spanish Prime Minister Jose Luis Rodriguez Zapatero was at the stadium and visited the team in their changing room afterwards.

“It’s a privilege to be able to be here,” he said.

“But this is only the beginning, there is more to come. The World Cup is next.”

All-night party

Our correspondent says that the victory is seen as a major triumph for the young Spanish team, and the championship has in many ways been a unifying event, in a country that is politically and regionally divided.

In the past autonomous regions such as Catalonia and the Basque Country have traditionally been reluctant to support the national team.

The enduring image of the tournament, he says, will be King Juan Carlos embracing Spain’s goalkeeper and captain Iker Casillas as he accepted the trophy in Vienna.

In Madrid hundreds of police struggled to keep traffic moving as fans spilled out of the city’s main square into restaurants and bars for a night of partying.

Police made 52 arrests, and one 40-year-old Spanish fan was found dead in the morning – it is assumed he fell and bashed his head while drunk, the AFP news agency reported.

“It’s so many years since we even got past the quarter-finals, and now we’ve won. I can’t believe it,” Dani, 19, a student from Madrid told AFP.

“We are the best, and now we’re ready to win the World Cup,” Joaquin, 48, said. He and his family travelled to the capital from the western city of Salamanca.

The excitement had been growing throughout the day as fans gathered in the Plaza Colon amid soaring temperatures, to watch the match broadcast live from Vienna on giant television screens.

They are likely to return to the square later on Monday, for an expected victory parade by the Spanish players.

Spain last won the European championship in 1964 with victory over the former USSR – its only previous triumph at a major tournament.

Source: http://news.bbc.co.uk/

The risers and the faders

VIENNA: And so we reached the final curtain of Euro 2008, which reached out to a wider global audience than one continent was designed to expect and no doubt banked a heftier financial profit than its predecessors.

In sporting terms, the grand finale gave us Spanish flair versus German order. Olé for Spain, a true soccer nation at last making whole the sum of its considerably fine parts. Germany is an old friend, persevering despite this being far from its most accomplished collage of talents and its getting to the last night in spite of some bad nights.

That, in a way, was a reflection of the tournament as a whole: Its standards fluctuated, its weather was challenging, with ferocious downpours on some nights and sapping heat and humidity on others.

The championship sustained its enthusiasm to the end despite the early, inevitable fall of host nations that on balance are both better with skis beneath their feet or – in Roger Federer’s case – with a racket in hand and grass beneath the feet. But this was as tricky as a slalom race, because the two hosts are neighbors with different currencies, largely different languages and differences in culture.

Some Swiss citizens let it be known at the outset that they hoped soccer euphoria would not disrupt the tranquillity of their lifestyle. Some Austrians, far too young to recall sepia-tone memories of when Austria was great at soccer, lament that Euro 2008 put opera and music on hold for a whole month.

However, they reap some windfall in terms of tourism, and, if they were so inclined, they could share with us the lesson of sport that it need not take a lifetime for “new” soccer powers to rise and old ones fade.

The faders were France, which really never arrived, and Italy, which did not stay. They may have been No. 1 and 2 at the World Cup only two hot summers ago, but by bringing predominantly over-age teams, the French wilted from the kickoff and the Italians reverted to a mass defense that, thankfully, had no longevity in this tournament.

Who, then, left the mark of real progress on the event?

Simple answer: Turkey and Russia.

The Turks, until they ran out of players through a combination of suspensions and injuries, made comebacks in round after round reminding us that if you combine genuine technical ability with never-say-die spirit, there are few giants out there that will trample upon you. Underlying that is the message to those who follow the game that investing in youth, grooming teams through almost a decade and a half toward this peak, was a worthwhile progression.

Russia? Maybe the almost mythical powers of Guus Hiddink, a peripatetic Dutchman who has succeeded in coaching his own nation, then South Korea, then Australia and now Russia, took the plaudits. But what we saw, and what we will go on seeing, is that the injection of gas and oil riches into mainstream sport is giving that vast nation its due place among European – and soon world – soccer.

We might look at Euro 2008 and conclude that it was better, overall, than 2004.

There, the victory by Greece, while obviously historic and an important landmark to its people, was predominantly a triumph of tactics over style. It truly was remarkable that Otto Rehhagel, a septuagenarian German, was able to organize the Greeks against their nature to put up a wall of defense that nobody could scale.

Here, they could. Greece went home as early as Switzerland and Austria – and France. Turkey became the “new Greece” in so far as it threatened to linger all the way to the final.

It fell, but only just, to a last-minute German strike in its semifinal. But Turkey’s 2008 is likely to outlive the Greek 2004. Turkey is a nation that, less than 20 years ago, appeared so naïve in soccer that it lost, 8-0, 8-0, to England in two World Cup qualifying matches.

More humiliated than one can recall any nation being blitzed by another, Turkey came back from there to stand, at this moment, above the English.

England, it may have been noticed – and surely it was clear from the lack of crowd problems its hordes lamentably bring – was not a participant. But how did Turkey come to eclipse, for however short a time, its conquerors?

The motivational powers of the national coach, Fatih Terim, can be saluted, although he at times went overboard in verbally assailing match officials. Also, players like Nihat Kahveci, Tuncay Sanli, Hamit Altintop and young Arda Turan demonstrated that rare combination of innate talent and fervor.

Source: http://www.iht.com/

Melancholy end to Germany’s Euro 2008 party

BERLIN (AFP) — Germany’s three-week-long Euro 2008 party ended with a whimper on Sunday as throngs of colourful supporters headed home forlornly after defeat to Spain, but looking ahead to the 2010 World Cup.

“How are we supposed to feel? We lost the match but we are still European vice champions, the second best team in Europe,” said Yves, 24, as he left the “Fan Mile” where 600,000 supporters had watched the match in central Berlin.

“The Germans could have made better use of the chances they had and the (Spanish) goal was just a defensive error … But we are still European vice champions.”

“We have to get up early tomorrow so I don’t think we are going to go and party now … But if we had won we would have phoned up work and told them we were not coming in.”

But Fred was already over the defeat and looking to the future.

“We were third in the World Cup, now second in the European Championship. But the next World Cup we are going to win,” the 25-year-old predicted.

German city centres had been raucous seas of flags, wigs and Hawaiian-style necklaces – all in the German black, red and gold – with 72 percent of fans predicting victory, according to a poll in the Bild am Sonntag paper.

Huge crowds had turned out under sunny skies to cheer “Deutschland! Deutschland!” in an orgy of flag-waving national pride in a country now much more comfortable with patriotism ever since the 2006 World Cup in Germany.

In all, 85 percent of the country’s 82 million population had been expected to follow the match, according to a survey in the Bild am Sonntag newspaper, bringing the country to a standstill.

German automakers like Daimler, Volkswagen and Audi shut down production during the game so that their workers could follow it.

But after the spectacular quarter-final defeat over Portugal and the lucky escape against Turkey in the semis, what Bild called the “Wunder von Wien” was no wonder of Vienna.

Fernando Torres scored the only goal of the game in the first half as football’s perennial underachievers ended their 44-year-drought in major international football championships.

Germans started well, with Miroslav Klose missing a glorious opportunity after just four minutes, but then Spain soon started to take control and on 33 minutes Torres put Spain ahead with a moment of sublime quality.

Germany had their chances in the second half but Spain remained dangerous and held their nerve to win the championship 1-0.

“We were bad, that’s all. It was utterly deserved. The Spanish played better than us, we had no defence,” 41-year-old Marwan, his face painted in the national colours, told AFP in Berlin.

The “Fan Mile” in Berlin emptied swiftly after the game, leaving the few small groups of Spanish fans to come together and celebrate, chanting “Viva Espana!” and waving flags.

Chancellor Angela Merkel, who was shown literally jumping for joy in Basel when the winning goal against Turkey hit the back of the net on Wednesday, was in Vienna for the match along with President Horst Koehler and other ministers.

Merkel became a regular in the stands during the World Cup, and she has even taken to giving the players some motherly advice. Her spokesman had to keep her informed of the score by text message after an EU summit clashed with the Portugal quarter-final.

A parade has been organised in central Berlin for Monday for the players – despite the defeat – and the city authorities have asked schools to give pupils the afternoon off so they can attend.

“It is very important for us that the team will be greeted by its supporters back in Germany. Berlin has become like a second home to us since the 2006 World Cup,” Germany coach Joachim Loew had said before the game.

With only just over 100,000 Spaniards living in Germany, it was perhaps no surprise that Spanish fans were hard to find in Berlin.

But there were a few, and they were delighted – if a little uneasy being so small in number in a sea of German fans.

“We are so happy. We didn’t expect that. It is wonderful, it is just wonderful,” 22-year-old Anna from Barcelona told AFP in English. “We just don’t know where we can go and make the fiesta.”

Source: http://afp.google.com/

Guus Hiddink is one of the best . . . isn’t he?

Arsène Wenger once told me that there was only one way to judge how good a manager is: give each one in a league the same sum of money, tell him to assemble a team and then see who is top at the end of the season.

Alas, because we cannot do that, we have to rely on subjective tools. And even those are imperfect. A modicum of media savvy and a dash of spin can make anyone look better or worse than they are. Let me prove it to you.

Guus Hiddink is one of the best managers in the game

You need only to see his teams play to realise that he is one of the shrewdest tactical minds in the game. And he is a phenomenal motivator as well, a man who gives players the self-belief that enables them to overachieve.

But do not take my word for it. Look at his record. His first managerial stint at a big club was with PSV Eindhoven in 1987. He took over in March, they won the title in May. The next year they did the treble, winning the Dutch Cup and European Cup as well as the league. And the next season they did the double. What more do you want?

He went to Valencia – new league, new country – and took them into the top four two years in a row. Later, he went to Real Madrid and they won the World Club Cup. He returned to PSV in 2002 for four seasons, winning three league titles. And in 2004-05 he took them to the Champions League semi-finals, going out on the away goals rule to AC Milan, the eventual champions.

And that is just as club level. Some of his best work has come with national teams. He took Holland to the quarter-finals of Euro ’96 and the semi-finals of the 1998 World Cup, both times going out on penalties. In 2002 he took South Korea to the semi-finals of the World Cup. And four years later he helped Australia to qualify for the World Cup for the first time, getting them into the knockout phase.

Plus there was Euro 2008. First he helped a mediocre Russia team to qualify for the tournament ahead of England, then he took them to the semi-finals, knocking out heavily favoured Holland along the way.

Hiddink clearly is a serial overachiever and one of the best in the business. Or there is the counterview . . .

Guus Hiddink is a self-promoting opportunist

There is a reason why one Dutch commentator dubbed him Guus Geluk (after the Disney character, Gladstone Gander, Donald Duck’s far luckier cousin). Like Forrest Gump, he is in the right place at the right time.

For a start, you need to take those PSV titles with a grain of salt. PSV had won two on the bounce before he took over, so all he did was keep things going. And besides, with all due respect, Dutch titles are a dime a dozen.

That is why good Dutch managers go abroad and win things. And Hiddink is not one of them. He spent four seasons at Valencia and Fenerbahçe and never finished higher than fourth. OK, he won the World Club Cup with Real Madrid. Big deal. He was sacked halfway through the season, that is how bad they were. And how about his stint at Real Betis? Three months of futility with a team who finished eighteenth.

You want to talk about his exploits in Europe? OK, he did win the European Cup 20 years ago, but that was when it was a lot easier to do so, when there was only one club from each of the big leagues. And, by the way, that season he did not win a single game after the second round, only a series of boring draws. In fact, in his entire career he has won only one European Cup or Champions League match from the quarter-final stage onwards. Is this is your definition of genius?

But I am glad that you have brought up the national team because it is good to debunk a few more myths. He had one of the most talented Holland teams in history and won only one match out of four at Euro ’96. And at France ’98 he did knock out Yugoslavia and Argentina on the way to the semi-finals. He did it thanks to late, late goals, which may help to explain his Guus Geluk moniker.

South Korea? OK, you need a barrelful of salt for that one. Or have you forgotten the refereeing against Portugal, Spain and Italy? Three red cards, two penalties and a dozen or so dubious officiating decisions . . .

As for getting Australia to the World Cup, effectively he had to overcome only one team to do it (and, even then, it took penalties). Once there, what did the Socceroos do? They beat Japan – the only match they won in the tournament.

Russia? Don’t be deceived by their run to the Euro 2008 semi-finals. They won only two of their five games in 90 minutes – against Greece and Sweden. Oh, and before you say how these are great results because Russia and South Korea are poor teams whom Hiddink turned into competitive sides, consider instead that two of the past four Uefa Cup winners are Russian and that South Korea have qualified for every World Cup since 1986 (which is more than can be said for France, England and Holland).

The bottom line is that Hiddink’s greatest strength is self-promotion. With the complicity of a lazy and gullible media, he cultivates the image of a footballing sage when in fact his results indicate the opposite. The point of all this? We know and we don’t know. We don’t really see managers, except through the distorted lens of our own prejudices and bias, their own self-promotion (or lack thereof) and the cacophony of spin. And spin, as I hopefully showed above, can make someone such as Hiddink look like a visionary or an opportunist.

Source: http://www.timesonline.co.uk/