Premier League - Eurowatch: Quarter-finals

Eurosport - Mon, 23 Jun 12:48:00 2008

Cesc Fabregas provided the decisive moment in Spain's otherwise dreadful quarter-final against Italy.

FOOTBALL 2008 Euro 2008 Spain Fabregas - 0

Spain 0-0 Italy (aet; Spain win 4-2 on penalties)

Not one for the purists. Or the armchair neutral. Or the fans, even.

A poor match was stifled by Italy's negativity and the two English-based players who featured had limited impact.

Liverpool striker Fernando Torres is having a typically frustrating tournament, his international form so far failing to mirror the heroics performed at club level.

El Nino was again hauled off before the hour after huffing and puffing but never coming close to blowing Italy's casa down.

He was replaced by Santi Cazorla, who was accompanied onto the pitch by Arsenal's Fabregas.

Fabregas's contribution was more positive, his driving runs and clever passing making Spain at least look more likely to score.

And he had the final say when he coolly slotted home Spain's fourth and final penalty to send La Furia Roja into the semis.

No current Italy player is based in England, although Roma's Simone Perrotta - who was as disappointing as his team-mates - is English by birth, Christian Panucci briefly "played" for Chelsea and Gianluca Zambrotta has, um, Welsh cousins. Or something.

Netherlands 1-3 Russia (aet)

It was a bad day for Premier League fans as four of its players were involved in Netherlands' 3-1 defeat to the emerging force of Russia.

The quartet of Edwin van der Sar, Andre Ooijer, Dirk Kuyt and Robin van Persie were stunned by the movement, skill and determination of the nation that pipped England to qualification for the tournament.

Manchester United shot-stopper Van der Sar was the only truly blameless party in a subdued Dutch performance, and indeed the giant 'keeper prevented Russia coach Guus Hiddink from tallying a cricket score against his home country.

The first Russia goal was a close-range finish from Roman Pavlyuchenko, the second a cheeky flick from an impossible angle by Dmitry Torbinskiy after a clever far-post lob from Andrei Arshavin, and the third saw the outstanding Arshavin fire a low rocket through his legs after the Dutch defence mistakenly stepped up for offside from a throw-in.

Liverpool forward Kuyt, meanwhile, was poor. He barely touched the ball and was taken off at half-time.

Replacement Van Persie fared little better, although the Arsenal striker won a couple of free-kicks for his side.

Blackburn stopper Ooijer worked tirelessly at the back, but his defensive colleagues struggled as a collective, particularly when faced with the Russians' superior fitness in extra-time.

Oddly for a Euro 2008 match, not one of the Russia squad is based in the UK, although expect a bidding war for cash-rich Zenit St Petersburg playmaker Arshavin after his spectacular impact in the two games played since he returned from a ban.

Croatia 1-1 Turkey (aet; Turkey win 3-1 on penalties)

Phew, where to start? Joy and heartbreak for two Premier League players - and an English-born winger - as Turkey beat Croatia.

In the first Euro 2008 match to go to extra time and penalties, the unfancied Turks triumphed over the entertaining Croats in a heart-stopping finale.

One of Turkey's more impressive performers in a hard-fought performance, Middlesbrough forward Tuncay Sanli was used in a workmanlike role on the left of striker Nihat.

Along with former Sheffield United winger Colin Kazim-Richards, he worked the flanks and did his fair share of defending.

Tuncay also went close with a drive from the edge of the box but did not feature in the penalty drama after Semih Senturk dramatically equalised in the 122nd minute.

Portsmouth midfielder Niko Kranjcar was relatively quiet, while future Tottenham playmaker Luka Modric pulled the strings and drew the plaudits for Croatia.

Modric created Ivan Klasnic's 119th-minute goal after a superb performance behind the striker which saw him create clear-cut opportunities for Kranjcar, Ivica Olic - three times - and Mladen Petric.

But Tottenham's record signing sent the first penalty of the shootout well wide as his side crashed out of the tournament despite creating the best chances in the match.

Portugal 2-3 Germany

Germany triumphed in the first Euro 2008 quarter-final, and there were conflicting fortunes for the Premier League players involved.

Chelsea's Michael Ballack scored what proved to be the winning goal when he headed home Bastian Schweinsteiger's left-wing free-kick with half an hour to play, and he turned in a captain's performance despite the absence of his usual midfield partner in crime, Torsten Frings, through injury.

Former Arsenal goalkeeper Jens Lehmann may have been beaten twice, but he stood no chance with either goal and otherwise displayed an impressive command of his penalty area, particularly as Portugal upped their attacking efforts in the game's closing stages.

New Chelsea signing Jose Bosingwa was arguably Portugal's best player, flying forward from right-back on regular occasions and teeing up Joao Moutinho for an early chance that the Sporting Lisbon midfielder really should have scored.

Bosingwa's tireless running caused German left-back Philipp Lahm more problems than any conventional right winger in the tournament so far, but his exploits on the right flank were in direct contrast to the efforts of new Chelsea clubmate Paulo Ferreira on the other.

Ferreira was caught out of position for Schweinsteiger's first goal, and although he was clearly pushed by Ballack prior to the third goal, he had nonetheless allowed himself to get caught underneath the ball.

Ricardo Carvalho, the senior member of the Portugal back four, was incapable of instilling order in the backline, but did produce some vital interceptions.

Manchester United winger Nani produced a lively showing when he was introduced as a second-half substitute, getting on the ball as often as possible and setting up Helder Postiga's late goal with a fine cross from the left.

But it was the performance of his clubmate Cristiano Ronaldo that was the biggest disappointment from a Portuguese perspective.

It was his shot that led to Nuno Gomes's goal towards the end of the first half, but as the game progressed his influence waned dramatically, and Real Madrid must be wondering whether the player they are trying to entice to the Bernabeu really can be called the best player in the world when he disappears from matches like this just when his side needs him most.

Reda Maher / Tom Williams / Eurosport

Comment 54 - 73 of 73

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  1. IKER IS THE HERO WITHOUT A DOUBT NOT JSU THE 2 PENALTY SAVES BUT THE 2 MARVELOUS SAVES IN THE GAME WAT KEPT ITALY FROM CLINCHIN A 1-0 WINAS WE ALL NO THEY LIKE 2 DO ALOT..CASILLAS IS THE BEST KEEPER IN THE WORLD STATISTICS SHOW FROM THE LAST 3 SEASON HES BIN ON TOP FOR AND DESERVES SUM CREDIT SO WELL DONE FOR ALL THOE PEOPLE WHO NOTICED THAT....CASILLAS NEVA FAILS 2 PERFORM ON THE BIG STAGE WEN IT COUNTS HES ALWAYS THERE AND 2 TOP THAT ALL OF HE SHOWED HIS TEAM MATES WT THEY WANTED OF HIM HE A A TRU GREAT KEEPER AND A GREAT CAPTAIN OF SPAIN IF OT 1 OF THE BEST THEY HAVE HAD I HOPE HIS DRIVE AND DETERMINATION TAKES SPAIN ALL THE WAY :):):):):) NO 1 IKER CASILLAS BUFFON HAS HAD HS DAYS THERES A NEW KEEPER ON THE BLOCK

    From we8barca_07champs, on Mon 23 Jun 2:22PM

  2. Turkey is the worst.They are lucky and didnt deserve to win any of their games.They cant do what Greece did.HELLAS!

    From tzionis, on Mon 23 Jun 1:47PM

  3. totally agree with yoon3ek, eurosport screwed up big time on this reporting!
    on the 1-hour mark, iniesta & xavi were the players taken off... a move which i quietly disagreed (well i watched the live telecast at 3am in my living room ALONE while my wife slept soundly lol).. at that time i thot iniesta was better kept on pitch, instead david-a-dozen-shots-but-none-on-target-silva shuld hav been the one taken out if aragones stil insisted on a double substitution...
    and of course later i jumped up off my sofa in disbelief when aragones took out torres and put in guiza! grrrr!!!
    again i agree with yoon3ek; way i see it, aragones didnt fully know how to get his midfielders to feed torres the correct way and exploit the young kid's full potential unlike what liverpool had been able to do in the just-concluded epl (just like how england didnt really emulate how liverpool team exploited emile heskeys' aerial strength when he was at his peak)... pitiful!
    all said, i thot the game appeared like a close contest not bcos italy put up a better performance than they did during the prelim round, but rather it was spain who flopped in their performance...
    but not as bad as how holland flopped tho! they were lifeless! from defense right up to forwards, the orange were simply without juice! yeah only van der sar gave a commendable performance from that entire squad; if i were an avid believer of the theory of conspiracy, i wuld hav quickly jumped up and blamed that the rest of the dutch squad were paid huge money to lose!!
    - stil rooting for spain -viva le espana!
    - long-time fan of liverpool -you'll never walk alone!
    - average joe -kuala lumpur, malaysia :-)

    From juan z, on Mon 23 Jun 11:57AM

  4. WTF? Is it so hard to give Iker some credit?

    The man did very, very well against Italy, and no one except vera_cotuna seems to agree.

    It was IKER that was the Hero, not Fabregas.

    Don't get me wrong, Fabregas played pretty well, but it alll came down to Iker. And when he needed to perform at his best, he did nothing but that.

    From tennis_is_kewl, on Mon 23 Jun 11:13AM

  5. SPANIA WIN I HOPE THAT SPANIA TAKE THE FINAL

    From tamara t, on Mon 23 Jun 11:12AM

  6. Too Bad the orange boys went out the way they did. They were thoroghly squeezed out by the rampagings Russians and they indeed taste so sweet on the Russian's lips in victory. Men i was so disappointed to see the team i strongly rooted for crash out in that manner. They will live to play another time.
    Good bye Italy, I never gave them a chance, they just sqeezed their way to the quarters. Let go off the old boys and the coach, Lippi is a better coach.

    From mosopebabalola, on Mon 23 Jun 10:36AM

  7. This is bullshit!
    No one sais anything about iker?! Fabregas was one of the 4 who managed to score the penalty and because he was the last one he is the hero? @#$%! What about casillas who saved 2?! huh?! yea, you say that's his job... cesc's job is to score...
    Iker was THE HERO with the 2 penalties saved + other parades during the match!

    From vera_cotuna, on Mon 23 Jun 10:26AM

  8. this article is packed with errors. Torres wasnt replaced at the hour mark. that was Iniesta and Xavi. He was replaced near the very end of the 90 by Dani Guiza. Who writes this rubbish.?

    it's easy to see the huge difference in how the spanish team plays compared to liverpool fc. at the club level he can rely on quick incisive passing while "Arogantes" as I like to call him, insists on the spanish midfield passing the ball around until the oppisiotn falls asleep. it is immensely boring and Torres works hard but gets very little. his runs aften make space for the likes of Silva and Villa but theyt wasted so many chances to get in and shoot. anyway they've progressed and that's hat matters. but it remains, whoever wrote this article either didnt watch the game or did so drunk..!

    From , on Mon 23 Jun 10:07AM

  9. dorin c,, The quartet are Edwin van der Sar, Andre Ooijer, Dirk Kuyt and Robin van Persie

    From zaizand, on Sun 22 Jun 5:43PM

  10. Russia v Turkey for final

    From Yaw B, on Sun 22 Jun 3:05PM

  11. SINCE WHEN A "QUARTET" HAS THREE COMPONENTS????

    From dorin c, on Sun 22 Jun 12:39PM

  12. SINCE WHEN A "QUARTET" HAS THREE COMPONENTS????

    From dorin c, on Sun 22 Jun 12:37PM

  13. TO LUCKY. You are so right God Bless FOOTBALL

    From muertonumba1, on Sun 22 Jun 11:06AM

  14. Last night i saw Holland getting a big wipe on their back side and that must have really hurt them but that's football. Seeing the dutch side that played yesterday and the team that wiped everyone on there group you think this sidde is complete different side from the one that wiped Itsly and France a high margin well all the kudos goes to Hiddink who really must have done a great job with his team that never seem to be intimidates by the dutch side. A good coach don't really need to have some of the best players in the world to be able to come out with a result like that of last night but good team work makes a good team and the Russian and Turkish side have this wonderful quality.

    From lucky, on Sun 22 Jun 10:35AM

  15. Well seeing the Turks play you are like inspired and want to say they may go places but remember they beat the number 1 pick to win the tournament with a high margin so it going to be very difficult for both teams this time but let the best team win and God bless FOOTBALL

    From lucky, on Sun 22 Jun 10:23AM

  16. hey turks!other world(the big side) believes you,go,go,go!

    From zerdava, on Sat 21 Jun 11:05PM

  17. Turkey lost half of the team before the semi final.But the coach Terim never mentions this.Why?It is the pschcology man...He wants to keep the morale of the team at its highest level.By the way,Turkey had a 2-0 win over Germany in the last unofficial game they played in Antalya.Despite the injuries and the card penalties over the turkish team,they may make another magic over germany...Wish the best for this fun to watch team...

    From Ergun G, on Sat 21 Jun 2:12PM

  18. hi ronwoon:-)
    Turks have ruled the world you idiot...
    go read some history...looser:-)

    From turrco f, on Sat 21 Jun 1:53PM

  19. BIG TURKEYS are hard to roast!!! Ask any good housewives n they will tell you. So folks, be prepared, TURKEYS can rule the world because they never die!!! Only half cooked!!!

    From ronwoon, on Sat 21 Jun 1:18PM

  20. Well Turkey have done it again, the epitome of the term "comeback kings." It's a shame for the tournament though, because their victory pretty much guarantee's a place in the final for Germany, and only Brits who have placed a bet on the Germans will be happy about this. Turkey will probably have to play the coach, doctor and kit man in the semi final, because they will struggle to put a team out with their injuries and suspensions. Bloody jammy Germans. It felt just like watching England when Croatia were taking thos penalties though, without the actual heartbreak!

    From moshkenstein, on Sat 21 Jun 1:02PM
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