Netherlands

What happened… They look indominitable. Gus Hiddink has officially become Holland’s biggest traitor tonight and proven that Russia have far brighter a-future than L’Oranje. I’m not going to write much about it tonight, because, quite frankly I’m devestated that the team i’ve been living for the last few months have crashed out so ignominiously - but you have to hand it to the Russians, who’s hard-working spirit is really summed up by Sergei Semak, who bossed the midfield all night!

Take a look at his heat-map below, provided by the CPI.

Days after conquering the group of death with a mighty sweep of their orange fists, The Netherlands are coming up against a new foe, this time in the form of Gus Hiddink’s rejuvenated Russia - who since they were thrashed in the first game of the tournament by flamboyant Spain, have been lookingly steadily better and better as the tournament has progressed. Bookies have this penned in for a clear Dutch win - but will the old curse of ‘throwing it all away’ come back to haunt Netherlands… Sure everything looks good at the moment, with squad unity seemingly at a high… But what do the stats say?

Well - things look good for the Russians in terms of work-rate, and of the eight teams left in the competition, Russia (as a whole) have covered the most ground after the group stages. Coupled with that, three Russians occupy the individual top 10 in terms of industry (CPI table below), with midfielder Sergei Semak topping the chart. Congratulatons sir!

However, it is going to take all their energy and stamina to hold the Netherlands at bay, and it is also worth of noting that of the final 8 teams, it is Russia who conceded the most shots on target during the group stages, a massive 22, and this is likely to get Van Basten’s red hot strikers champing at the bit!

Tom thinks 3-1 Holland. Jack agrees wholeheartedly! And for more information, take a look at this irreverant preview over on ’scuffed balls’.

Yes, in time for the final of Euro 2008, you could be wearing this wonderfully neutral shirt (unless Russia make it, or Germany, in which case you’ll be wearing the right colour). All you need to do is answer an insanely easy question and there could be one winging its way direct to your door. High quality cotton, this plain white tee is bordered with emerald green trim. With a wonderful Castrol logo on the left breast, this exclusive shirt will leave you the envy of all your friends. Their faces will literally be the same colour as the edging. Maybe.

The Castrol Index is running a Player of the Tournament competition, where you could win tickets to the Final of Euro 2008, simply by picking your favourite player so far. Handily, we’re assured that the winner will be chosen in advance of the final match, so you could find yourself sitting in Vienna come Sunday 29^th, watching the best teams thrash it out for glory.

So why not head over there and vote for your favourite, then drop us an email telling us who you voted for, and you could win two competitions for the price of one! Entries close Wednesday 25th June.

Today’s featured site is EPL Talk, based across the pond but very much focussed on the Premier League ins and outs. The big boss, and our pal, aptly monikered The Gaffer, was good enough to take some tickets off our hands and was able to witness first-hand the awesome power of the Netherlands as they destroyed the Italians 3-0 in their opening match.

We took the nice man to one side and had a few quiet words with him, to gain an insight into who he thinks will win the tournament and find out why Archie Gemmill is better than Pele.

Who is going to taste the glory of Euro 2008 final victory?
It has to be the Dutch. Holland has the most passionate fans. Plus they’re the most clinical in front of goal. Their two goals scored from counter attacks against Italy were mindblowing. And they have the strength on the bench if any of their star players get injured

Which is your favourite goal of all time? And could you think of anywhere better to watch it than the Slainte Irish Pub?
Of all time? It has to be Archie Gemmill’s mazy run for Scotland against Holland in the 1978 World Cup. Instead of watching it a pub, I would have loved to have been on the terraces for that one with the Tartan Army in Argentina. Although if I remember correctly, that tournament was freezing cold, so no kilts for me. Besides, I’m Welsh.

Who has been your player of the tournament thus far?
This is a bit cheeky, but my favorite player has been the one that I picked to excel at this tournament before Euro 2008 began and that’s Wesley Sneijder. His goals against Italy and France were two of the best of the tournament. Plus his delivery of passes and throughballs for Holland this tournament have been simply incredible.

Tom thinks Ronaldo is the best player in the tournament, whilst Jack thinks he has been a let down thus far? Who’s right?
Ronaldo still seems like he’s adjusting to his different role on the pitch for Portugal, so as a result, we haven’t seen the best of him yet. For Man United, he continually switches from wing to wing, but he doesn’t have that same freedom for Portugal.

Why should people make sure that www.epltalk.com is top of their blogroll at all times?

It’s the only blog that focuses exclusively on the Premier League. For the month of June, we’ve added Euro 2008 coverage, but for the remainder of the year we bring readers the news and analysis regarding the Premiership. The twist is that we also write about TV, radio and internet coverage of the Premier League, which you can’t anywhere else.

9 points. 9 goals, and 1 conceded against the run of play… This has been a majestic ride for those indomitable Dutch, and whatever happens in the latter stages of the tournament - they can safely say that they have come, saw and conquered the group of death. Gloriously at that! Not a lot to say about this game, apart from the fact that plucky Romania just didn’t really have the firepower to compete here. But the Dutch second string certainly did. Robben, Van Persie et al all in the second string - and making waves for the first.

Just look at these overall stats from the CPI to see how much the Netherlands dominated here… And Sweden/Russia are likely to be shaking in their boots!

Responsible for covering almost 6,200 metres in the first half (that’s over 1,200 metres more than the lumbering Khalid Boulahrouz you might be interested to know), and showing the kind of never-say-die attitude that they love at Inverness Caledonian Thistle, euro2008statics.com favourite Marius Niculae, who’s been regularly in contact with the boys from Cally, is really getting himself about tonight. OK, so the Netherlands have dominated the game thus far, but the tenacious Marius and his teammates have held firm, with dynamite challenges, strong blocks - and they’re not short of a quality Adrian Mutu effort upfront either.

However, it’s Marius we’re focussing on today - and there’s only 45 minutes left for him and his countrymen to score and guarantee passage to the second round. Here’s his quite frankly mighty impressive heat map (courtesy of the CPI) below… Oh, and for anyone not watching the game - if you hear a tumultuous rumbling coming from North of the border, you can pretty much guarantee that Marius has scored.

Proof once again that it isn’t just the eyes of Europe that are glued (well, kind of, unless it’s Greece vs. Russia, which we watched out of politeness) to the current tournament being played out in Austria and Switzerland, we bring you news and opinion this fine morning from around the world.

Du Guodong, the editor of China View, brings us news that Leo Beenhakker has refused to step down as national coach of Poland following his team’s frankly lacklustre performance at Euro 2008. His extended contract saw his job safe until 2010, but that was signed before the tournament, and rumours abound that he might be receiving a Polish equivalent of a P45 before long.

The blog of The World Game, Australian-based sports show, reports that Italian coach Donadoni is expecting the Netherlands to do the Azzurri a favour and defeat Romania tonight, allowing his side to go through. They report that Donadoni has said if he was to put himself in a Dutch player’s boots, he wouldn’t want to be asked to lose against Romania, just to prevent Italy or France going through, going as far as to say he would be ‘humiliated’.

Sulmaan Ahmad, from Goal.com, holds a different view however. He reckons that Donadoni is going to make ‘wholesale changes’ to his side tonight, which could gift the French an easy ride through to the next round. This replay of the World Cup final revolves around the result in the other game, but literally any outcome is still possible, including a penalty shootout. Sulmaan thinks the ‘bragging rights’ for this one are too big to see a dull 0-0 played out, so roll on the goalfest!

Read the small print! 2010! 10, I said!