Word: tournamente
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...risk of committing the cardinal sin for a Spanish footballer: being boring. In its semifinal against Russia, Spain had sat back for the first half, maybe to see if the Russians had anything new to offer since Spain destroyed them 4-1 in a group game earlier in the tournament. Nope. So five minutes after the interval, Xavi Hernadez breached the Russian line for a goal, and soon after everyone in the once-unlucky yellow shirts poured through. Spain waltzed home 3-0, leaving the Russians clueless and out of breath...
...Despite his team's best efforts, German coach Joachim Löw could see that a new standard was being set. "We have to recognize the high quality of the Spanish players," he said. "They played very well during the whole tournament. When it comes to ball possession they are extremely strong.when they do have opportunities they are really dangerous...
...hope for the semi on Thursday was that Spain and Russia would stage a drag race up and down the pitch in Vienna. Russia had run roughshod over Holland - the odds-on favorite and tournament glamour boys - in the quarters, pouring into the Dutch end like the relentless rains that seemed to show up at every kickoff of Euro 2008. We learned to pronounce the names of strikers Roman Pavlyuchenko and Andre Arshavin (I'm still working on Diniyar Bilyaletdinov). The Russians had gotten progressively better, and their swarming attacks, their pure athleticism, were too much for Sweden and Greece...
...quite understandable that Germany ultimately prevailed, 3-2, against a team that lit up the tournament. The high-flying Turkish circus only folded its tent in the 90th minute when Germany's left fullback Philipp Lahm collected Thomas Hitzlsperger's return pass through four Turkish players and slammed the winner by Rüstü Reçber. It was one of the few moments that this disciplined team broke down. Terim may rant on the sideline as though somebody put tacks in his trainers, but his team never varied from its approach and never, ever, stopped working...
...vulnerable. So it seemed almost inevitable that Germany would strike with a long ball to Miroslav Klose in the 79th minute that Rüstü completely botched and Klose didn't. His header put Germany in front, but as it has been most of the tournament, falling behind is merely a signal to Turkey to start the big finale. So it seemed just as inevitable that the answer would come soon enough, in the 86th minute. Once again, Sarioglu undressed Lahm on the outside and rolled in a cross that Semih Senturk steered past Lehmann. This time, though, Lahm...