Word: tournamente
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...while the Czech Republic gave testimony to that sporting proverb that sometimes it's better to be lucky than good. Spain's finishing was nothing less than exquisite, raising expectations yet again that this will be their year. And Holland, stamping itself as the hottest team of the tournament, showed a little bit of everything in a 3-0 dismantling of Italy that had controversy, luck, skill, star performances and a total team effort...
Sure, it's just the first round, but in this kind of tournament the first game sets the table. Which means, alas, that Austria and Switzerland, the co-hosts, are likely to go hungry. "That was a really hard loss," a Swiss friend e-mailed after his "Nati" went down, gamely, 1-0, to a competent if unimpressive Czech side to open the tourney. Too bad. Basel was ready to party...
...Germany was soon to be forgotten after Spain and Holland set the tournament alight. Perhaps it wasn't surprising that Spain would get off to a good start. Finishing tournaments has been the Spanish weakness. It may still be. Against a supposedly rising Russia the Spanish frontrunners David Villa and Fernando Torres ran rampant in a 4-1 win. Torres set up the first goal by undressing Russian centerback Denis Kolodin and serving Villa with a gilt-edged pass to make it 1-0 at 20 minutes. It would be the beginning of a long night for the Russian back...
...scaled-down Euro2008. With just over a million tickets available for all 31 matches (a third of them for the general public), there clearly weren't enough to go around, although it does seem like there are a million Dutch fans in Berne. There are some benefits to smaller tournament. It's certainly tidier. The opening ceremony in Basel's St. Jakob-Park was a blessedly short 13 minutes - some alp horns, a little yodeling, some fun with geography and see you later...
...problem with the high-five is that it can occasionally be hard to pull off. Just ask Tiger Woods and his caddie, who botched a high-five on national TV during the 2005 U.S. Masters Golf Tournament. Perhaps this is what makes the fist bump so unique. Though simple in motion, its meaning is far more complicated. In any other context, a clenched fist would be perceived as hostile...