Image posted by the great Benit in the OleOle graphics forum. I thought I'd share it to those of you who are non-graphics forum browsers. It's hilarious, and a bit harsh for Michael Ballack. But hey, the truth hurts.

End Of Match: Russia have qualified. Sweden are out. I'm looking forward to Netherlands - Russia. Bring me Hiddink at Romania... seriously.

90': Another chance for Arshavin and Russia. They deserve the win 100%.

88': Bystrov the speedy man is coming in to replace Pavlyachanko.

88': Arshavin has another chance, should have passed it to Pavlyachenko.

82': Saenko and Pavlyanchenko are ripping apart the Swedish defense. Another chance for Pavlyachenko, but the shot is no good.

81': Pavlyachenko heads it in, the Sweedish keeper saves it. Another good chance.

80': POST hit by Russia.. what a chance!

75': Foul Kolodin on Ljungberg. Yellow card shown to the Russian.

72': Ibrahimovic header, not too dangerous from the Swede. Russia are on the attack again.

71': Akinfeev leveled by Larsson. He's okay though.

68': Saenko gets a corner out of the Swedes.

66': Arshavin fouled in the box in my opinion, nothing given.

66': Saenko goes in for Russia.

65': Yellow card for Arshavin. A bit unfair.

62': Header Mellberg, over the goal.

61': Elmander loses posession in the box. Corner Sweden.

57': Larsson tries an overhead acrobatic scissors kick. Didn't quite work out.

57': Yellow card Symak for not too rough of a foul.

57': Another attack Russia, fantastic performance!

51': What a goal again, team work from the young russians.

50': GOALLLLL ARSHAVIN!

49': Elmander gets a yellow card for shooting after being offside.

46': Game back on, hard to tell what will happen. Russia still are keen to attack.

Half Time: Half Time - Russia and Spain qualify at these scores.

45' (+1):

Sweden waste the corner right before half time.

45' (+1): Chance for Nilsson, but he doesn't put it away.

43': Shot by Ljungberg, good save by Akinfeev. Corner to follow.

41': Ooooh, another shot Pavlyachenko, poor shot.

41': And the follow-up.

40': Akinfeev deals with the corner.

39': Foul Russia. Sweden has a chance to attack slightly. Sweden get their first corner.

37': Arshavin picks it up but keeper makes the save .

37': CORNER again.

36': Another shot from long range by Russia, saved by the Swedish keeper!

36': Jesus what a chance. Pavlyachenko hits the post!

35': Corner Russia... another shot wasted.. this time by Anyukov.

34': Not much happening the past 5 minutes, Russia attacks, Sweden tries to counter attack, but no real danger to any goal.

27': Another shot Russia! I can't type his name fast enough so I won't, but great job once again by him.

26': Larsson's header hits the post, very very close. It actually hits right in the upper 90!

26': Another close one from Russia, unlucky to miss it!

24': Pass..Pass..Pass.. OWNED.

24': GOALLLLL PAVLYANCHENKOOOOOOO. RUSSIA 1-0 SWDEN!

20': Arshavin almost scores from a tough angle, it was meant to be a cross. corner again. Zhirkov gets on the end of it from the corner with a left foot shot, inches away from a goal!

19': Another terrible shot from a defending player from far out.. why?

18': Arshavin plays a perfect through ball, Zyryanov messes up the cross, but the Russians get a corner.

16': Ljungberg cross goes straight in akinfeev's hands.  Arshavin on the counter attack shoots on goal, but it goes a meter wide.

15': After 15 minutes, Sweden has had NO attacking presence yet, besides a boot in the face by Ibrahimovic.

15': Another venture in the attack by Russia, unlucky in the end.

13': Arshavin header goes wide of the goal.

12': Ljungberg roughs up Akinfeev... might be because he thinks he's cute.. but who am i to judge?

10': Kolodin shoots from far away.. I think he's still hung over from the vodka last night. Why would any defender want to shoot from that far out?

10': Ibrahimovic gets at the end of the cross, but Akinfeev has no trouble picking it up.

8': Foul Russia, not close enough for a dangerous strike at goal.

6': Arshavin makes an instant impact. Russia are playing around in the box of the Swedes.

6': Pavlyachenko tries to heel pass it instead of taking it in stride. Bad choice.

4': Corner Russia.

Before Kick Off: I hope Arshavin starts! I'll let you know when I see the lineups.

Even though Spain is playing today, the Spain - Greece game is not at all the match of the day in my opinion. I love watching smaller teams fight it out and create a show. The stage is set for the Russia - Sweden match coming in 30 minutes, a fight for qualification and pride. 

What I'm excited about today is the possibility of seeing Arshavin in action for the first time in Euro 2008. The press says that "Andrei Arshavin is available for the first time in these finals after serving a two-match ban yet there are no guarantees the FC Zenit St. Petersburg playmaker will start as Hiddink ponders possible changes to a team he believes did a "decent job" in defeating Greece 1-0 on Saturday. "There's a lack of rhythm to Arshavin's game because he hasn't played recently. He's not match-fit so I don't know if he'll start," said the coach. Yuri Zhirkov and Diniyar Bilyaletdinov are also likely to be available, despite bruised knees picked up against the deposed holders and Dmitri Torbinski is recovering from fatigue."

While Russia has players coming back from injury, Sweden is in a different dilemma. "We're not sure about Ibrahimović. We have an individual training plan for him," said Lagerbäck, already without Christian Wilhelmsson due to a hamstring problem while Niclas Alexandersson is struggling with a calf strain.

Lagerbäck also said that "Russia have a strong team offensively and we have to be very focused on that." "All their players are good; they're very strong on the left side in particular. We always prepare in a similar way. There's nothing dramatic, it's just about being ready for all the eventualities that may arise. What we need to improve on is keeping the ball in the final third. It's very difficult to say who are the favourites as it's such a decisive game. It starts at 50-50 I think."

I'll be supporting Russia in this game, although it is a bit hard for me to do so, but they've shown some good moments, a good mentality and Hiddink is a manager I respect a lot. I will also live-blog this game in the Russia vs. Sweden Match Centre on OleOle. See you there!

Latest news from De Telegraaf! The leading Dutch news source has found out that it's highly probable that both Robin Van Persie and Arjen Robben will be in the starting 11 against Romania.

According to the Dutch newspaper, the most likely starting 11 from the Netherlands will be:

Van der Sar - Melchiot, Heitinga, Bouma, De Cler - De Zeeuw, Engelaar - Van Persie, Afellay, Robben - Huntelaar

Van Basten seems to be risking a bit by starting Van Der Sar in my opinion in a game that doesn't matter at all for them. Van Persie and Robben just came back from injuries and playing the glass figurines against our rough line-up might lead to them picking up another injury. If I was him, I wouldn't risk it, but it seems like he will. 

Another Dutch publication, Algemeen Dagblad, gave their 10 reasons why the Netherlands will defeat Romania:

1. Afellay has the chance to get revenge on Mutu after Fiorentina - PSV in the Uefa cup.
2. Van Basten isn't forgetting Huntelaar anymore, and he will score a goal to repay him.
3. Van Nistelrooy wants the top scorer prize.
4. Ovidiu Petre, one of the best midfielders for Romania is injured.
5. Ogăraru, Lobonţ and Chivu don't agree on the Dutch tactics.
6. Romania has won only once against Holland.
7. Mutu will miss another penalty.
8. Sneijder also wants to be top scorer.
9. Robben tries to score from impossible positions, this time he'll try to score from a corner.
10. Stade de Suisse is a temple for the Netherlands. 

I'd say that all of those except for 1,3,8 and 9 are false. 1,3,8 and 9 won't contribute to a win. Ruud and Sneijder are on the bench, Afellay won't do anything important, like the Fiorentina game, and Robben can try to score from a corner, but it won't happen. I was expecting a bit more creativity from the Dutch press to be honest. 

Not much time left before the big games in the group of death. I'm dieing waiting for these games to begin.

My prediction: Romania 2-0 Netherlands. 

"I live in luxury. I have so many choices for the team that sometimes I don't know what to do, that's my problem." That's what Van Basten said, who will take advantage of the chance in the last game of the group to rest most of the players in the starting 11, and to test the rest of the squad. 

"I won't risk a possible injury caused by fatigue or to leave myself without a player because of bookings. Also, who is not 100% fit will not play against Romania," said Marco Van Basten to the Dutch journalists. 

These are the possible 10 players that will be rested:

Van der Sar - he is 37 years old and has played 52 games this season.
Boulahrouz - often injured and he just played 6 games at Sevilla and the fitness level is showing.
Ooijer - has a yellow card from France and could risk suspension.
Van Bronckhorst - the left defender who is 33 years old and played 45 games this season will probably be rested after the tiring sprints against France and Italy.
De Jong - he has a yellow card from the Italy game.
Van der Vaart - he is also fatigued after 54 games this season and he ran 21.16 km at Euro so far.
Sneijder - Sneijder had a long season with Real Madrid and gathered 50 games. He also ran 21 km at this Euro and is the key player for Holland and can't risk injury.
Van Nistelrooy - he came back in april after a month of absence caused by an operation on his ankle. Van Basten doesn't want to risk injury.
Robben - he is not 100% and the doctors don't want him to push it and risk another injury.
Van Persie - after two months of absence, it is unlikely that Van Basten will risk an injury on him this game that doesn't do anything for Holland. 

Taking these into account, the possible lineup could be: 

GK: Stekelenburg
DF: Melchiot, Heitinga, Bouma, De Cler
MF: De Zeeuw, Engelaar, Kuyt, Afellay
FW: Huntelaar, Jan Vennegoor of Hesselink

Insiders from the Dutch setup said that if Italy and France were eliminated, the Dutch would "rid themselves of two forces of global football, which could come back to form any time. They would avoid the probability of meeting one of them again in semi-finals."

Van Basten suggested the same thing. He was asked about the game tuesday. He said laughing that he is "interested to be first in the group." The reporter shouted back "you already are!" To which Van Basten said: "Oh really? I didn't think of this scenario. I will do that and we will choose the best possible path for ourselves." 

He also said that it's not their ambition to "lose games, but we will reflect seriously on what is best for us, not for other teams."

Chivu said in an interview for the International Herald Tribune that "it won't change much. The other 11 players will be wanting to show off their skills." I think that's just politics though. 

Also the comments of Cosmin Contra in the same article put a smile on my face for once. He said that "we are a good team. We have two draws against the most powerful teams in the world. We need to attack (against the Netherlands). We need to go hard against them."

Before the Italy game, he said he wanted to sit back and defend. I'm happy he's changed his mind after seeing what a bit of attack can do for us against these big teams. They're not used to small teams attacking them, they're always shell shocked. 

Ciprian Marica is supposed to start for Romania as the striker in the Netherlands game. He is over his injuries, and Daniel Niculae will be rested after the hard work against France and Italy. He should add a different dynamic to the game for us, him and Niculae are very different players. 

Well this is looking good for us so far. Of corse, the Dutch substitutes are good players, but we did beat them 1-0 and drew 0-0 in qualifying and they weren't playing backups. People say that the backups will play hard to get a chance in the first team and show what they can do. But they have to think in their minds that the starting 11 Van Basten used against France and Italy beat the world champions and the vice-world champions 3-0 and 4-1, so even a good game against Romania probably won't convince Van Basten to include them in the starting 11. I think the Dutch will see this as a holiday, and prepare for their game against Russia or Sweden. They'll get their chance to play the starting 11 against us after we beat Spain. 

Either way, I truly believe that France and Italy will draw anyways. And if that happens, I really don't think we'll lose 3-0 against the Dutch reserves, so we'd still move on. But we need the win to guarantee that we can move on. 

I'll be back with more as soon as I have more information, until then, ROMANIIIAAA ROMANIIIAA OLE OLE OLEEEEE. 

It seems like a deja vu for me. It hasn't rained here in any morning except for the mornigns Romania has played. It's Friday the 13'th and I'm having a complete deja vu to the game against France. But I'm not a perticularly superstitious person, and I don't believe in Friday the 13'th (although, Italy has never won on Friday the 13'th).

The stage is set for a good game. Italy have to win, Romania can't lose. The game is played in Zurich and the weather is 11 degrees. There is no rain, and it's not so damn hot like during Romania - France. I saw different scenarios that show that we could qualify with 2 points. I hope we don't do that, but it's possible. 

I don't have much to say for once before the game. I'm just being hopeful and wishing for a Romania victory against the champions of the world. Will it happen? I don't know. Can it happen? Why not.?

I'll be live blogging the game as much as I can in the OleOle match centre. I hope we play a better game and I hope we win and prove something to the world. If that damned man Victor Piturca manages to mastermind a win, I'll hold back any future criticism. If we can do this, we can advance and make a great image for ourselves. I have faith in my country, in our players and what we can do. I hope I'm not wrong. 

We're not expected to win, but I think we will. Enjoy the game, and hopefully it will be a good one this time!

Roberto Calderoli, the minister of reforms in the Italian Government was asked in an interview on La Stampa if the game tomorrow between Italy and Romania has political implications. The hostile and slightly inhumane treatement of romanian "gypsies" being paid back by a Romanian victory. 

Calderoli responded ironically: "if we'll lose against Romania, we'll pas a decree by which their win will be canceled morally."

What an absolute wanker.

Sad times for Romanian fans. It seems that Romania manager Victor Piturca has been slowly planning the execution of Romanian star Adrian Mutu. 

Romanian player from CFR Cluj, Eugen Trica, has come out to say that the tactics used by Victor Piturca will kill Adrian Mutu. Trica said that "Mutu has too many duties in defense in the ultra-defensive setup Romania used in the game against France. Mutu is being forced to run back too much and he's not performing his attacking duties. All this running and time spent in defense will make his bursts of speed more rare, and his goals even more rare. It will kill him!"

Another ex-Romania player, Laurentiu Rosu, added that the tactic we're playing didn't allow Mutu to play his normal game, the game that brought Romania to Euro 2008. He also said that "Daniel Niculae did a fantastic job, but had no one to support him in attack because Mutu and Nicolita were forced to defend too much."

Mircea Lucescu, legendary Romanian manager, has also spoken up on the issues with our tactics used against France. He criticised our anti-football, and said that we have players that are good enough for us to be able to attack and win games. He also added that he doesn't understand why Piturca changed the tactics he used in Euro 2008 qualifying and in the pre-Euro friendlies since they were "working perfectly."

Andrei Vochin, an award winning journalist from Romania said that Victor Piturca wants to show that this isn't Mutu's national team, but that it's Piturca's national team. He added that "the egoes need to be left in the hotel before games, this is not one person's national team, it is one country's national team. We need to use what we have the best we can, and not sacrifice performace for inflated egos. I was disgusted when Piturca didn't shake Mutu's hand after he substituted him, you can't do that with the emblem of our current generation. " 

There are numerous other important Romanian footballers, managers, and pundits that have spoken out on this issue. My favorite quote is from one of my favorite players growing up, Ionut Lupu, who said that "a good manager is not one that doesn't lose, it's one that wins. Piturca needs to play less cards and more chess, to learn how to use the pieces he has available in order to win a game." 

I agree with the above people 100%. I'm glad some people in the media and football have the balls to come out and say: Listen we tied, but we could have won, and we all know it, let Mutu play!

As for Piturca, please don't hang Mutu, because by doing so, you're hanging yourself and our whole country and it's image in global football. 

Also, to those of you reading this post, make sure you check out the OleOle match centre during the Italy - Romania game.

A game that was promising to be full of excitement, speed, show and class turned out to be the worst game of EURO 2008 so far. Romania - France, in the group of death, what a game it could have been! But it wasn't, so I'll try to see where it went wrong. 

From the moment the first touch on the ball was taken, the pace was slow, the players were tentative, and no one really seemed too into it. The way I saw the Romanian players yelling out the national anthem, I though we would have a bit more sting in our game to begin with. Some motivaion. We haven't been in a major competition for 8 years for Christ's sake, you'd think that would motivate the players a bit. 

In all he games I've seen Romania play in the past 8 years, this might be the worst game I've ever seen us play. It was embarassing honestly. We play a dynamic 4-3-3 every game except this one apparently, with an attacking trident that sit up, put pressure on defenders and score a ton. For some reason, Victor Piturca decided to go with a 4-5-1 for this game, leaving Daniel Niculae completely alone around 3 defenders up top. I've never seen Mutu defend so much in my life, he was near our box more than near France's. He's our best player, he's the creative mind, he always had the free role. Now he was sidelined with two players marking him constantly. It's not his position and his role, why the hell change it up when it matters most?

We were inviting the French to attack us all game. There was no pressure on the defenders when they had the ball, everyone just dropped back. It looked lazy. I don't know what Piturca was trying to do, but we didn't beat Holland, Spain, Russia, Turkey, Czech Republic like that in the past two years. We took the games to them, and hit them in attack. I really don't understand it, it's cowardly. 

1017 - that's the amount of passes that were passed during this game. The most passes in a EURO game so far. 

12 - that's the amount of shots towards goal all game

1 - that's the amount of shots on goal all game.

This was a complete mess, just a passing exercise  that was carried out at a jogging pace. But Romania wasn't the only team to blame for this. France did nothing. Benzema had some golden opportunities in front of goals that he completely ruined. Otherwise they did nothing all game either. The teams completely neutralized each other. 

The players that did well for Romania were: Chivu (outstanding), Nicolita (ran 12 km. and worked his ass off), and Goian (made some crucial stops). 

Otherwise it was quite the mess with the other players. Daniel Niculae had some good moments, but it's hard to play between 3 good defenders on your own. Radoi had some good ones as well, but he's not fully fit. 

Romania had about 10 minutes each half when we played our usual atractive football. We got pressure on France and kept them in their own half. We needed that all game, but the instructions were to get back. Also, switching Mutu was a bit stupid. He's our best player, why take him out and put it Marius Niculae to play that winger position. It's not that smart. 

For the game with Italy, we need to start with Codrea in the middle instead of Cocis, and with Marius Niculae up top so he can do some of the same thins Ruud did tonight.  The Netherlands beat Italy with pace and quick play, that's the key. That's how they will beat France as well. We play like that as well usually, if we stop retreating and defending, we can take the Dutch example. The next game is crucial, if we win it, we could qualify, if not, it would be very hard and unpredictable. We can't play for a draw. 

Chivu promised that the second game would be more open, and I hope that it will be. We need it to be. The French have even more work to do i think, because we allowed them to attack, gave them spaces and time, and they did nothing with it. At least I know that we are capable of attacking well and hard, which we chose not to do this game, but France were allowed to do it and couldn't make anything happen.

The first draw of Euro, the first complete bore of Euro and hopefully both teams play better next game. The group looks like this now:

1. Netherlands ..3 pts
2. Romania........1 pt
3. France...........1 pt
4. Italy..............0 pt

 I'm excited for Friday, hopefully a better game from us!

End Of Match: C'est tout.

88': Persie almost scores too, he rocks.

81': Affelay goes in to get a run around. Donadoni looks like a very worried man. PLEASE play like this when we play you Italy!

77': GOALLLLL van bronkhorstttt! 3-0. Game over. That's all. Perfect action and reaction by the Dutch. Amazing.

77': ITALY sooooo close! Van Persie with the counter, seems unfit.

75': Heitinga goes in to strengthen the defense. The dutch are becoming Italian.

70': Another chance for Del Piero, he's lighting the game up for Italy.

65': Del Pierooooooo makes an instant impact. I thought it was going in!

63': Del Piero coming on for Di Natale. 19 goals this season, should be starting in my opinion.

60': I love Gatusso :), so scrappy.

59': Not much significant action to be honest, just midfield battles. Grosso has done some good things since coming on, good decision. Toni just hit one to van der Saar, not dangrous enough to cause trouble.

52': My friends are distracting me and Zambrotta almost scores! Crazy chance and almost very lucky.

45': Game back on.

Half Time: Half time, Holland have been the best team so far in Euro. Can't wait to see what Spain do tomorrow.

45': Di Natale hits a bomb just over the bar. Close.

42': Vaart through ball to Nisterloy, but Buffon comes out with an amazing save with his legs.

39': Two balls on the pitch!

34': Yellow card Zambrotta.

33': Di Natale almost scores, good shot, takes two attempts for van der saar to keep it. Great game.

31': Corner taken by Pirlo, van Bronkhorst saves it off the line! Netherlands go in a counterattack, Geo cross to Kuyt, Kuyt heads it to Sneijder, and he puts it in by Buffon. GOAL Netherlands.

26': Sorry that was minute 26! Ruud still a prat.

22': Another foul, this time on Kuyt. Sneijder takes it, Buffon stops it, the play continues in the box and GOALLLLLLLL RUUD VAN NISTERLOYY! Fucking prat was offide though - hate him. Wayyyyy off.

22': Foul on Ambrosini, Sneijder catches him about 30 meters out. Pirlo takes it, too far for Toni.

19': Sniejder shot over the post. Holland are in control now. Good pace to the game.

18': O damn, Kuyt pass to Ruud, and he trips on Buffon, doesn't get to the ball and ruins the chance to score. That's where he should have dove.

15': Bad slow shot by Ruud, does no good.

13':

13': GEO kills Panucci.

12': Gatusso cross in, Toni header at bad angle and it goes wide.

10': Vaart shot after good quick passing. He's fantastic.

9': Foul Gatusso on Vaart. Italy still moving the ball best in my opinion.

6': Italy are looking good so far, very good buildup, a new chance for them.

3': Bad shot Pirlo.

3': Already more action than in the whole of Romania - France. It's depressing.

2': Ruud jumps up trying to scare Buffon. Amusing :).

Before Kick Off: Two keepers are captains. Pretty unique.

Before Kick Off: I have some faith in the Dutch. I hope it's an open game, and not as nonchalant as Romania vs France. We shall see.