And We're Off..

The tournament officially kicked off in Basel at St. Jakob Park with an interesting ceremony that featured cows and alpine skiers amongst a field of cloth cubes. I really dont know who was the mastermind behind this thrilling event, but it was probably the strangest thing I've seen on TV this side of Japan, it was just bizarre. Thankfully the opening match was not far behind.

Group A- Game 1
St. Jakob Park, Basel

Switzerland- Red shirts with white shorts
Czech Republic- White shirts with blue shorts

If the Swiss started this tournament with a strong feeling of hope that they could progress to the next stage, they left St. Jakob Park on Saturday with a great deal of frustration. Their star striker and captain, Alexander Frei left the pitch in tears as his Euro 2008 came to an abrupt end with a knee injury in the first half.

Things never really improved for the Swiss as the Czech sub Vaclav Sverkos scored with the Czech's ONLY SHOT ON GOAL in the 70th minute. Replays showed that Sverkos miss-hit a volley when the ball was lobbed overhead to him in the box but he had enough on it to guide it into the net. The Swiss really turned up the tempo as they pushed for an equalizer. It was not the Czech defense or the rather ordinary looking Petr Cech that kept the Swiss from equalizing, but the woodwork (on a few occasions).

With the final whistle, the Swiss must feel extremely unlucky to walk away from this game with nothing to show for. They played some enterprising football at times and were able to create some efficient attacks. On the other hand the Czech must surely be unhappy with this result due to the lack of scoring chances but realize that 3 points are 3 points. It is painfully obvious that the Czech are missing the influential talents of Tomas Rosicky and Pavel Nedved in the midfield and will have to find a way to replace them if they want to make a sustained appearance in this tournament.

Fulltime: Switzerland 0-1 Czech Republic

Group A-Game 2
Stade de Geneve, Geneva

Portugal- All red
Turkey- White shirts with blue shorts

The mindset of both of these teams going into the second match of tournament could be summed up in one word: reaffirmation. The Portuguese were looking to reaffirm their status as a pre-tournament favorite while the Turks were looking to reaffirm their status as an elite footballing nation as they failed to qualify for World Cup 2006. From an individual standpoint, I am sure that Cristiano Ronaldo wants to prove that he is best player in the world as he can enjoy the limelight every time he steps on the pitch.

The Portuguese came out firing as Brazilian-born center back Pepe had an early goal rightly disallowed for offside. Ronaldo looked pretty lively as one of his trademark weaves through defenders but ended the run by putting the ball well wide of the net. He wasn't done as the best chance of the half came from his boot. With a handball called about ten yards outside of the box Ronaldo stepped up and blasted a shot for the right post in which the Turkish keeper Volkan could only get a fingertip to it; but that was enough as the ball deflected off the inside of the post and bounced out.

Turkey were lucky to start the second half on level terms but the Portuguese seemed intent on changing that as quick as possible. Nuno Gomes was the next Portugal player to coat the ball with woodwork paint. Nuno Gomes latched onto a ball that was free in the box after Moutinho was fouled at the edge of the box. The ref allowed for Gomes to play on, but the shot struck the bottom of the post.

After knocking on Turkey's doorstep for most of the match, Pepe, who plies his trade with Spanish champs Real Madrid, stormed down the middle of the pitch and played a lovely one-two with Nuno Gomes into the box and pushed the ball up over the sliding Volkan thanks to a desperation tackle from a Turkish defender.

Portugal never look satisfied with a one goal lead and Nuno Gomes showed their desire for a second with another encounter with the woodwork. The Turks created a few decent opportunities but never truly showed the quality in front of goal needed to equalize. Sub Raul Meireles sealed the deal in stoppage time after a superb flowing move by the Portuguese attack.

Fulltime: Portugal 2-0 Turkey


Table

Portugal 3 pts +2
Czech Rep 3 pts +1
Switzerland 0 pts -1
Turkey 0 pts -2

Ref's Take:

I thought the Swiss were extremely unlucky as they at least deserved to share the spoils with a lackluster Czech side. Petr Cech looked shaky at times and I hope that it was only a result of the devious ball that Jens Lehmann has cried foul over. Portugal showed their prowess and got their campaign off on a start they can surely be happy with. Not a lot went wrong for the Portuguese and they will look to go from strength to strength. It was nice to see new Chelsea signing Bosingwa have a positive impact on the game and I hope that translates into good things at the Bridge.

Lastly, the Ref has a huge problem with international squads that wear kits that do not reflect their nations colors. Japan and the Italians come to mind as the main culprits of this crime. Turkey seems to have joined this non-sequitur uniformed axis of evil by donning white and sky blue kits when they should be white and red. I am really upset about this; as an act of retaliation, I will root for any team playing against the Turkish side. You hear me Fatih Terim??