EURO 2008 PART 2

Now that euro has finally come to an end, I can complete from where i left of. If u thought the first phase of euro was shocking(i.e till the quarter final stage) with all the upsets, the quarter finals were even more shocking. Surprising entries in the quarter finals were Turkey and Russia and (believe it or not ) Italy. I say believe it or not cause Italy was probably the only quarter finalist that didnt deserve to reach the quarters. But the bigger shocks were the shocking ousting of Portugal and Netherlands by Germany and Russia respectively. Netherland washed away all the other teams but were themselves swept into a tsunami caused due to the Russians(3-1) ,the main destructor Andrei Arshavin. In other quarter finals Portugal lost 3-2 to Germany. Also Italy lost to Spain 4-2 (penalties) after the 120 minutes resulted in a 0-0 goalless draw. So the semifinalists were Russia , Spain , Germany . Hey arent we forgetting a last team , yes we are the last finalist was (wait for it) Turkey!!!!!!!! ( shocked). I know you all are but Turkey made it to the semi finals. So euro came to its closing stages with Spain playing Russia and Germany playing Turkey, but there were no surprises there as the 2 largest European football playing nations ( obviously Spain and Germany) going through. The final was a mesmerising event (built along the lines of our very own IPL) with Enrique Eglesias performing. But thats not the mesmering part. The mesmerising part was the final match played between 3 times champions , Germany and Spain who had not won euro since 1968( i think). The match was special for one man just one. Fernando Torres (yeah him again) who scored the lone goal scored in the final( yes Spain won 1-0). Dont go by the scores the match was as exciting as any match but ultimately Spain emerged as kings of Europe. Torres did that deed with Spain what he could not do with Liverpool but ultimately achieved his goal. However grudgingly i have to say this i will say it that Spain deserved everything that they got. Hey i gtg now dinner being served. So till 2012 then. Ciao

DEATH

Death is but crossing the world, as friends do the seas; they live in one another still. For they must needs be present, that love and live in that which is omnipresent. Inthis divine glass they see face to face; and their converse is free, as well as pure. This is the comfort of friends, that though they may be said to die, yet their friendship and society are, in the best sense, ever present, because immortal. Now a small poem

Oh, the torment bred in the race,
the grinding scream of death
and the stroke that hits the vein,
the haemorrhage none can staunch, the grief,
the curse no man can bear.

But there is a curse in the house
and not outside it no,
not from others but from them,
their bloody strife. We sing to you,
dark gods beneath the earth.

Now hear, you blissful powers underground-
answer the call, send help.
Bless the children, give them triumph now.

EURO 2008

Finally after 4 years europe's biggest event is back to the silver screen. although the euro qualifiers saw some ups and downs and a couple of teams have shocked some of the bigger teams, euro will be conspicuous due to england's absence. England having one of the best players in the world failed to qualify having been ousted by croatia(who incidentally are on a role after beating germany and topping their group). Lets take a blast to the past. 4 years ago greece stunned europe by beating portugal in the final and lifting the cup, but 4 years later here they are having been ousted in the group stages of euro 2008. Euro 2008 was said to be an open tournament with teams like spain, france, portugal, italy, france, germany all being joint favorites , but a few days into the tournament and looks like italy and france are out. Holland not one of the favorites but still a lethal team knocked the stuffing out of the world cup finalists, beating the world champions 3-0 and the world cup runners up france 4-1. So now its only fair to say that holland are the clear favorites along with spain(David villa, Fernando Torres and Cesc Fabregas all being in form).Germany who were also one of the favorites started well by beating Poland(Lucas podolski scoring a brace), but later were beaten by croatia, so now we have another favorite in croatia. Among all this mess of favorites lies another team maybe the best team in the world ,portugal. Portugal has a wide array of stars ranging from not so famous goalkeeper ricardo to the "sexiest european footballer" and manchester united winger Cristiano ronaldo. Portugal has one of the best team in the competition but is said to be erratic at times but it surely has the firepower to go all the way. Now for all those who are not sure which team to support i suggest u keep every team in mind cause dont be surprised if your favorite team loses to the team you didnt even dream of.As for me the team i support is down in the dumps(Italy) so im keeping all my options open because at the end of the day the winning team will be the team who plays the best football that dat. cheers and keep watcing euro cause it ain't over till its over