Euro Football loco: A sideways look at the Beautiful Game
McClaren gets rude intro to the world of Euro hacks
Friday June 13 2008
The amount of registered male football players at all levels in Germany, which is miles ahead of every competitor in the tournament. Next best are the Russians who can only check in with a measly amount just short of two million!
McClaren gets rude intro to the world of Euro hacks
SOMETIMES you have to feel sympathy for out-of-work football managers, now employed in the media, who have to go through the same red tape-filled rigmarole as the hacks in order to get their accreditation, effectively the golden ticket for access to all the right places during the tournament.
It's particularly embarrassing for those whose status is not respected, as ex-England boss Steve McClaren found last week when he checked in to get his passes for his work with BBC.
The UEFA official looked up at McClaren and said "I'm sure I recognise you", before pausing and adding, "Oh, that's right, didn't you use to manage Ireland?"
Insulting for him, but equally so for Steve Staunton who, unlike Brian Kerr and McClaren, has at least had the dignity and common sense to keep a low profile after his ignominious departure.
Czechs or Turks may end up paying a harsh penalty
They have each played two games, won one, lost one, scored twice and conceded three, so if Turkey and the Czech Republic draw in their final group match in Geneva on Sunday, a penalty shootout will decide who makes the quarter-finals.
Article 7.08 of UEFA's regulations determines that: "If two teams which have the same number of points, the same number of goals scored and conceded play their last group match against each other and are still equal at the end of that match, the ranking of the two teams in question will be determined by kicks from the penalty mark, provided no other teams within the group have the same number of points on completion of all group matches."
The only previous precedent is the Women's UEFA U-19 Championships from 2003.
QUOTE-UNQUOTE
"We have big injury problems, and already I know I will be missing four players that would definitely be in my starting 11. That's 40pc." -- The Dutch may be regarded as relaxed but if Poland manager Leo Beenhakker is preparing for games with just 10 men then it's no wonder they haven't been setting the world alight in this competition.
"Every one of my four losses as national coach is a thorn in my side, particularly one of them [the 2006 World Cup defeat to France]. Defeat lingers in my heart; it bounces around my brain." -- Spanish coach Luis Aragones is obviously not one for clichéd manager-speak when reflecting on his defeats.
Local Lingo 5: Pfütze
This means puddle, a term that was particularly relevant in Basle on Wednesday night during the clash between Switzerland and Turkey, which featured plenty of splashing about with a considerable pfütze in each goalmouth. There probably were a few more to be found under the seats wherever the UEFA blazers were sitting, considering that at one point they must have been facing the logistical nightmare of potentially cancelling the game. Luckily, a bit of half-time handiwork just about saved the day -- even though you suspect they wouldn't have called off the match even if one of the players had drowned.
Turkish delight for brave in-running backers
Turkey's clash with Switzerland on Wednesday evening produced some of the most interesting in-running betting seen so far. Turkey ballooned to16/1 in-running after Hakan Yakin had put the Swiss ahead but Semih Senturk's equaliser turned the market on its head again. Punters quickly piled their cash onto the draw, forcing those odds down to a price of just 1/6 in the dying moments. Turkey's injury-time winner was heartache for those draw backers but delight for punters brave enough to back them for victory when trailing 1/0, not to mention the Betfair punters who got the Half-time/Full-time result correct at 54/1.
Odds available at www.betfair.com or freephone 1800 944 777
- Daniel McDonnell
