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Sunday, June 10, 2012

Clinical Mandžukić Finishes Top of Pile - Interesting News

There were no surprises as Croatia's clinical Mario Mandžukić topped
the Castrol Edge Index courtesy of the two crucial headers that earned
victory against the Republic of Ireland.

It will not surprise many to see Mario Mandžukić named the top
performer after Croatia eased to an impressive 3-1 victory against the
Republic of Ireland to begin their UEFA EURO 2012 campaign with a bang
and go top of Group C.

Croatia dominated the top five in the Castrol Edge Index, with fellow
goalscorer and target man Nikica Jelavić finishing second, and the
incisive passing and dangerous long-range shooting of Ivan Rakitić
putting him in third.

Mandžukić deservedly takes the plaudits, however, for his master class
in opportunistic finishing and the significance of his two goals. His
first, scored inside three minutes – the sixth fastest strike at a
EURO – was vital, knocking the confidence out of their opponents and
silencing the famous Green Army in the stands. It was a well-taken
header too, requiring power and direction from distance – especially
as he lost his footing moments before the ball arrived.

In terms of style, timing and importance, his second was almost a
carbon copy. With Croatia just 2-1 up at the restart, Irish optimism
remained high. Again it was dampened by Mandžukić. His flicked header
found its way into the bottom corner after 49 minutes (via the post
and Shay Given) to extinguish any hope of a comeback. Mandžukić had
just two goal attempts all game – they were both knockout blows.

Castrol Edge Index: Croatia v Republic of Ireland
1. Mario Mandžukić (CRO) 9.21
2. Nikica Jelavić (CRO) 9.00
3. Ivan Rakitić (CRO) 8.84
4. Keith Andrews (IRL) 8.72
5. Stipe Pletikosa (CRO) 8.30

Key facts
3 - This is the first time the Republic of Ireland have ever conceded
three goals in a final tournament match.

6 - Croatia's opener is the sixth-fastest goal in the history of the
UEFA European Championship, and the first inside the opening three
minutes since Michael Owen struck against Portugal at UEFA EURO 2004.

2 – Mario Mandžukić is only the second Croatia player to score a
double at the EURO, after Davor Šuker.

100 - Mandžukić had just two goal attempts in the entire game but
scored twice, finishing with a 100% shots-to-goals ratio.

4 – Croatia have now won four successive EURO group games, following
victories against Austria, Germany and Poland in UEFA EURO 2008 Group
B.

Ireland Hope and Homework - Pays Off For Bilić

Slaven Bilić put his side's opening Group C win against the Republic of Ireland down to preparation, and the extra cutting edge Croatia found up front in Poznan.

Croatia coach Slaven Bilić felt preparation had been the key to his side's opening 3-1 Group C win against the Republic of Ireland, whose manager Giovanni Trapattoni urged his team to bounce back and believe in the principles that took them to the finals.
Giovanni Trapattoni, Republic of Ireland manager

Tomorrow we will have time to clarify what happened in the first half. Yesterday I said we were ready for a good performance, but after two minutes we conceded a goal – it was a shame for Shay [Given] as he had three or four players in front of him. He couldn't see the ball.
They deserved to be in front in the first half because they were superb in midfield. I tried to change things in the second half and wanted to rest Robbie a bit. I put in [Simon] Cox and [Jon] Walters and we played a bit better. The first goal was our mistake – maybe we were tense at the start of the game, but the second goal came at a key time. We have played a lot better than this.
We have to think about the players' fitness before the next game. If I decide to change it won't be necessarily because a player had a poor game. Spain only have one point – we need to react psychologically and go again because we have to remember how many games we have played without conceding. We believe in our strength. This evening we met a team who are technically strong but every game in this tournament could bring a surprise.
Slaven Bilić, Croatia coach

I was expecting this kind of result. We prepared well for the game and knew everything about Ireland. We thought we were the better team but you never know. We played them in a friendly in August 2011, when we didn't play well but we showed tonight how we can play. We were much better today going forward.
I must congratulate my players and both sets of supporters. The atmosphere was great and it was an entertaining match for neutral supporters too. I'm completely satisfied with how we played tonight. We controlled midfield and our wingers were dangerous. Ireland hadn't lost in 14 games – they were in a qualifying group with Russia, and drew 0-0 in Moscow, so we must be playing really well to beat such a strong team.
They scored from our error. Our goals came from really good play. It can happen that you concede from set pieces – our defence had a blind moment – but we were more creative. You can't be happy after you concede but it was a good response from our team. From the first minute, I was really sure we were the better team and that we had a great chance of winning the game.
We were dreaming about winning, being in this position. We have three points and are top of the group. We are playing against two teams that may have more quality but I'm sure that Ireland will also play hard matches against Spain and Italy.

Friday, June 8, 2012

Russian Coach Dick Advocaat hails 'great result' in opener

Dick Advocaat was not entirely satisfied with his Russia team despite an impressive win against the Czech Republic, whose coach, Michal Bílek, hopes his players can put the loss behind them.

Dick Advocaat described Russia's 4-1 defeat of the Czech Republic as "a very good result", but insisted his team "have to be sharper" as they got their UEFA EURO 2012 campaign under way. Czech coach Michal Bílek paid tribute to Advocaat's "great team", and told his squad they must look forward to their remaining Group A games.
Dick Advocaat, Russia coach
When you score four goals against the Czech Republic, it's a very good result, but we should have scored more. At 2-1 it was difficult, and we have to improve in that regard, we have to be sharper. Perhaps a better team will score more against us, but for a first game, 4-1 is a good result.
Andrey Arshavin played really well, worked very hard, and I think it's important for the team the way he can play. I'm very positive about him and about the whole team. Alan Dzagoev played in all the qualifying games, and I've always said he has a lot of talent. He's been in training two-and-a-half weeks, but it's good we have Marat Izmailov and Aleksandr Kokorin to push him for a place in the side.
It's very important that we've only trained once a day. The players have played a season-and-a-half, and had just a week off. They wouldn't have been able to run anymore if we'd trained more. It was a conscious decision to train just once a day, and it paid off against Italy and again today. You could see the benefits it reaps. On Tuesday, it's going to be another interesting game for both teams in another great stadium.
Michal Bílek, Czech Republic coach
I think we started well, had possession of the ball, and created some good situations that we weren't able to finish. Then we gave the ball away, they broke quickly and scored. That was a mistake, but Russia are a great team with great quality. We had problems with the combinations of the Russians. They had a lot of chances. We couldn't get the ball, they played with just one or two touches, and that's why they had so many chances.
We tried to change things. We managed to get back into it, and wanted a different result. But we weren't patient, we lost the ball, and didn't have enough strength. Russia must have been very happy about that. We'd watched many Russian games. They're a great team, with great technique, great combinations, and they showed us today that they're a very good side.
There are three matches in each group, and each match is important. We didn't get a good result in the first one, we have to do better in the remaining two. We're all very disappointed, but we have to get over this result. We have to show our strength, our team spirit. I think our team can give a better account of themselves in the next two games. We're going to look forward now.

Roman Shirokov - Russian Mid-Fielder in UEFA Event

Roman Shirokov felt Russia's ability to capitalise on chances was crucial as they defeated the Czech Republic, while the influential Roman Pavlyuchenko warned against getting carried away.

Russia made a blistering start to Group A as they defeated the Czech Republic 4-1 in Wroclaw with Alan Dzagoev scoring twice. Three of their key men, including Russia's other goalscorers, Roman Shirokov and Roman Pavlyuchenko, said they were delighted to post maximum points as they shared their thoughts on the game afterwards.
Roman Shirokov, Russia midfielder
The key factor was that we took our chances. We scored two of our first three [chances] and it helped us a lot. We didn't start well, but by 25 minutes in, we were 2-0 up. [After the Czech Republic goal] it was quite tough. At half-time we said that we had to play well early in the second half, but [seven] minutes in we conceded a goal.
We played pretty well and had chances, but then we found ourselves in a bit of trouble. It's good that we scored soon after that. We were eager to win and we wanted to win convincingly, but we didn't imagine that everything would go so well for us.
Yuri Zhirkov, Russia defender
It's always important to win the first match. It was important to take the three points. We've played pretty well in these two games [including the 3-0 friendly win against Italy] both defensively and in attack – maybe this was the key factor in us scoring these seven goals.
Roman Pavlyuchenko, Russia forward
We cannot let ourselves get too carried away; we have only three days before our next game. We should forget about this match tomorrow and start preparations for Poland. The task is not completed yet and we cannot afford to take it easy. We expect harder games to come.