Viva La Espana!

Glory for Captain Casillas and the Spanish team as he lifts the Euro 2008 trophy

Lol, my university had the Euro 2008 broadcasted at the dining hall so I need not go all the way to the mamak stall. Me and my pals also ordered some McDonalds delivery to go along with the match and we were pleasantly surprised when we get two free cups of green tea from our a la carte items.

Looking at the lineup of the two finalists, I have to say that's the best team they could ever possibly put out. Both had solo strikers at the end in the form of Klose and Torres respectively, with quality from the latter far outnumbering the previous. Deutschland started well with a few penetrating runs but afterthat, the attacks started fizzling out and the majority of the shots later came from Espana. German defences were at sea once again (how many times have i said that?..haha). Deutschland was fortunate to escape when Torres' header bounced out against the pole. Torres had been a constant pain for the Deutsche defence and he timed his runs really well. His pace and acceleration is excellent and it was coupled with his strength in fending off defenders. Torres' skills paid off in the 33rd minute when he outmuscled Lahm before lifting the ball off a charging Lehmann to put the Spanish 1-0 up. Lahm was taken off in the second half and replaced by Jansen probably because of his role in letting Torres through.

A couple of small controversies did come in the match but they were really insignificant given the way the Spanish were playing. Deutschland tried their best to get the equalising goal but as the minutes grew closer to the final whistle, they were running out of ideas. I would say there is no one in the substitute bench that is capable of turning the game around. Casillas was alert too for the whole match around and his confident punching away of the ball at one of the corners showed his sharpness. Perhaps the closest that Deutschland came to equalising was a Ballack shot. Other than that, they looked no where near getting a goal except at the starting of the match. Spain held out until the 90th minutes and then they were now the new champions of Euro 2008!

Jose Mourinho got his prediction right...haha and so does many of the media at the start of the tournament. Looking back at my predictions, I got 4 group stages guess correct, 1 quarter-finalist correct, 0 remainder semi-finalist correct and my finalists were correct but the champions wrong..haha.

Espana truly deserves to be the champions Euro 2008 for all the aesthetic and wonderful football that they play. Even the German press is full of praise for the Spanish team. As a Deutschland fan, I'm just glad that the Mannschaft is not slaughtered 0-3 or 0-4. For Michael Ballack, it's a tragic year for him as he lost 3 "finals" to his opponents and he had to settle for 3 "second-places". He bled and fought but it was not enough. Fate just didn't want him to be a winner. It' something like Alan Shearer, for all the respect and skill that he got, he won nothing at Newcastle except for the adoration of the fans. On the other hand, you have funny peeps like Silvestre getting Champions League medals and Richardson getting Premier League Champions medals. Sigh, looks like Deutschland really needs to scout for new blood as their squad members are ageing fast. For Lehmann, if he wanna remain in the national squad, he has to play regular goalkeeping games at his new club. It would certainly be interesting to see if Espana can retain their good form for the 2010 World Cup. The future certainly looks bright for them with so many outstanding young talents such as Sergio Ramos, Fabregas, David Silva and Iniesta.

Vienna Finale Preview

This is it. Possibly the best possible clash any football fan would wish for. I predicted the Euro 2008 finalists correctly and so do hordes of other media figureheads..haha. Deutschland will take on Espana in Vienna in about 2 hrs time. The latest news is that Deutsche captain Michael Ballack may not make it for the match due to injury. Espana on the other hand had already lost David Villa. Well, if there's no Ballack, I would be curious to see who Loew would replace his captain with.

I'll be hoping very hard for a German glorious night. Go Deutschland!

Spanish delight

The Spanish team huddles together in joy after the final whistle

A revitalised Russian team is set to take on Spain in the semis. The question on everybody's mind is whether the Russians would get whipped again like what happened during the group stages. Russia certainly enters this match with more confidence as compared to their first meeting with the Spanish after dispatching the dominant Dutch. It was a cagey first half with neither side making a headway. At the 34th minute, David Villa suffered a muscle strain and had to be subbed off by Fabregas.

Russia could no longer handle the second half as Spain runs rampant with their attacks. Puyol and Sergio Ramos have been solid behind for the defence and this enabled the attackers to do their job without worry. A supposed shot into the net by Iniesta had its course diverted by an incoming Xavi Hernandez. The Spanish gain even more confidence afterthat and looked forward to score their second. At the 73rd minute, center midfield maestro Cesc Fabregas effortlessly flick a ball for Guiza to score Spain's second goal. It was Fabregas there once again to assist in wrapping up the game when he ran free down the left flank to set up Silva to score the third. Espana will now meet Deutschland in the final after their 3-0 win.

Spain is looking good for the title given the way they play in the semis. Russia could not really find much weaknesses to exploit and they were eventually outplayed by the superior skills of the Spanish. Fabregas' intelligent passes and reading of the game was truly a joyful sight to behold and I believe he fully deserves a starting place in the final. For the entire tournament, Fabregas did not start because Aragones remained "loyal" to his starting eleven although some of them had not been as impressive.

After reaching the semis for the first time in 24 years, the Spanish are now reaching the final also for the first time in 24 years and they would now be looking to win a trophy for the first time in 24 years.

Deutschland to the final

Lahm delivers Deutschland a spot in the Vienna final with his 90th minute strike

It was a dramatic semi final match but a good chunk of its broadcast was marred by power failures. As a result, fans around the world lost the sight of 2 goals during live broadcast but fortunately managed to catch the last goal.

Loew kept the same team which won against Portugal but I really question the way he places his players. Klose plays as a solo striker upfront, Podolski on the left and Hitzlsperger at the center. The results of such a screwed up positioning was apparent during the first half. It looked like a repeat of the Croatian match. Passing was bad, slow to close down, defence all over the place and attack was just toothless. Bear in mind that Turkey was severely crippled with suspensions and injury problems that they are contemplating to even field their 2nd Goalkeeper as an outfield player. Instead of rampaging through Turkey's B team, the Germans are having trouble (again) dealing with fast and pacy Turkish peeps that seem to slip past the defensive lines all the time. Phillip Lahm in particular was having a hell of a time trying to contain Kazim-Richards.

First of all, Podolski on the left again! Seriously, when will Loew learn? Klose can't play as a single striker really as he's no van Nisterooy. He may be good with the head but he needs support. He doesn't have the physical strength or the ball skill to push off defenders on ground play. Hitzlsperger and Rolfes were just redundant in the middle. They made absolutely no impact at all and I thought that Hitzlsperger would be better utilised on the left so as to allow Podolski to move upfront to partner Klose. As I've said before, the weak link of the Germans is the goalkeeper. Lehmann has not been getting the regular games at Arsenal and his rustiness is showing very clearly. The first goal by Turkey was a big boo boo from him. The shot went through his legs as he fumbled with a ball that was directed right at him. Next, a seemingly routine basic goalkeeping catch during a free kick turned into some panicky punch by Lehmann.

Fortunately for Deutschland, they equalised within seven minutes when a break allowed Podolski to race down the left to pass the ball to Schweinsteiger. It was another masterful finish from Schweini as he flicked the ball into the net without even looking at it. The first half was a very nervous affair for the Germans. Rolfes got cut while jumping and he was replaced by the half-injured Frings in the second half. The midfield improved a little with the introduction of Frings. Even so, there's a level of frustration because the Germans don't seem to put in some urgency to score another goal. At the 72nd minute, Klose put the Germans on the lead when he beat Ruustu and a Turkish defender in the air from a Lahm's cross to nod the ball into an empty net. Bad call by the Turkish goalie since he should have just stand there where he could have saved the header. Perhaps he thought that he could catch the cross easily with his hands. It was thought that Klose's goal would be the winner but the Turkish don't say die and looked as if they are riding on their luck again when they equalise it to 2-2 from one Deutschland's defences lapses. However, at the 90th minute, Lahm played a long distance one two with one of his teammates and then coolly rams the winner's ball into the net. Turkey had a taste of their own medicine as what they had done to Switzerland, Czech Republic and Croatia. The Germans were through to the final with a 3-2 win and Turkey's fairy tale run ends at the semis.

Despite Deutschland's win, I have to say it is a bad performance on the pitch. A huge part of the reason for the victory was due to Turkey's poor finishing in front of goal and some unlucky crossbar deflection. Deutschland on the other hand had less chances but they make their chances count. Deutschland's control of the game was generally poor. If David Villa and Torres had been the strikers instead, the Germans would have been pounded and Lehmann would look very silly indeed. Up till now, Deutschland still has no confirmed and consistent starting eleven and Loew's positioning tactics always places players at their unnatural areas. Whether it is Russia or Spain in the final, they are going to have lots of problems containing these attacking teams if they don't get their positioning right. On a positive note, being a Deutschland Mannschaft fan, I'm definitely delighted that they have reached the final :)

Interesting observations

Lol! Criminal lecturer came early this morning looking very jolly while half the class was half dead. And then later, he got MIA for the afternoon class coz he kena bitten by insect and got some nasty infection from it (from what I heard). Looks like 4hrs session just got pushed to next week. It's very rare he get so many misfortunes piled onto him as he's one who is always punctual, always serious, makes sure you get the least break time, and utilises the entire 2hrs (just like what a strict papa would do..haha). No leeway or flexiblity at all.

Btw, I never realised that one of my law classmates had so much Bible knowledge until I talked with her bout it today. I think part of the surprise came about because of certain assumptions based on her background. There is love in the air surrounding CF nowadays..lol. I just got to know today that two sets of boys and gals who just got to know each other brought their friendship to the next level. Maybe the pastor's sermon regarding relationships around 3 weeks ago had some effects :P

I want my guitar!

It's another few days of break from footie coverage since the semi finals is only coming on Thursday morning. Euro 2008 is ending soon with only 3 more matches in the tournament for me to cover..haha.

Anyways, just came back from guitar class. Yay! More improvements as now I can incorporate A minor into my chord strumming! :) So, now i can basically play the first part of Robbie Williams' Better Man. That's a welcoming change instead of me everytime strumming the song I know so far: Six Pence None the Richer's Kiss Me (it's a beautiful song btw). Not only that, I can remember how to play B and F chord too. Playing guitar requires lots of finger bending flexiblity. The bar chords remain a challenge to me coz I can't use my thumbs like the usual chords to support the rest of my fingers. Ugghh..I really really wanna go back to Taiping to grab my guitar to Inti but the weekends are just filled with lots of stuff that needs to be completed by the end of this month (not that Stan gets much things done during weekends anyway..haha). Sometimes I'm just dying to practice the guitar coz I don't wanna forget what I learn. Somehow, I get this "shiok" sensation whenever I managed to get a familiar tune right on the guitar. It's the same on the piano too. It's different from the "shiok" sensation that I get when I practice my core speciality which is my drums...haha.

Oh man, it's gonna be 4hrs of Criminal Law lessons tomorrow since my dear lecturer missed one session last week due to some "misadventure" with his car. Of all my lectures, criminal is the most serious and stifling (speaking of the court sessions and police enforcement..lol). The class is literally fixated on listening and writing plus cannot chat or do nonsensical stuff to relax yourself. 2hrs is bad and tiring enough and to have 4hrs is just *toot*. And Wednesday being the only day where class starts at 12pm is being robbed as the first class is scheduled at 8am. Nothing wrong with 4 hrs lessons as long as I don't get locked down with boring regulations. In fact, I would be glad to sit in for 4hrs of my good old English Literature classes where we get to learn and slack at the same time..haha. One good thing is that my criminal lecturer doesn't really pay attention to the back, so I can get away with some light air drumming or doodling on the paper =p.

Spain breaks hoodoo

Fabregas and Villa runs over to celebrate with a jubilant Casillas

It was goalless for 120 minutes, nothing to separate them and it had to be the penalties. Spain attacked till to death and Italy defended till to death, and thus nullifying each other in the process. Italy started the match without their regular center midfield partnership of Pirlo and Gattuso as they are being suspended from the previous match. Spain on the other hand fielded their strongest 11 on the field. Italy held their ground well with their classic trademark defensive play but there were a couple of times when Spain managed to get through using counterattack. Most of the Spanish shots were relegated to outside the box with attempts commonly by Silva and Villa. The Spanish became so desperate at times that they are willing to try anything including diving to avoid the dreaded penalty shootout. Of course, the referee would have none of that nonsense and promptly booked Villa when he tried to do that.

Italy's insistence in depending on Luca Toni as the main target man would be the death of their aspirations. Again, I want to reiterate that club football is different from international football. Luca Toni is has been superb in his time at Bayern but the group matches have already illustrated that he's incapable of causing much damage. He tries and tries but ends up looking embarassing especially when he tried to do too much at one point by attempting to execute a bicycle kick. With no hope at the front and with the lack of the playmaking skills of Pirlo, the Italians could only try to defend as much as they could and hope that they have a lucky break. Well, Deutschland was one step smarter when they decided to axe their so called "star striker" Mario Gomez to ensure that they had a chance in the quarters..lol

There was a "lol moment" when Buffon apparently spilled Silva's shot while catching it. The ball slowly rolled towards the goal line to his horror and he quickly got up and rushed back to grab it. Actually, he was one second late but fortunately for him, the ball slowly rolled and.....hit the crossbar...hahaha.

The penalty shootout proceeded after both managers have submitted the list of takers and the two captain goalkeepers are now placed at the center stage. Villa and Grosso were the first ones to take and both converted it well. 2nd round - Substitute Cazorla got the goal but De Rossi's was saved by Casillas. 3rd round - Senna scored and so does Camoranesi. 4th Round - Tension was back again when Guiza's shot was saved by Buffon. The penalty shootout could go all night..haha. It's so difficult to separate them. Di Natale was next for Italy but his shot was brilliantly saved by Casillas! Spain is back in the lead! And the final decisive point of the shootout is handled by Cesc Fabregas. I have to say good choice in putting him as the last taker as Fabregas has a high level of composure in front of goal. The Spanish wonderkid coolly slotted it past Buffon, bringing Spain to their first Euro semis in 24 years.

Casillas was definitely the hero of the night and his most memorable moment in the match has to be when he bravely kicks away an incoming Camoranesi shot to ensure that Spain keeps the clean sheet. Two saves in the shootout and he helped his country to finally break the 20-year+ jinx. Now, they are being set up for a rematch against the Russkis in the semis. A final showdown between Deutschland and Spain would be mouthwatering but based on the unpredictable nature of football, never discount the dark horses of Russia and Turkey...haha.

Nederland crashed out

van der Sar looks in vain as the Russians took the lead in extra time

Absolutely shocking. The best performer in the group stages got knocked out by a team which was whipped 1-4 by the Spanish. Hard to believe but Nederland is out of the tournament. From the start to the end of the match, Nederland looked like a shadow of the former self which ruthlessly demolished Italy and France. Russia on the other hand looked very lively. They were taking shots almost from everywhere and they were literally dancing around the Dutch box for most of the time. This is the point where I would say that Guus Hiddink had outwitted van Basten tactically. Being Dutch, he could read the Oranje game well and he learnt to exploit its weaknesses where Domanech and Donadoni had failed to do so. The weakest link of Nederland has always being its defence and what Hiddink did was that he fought fire with fire. He challenged the Oranje to their same kind of game : counterattacking. And the Russkis won the night because they kept their backline tight while the Oranje backline were leaking holes.

The first 45 minutes was goalless but one can get the feeling that it's just a matter of time before the Russkis score. They did so in the 56th minute after countless of missed chances. The heat is on Nederland to equalise and they are having a hell of a time trying to do their usual stuff. The Russkis positioned themselves in such a way that they will choke the Dutch in the vital points of their attack. The Russkis defended deep and were quick to close down whenever Nederland comes charging down the wings. As a result, van Bronckhorst was unusually very quiet and was relegated to defensive jobs only. Whenever Sneijder wanna line up a long range shot, 2 to 3 Russkis would position themselves in front of him to obstruct his view and to block the incoming shot. van der Vaart had a couple of shots on target but Akinfeev was there to save them. As the 85th minute looms about, it looked like the Russkis are gonna get away with a 1-0 win. The Oranje earned themeselves a lifeline when van Nistelrooy emerged with his goal poaching instinct to pop one into the net. They were certainly glad that they could at least extend it by 30 minutes and try to win it. Things seemed to be going their way when one of the Russkis was supposed to be sent off with a second yellow. The referee later retracted the decision since it was judged that Sneijder and the ball was outside play when the Russki slid in. The replay showed it but it's a very very close call. I would say it's just on the line but I think the referee would prefer 11 vs 11 on the field for fair competition sake rather than take one out to destroy the game. But all the hopes were quashed once again when the Russkis struck once more through super sub Torbinsky. Russian famous man Arshavin sealed the win 4 minutes later with a strike through vds' legs. A truly memorable moment for Russian football and it smelt like the time when Zenith Petersburg won the UEFA cup last month.

I really questioned the choice of van Basten's substitutes. By the 61st minute, he had used all his 3 subs and it looked as if he panicked too early. It is important that van Persie gets sub in but I disagreed that Dirk Kuyt was the one who was taken out. In fact, the first one that should go is either Engelaar or De Jong. I have no idea why van Basten wanna stick with his defensive midfielders when it is well known that the Dutch can't defend at all. The Oranje thrives on offence and risk-taking play but van Basten seemed to be rather conservative with his choice of players on the field. Like I say, if the defence cannot make it, then try to outscore the opponents and bring the ball into their half. Kuyt would have provided the sustained dynamism and energy in attacking. Ok, granted that Arjen Robben couldn't be placed on the field coz of his injury, but there are certainly more better sub choices than Heitinga or Afellay. I thought that Boulahrouz should have continued staying on even though his yellow is rather risky. Instead of Afellay, Huntelaar should be sent on to provide some marksman in the team. The Dutch seemed to be working on the basis of their weakness rather than their strength during the whole match. The two defensive midfielders were irrelevant in the attacking play and they can't even do their main job properly, that is to help out in anchoring the defence and to close up open holes. By right, with the substitutions, van der vaart should be in the centre, Sneijder in AMC supporting v. Nistelrooy, Hunterlaar as second supporting striker and v.Persie and Kuyt on the wings.

With Russia through, there are essentially 2 dark horses in the Semis with the other being the Turks. I'm sure Deutschland won't mind the elimination of their rival since they have one less superpower to compete for the cup. And right now they look even hotter to win the tournament. Italy could make a comeback as the favourites too. This is astonishing. The 3 quarterfinal ties that were played so far saw the elimination of the leaders of Group A, B and C. With Spain playing next, one wondered if they would be the next to follow this unauspicious pattern. It seemed like so, since history apparently showed that Spain were unfortunate in matches that fell on 22nd June. Well, I hope they go through instead of the Italians, for the sake of free flowing attacking football :)

Cruel end for Croatia

I didn't watch the match but managed to catch the replay. 0-0 until the last 2 minutes of 120 minutes of gruelling football. Croatia looked set to enter the semis when a "Barthez-eccentricity" move by Turkish goalkeeper Ruustu gifted them a goal at 119th minute. The Croatian manager, Bilic was already celebrating along the sidelines. And then less than 60 seconds later, with the last kick of the ball, Turkey dramatically equalised through Semih Senturk. Bilic was furious, partly because he had been motioning for the past one minute to make a substitution. The match went to penalty shootout and Croatia lost it to Turkey when 2 of their shots went wide and the last one being saved Ruustu.

Commiserations to the Croatians but that's football. It definitely hurts to lose like that, just a difference of less than 1 minute. Never say never until the man in black blows his final whistle.

Schweini Inspiration

Ronaldo could not stop Klose's head from meeting with Schweini's free kick

SCHWEINSTEIGER owned Portugal in 2006 and he shall and will continue to do so in 2008! A goal and two superb free kick assists from the combative midfielder had ran the Portugese ragged. Germany entered the match as underdogs given their lackluster performance in the group stages. However, for the first time, I'm confident with the Deutsche lineup because there's no Jansen, Gomez or Fritz in the starting eleven! Once again, it's a delight to see Schweini and Arne Friedrich back at the starting squad, Podolski and Klose as forwards and Lahm as left back. Hitzlsperger and Rolfes were new additions to the side, not exactly top stuff (I would prefer Borowski instead) but at least better than the underperforming dudes which eroded the traditional structure of the German attack.

From the start of the first half, I'm quite impressed with the way Deutschland kept their lines tight to prevent an early Portugese goal. The Portugese were restricted from having too much of space to run around. There's a massive improvement in the way the passes are being strung together. Deutschland played many short passes and some of them consists of one-twos that go deep straight into the Portugese box. In the 22nd minute, Podolski moved down the left wing and brilliantly set up a pass for Schweini who was rampaging down through the middle after losing his marker. Schweini promptly slid together with the ball into the net to give the Germans a 1-0 lead. That is really a superb intelligent run and reading of the game from him. Deutschland scored another within the space of 4 minutes, much to the shock of the Portugese. Schweini dispatched a floating free kick ball for Klose to head it in. 2-0 up and it really looked like an unlikely position for the Germans to be in. However, Portugal would definitely bound to get one back with their sort of attack and they pulled one back at the 41st. Ronaldo ran through the defence and had a shot at Lehmann but the German GK could only punch it away. Nuno Gomes was there to pounce on the rebounce and the flight of the ball was helped by one of the sliding German defenders.

Portugal started the second half strongly but the Germans continue to hold on. And then on the 62nd minute, another free kick ball from Schweini is connected by Ballack's heading into the net. Apparently, Ricardo made the wrong call to move forward to catch the ball. The two goal cushion is restored and Portugal had to double their efforts once again. All Deutschland had to do now is to defend the lead until 90 minutes is up. It's not that easy cos with the introduction of Nani, Portugal is refreshed with new legs. And this was evident when Nani provided a cross for Helder Postiga's header in the 87th minute and that made the last few minutes particularly interesting. No equalising goal from Portugal and Germany march on to the Semis with a 3-2 win.

Credit to Herr Flick, the assistant manager in handling the team in the absence of Loewe who was sentenced to the stands after his touchline ban from the last match. There's a little controversy over Germany's third goal since it was alleged that Ballack pushed the defender before heading the ball in. However, I would also argue in the same breath that Portugal was lucky with their first goal since the ball's flight path was reared away from Lehmann through a ricochet of the defender. In any case, I would say that Deutschland thoroughly deserve their spot in the semis with the solid play that they produce and they were the better team. This time round, there was teamwork circulating around the Mannschaft. Compare and contrast it with the Portugese who had wasted so many shots from outside the box by the midfielders who could have passed it to their teammates for better options. The difference between the German No. 7 and Portugese No. 7 is that Schweini always looks out for his teammates while Ronaldo just guns for glory. This is also rather evident in the different ways that they take their free kicks. Schweini's products resulted in two goals while Ronaldo is plain wasteful. Another thing which the Germans did right was that they constantly feed high balls to exploit their height advantage over the Portugese. Portugal's trademark counterattacking moves earned them some goals but some horrendous defending behind and the weakness of Ricardo the goalkeeper in dealing with high balls costed them dearly. Portugal was outmuscled and outplayed by Deutschland.

Well, Scholari's Portugese career ended sooner than he would like. Now he would start his new job at Chelsea earlier. Deutschland would face either Croatia (rematch!..haha) or Turkey next. If Frings manage to return to the team in time for the semis, the Mannschaft central midfield would be strengthened very much. If there's one weakness that I have to point out in this improved lineup, it is probably the error-prone Lehmann and his communication with his defenders. Anyways, that's kinda minor if the defenders in front of him does their job. It would certainly be interesting if the final ended up being Deutschland vs. Nederland..lol

Italian Revival

Andrea Pirlo bids adieu to all the Monsieur in the French team with his penalty kick

Ribery's injury and Abidal's red card sums up France's miserable night in Switzerland. 10 minutes into the game, France's chief playmaker Ribery had to be subbed off after a clumsy fall with Zambrotta. It was hard to see if France could create any sort of potent attack without Ribery since he was the essence of the team in pace and ball distribution. Then in the 25th minute, disaster is compounded with Abidal being sent off for allegedly tripping Luca Toni in the box. Andrea Pirlo dutifully converted the penalty to bring the Italians 1-0 up. Afterthat, many would have expected that the Italians wrap it up before half time but the score remained the same after Toni squandered a barrrage of great chances.

The Italians continue to push for a second goal in the second half. There were cheers around the Italian fans when they receive news that the Dutch went 1-0 up against up against the Italians in the 54th minute. Meanwhile, the French tried their best to at least equalize with shots from Benzeema and Henry. At the 62nd minute, the win is sealed when De Rossi's free kick cruelly deflected off Henry's boot into the net. More cheers to the Italians for the double confirmation when the Dutch struck again through van Persie in the 87th minute.

What seemed like a disastrous campaign for the Italians after losing 0-3 to Nederland and nearly losing to Romania in the next match was rescued by Lady Luck. The two Italian goals were largely products from fortunes and if they had depended on their own efforts, they would not have gotten anything. Rewinding back the sequence of events, if Adrian Mutu had converted his penalty, the Italians wouldn't even have anything to play for. Before the third round of group of matches, I was commenting to my friends that this France vs Italy match is about 2 stupid underperforming teams competing with each other to win when in the end it did not matter if Romania were to win their match. Of course, that did not happen as Nederland's second string "noob" team still manage to win in the end. Compare that to Portugal whose "noob" team lost against Switzerland. In any case, the Italians should savour the products of their fortune as much as possible before they meet the Spanish, where their streak of fortune could possibly end.

Aufwiedersehen Austria

Spielfuehrer Michael Ballack sends the Mannschaft marching into the quarters

It's unglamorous but the job's done. Deutschland is through to the quarters after beating their Anschluss buddy 1-0, courtesy of Michael Ballack. Loewe remains stubborn on his choices and Mario Gomez was there to start for the third time in a row.

Once again, it was some really poor attacking play by the Germans at the first half. The most notable was yet again, a chance that was squandered by Gomez. It was supposed to be just a simple tap in from a beautiful pass but Gomez's first touch was so "wonderful" that it went vertically upwards instead of rolling horizontally into the goal. It was nice to see good old Arne Friedrich back at the right and Lahm at the left. However, the lack of Schweinsteiger in front of him meant that Lahm always got stranded after making his penetrating runs.

The Austrians did not show any respect to the Germans. The defence had to work hard to contain the Austrians that kept running into the German box. They kept running in but the finishing is just rather poor for the Austrians, rendering them toothless. Looks like only one person would in their team would qualify for a lifetime supply of beer..lol. Anyways, both Loewe and the Austrian manager got sent off by the referee to the stands for arguing on the pitch..haha.

At the second half, Germany's moment came from a thunderous rocket free kick from Spielfuehrer Ballack. The powerful shot smashed through the top corner of the net. He would be so glad to have scored that because Germany didn't manage to build up on that momentum to score another. Mario Gomez was finally replaced once again, this time earlier than previous matches, by Hitzlsperger. A slight improvement in attack as Podolski moves up to his centre forward position again. There were a couple of shots that scare the Austrians but the goalkeeper was there to save it. Neuville came in for Klose at the final minutes of the game. Speaking of that, I'm starting to begin having doubts of Klose too as he hasn't been making himself useful upfront. A couple of useful play by the veteran Neuville but I think he should really have passed the pass at the final chance of the game.

The quarterfinals between Deutschland and Portugal is gonna be interesting because both have problems in the striker department. Portugal had to depend solely on Nuno Gomes while Germany's strikers have been firing blanks. The Germans might have an advantage though if Loewe seriously put Podolski upfront for the duration of the whole match instead of putting him there when he makes a substitution. But still given the way the Germans are attacking, the Portugese superiority in speedy wingers might just overcome them in scoring. In 2006, the Germans triumph over the Portugese because the solid defence is collaborated with a deadly attacking force that is specialised in some hard powerful shots. Uhh..hopefully Loewe would change his starting eleven tactics right for the next round before another boo boo performance starts to set in. Like what Shebby say, if he wants success, he has to be ruthless in chopping down players that don't perform.

Inti Carnival

Alright, time to take a break from Stan's coverage of Euro 2008 and now put some attention on the happenings in his life..lol. Last weekend was really crazy as Vincent and me implemented this crazy plan to be able to watch the Nederland match and at the same time be able to go for the charity run on Saturday. We slept early at 9 pm and woke up in the wee hours of 2am. Then we proceeded to the mamak stall to book a nice place to watch the match. After the entertaining match, which is at about 4 am plus or so, we went back to shower and then come out later again for the run. No sleeping as we step onto the 5km starting line.

Of course, the runs brought back some memories of cross country at Macritchie Reservoir and 2.4km runs at the track. I stick to the tactic I always use, maintaining speed and dashing when it's going downhill. Well, me and Vincent thought that we were going so fast that we were going to at least get some medals in the 40s position. But hell no, the guys in the 5km run are maniacs and by the time we reach there, we only manage to get the certificate as the all the medals have been snapped up already. In order to get the certificate, runners were given 45 minutes maximum to complete the 5km run. We finished ours in 28 minutes. We looked over the girls side and they easily have like 40+ medals left. In fact, only the first two girls beat our timing. The third one is at 29 minutes. I joked with Vincent if we had a sex change the night before, we would have gotten something..lol.

Afterthat we went and jalan around the carnival stalls. Christian fellowship had a booth selling pizzas and we bought half box of it. Nice to see them getting good sales too :) There was also a rock band performing at the pool side, mat rockers to be precise. I saw them performing at the music room at one of the nights. The instrumentals (drums, electric and bass) were very good but I think the vocalist need some improvement though. They performed two songs, Muse's "time is running out" and Red hot chili pepper's "by the way". Muse's song definitely not easy to perform cos the vocalist really need to match up with Matt Bellamy's high pitched soprano voice and don't sound like an "ah kua" at the same time. The sad thing is that not many people were there to rock out with the band. Firstly, the venue for the performance is so hidden and obscure. They would have more audience if they played in the hall or near the carnival stalls. Secondly, in this part of the world, not many know how to appreciate the spirit and talent of rock. Many of them are just so preoccupied with the cheap marketing nature of pop music, R&B and rap/hip hop music. Most Southeast Asian Chinese idea of music is Jay Chou, Lee Hom or one of those heavily marketed westernised R&B/pop flavour of the month. Not many of them would have known about guitar solos/starting rifts, some creative drumming beats/rolls or the intriguing plucking of the bass guitar. Ahh, I'm getting carried away on the topic of music..lol..maybe I'll do a historical research paper in the future on the "Musical Preference of Southeast Asian Chinese"..haha.

Besides the band at the pool, there's an interesting "ride" where two fellas will pay to enter an inflated giant balloon and attempt to move across the swimming pool using that. Quite funny looking at the methods that some of them use. Overall, I had quite a good dose of fun at the carnival. By 1pm or so, I was feeling really exhausted and immediately crashed to the bed and dozed off.

Speaking of tonight, it's gonna be a morning of high tension as I watch whether Deutschland would qualify for the quarters.

Spain narrowly through

Villa wants to fly to the moon with his strike partner Torres

This is probably the weirdest match I've watched in the tournament so far. There are goals in the match, but it's exceedingly boring at the same time. Spain suddenly turned into Italy of the night as they keep lots of possession but couldn't really penetrate much through the Swedish defence. I find the Swedish more adventurous with their offence. Torres opened the scoring using the sole of his boots to push the ball into the net. Ibrahimovic equalised at the 34th minute when Sergio Ramos could not match the tremendous strength of the striker to close him down. From then on, it's being rather monotonous. Every time the Spanish moved near to the Swedish penalty box, their attack would be snuffed out before they could take a shot. Then, the Swedish will try to counter-attack but the quality is rather bad as the Spanish would similiarly block the shots. Another thing is the high amount of stoppages from fouls. It seemed so irritating that the whistle was blown so frequently. David Villa was relatively quiet UNTIL the very last minute when he pounced on a cross that is missed by Torres to go clear at the Swedish box. No mistakes on the spot as Villa slid in the winner. 4 goals in the tournament for the Spanish marksman.

Hmm..I was wondering if the Nederland match had affected the way I watch the match. Now, it seems that every match had to be played like the Dutch way for it to be fun..lol. Anyways, Spain would most likely avoid Nederland in this case for the quarter-finals..haha. They would be so glad to advance to the next round and need not wait anxiously until the last match for a decider. Sweden would feel that they're being robbed at the last minute but they can't really blame anyone for it since the defenders went sleeping at the last few seconds. The proponents of anti-football, Greece is out of the tournament and will not be able to defend their status quo as the 2004 champions. Well, they can't just continue smoking their way through and with old legs in the squad, I don't think they have that much stamina to maintain their parking bus positions. With Spain through, I would also expect them to rest key players in their final match against the Greeks.

Oranje demolition job

Rafael van der Vaart and Dirk Kuyt are ecstatic to put one past Les Bleus

Nederland ruthlessly crushed the French 4-1 to book their place in the next round of Euro 2008. This is pure Dutch masterclass as another team is run ragged by the Oranje offensive play. France came into the match being very aware of the way the Italians were dismantled by the rampage. Efforts were being placed to stifle the Dutch attacking motion. Makalele and Toulalan are placed in the middle to anchor the defence. Henry plays as the lone striker supported by Ribery in the AMC position. The Dutch played the similiar starting eleven that they used against Italy.

The first blood was drawn by the Oranje just within 9 minutes when Kuyt pumps in a header from van der Vaart's corner kick. The Dutch onslaught has begun. The French came close a couple of times during the first half to equalise but van der Sar was there to save the day as always. The first half ended with a goal in favour of the Dutch. van Basten's intention to seal the game was evident when he decided to pull out the defensive Engelaar for Arjen Robben. So, in goes Robben at the wing and Sneijder back at center along with van der Vaart. Dutch attack went one up notch. At the 55th minute, van Persie was thrown in to create an ultimate attacking force. 4 minutes later, van Nistelrooy does a nice back flick to Robben who in his energetic sprint dashed across the left wing to set up a goal for van Persie. 2-0 up, and the French felt that it's gonna take a hell of a task to get back on track.

France could have perhaps gotten a lifeline when Henry glided the ball across the goal mouth where it just managed to squeeze in. van der Sar didn't take much action because it looked as if it would be heading out. The Dutch pegged back immediately within seconds and Robben is at again but this time, he finishes it himself to restore Nederland's 2 goal cushion. It was a tight angle but he managed get it through. At the 92nd minute, Sneijder blasted one from outside the box, leaving Coupet with no chance at all. The world is left breathless at the sight of such stunning display of attacking football. This is the rebirth of Total Football.

Previously, Nederland had found themselves under criticism for lack of teamwork and quality. Four Four Two and Football Weekly had articles declaring that Total Football is dead. And they were proven WRONG big time.Obviously at press time, the writers could not imagine that the Oranje would actually put 7 goals past the World cup finalists and conceded only 1 goal in the process.

The 3-0 victory over the Italians is of no fluke as the French have discovered themselves after being thumped 4 goals. Never have I seen an international team so devastating in tearing apart another and what made it more impressive was that those were titanic teams and not little noobies. The Dutch defence can be horrible at times but the attack is so excellent that they could just play a game where they can outscore their opponents. The speed of attacking and counterattacking is devastating, and even at such high speed, passing accuracy is not compromised at all. I would say that it can easily reach 90% above. Another strange thing is how the Dutch attackers could intercept and tackle so cleanly and efficiently to the extent that it can sometimes put Rio Ferdinand to shame.

The team that finished second in Group D will have the misfortune in encountering the Dutch. The case in Group C is that regardless of what results Nederland gets against Romania, they will still finish first. As for our dear France and Italy, they have to slug it out and hope that Romania don't achieve victory. For the Oranje, the key players can take a nice rest as they prepare for the quarter finals.

Woeful Mannschaft stumbles

Ballack and Co. are clueless what to do next

What kind of *&$^#%@ tactic is Loewe putting out? Where was the team geist? This is possibly one of the worst Deutschland matches that I had ever watched. First touch was poor, passing was bad, off the ball is horrendous and defending was just awful. First of all, questions must be asked for the choice of the first eleven, particularly in the attacking department. Podolski on the wing, Schweinsteiger left out and Mario Gomez upfront sums up the the type of "attack" that would be "effective" against Croatia. Just because that sort of first eleven formation worked against Poland, it doesn't mean it will work against a better team like Croatia. And the German victory against Poland was partly contributed by the fact that the the Poles put up suicidal tactics of pushing their defensive line so upfront.

I can't believe that Loewe can't see that Mario Gomez is just not fit to be upfront. Yes, his domestic form is superb but international footie is a different story. Already in the Poland match there are ominous signs that he's gonna draw blanks. Most of the off-ball runs that he made were wrongly timed and he wasn't of any threat to either the Poland or Croatian defence. With no support from his partner, Klose is similiarly useless and can't do much upfront. Podolski's talent and goal poaching skills were not being utilised properly. Of course, his domestic form ain't as good as Gomez but he has proven more than enough that he's a different player altogether at the international level. Oh gosh, I would even rather gamble Kuranyi in than play Gomez upfront.

The midfield looked extremely lethargic and uninspirational. They were predictable and for some reason or so, captain Ballack was far from the form he was at Poland. They kept losing the ball just as quickly as they had won it. I was horrified to see Loewe putting Schweinsteiger to replace Gomez only at the 65th minute. One could see that there was an improvement in the German attack when Schweini plays on the left wing and Podolski was reverted back to his original role. The attack also became more organised for the first time during the match. It is only proper and vital that Lahm and Schweinsteiger link up together on the left too as they both have a strong understanding based on experiences in club and World Cup. Schweini provided the spark for the zombified Germans to press forward. The impact was evident with Schweini barely missing from a tight angle shot and he later inspired the Podolski goal which gave some form of hope in the last few minutes. Alas, too late is too late. I'm just surprised that Odonkor was subbed into the field earlier than Kuranyi and Schweini when he was meant to be an impact player and not a tactical one to be placed so early in the game.

To add insult to the bad tactics, there was a card frenzy at the dying minutes of the match. Schweini apparently got frustrated and reacted to one of the Croats by pushing him to the ground. The referee saw the incident and pulled out an immediate red out of his pocket. Lahm and Lehmann rushed to the referee in protest and both of them got a yellow card for that too. Now the Germans are in trouble with one of their vital attacking players out on a suspension from the decisive Austria match.

Salutations to Croatia for a passionate game of football where they played as a team and outwitted the Germans in almost every department. The bubbly and animated nature of the manager rubs onto the players and that gave them the spirit to move forward. This was the same Croatia team that beat England 3-2 in Wembley. Looks like the Germans would have to ensure that they get the three points from their Anschluss buddies if they wanna reach the quarter finals.

Btw, what's up with the Polish politicians nowadays? First, Podolski is being threatened to have his Polish passport withdrawn (very strange since Poldi himself said that he didn't even own one) Now the Polish PM feels like "killing" Howard Webb the referee, spawning threats from the British Polska community against the poor Brit ref. Seriously, let's leave politics out of football yea?

Portugal first to quarters

Goal-scorer Deco and Captain Nuno Gomes share their delight together

It's a reunion of Ronaldo and Cech at the opposite ends of the field. If Portugal wanna go through, they have to get past Czech's Cech first. And they have to rely on the experience of Ronnie who happened to beat Cech and put one past him just last month in Russia. This match is between the two favourites of group A and the winner of this match would guarantee a place in the next round.

The Czechs started the first half unauspiciously when they conceded a goal after just 8 minutes of playing time. Fumbles and confusion in the Czech half at that point of time, but Deco was at the right place and right time to do just a short tap in. The Czechs pulled one back to level with Sionko's header from a corner kick. It looked like a deadlock up till the 63rd minute when golden boy Ronaldo put on his scoring boots to give Portugal the lead again. Ronnie was at it again at the dying minutes of the game. Ronaldo's nicely-timed movement left the Czech offside line stranded and that allowed him to go one on one with Cech. Nice to see him unselfishly pass to Quaresma to seal the game once and for all.

Honestly, the Cech did his best to keep the balls out but the Portugese were just too good. Anyways, he could take pride with the fact that his country would have conceded more if not for his brave goalkeeping. Portugal is one funny team which doesn't have proper strikers apart from the aging Nuno Gomes but the superior quality of their midfield is good enough to get the goals. And with 2 wins out of 2, they look deadly enough to finish up Switzerland, which just crashed out of the tournament after losing to Turkey.

Villa Hat-Trick Ace

Remember the name and number: David Villa

Spain entered the tournament with much to prove to the world that they will no longer be an underperforming side. For all the talents in their team and the local stars in La Liga, Spain has not really been able to win the big prizes at the international stage. Somehow for this tournament, there's just a weird feeling that they may just do it. With emerging talents such as Fabregas and Sergio Ramos plus hot on form strikers like Torres and David Villa, the Spanish team is one not to be reckoned with.

It was a sluggish start for the Spanish at the first quarter of the match but eventually, they broke the deadlock when Torres unselfishly passed the ball to David Villa for him to score the first. Not long afterthat, Villa was at the receiving end of a piercing Iniesta pass and he made no mistake in securing his second. At the second half, a magnificent solo ball control movement by Villa enabled him to pop his hat-trick in. The three goals were truly magnificent finishing from the Spanish marksman. The Russians were left dejected after being run ragged by Villa. Anyways, to retain some form of pride, they managed to score a consolation goal to make it 3-1. But Spain was not done. Fabregas was introduced as a sub into the game and he too wanna get into the scoresheet. And he does it superbly with a connecting header late in the game.

The 4-1 scoreline reflects the superiority of the Spanish in the match although they had to take some time get settled into the game. Lol..to think that this was the Russian team which edged out England for Euro 2008. Gosh..Steve McClaren really blew it up.

At the end of the first round of the group matches, there ain't any surprising upsets (apart from Italy, if u want to count it) and the results were more or less predictable. Spain will face Sweden in the their next match.

Oranje Blitz

Van the man celebrates his opener with his teammates and fans

What a match! In one of football's most delicious match-up, it certainly didn't disappoint. Two distinctly different systems at work - The flamboyant Dutch and the organised Italians. In the end, the Dutch proved to be too much for the Italians as the Azzuri had no reply to the way the Orange men had been playing. The Italian defence is just as clueless in stopping the rampage. They were outclassed and outplayed time and time again by the Dutch attackers.

Of course, Italy had been touted as favourites for the match due to their status as World champions. There were many supporters of Italian footie around me but personally, I don't really fancy them.(partly cos they gave Deutschland the boot at the WC) At the international stage, I'm a fan of two countries, one being Nederland because of the brand of creative footie that they play and the other being ironically, their bitter rivals, Deutschland whom I regard as a solid balanced team with a strong determined spirit.

I had earlier predicted that Nederland would overcome Italy with a scoreline of 1-0 or 2-1 but I certainly didn't expect them to romp past at 3-0. In any case, I was delighted with the way the proponents of Total Football had won the match and proved to football skeptics that the game is not just about a straightforward game of 22 behind a ball.

Ruud van Nistelrooy opened the scoring with a rather controversial offside goal but UEFA ruled later that it is valid. The reasoning given was that although Panucci has been off-field as a result of the momentum, he is still considered to be in-game and as a result, his position ahead of van Nistelrooy played him onside. The second goal which followed after the first was a beauty and a testament of the particular distinct Dutch style of counterattacking. From an Italian corner, the ball is cleared away from the Dutch lines and almost immediately afterthat, waves of Orangemen started to sweep across the field in terrifying speed. It started with van Bronckhorst who passed it to van der Vaart. Vdv then planted a superb long range pass back to van Bronckhorst who then crosses it to Kuyt and Sneijder finishes it with style from a volley. From an Italian corner to a Dutch goal..lol. The third one is rather impressive too and again it is a component of counterattacking which the Italians dreaded so much on that night. Van der Sar made a superb save from a Pirlo free kick and the Orangemen were off and away again in pushing towards the Italian goalpost. The Oranje weaved a set of crafted moves which ended with van Bronckhorst heading the ball into the net to make it 3-0.

Italy has been well known to play a short passing and slow build up game. Opponents often find it hard to match up with them because they retain the ball most of the time all the way to the final third where apply a finishing. The Dutch playing style disrupted their traditional rhythm and the Italians were often thrown into disarray the moment counterattack occurs. As such, it is common to see the Italians retreat in panic. Sometimes, there are up to 3 blue shirts chasing after 1 orange fella. The agile silky movements of the Dutch made the Italians look like Ah Peks or grandpas on the ball. Italy is one hell of a juggernaut of physical superiority but Nederland made up the shortage with a keen flair on the creative manipulation of the ball and speed. Honestly, defence has not been the main highlight of the Oranje but for them, attacking is a form of defending. Look at the amount of times van Bronckhorst has pushed upwards and being a constant pain to the Italian defenders even though he was the left back. When the Dutch defence has being breached (which is quite often..haha..and sometimes done in deliberation for counterattacking purposes), they always have one solid person to depend on who have time and time again denied the Italians with his classy saving skills - van der Sar. Nederland would have conceded goals if not for the giant between the posts whom in my opinion, is comparable to the influence that Oliver Kahn had on the German team.

As for the other match, it's a bore 0-0 draw between France and Romania. By overcoming Italy, Nederland has one foot foot into the quarter finals since on paper and theoretically, they shouldn't have problems in dispatching Romania (cannot be guaranteed cos Nederland actually had trouble with Romania during the qualifiers). Anyways, Italy would need to work hard to win the remaining two matches if they wanna go through. As for the Oranje, they have Les Bleus as their next opponents for another delicious encounter.

Poldi's Brace

Podolski coolly smashes in his 2nd goal of the tournament

Germany started the campaign well with a 2-0 win over Poland, thanks to double goal scorer Lukas Podolski. The Germans were highly organised in the match and the passing was done with precision. I'm kinda amazed that even when the Germans were forced through narrow paths by the Polish defence, they managed to get the ball through to each other. The Polish defensive tactics were very flawed from the beginning. They pushed up the line so far ahead that they were left vulnerable the moment Germany counter-attacked. The first goal was conceded in such a manner. The Poles got a couple of shots but none of them were of quality to trouble Lehmann.

The German attack got boosted in the second half with the introduction of Bastian Schweinsteiger and it was clear that he was the architect for the second goal. One of the Polish defenders dwelt on the ball for a few seconds too long and Schweinsteiger punished him for it by snatching the ball away. He crossed the ball in for Klose who missed but Podolski was there to pounce on it. Poldi did excellent in his role as a goal poacher. Much has been criticised about his inconsistent form in the Bundesliga but he does really perform when it comes to the international stage. Mario Gomez, who has been touted as one of the bright new talents of German attackers, had been particularly disappointing with so many misses from easy chances. He gotta improve his strike qualities if he wanna retain his place in the starting eleven. One interesting thing that I noticed was that Lahm and Schweinsteiger were both playing at the right wing instead of their traditional left. It worked out nevertheless. Compared to his poor form in World Cup 2006, Captain Ballack was absolutely superb in the opening match. He was the midfield general who coordinated all the movements of the squad with gusto.

I really respect Podolski for his muted celebrations when he score both of his goals. Poland was his birth country and he reminds us that one should never forget his old roots.

Euro 2008 starts!

The opening match is tonight at 12 am - Switzerland vs. Czech Republic. It's football action everyday but it's gonna be problem if you live in the wrong time zone. In Malaysia, the group matches are at two time slots only, 12 am or 2.45 am. The thing is that unless it's the weekend, a lot of sleep would have to be sacrificed. Unless of course if all the TVs around Nilai telecast the recorded matches 24/7 during the day time. The worst thing is that all the hot group C match up happens at 2.45. And if one can only stay up at 12 am the most, he'll probably watch Romania in all their 3 matches..lol.

Anyways..here are my predictions. Let's see how many of them I got correct at the end of the tournament..haha.

Group Stages: Russia, Greece, Switzerland, Austria, Poland, Turkey, Italy, Romania

Quarter Finals: France, Sweden, Croatia, Czech Republic

Semi Finals: Netherlands, Portugal

Final: Spain vs. Germany

Champions: Germany

P.S. Okay, I'm a bit biased here cos I support Deutschland..lol =p

Fuel Price Hike

This is probably the biggest news since the end of elections. Petrol prices in Malaysia had risen by 78 sen/per liter and the problems would be more than just cars. Stan will attempt to comment on this issue using a little of his noobish and horrendous economics knowledge..lol (so do forgive him if he makes some noob mistakes in analysis..haha) But mostly it would be sociological lar..

The common citizen would complain that the govt is bloodsucking with such a sudden increase but they have to see that sooner or later, petrol subsidies would have to be removed. Continuous subsidies would plunge Malaysia's budget deficit into a dangerous level and that won't be good for the economy in long run. Besides, prolonged subsidies also encourages some wasteful habits from the citizens. BUT now that subsidies are being pulled out, the federal government would probably have some additional funds and history don't look very kindly on the BN where these funds would either end up as rasuah, useless projects or inefficient policies. Anyways, great job by Tony Pua in critically analyzing the situation using economics instead of blind outright opposition.

Closely related to the petrol hike is on the state of public transportation in the country. Poor public transport services meant that people don't really have much choice but to continue using their cars as means of transportation even for short distances. KTM trains arrive at irregular intervals, taxis that charge their customers at ridiculous rate and buses that are maintained poorly are some of the persistent problems.

From a common citizen's point of perspective, it's gonna be some hard days ahead no matter how bad or how good the reasons are for the sudden price hike. Stuff like electricity, water and certain daily necessities would increase in addition to soaring food prices. The common citizen ain't gonna be speaking Economics. They are looking at the end-result and what is directly affecting them. And this brings to the question whether such a move is one of the political suicide actions taken by the Badawi administration.

Already deep in trouble internally within the party, the basis of Badawi's hold in power is further corroded as all sections of Malaysian community (including Dr. M's camp) heaped more criticisms on the PM. Massive scenes of chaos and panic are reported around the petrol stations in the country even before the announcement of the price hike. The quick implementation and withdrawal of the foreign ban on petrol reveals the fickle-mindedness of policy makers in the government. These are the issues that provide free ammunition for the anti-Pak Lah camp. Reactions are coming in thick and fast in all sorts of media. It would be interesting to see how far the reactions (be it physical or virtual protest) would go.

Music stuff

A couple of days ago, in a moment of absent mindedness, I left my pencil case at the lecture theater where I had my Malaysian studies lessons. I really don't know how that could happen and I realised about that boo boo when I wanna start on my contract law tutorial. Fortunately, I could trace back my steps and discovered it below a chair, with its contents ransacked of course. Lol, I'm just thankful that I didn't lose the entire thing. My current G2 pen, a ruler and a stapler is gone but the rest of the stuff like my highlighter, a memento of my previous Eng Lit class and G2 refill is still there. Ahh, looks like I gotta be more careful with my stuff. Previously, I even left my ELS book at the moot court...zzzzz..

On last Tuesday, I had my first guitar class which is organised by Impac. It's easy to learn since they are only 4 people in the class..haha. One thing which made my day was that I finally learned how to play the B and F chord! I tried finding in chord books but I don't have a real human telling me how it's done. And on that day, the mystery is solved! Another interesting that I found out about the guitar is about scaling where I can actually play all the piano notes on the guitar. It's kinda fascinating and I guess that's where all the guitar solos come from.

Then yesterday, I was invited by CF to play drums for the worship team. I must say this was a personal record time of practicing for 1.5hrs and jumping straight into performance mode. The previous one held was 1 week of practice with Jordan back in 2006. Well, I did the best I could and hoped that it turned out well..(fingers crossed..haha). From the feedback I get, it was generally positive lar..lol. So, thank you God for the guidance during worship session :)

Anyways, I still need to improve on my high-hats and come up with some creative beats other than the typical monotonous 16 beat taps. And for guitar class, it is definitely very convenient and useful if I had my beloved guitar with me but as of right now, it's stashed away in Taiping! Oh man, it's gonna be tough to find a time to go back..and it looks like I have to borrow one from someone in the university..haha.

Indiana Jones and the Cystal Skull

[Warning: Spoilers ahead] Indiana returns to the screens in 2008 with an adventure that is set in Mayan jungles. It's being 19 years since the last Indy movie was on the cinemas (lol..it's almost as old I am). So, one can see it like maybe when Star Wars first returned back to the major screens in 1999.

Of course, there's no young-looking Harrison Ford in those Han Solo days. He's already 65 years old but nevertheless, Ford still looks graceful in the movie. In the opening scene, the audience can feel there's still some charm left in old Ford, just like Sean Connery. One thing this new Indy installment does is to reintroduce back those classic old days where the commy Soviets are always the baddies! lol..

Cate Blanchett is really awesome and impressive in her role as a Soviet agent. Top class acting from her and she could reproduce the Russian accent very well. There's a great sense of profesionalism about her and her stern icy look is truly a memorable feature of the film. There are very few actresses that command such a respect from the audiences and Blanchett is one of them. It was not only her Hollywood career but also her role in theatre works which is admirable, similiar to Sir Ian McKellen. Actors/Actresses that have theatre background previously are a distinct breed from the rest.

One thing that I noticed is that the movie is created with the nostalgic theme in mind. It feels very eighty-ish where some parts are just rather corny but nevertheless enjoyable. There a couple of punch lines and in-house jokes that are quite hilarious. I think the alien bits there are probably an allusion to Spielberg's and Lucas' work of sci-fi such as E.T. and Star Wars. Lol, they could have put the alien space craft as any sort of creative shape but they had to put one that is cliched - the flying saucer. Again, this is probably to comply with the zeitgeist (spirit of the time). Speaking of Indy meeting his own son, i wonder whether it rings a bell on the audience about Anakin and Luke..haha.

The CGI is well-done and at times, it reminded me of the maze and levels in Tomb Raider..lol. Music wise, it's from Lucas' good pal John Williams who is also the composer for the Star Wars movies. So, the Indy film music is the classical orchestra style, something which is in line with the original series. Anyways, the end is reasonably concluded and I happy to say that I thoroughly enjoyed myself watching the show :)