It appears we have seen a shift in the world power, as slight as it might be, when it comes to the most popular sport outside of North America.
This week was a huge moment for the Bundesliga, the elite soccer division in Germany. On Wednesday, when Bayern Munich trounced FC Barcelona 3-0, it set up an all-German Champions League Final for the first time.
On May 25 at London’s Wembley Stadium, Bayern Munich will play Borussia Dortmund for the 2013 Champions League Title.
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For the third consecutive time, Spain has won a major soccer tournament, this time in overwhelming and convincing fashion.
Sunday afternoon in Kiev, Ukraine, Spain dominated play in trouncing the Italians 4-0.
Spain received their goals from Fernando Torres and Juan Mata of Chelsea, David Silva of Manchester City and Jordi Alba of FC Barcelona. Torres won the Golden Boot, despite playing very limited minutes in the knockout games.
Spain also won Euro 2008 in Vienna, Austria and the 2010 World Cup in Johannesburg, South Africa.
The Canadian Football League commences this weekend.
On Saturday night the Edmonton Eskimos host a familiar person to town. Ricky Ray will be quarterbacking not the Eskimos however at Commonwealth Stadium, but the Toronto Argonauts (Saturday, TSN, 5pm).
In a very controversial off season deal, Eskimos GM Eric Tillman traded Ray for quarterback Steven Jyles, kicker Grant Shaw and a first round pick in 2012.
In the Canadian Football League I thought you needed a solid quarterback to win football games. Ricky Ray is a great quarterback and the Eskimos let him go. Apparently Tillman didn’t get the memo.
Mario Balotelli (Wikimedia Commons)
We now know who Spain will face in the Euro 2012 Final Sunday in Kiev, Ukraine.
Thursday in the second semi-final in Warsaw, Poland, Mario Balotelli scored twice as Italy shocked Germany 2-1.
Balotelli, a striker who just helped Manchester City win the English Premier League, headed in the opening goal in the 20th minute, and then delivered a perfect shot from long range to put the Italians up by a pair.
The Germans dominated the final minutes and got a goal from a penalty kick of the shoe of Mesut Oezil, but it was too little too late.
With all the talk of how strong Group B was headed into the tournament, we find two teams from Group C in the championship final.
In the round robin, Italy and Spain had a 1-1 draw on June 10, which right now seems like an eternity ago.
Happy Monday!
This week on 15 Minutes of Fame, we look at the drama leading up to the first overall pick 2012 NHL Entry Draft and a couple of big trades that happened on draft day. As well: a look ahead to game one of the CFL season, the latest on the NFL’s bounty program, some Euro 2012 controversy and a look at some boxing news.
In the GABBYs: The Miami Heat, Evgeni Malkin, R.A. Dickey, David Nalbandian, Nicklas Bendtner & Joel Peralta. The Punchline this week is LeBron James!
Gianluigi Buffon (Roberto Vicario, Wikimedia Commons)
Team Italy has become the fourth and final team to advance to Euro 2012 with their dramatic 1-0 win over Team England in the quarterfinals at Kiev, Ukraine.
The Italians needed to win on penalties to become victorious. After nothing was settled in regulation or the thirty minutes of overtime, Italy won 4-3 on penalty kicks.
Manchester United’s Ashley Young hit the crossbar and Chelsea’s Ashley Cole’s shot was saved by Italian captain and goaltender Gianluigi Buffon.
England had the edge in play in the first half, Italy had the edge in play in the second half and then dominated overtime.
The Italians almost won it in the overtime, but AC Milan midfielder Antonio Noncerino was offside on the play.
The Euro 2012 Final a week from now in Kiev is shaping up to be a Germany-Spain final in my opinion. Spain will play Portugal on Wednesday in Donetsk, Ukraine while Germany will play Italy Thursday in Warsaw, Poland.
Xabi Alonso (Phillip Chambers, Wikimedia Commons)
Team Spain has punched their ticket to the Euro 2012 Semi-Finals. Xabi Alonso scored twice as Spain defeated France 2-0 in Donetsk, Ukraine.
Alonso, a Real Madrid midfielder, was playing in his 100th career cap for the Spaniards.
Where Spain dominated the game was in overall ball possession. In the first half alone they successfully executed 333 passes.
Spanish Head Coach Vicente del Bosque made an interesting decision to start Cesc Fabregas over the more well known Fernando Torres. His decision paid off as Spain completely dominated the contest.
This was Spain’s first ever victory over France in a meaningful contest in international competition. France previously had gone five wins and a draw against their European rival. Spain and Germany continue to be the class of the field in the competition.
We are now down to six teams at Euro 2012 in Poland and the Ukraine. Yesterday Miroslav Klose scored a key insurance goal for Germany in the 68th minute en route to a 4-2 quarterfinal win over Greece.
With the win, Germany advances to the semi-finals and will play the winner of England and Italy, who will play tomorrow (Sunday, TSN, 12:45pm).
Today, France will play Spain (TSN, 12:45pm). The French are in complete disarray after a loss to Sweden in the round robin. It is interesting that the inner turmoil in France comes after the disastrous 2010 World Cup, where expectations were very high and they simply failed to deliver.
The other sports competition I will keep an eye on this weekend is the IndyCar race tonight at the Iowa Speedway (TSN2, 7pm). James Hinchcliffe of Oakville, Ontario currently sits in second place in the overall standings. Indy 500 Champion Dario Franchitti has the pole.
(Cristiano Ronaldo, Wikimedia Commons)
In watching the coverage of the first quarterfinal today of Euro 2012, the British commentator said of Portugese star Cristiano Ronaldo, “if at first you cannot succeed, try, try again.”
Ronaldo hit a first half post, hit a second post on a second half free kick, then shot the ball over the net before finally scoring on a header in the 79th minute in a 1-0 Portugal win over the Czech Republic in the Euro 2012 quarterfinals in Warsaw. In all, Ronaldo, probably the most breathtaking player in the tournament, had eight shots on net.
For Ronaldo, it was his third goal in the last two games, as he scored twice in a 2-1 win over the Netherlands on Sunday.
Portugal completely dominated the game–outshooting the Czech Republic 20-2. The Czech Republic simply didn’t get one really good scoring chance. I know Group A was the weakest pool in the tournament, but Portugal’s dominance just showed how strong Group B was.
Wayne Rooney (Gordon Flood, Wikimedia Commons)
We now know the teams that will be advancing to the quarterfinals of Euro 2012.
After their wins today, England and France will be joining Greece, Germany, Spain, Italy, the Czech Republic and Portugal.
England won a 1-0 decision over the Ukraine in a controversial game. Various replays indicate that the Ukraine actually scored in the contest, but it was not seen that way by the referees. This was just the latest argument made in favour of instant replay in soccer.
Luckily, a Ukrainian goal did not impact the outcome of Group D whatsoever because France lost to Sweden 2-0 on goals by Zlatan Ibrahimovic of A.C. Milan and Sebastian Larsson of Sunderland.
England meanwhile got a huge second half header from star forward Wayne Rooney of Manchester United.
The quarterfinal matches now see Portugal playing the Czech Republic on Thursday, Germany playing Greece on Friday, Spain playing France on Saturday and England playing Italy on Sunday.
Jesus Navas (Wikimedia Commons)
We now know two more teams that have advanced to the quarterfinals at Euro 2012.
On Monday, Italy beat Ireland 2-0 and Spain beat Croatia 1-0 to book their tickets for critical knockout games this weekend.
Jesus Navas of Sevilla FC scored in the 88th minute off of a pass by Andres Iniesta. With the win, Spain wins Group C with a record of two wins and a draw.
In second place is Italy, who finished with a record of one win and two draws for a total of five points. The Italians got their goals from AC Milan striker Antonio Cassano and Manchester City striker Mario Balotelli. Cassano scored in the first half and Balotelli scored in the second half.
Happy Monday!
This week on the show, we recap the NHL playoffs, make a couple of NHL Award show predictions and discuss who should go first overall at the upcoming draft. As well, the latest on the Pacquiao/Bradley boxing controversy and Lance Armstrong is facing doping charges.
In the GABBYs: Matt Cain, Alex Rodriguez, Nik Wallenda, KTLA, Croatian soccer fans & Aubrey Huff. The Punchline this week is Floyd Mayweather Jr.
Irina Shayk (Wikimedia Commons)
I think we may know why Portugese soccer star Cristiano Ronaldo had such a good game on Sunday in Portugal’s 2-1 win over the Netherlands.
According to Martin Rogers of Yahoo! Sports, Ronaldo’s girlfriend, Russian supermodel Irina Shayk was spotted by the paparazzi shopping in New York, and not in the stands at Euro 2012.
Ronaldo was obviously able to focus on soccer and performed admirably. I am wondering if Spain is having a no sex policy like Italy has been famous for in international events.
Ronaldo told the European press he didn’t expect Shayk to join him a week ago. Ronaldo struggled in the first two games of the tournament on capitalizing on his chances, but scored two key goals in Portugal’s win Sunday that helped them advance to the quarterfinals Thursday where they will play the Czech Republic.
Shayk, considered one of the sexist models in the world, has done significant work for Sports Illustrated in the past.
Cristiano Ronaldo (Wikimedia Commons)
We now know half the teams that have qualified for the Euro 2012 quarterfinals in Poland and Ukraine.
On Sunday, Portugal defeated the Netherlands 2-1 and Germany got by Denmark 2-1. Both the Germans and Portugese got second half game winning goals by Lars Bender and Cristiano Ronaldo respectively.
Ronaldo, considered by many as the most skilled player in the entire tournament, scored his first two goals of Euro 2012 after not scoring against Germany or Denmark despite numerous opportunities. He tied the score at 1 in the 28th minute against the Dutch and then won it in the 74th minute.
Germany, went an impressive 3-0 in the Group of Death while the Portugese went 2-1. The Netherlands shockingly went 0-3 after advancing all the way to the final of the 2010 World Cup in South Africa.
The Czech Republic will now play Portugal in Warsaw, Poland on Thursday, June 21st, while Germany will now play Greece on Friday, June 22nd in Gdansk, Poland. Both games start at 12:45 MT.
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