2008-09-10T06:59:37-04:00 Netherlands-Russia: Fasten Your Seatbelts 2008-06-21T12:35:56-04:00 42 2008-09-10T06:38:33-04:00 1 5 10 2008-06-21T18:48:06-04:00 273 XX no_trolling_please No City 128849 Tuncay sounds like he is one of the Berlin-Turks. The kind living there for the third generation, only speak broken german, living on welfare checks, and being obnoxious. 2035500 2008-06-21T17:59:00-04:00 3 XX Anhaltiner No City 443947 mradidas, Tuncay - it's call sarcasm. 2035441 2008-06-21T17:45:05-04:00 4 VA TUNCAY Alexandria 443927 GERMANS ARE BORING AND THE QUESTION IS HOW ON EARTH THERE CAN BE A HOLLAND-PORTUGAL FINAL IN EURO 2008!!?? OH ONE MORE THING... GERMANY IS REALLY BORING!!! 2035370 2008-06-21T17:40:59-04:00 30 XX ExMax Big northern country 442690 Mr, mradidas! Dutch team had defense! But Russian team was really charged for the action! Believe me, this is the reality i can see every day, But my respect to Mr. Hiddink anyway... 2035360 2008-06-21T17:38:08-04:00 http://img.fannation.com/upload/user_profile/image/787/37/thumb/Prince.jpg 221 FL mradidas 79037 Can't wait to see that Holland-Portugal final! Germany's always so boring. Bayern4LIfe (redux) | how can you live with yourself saying Germany is boring...i take offense and I'm not even german... 2035354 2008-06-21T17:36:14-04:00 30 XX ExMax Big northern country 442690 Naboo, why no? No Stars neither in Dutch, nor in Russian team. Therefore, no stars, no science, but only JAZZ and misticism of the football! 2035351 2008-06-21T17:35:25-04:00 http://img.fannation.com/upload/user_profile/image/787/37/thumb/Prince.jpg 221 FL mradidas 79037 final score 1-3...THe dutch team was sleeping on defense...i guess the ghost of Vladimir Lenin was on the field today... 2035315 2008-06-21T17:31:58-04:00 30 XX ExMax Big northern country 442690 Sanguine (SanguineTeddy | 06/21/08, 05:16 PM ), you are quite right. I remember discussions regarding Andrej's missed conditions in RU-net few days ago. It's funny today. Arshavin and Zhirkov were the best 2035306 2008-06-21T17:28:25-04:00 http://img.fannation.com/upload/user_profile/image/340/78/thumb/nabami.jpg 63 XX Naboo Berlin 34178 3-1 for Russia, and they deserved it. Just tell me who replaced the dutch players with dummies ??? 2035280 2008-06-21T17:26:33-04:00 30 XX ExMax Big northern country 442690 Ha!.. Live broadcast from small russian town: Deeeeep night, but town is full of shouts , fireworks, and pride. Russia is charging for the action. I believe in our Final Success nowadays!! 2035293 42 <p>&nbsp;</p><p>I was ready for a let-down&mdash;and it hasn&rsquo;t happened.<br /> <br /> After a viral epidemic of Sexy Football in the group stage of Euro 2008, a return to the usual cautionary, survive-and-advance storyline seemed almost inevitable once we hit the quarterfinals.&nbsp; <br /> <br /> But what have we gotten instead? A 3-2 pinball shootout between Germany and Portugal and yet another Hail Mary classic by the Turks as they came back from the grave to eliminate Croatia on penalties.<br /> <br /> Now comes a match-up that could make those games seem like Greece-vs.-Romania:<br /> <br /> <em>Netherlands-Russia (2:45 p.m. ET, ABC).</em> <strong>Guus Hiddink</strong> is a Dutchman who loves to throw caution to the wind. So is <strong>Marco van Basten</strong>. Thankfully for us, they&rsquo;re the two coaches in what figures to be a rollicking affair pitting two of the most breathtaking teams of the tournament.<br /> <br /> Star playmaker <strong>Andrei Arshavin</strong> transformed the Russians with his return against Sweden, leading a 2-0 romp, and this could be the game that most tests the Dutch centerbacks (<strong>Joris Mathijsen</strong> and <strong>Andre Ooijer</strong>), especially if Arshavin continues to draw inspired play out of the up-and-down <strong>Roman Pavlyuchenko</strong> and <strong>Konstantin Zyryanov</strong>. Look for Russia to continue probing down the left side with marauding wing-back <strong>Yuri Zhirkov</strong>, but keep in mind that space will be harder to find down that side&mdash;where the Dutch play more stay-at-home defense (usually with <strong>Khalid Boulahrouz</strong>).<br /> <br /> Yet for as many questions as there are about the Dutch central defense, I have a distinct memory of what happened the last time Russia&rsquo;s defenders faced a high-level attack. That was in the 4-1 first-round loss to Spain, you may recall, when Russian centerback <strong>Denis Kolodin</strong> wet the bed in about every way imaginable. With Holland&rsquo;s relentless attack bearing down on the Russians (see: <strong>Wesley Sneijder, Rafael van der Vaart, Rudd van Nistelrooy, Dirk Kuyt, Arjen Robben, Robin van Persie</strong>), I&rsquo;m envisioning a similar performance by Kolodin and his backline mates. <br /> <br /> My predictions have been brutal in the quarters (0-2 so far), but we keep coming back for more. Look for a group winner to finally prevail in a quarterfinal game. <em>Netherlands 4, Russia 2.</em></p><p>Who do you like today? Do you think conservative soccer will rear its ugly head before the end of the tournament? Please post your comments below and come back for postgame reaction on the Euro 2008 Blog ... <br /> </p> 1318 http://img.fannation.com/upload/user_profile/image/194/315/thumb/wahl_grant.jpg 11 MD Grant Wahl Baltimore 194615