June 12

The next 6 games of Euro 2008 proved quite devastating for many of the teams.

France drew Romania in a lackluster match. But a practice match against Chatel-Saint-Denis proved to be a good ground to return skipper Patrick Vieira and Thierry Henry back in the squad.

The Oranje meanwhile, proved to be devastating. For the Italians, at least. The Netherlands bashed the 2006 World Cup winners, 3-0 in a one sided match. A controversial goal from Ruud Van Nistelrooy opened up the scoresheet, with Wesley Sneijder contributing the second goal, and Giovani van Bronckhorst setting the game beyond the world champions' reach.

Spain thrashed Russia in a one sided game with talismanic striker David Villa contributing a hat trick. Roman Pavlyuchenko grabbed a late consolation goal, cancelled out by substitute Cesc Fabregas' diving header.

Reigning Euro champions Greece saw their side fall to Sweden in Group D's opening game. Zlatan Ibrahimovic smashed the ball into the top corner after an exquisite right-footed strike, with Petter Hansson sealing the victory for the Swedes.

And again, Cristiano Ronaldo's tricky feet have done it again, scoring his 22nd international goal. Partnering with Deco in midfield, the pair put the ball at the back of the net, with Ricardo Quaresma receiving a squared ball from C. Ronaldo to add a third goal. Libor Sionko gave the Czechs their only goal. 3-1 for the Portuguese

With the pitch acting against the players' wills, Turkey found Arda Turan's late strike as the game winner. Against Switzerland. The Swiss took the lead through Hakan Yakin's shot, but failed to capitalize on the lead, with Semih Senturk slotting in an equalizer. But Arda's shot that came from a deflection was enough to send the Turkish fans screaming, and the Swiss side, the first to bow out of the tournament.


Back in club football, Chelsea has named a new manager.

Luiz Felipe Scolari. Portuguese national team manager.
more facts in http://news.bbc.co.uk/sport2/hi/football/teams/c/chelsea/7449627.stm

now the bets are coming in: how long would he last as manager?
and who would he buy, with a 100M Pound warchest for the transfer season?

for the record, i'll post the top 10 countries in the world, according to FIFA
1 Argentina
2 Brazil
3 Italy
4 Spain
5 Germany
6 Czech Republic
7 France
8 Greece
9 England
10 Netherlands
Fluctuations in the coming week.

AND OH YEAH GO PHILIPPINES. 170 from 189 in the world!