Marking your card #13

The football never stops. Here's what we'll be keeping an eye out for this week.

It was a turbulent 2011/12 season in Switzerland, so here's hoping for better this season. The champions FC Basel kick things off away to Servette who have so far steered themselves around financial imperilment. Gone from the champions are Xherdan Shaqiri (FC Bayern) and Granit Xhaka (Gladbach), but the turnover of young talent continues with high expectations of Fabian Frei - who has been around for a while already - Darko Jevtic, Marcelo Diaz and Stjepan Vuleta - who haven't. Hopefully Sion can stay off the naughty step this season as they've brought in a bit of quality in the shape of Rino Gattuso and a big lummox up fron tin Kyle LAfferty (subject to international clearance). They open away from home at Grasshopper who have a certain Taulant Xhaka in their ranks.

Fresh from co-hosting the Euros, the Ukrainian league begins this week. It looks set to be another battle between Dynamo Kyiv - at home to Metlarugh Donetsk this week - and Shakhtar - also at home, to Arsenal Kyiv. Shakhtar have held onto their stars, for now at least, and look marginal favourites, though Dynamo have strengthened with the likes of Niko Kranjcar joining the club.

We're up to round 9 in Brazil's Serie A wher Atlético Mineiro lead the way by a point from Fluminense. And it's Flu who are involved in the big game this weekend, away to fourth-placed Botafogo. Will Clarence Seedorf make his debut for the home side? Corinthians may have won the Copa Libertadores while we were focusing on Euro 2012, but they remain second from bottom having won just one game so far this season. They're at home to Nautíco this weekend.

No rest for the wicked in Chile. Just a week after the Apertura final - won by U de Chile on penalties after two 2-1 results against O'Higgins - the Clausura began, though the finalists were given the week off. Therefore, with 14 of the 18 sides having played last week, La U begin their title defence on Monday against La Serena. O'Higgins are at home to early leaders Colo Colo. Peru dispensed with the Apertura/Clausura model for a more European style league which hits round 23 this weekend. It's a three-way fight with Real Atlético Garcilaso leading by one from Sporting Cristal who themselves are one clear of Universidad César Vallejo. The leaders take on last-placed Cobresol this week with Univ César Vallejo, The Poets, who have hit a rough patch of form, taking on fifth-laced José Galvéz.

Further north, MLS rumbles on. DC, Sporting KC and New York Red Bulls are away and clear in the East, San Jose and Real Salt Lake in the West. Seattle Sounders and the Vancouver Whitecaps are fighting for the final play-off place in the West and both have tough cross-conference games this week. Seattle travel across the country to play New York, while the Whitecaps go to Chicago to play the Fire who are still in with a chance of making post-season without the need for a play-off. The big news from the States this week though is that the New York Cosmos are back! Next season, they'll play in NASL2 as they try to work their way back up to the big time.

Back in Europe and to Scandinavia. The Swdish Allsvenskan hits half way this week with Elfsborg leading by six. Coming off the back of a big Europa League win, they take on Kalmar this weekend, also big winners in Europe during the week. Kalmar's league form, however, isn't all that as they sit just outside the relegation places. The Norwegian Eliteserien also reaches the half way point and it's Stromsgodset in front by four from Molde. Rosenborg are in third and their game against Haugesund, a point further behind them, is the pick of the week there. Denmark get their league off and running this weekend. Champions Nordsjaelland begin away to Horsens, but last season's second and third placed sides Kobenhavn and Midjtylland meet in the game of the week.

We'll see how that lot got on early next week.

Yesterday at the Euros #10

Group B concluded yesterday. The proverbial group of death swung back and forth for much of the evening before rather petering out at the end.

The Netherlands had to win, and win by two, and hope Germany beat Denmark. Bert van Marwijk dropped his son in-law Mark van Bommel in favour of Rafael van der Vaart, Klaas-Jan Huntelaar started in place of Ibrahim Afellay and Ron Vlaar was preferred at the back to Johnny Heitinga. The changes looked to have paid dividends early on as van der Vaart curled in a beauty from the edge of the box to give the Dutch the lead.

Moments later, Germany took the lead as Mario Gomez's total mis-hit fell into the path of Lukas Podolski. On his 100th appearance for Der Nationalmannschaft - he's only 27 - he made no mistake from eight yards. Then it all went wrong for the Oranje. First, Michael Krohn-Dehli headed in an equaliser against Germany and at that stage it was Denmark and Germany going through. But the tactical shift by van Marwijk began to unravel in Kharkiv.

Shifting van der Vaart into the central area allowed the Portuguese a lot more freedom. It just took them a bit of time to realise that. While van der Vaart got into a position that van Bommel never would for the goal, he doesn't get into positions van Bommel takes up when the Dutch don't have the ball. As a result, Nigel de Jong and the flaky defence were horribly exposed. Cristiano Ronaldo, inevitably, took advantage. Played into an ocean of space on the half hour, he slotted coolly past the otherwise exemplary Maarten Stekelenburg but for whom it would have been a far more comprehensive defeat. Now it was Portugal going through with Germany.

Holland disintegrated. Van Marwijk, needing two goals in the second period, waited. And waited. And waited some more. Ronaldo hit the post. He waited some more. Eventually, he made his one, sole move, removing Jetro Willems for Afellay and going three at the back. Ronaldo picked them off on the counter-attack and Holland now needed three in the last 20 minutes, but van Marwijk stuck with what was out there. With attacking options like Dirk Kuyt, Kevin Strootman, Luuk de Jong and Luciano Narsingh sitting on the bench, he opted not to change things. Consequently, Holland went down with barely a whimper. Even van der Vaart's late effort that came back off the post wouldn't have made a difference.

Still, a goal for Denmark in Lviv and it would be them going through instead of Portugal, but Lars Bender dashed their hopes with ten minutes to go, played in by Mesut Ozil and finished with a delightful clip to the back post.

Portugal and Germany go through to face the Czech Republic and Greece respectively. Stand by for a number of economics-related puns for that latter one. Denmark go out with their heads held high, veteran coach Morten Olsen with little to be disappointed with. The recriminations for the Netherlands have already begun and will go on for some time. The KNVB have already said van Marwijk will continue in his role, but questions must be asked. There's a real feel he's taken this side as far as he can. Mark van Bommel has surely played his last game for his country, perhaps also Dirk Kuyt and others. It may be time to forcibly end the careers of some others too, especially if they can't get on with each other. The talent is there in the likes of Luuk de Jong, Narsingh, Ola John, Ricky van Wolfswinkel and Strootman. It's time to give thise new generation their head. Van Bommel was charm personified after the game which seemed to suggest he's done at this level and he's possibly the only player to have enhanced his reputation after that game.

Today, group C. Spain face Croatia where a score draw of two or more sees both sides progress at Italy's expense. Italy have to beat the hapless Irish and hope for the best.

Yesterday at the Euros #6

This tournament just keeps churning out really good games and day six was no exception.

First up, Portugal and Denmark served up a bit of a classic. It didn't look like being that for the first 40 minutes as Portugal twice carved the Danish defence open for Pepe and Helder Postiga helped themselves. The Danish goose looked well and truly cooked by then, but Nicklas Bendtner has a habit of not looking total crap in the colours of his nation. Michael Krohn-Dehli teed him up four minutes before the break to give Denmark a lifeline. Portugal should have wrapped it up, but good old Ronnie Cristialdo fluffed a couple of efforts that he really should have buried. One in particular stood out - one-on-one with Stephan Andersen, he waited for the goalkeeper to commit and still screwed it wide of the post. And it looked like Bendtner had made them pay for that as he headed in a second from a delicious cross from Lars Jacobsen. With time running down, Portugal launched forwards. A cross found it's way across the box to Silvestre Varela who swung a lazy left peg at it and missed completely. Reacting quickly, he gathered himself and swung a less lazy right peg at it and it rocketed past Andersen into the bottom corner. Could Simon Poulsen have done better? Possibly, but it was quite a strike. Lasse Schøne had one late opportunity, but blazed over the bar.

The fear was that the Germany v Netherlands game would be a disappointment in comparison, but not a bit of it. The Dutch came flying out of the blocks, but Robin van Persie couldn't convert the best early chance, when the otherwise magnificent Mats Hummels switched off momentarily to allow van Persie to reach a long ball over the top. Manuel Neuer to the rescue. Germany came roaring back, aided by the Dutch midfield allowing Bastian Schweinsteiger the run of Kharkiv, which is odd given the two holding midfielders so beloved of Bert van Marwijk. It was Schweinsteiger who sent a ball between the Oranje defence for Mario Gomez. He turned brilliantly and though Maarten Stekelenburg got hands to the shot, it wasn't enough to keep it out. Quarter of an hour later, the same two combined and Gomez gave Stekelenburg no chance with this finish, high and across him into the far corner from a relatively tight angle. Holland were in utter disarray. Van Marwijk responded by bringing on Rafael van der Vaart and Klaas-Jan Huntelaar, but they didn't get the latter involved anywhere near enough and Germany looked comfortable with 2-0. Van Persie had one chance with a snap shot from 20 yards which Neuer did very well to turn away, but van Persie did get on the scoresheet with that collectors item - a goal with his right foot. Germany were content to run it into the corners for the remainder and closed out the game with what someone who likes a cliche may term ruthless efficiency. In the build-up, Ralf Rangnick said that, like Bayern under Louis van Gaal, Holland under van Marwijk are too predictable. He was right. Highlight of the game: Joachim Loew mugging off a ballboy.

The game can be summed up in one picture:

Gawd, but Mats Hummels is amazing....

Something did happen in both games, at least for UK viewers. Ronaldo missing the one-on-one chance was followed by 'expert' summariser Andy Townsend saying "in a Real Madrid shirt, that's a goal". After van Persie's early miss following the Hummels brain fade, 'expert' summariser Mark Lawrenson reckoned "in the Premier League, that's nestling in the back of the net". How does that work? They are both dreadful characters, obviously, but what process of thought has to go on to even think that that line of argument is even vaguely coherent? We've not heard anyone covering Premier League games laughing at yet another comedy miss from Bendtner saying "put him in a Denmark shirt and he scores that".

Anyway, the Dutch aren't quite out yet. They need to beat Portugal in the last game by at least two goals and hope that Germany beat Denmark. Anything else and they're out. Portugal need to match or better Denmark's result, Denmark need a better result than Portugal.

Today, Italy take on Croatia and it's Spain against Ireland.

Yesterday at the Euros #2

Day two saw the proverbial gruppo della muerte kick off. Never has there been a more deathly group of death with all four sides ranked in the world's top ten.

Hence it's difficult to fathom why so many people are shocked by Denmark's win over the Netherlands. Frankly, the Dutch were poor. No pace to their passing and movement and stymied by the deployment of the two holding midfielders in front of that flaky back four, the most notable contribution of which was Ron Vlaar taking out Ibrahim Afellay with his granite forehead. With van Bommel and de Jong holding station in midfield, it's incumbent on the full-backs to push on and they didn't. As such, despite ceding possession in huge quantities, the Danes were largely untroubled and content to play on the break. One of those break brought the goal, Michael Krohn-Dehli slipping one through Maarten Stekelenburg's legs. 1-0 it remained to the end and Denmark can get better when they get Christian Eriksen more involved. Holland are in bother already, Denmark and their super-coach Morten Olsen deserve all the credit that's coming their way.

In the other game, Germany were too good for Portugal. Germany's two deep-lying midfielders aren't just spoilers as the Dutch ones are, rather a platform from which to launch attacks and Sami Khedira was particularly impressive in that role. The back four, over which there were question marks, dealt with everything with relative ease. Portugal still can't get the best out of Ronnie Cristialdo, but at least Raul Meireles has finally completed his haircut. Mario Gomez was as Gomez as ever, but did plant his mighty forehead on one cross and that was the difference, ultimately.

The next round of fixtures in this group sees Germany play Holland and Denmark against Portugal. It could all be over after those.

Today, it's Spain against Italy and Ireland v Croatia.

Euro 2012 Goalkeepers yelling at defenders #42

For the second of our Group B previews, let's have a look at Denmark's selection of stoppers.

Stephan Andersen

Anders Lindegaard

Kasper Schmeichel

Losing Thomas Sorensen is clearly a blow, but Denmark are still able to field three capable keepers. With Sorensen's injury, Schmeichel junior was added to the squad. The son of the undisputed king of yelling at defenders, he has a lot to live up to.

Goalkeepers yelling at defenders #36

Thomas Sorensen.

100-cap veteran, but out of the Euros with back knack.

New suggestion for dealing with divers

Sat here watching re-runs of the Euro 2012 qualifiers, Cristiano Ronaldo has just gone tumbling to the floor, letting out an agonising scream after running into the tiny and ancient frame of Dennis Rommedahl. That, sirs, was a dive. Booking Rommedahl was the wrong course of action by the referee - play on should have been the call.
However, taking this as a starting point, should the referee have deemed it a dive, he would have been duty bound to book Ronaldo, but this is clearly having no effect on the diving pandemic across football. Therefore, we propose that an additional sanction be applied. Yes, by all means caution the diver, but also allow the person the diver claims fouled them to issue a kick in the ribs of roughly approximate force to the scream/contorted dive/number of rolls post contact with floor. In the example above, Rommedahl would have been coming off about an eight-pace run-up to elicit the same response as that which ensued after slightly getting in the way of the pouty Portuguese.
Seriously, FIFA, we're doing your job for you here.