Catching up on the weekend!

Ok folks, you have probably noticed I've been behind on the action this weekend, which is somewhat amplified by the fact that EURO 2008 kicked off this weekend. I apologize but I haven't had time to post as I was at a youth soccer tournament for much of the weekend then playing a game myself. In any event I will catch up here with action from Euro's, MLS, the Rhinos and the US-Argentina friendly that ended a short time ago.

We'll start with Euro's:
Saturday featured the opening matches, with the Czech Republic knocking off Switzerland by a score of 1-0. I thought Switzerland looked solid but the Czechs struck in the 71st minute to claim the first game of the competition. Later on Saturday was a match many looked forward to featuring the dynamic Portuguese team against Turkey. While Portugal boasts stars such as Cristiano Ronaldo and Deco, I didn't expect the experienced Turks to go quietly. The game remained scoreless through the half, but ultimately Portugal's class was proven as Pepe and Meireles netted second half tallies to take the game 2-0.

Sunday matched Austria and Croatia, and Croatia's 4th minute penalty was all they would need to triumph 1-0. The second showdown featured rivals Germany and Poland. The favored Germans got off to a good start with a 2-0 win thanks to a brace from Podolski.

Get ready for Monday's games which feature an underrated Romania against France, and the highly anticipated Holland vs Italy.

On Saturday night the Rhinos earned another point at home in a scoreless draw. The draw moves the Rhinos to 1-4-4 overall.

MLS action this week:
Houston and DC United's Wednesday night game was postponed due to weather.The Red Bulls downed Chivas USA at Giants stadium 1-0 on a goal by Juan Pablo Angel.New England got off to a quick start at home and defeated FC Dallas 2-1.LA Galaxy got out to a 3-0 lead and held on to win 3-2 in a game that was reduced to 10 men a side before the half.Real Salt Lake and the KC Wizards played to a scoreless draw.DC United shocked the Chicago Fire with a stoppage time game winner from Emilio.San Jose embarrassed the Crew in front of their own fans when the expansion club knocked off Colombus 2-0.Houston just finished a home win over Toronto as DeRo opened the scoring and Brian Ching added a brace.

As for the US-Argentina friendly I only caught the tail end, but the US managed a scoreless draw with FIFA's #1 ranked team in front of a good crowd at Giants Stadium. Donovan was back in action and Jay Demerit lined up in the center of the defense. I heard Heath Pearce had a strong game as did Steve Cherundolo. Freddy Adu looked aggressive in the tail end of the game and Argentina fouled him plenty. It is a promising sign ahead of World Cup qualifiers for this US squad to come away with a draw against the team that recently thrashed Mexico 4-1. A phantom second yellow unfortunately sent off Pablo Mastroeni in a poor ending to what will likely be his last game against his birth country. Later Mascherano was also sent off with a second yellow.

Did you see any of these games? Feel free to provide feedback on any games from the weekend as I didn't catch enough to offer more than the brief summaries above. Stick with me all week for EURO 2008 updates and game summaries.