Next Up? The Defending Champs!

The next kickoff is about 45 minutes away, and it will feature reigning European Champions Greece taking on Sweden. Count yourself in the minority if you expect Greece to repeat in this tournament, but they will still be a formidable opponent. Watch for Kotsas Katsouranis and Giorgos Karagounis to carry much of the load for Greece. For Sweden there is no need to look further than Freddy Ljungberg, Zlatan Ibrahimovic and Markus Rosenberg. Henrik Larsson is also back in the fold for Sweden, but pay attention to Rosenberg. Ibrahimovic is certainly the most dangerous player on the field, but Rosenberg could benefit from the concerns of marking Ibrahimovic as he was lethal for Werder Bremen in the German Bundesliga this year. I predict 2-1 Sweden wins this one. Share your thoughts as I do my best to update throughout the game. Below are the three biggest fans of Henrik Larsson, Ibrahimovic and Freddy Ljungberg. I always get embarrassed when the girls show up like this to watch me play...
Running Commentary:


Final: Sweden wins 2-0. Greece and Russia will face each other with both teams in dire need of a result.

87th: A bad giveaway leads to a chance for Greece, but it is from the endline and blocked out easily for a corner.

86th: Greece has been unable to respond as this game is dying down.

78th: Rosenberg on for Wilhelmsson who appears to have pulled his hamstring.

72nd: GOAL: 2-0 Sweden. A bizarre goal to say the least. A deflected ball goes to the far post high in the air where a battle ensues, the ball bounces all over and through the keepers legs and in. Goal is credited to Hansson.

67th: GOAL: Sweden breaks through to go up 1-0. Nice give and go leads to a fantastic strike by Ibrahimovic. Sorry for the lack of posts before, the goal woke me up!

Halftime: And we're through to the half with nothing to seperate these two teams. Sweden has looked my enterprising in their attacks, but the Greeks have defended very well. It should be interesting in the second half as a Sweden goal could force the Greek side to open up play.

38th: Humorous sequence here as the Greek defenders pass the ball back and forth several times near midfield, seemingly unwanting to initiate an attack and instead just kill time. The crowd does not approve.

32nd: Ibrahimovic heads just over the bar.

28th: Sweden is pressuring but hasn't found many holes in the Greek defense, and that is almost certainly Greece's plan in attempting to duplicate their success from 2004.

22nd: Apologies in advance if I botch a name, not being multilingual some of the Greek names are difficult for me. If a goal is scored by Karapanathinesopolousagounis I will no longer be posting.

17th: Wow, great chance for Sweden, nice through ball is flicked on but the shot is saved. Apparently the offsides flag was up as well.

10th: Nothing to get excited about so far, Sweden has had a bit more of the play.

4th: Don't try to take a beer away from the Sweden coach, Lars will do anything to get his Lager back. Yes, the mans name is Lars Lagerback, and yes, I promise no more terrible humor the rest of this post!

1st: And we're underway, every team has now seen action.