Euro 2008 format should be revised

While reading the match report of the Germany vs Portugal game, I read something about Germany's next probable opponent. The name "Croatia and Turkey" pop up, and I some how feel Germany vs Croatia is kind of familiar. Ohh ya! Croatia beat Germany in group stage, and now they are going to meet again? I was a little mystified, and I went to check out the full schedule for the competiton.

Looking at the Euro 2008 fixtures, I noticed something very wrong about the format of this prestigious competition. The teams in group A and B will never meet teams in Group C and Group D. Now I realized that to win a European Championship is not that hard after all, if a team can get favorable draw.

In the case of Germany, the teams that are considered strong in their side are Portugal (which they just disposed of), Czech Republic( which failed to qualify to the quarterfinals), Croatia( the team in their group who beat them in the 1st round, and also their most likely opponent in the semifinals). With no disrespect to Turkey, they also stand a very good chance to make it to the finals, but if they are going to face Germany in quarterfinals, not many will bet on them to win.

Never mind all those possibilities. What I want to point out here is that, a team will only need to better than those teams in their half to reach the final. If they get a favorable draw, that tasks is not the hardest. If we look at the other half, we can easily name the traditional strong teams: Holland, Italy, France, Spain, Sweden, defending champions Greece, dark horses Russia and Romania. All these 8 teams are decent team which might qualify if they are in the other half.

And after fighting out the quarterfinals, they still have to play one of these power house of football. So why don't the UEFA match the semifinals ties to the teams on the other half. For example, Germany play the winner of Italy vs Spain, or Holland vs Russia instead of Croatia vs Turkey. This will ensure teams in the same group in the 1st round will not meet again until the finals.

Also to avoid unsporting play. Lucky that Holland is a proud and sporting nation that always play to their best instead of planning their way to final. If not, ousting Italy and France will be their choice, and their one remaining obstacle is to be Spain, instead of facing Italy again, who normally start the competition slowly and get stronger during knock-out stage. UEFA should look into making the fixtures to cross over between the two half. A repeat of the same tie as in the group match will be a non-spectacle if one team is much stronger than the other. At lease in the probable event of Croatia vs Germany, Croatia had beaten the Germans in the group stage, making the tie not a one-sided event.

The Secret behind Italy's win over France

So Italy made it to the quaterfinals of Euro 2008, after 1st round exit in Euro 2004. And with Italy in danger of 1st round exit again, coach Roberto Donadoni revealed the secret behind their side crucial 2-0 win over France: A letter.

Donadoni said that a letter from a young boy who wrote to the Italian camp and is about to have a blood transfusion is the moving inspiration behind his side's victory. In the letter, the boy wrote that he wanted Italy to win as that would cheer him up.

"I told the boys the story, because they have to look beyond their golden cage so to speak, so that gives us more incentive to do what we can for this boy.

"The story touched the players", Donadoni said.

With such humane external inspiration, no wonder Italy will pull through. Hope the boy is happy now!

Italy will play Spain in the quaterfinals.

Unexpected discovery

Italy's 3-0 crashing to Holland in the Euro 2008 game that day was unexpected. But during that game, I also discovered something unexpected.
At some point of the game, the camera move to focus on the Italian coach, Roberto Donadoni, maybe to catch a look of his disappointing expression. Looking at his expression, I feel he looks like someone else, someone that I have seen some where, but I just couldn't figure it out.

Then when the camera focus on Antonio Di Natale,the Udinese striker, the same feeling occur. I tried to ask friends around, and one of them told me, "he looks like one of the Westlife member"..ohhhhhh...ya hor!..

Though can't say is 100% similar, but seeing one of them can actually reminds me of the other says a lot of the degree of similarity.
And with the 1st question still not resolved, I tried to think about it. And suddenly a scene pop up in my mind! HOUSE!

The Hottest Topic In Malaysia Now: Petrol naik Harga!

This is not the usual "petrol naik harga" like in the past. This is the ultimate "naik harga" where Malaysians will no longer feel the cushion given by Petronas all these years!

If RM2.70 is the price per litre of petrol for the next 6 months, I feel it's not that bad, considering the market price is near RM5.00 per litre. At lease the government is still subsidizing almost half of the cost. But that is not the case. By August, the price will reach market price minus RM0.30. That will be around RM4.70, if the crude oil price remains as recently. At this rate, income of any average Malaysian will be eaten up.

Ok, so now, the average Malaysian decided to take drastic measures to cut down petrol consumption. They will use more of the the public transportation. But...besides those in the capital city, where the public transportation can still be considered fine, people in most towns in Malaysia can hardly rely on public transportation to get them to work place. So what options do these people have?

A camper’s life

For the past 7 days, I attended a camp. This is the longest period camp that I ever attended. Before this, 5 days is the record. Well, it has been quite some time since I last attended a camp.

During this 7 days period, I can feel the emotion of being a camper again. For example when faced with problems and went through a rough patch, the emotion of frustration and helpless were felt by the group, and then the came the determination to overcome the situation. People work together towards the aim to complete the tasks. The will to complete the task in a short period, reminds me of the scouting days when attending camp was a formality.

Though tired and hot, and at times windy, work had to go on, and with this will, the tasks were completed. From this camp, besides learning, I’ve also discovered my shortcomings, which I hope will be overcome in future.

It was a pretty nice experience for myself to go through this camp as a camper, but this might arguably my last camp, as far as I can see now.