Word: spaining
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...that Spain and Germany made compelling cases for their appearances this Sunday in the Euro 2008 finals. You just have to give them credit for overcoming the obstacles that stood in their way. For Germany, a 3-2 winner over an undermanned, overachieving Turkish side, the road to the final has been studded with mediocrity. "There's no consistency in this tournament but we've reached the final," admitted German coach Joachim Löw. The Mannschaft starting brightly in beating Poland, looked dreadful in losing to Croatia, barely adequate in dismissing co-host Austria and strategically sound in mauling...
...other hand, the prospect of facing Spain in a final isn't something that most teams have to think about, given Spain's tendency to fold like a bad poker hand in the quarters of major tournaments. But Spain looked devastating in trashing Russia 4-1 in its opener; less so against Sweden in winning the second game. Its second squad squashed a disinterested Greece in the third game of the first round. Then, in a monumentally awful game with Italy, Spain unloaded 80 years of futility against the Italians by outlasting them on penalties. The flowing attacks of David...
...hope for the semi on Thursday was that Spain and Russia would stage a drag race up and down the pitch in Vienna. Russia had run roughshod over Holland - the odds-on favorite and tournament glamour boys - in the quarters, pouring into the Dutch end like the relentless rains that seemed to show up at every kickoff of Euro 2008. We learned to pronounce the names of strikers Roman Pavlyuchenko and Andre Arshavin (I'm still working on Diniyar Bilyaletdinov). The Russians had gotten progressively better, and their swarming attacks, their pure athleticism, were too much for Sweden and Greece...
...What happened to that Russian team? Instead, the semifinal was a cat and mouse game, at least for the first half, with neither team holding much of an advantage or showing much initiative in going forward. Then, five minutes into the second half, Xavi speared a goal for Spain, redirecting Iniesta's cross/shot past Igor Akinfeev. You could sense the panic on the Russian side. The roles were now very clear: Russia was the mouse and Spain was toying with it. Russian coach Guus Hiddink knew that his team's lack of depth and a big-game resume...
...last month, when I saw a McDonald's billboard advertising CHICKEN FOR BREAKFAST. The chain's new Southern Style chicken biscuit made me question exactly why we accept certain food at certain times. Most countries, after all, are pretty grossed out by eating eggs at an early hour: in Spain, France and Italy--countries that know what they're doing with food--you have some kind of bread substance and coffee and move on. So how did sausage and Pop-Tarts become O.K.? It's not as if you can send your kids to school after a plate...