More considered thoughts to come, but for now, a quick question: What more could Spain possibly have done in this tournament? They went through Italy and Germany to win the title. They beat the breakthrough team of the tournament by three goals, then did it a second time. They stifled the breakout star of the [...]

There were nineteen goals in the six quarterfinal and semifinal games, which is not bad considering that Italy-Spain, like a cyclops searching for a graphical way to convey his surprise in a chat room, couldn't get past 0-0. As ever in this contest, I'll be exercising an unearned monarchical privilege by naming the winner myself. [...]

The Telegraph is reporting that France Football is reporting that Frank Lampard has signed a four-year contract with Inter Milan. And they are. I have seen them reporting this. As proof, I can tell you that Lampard is apparently set to draw un salaire annuel de 7,3 ME, and also that the ancien coach des [...]

Kind of a compact car of a match, in the end. Fuel-efficient. Practical. Great for fitting into small spaces, but nothing to put a gleam in your eye when you see it in your slot at Avis. Even the rain, which briefly looked as if it might be cruising for a fling with my go-to [...]

Now…that's reality out of the way. Let's talk about that other thing that happened.
The moment the first lightning strike knocked out the international broadcast feed in the second half, causing televisions around the world to freeze, revert to static, or, worse, suddenly cut to Rece Davis, was, for me, the moment that Euro 2008 became [...]

This imperative mode is better than a bullet list.
Read Zach's lightning bolt on the Germany-Turkey match.
Read Richard on why Arshavin's age doesn't matter.
Read Josh Patashnik's New Republic piece on the autocratic dark side of the Russian resurgence. Thesis: Abramovich and the oligarchs aren't funding Russian football because they're patriots, they're funding it because they don't [...]

Put the outcome to one side. The astonishing thing about this match was that Turkey set the tone from the beginning, and with the exception of a few bad stretches in the second half, controlled it till the end. Germany's moments of success came from exploiting lapses in Turkey's execution of their gameplan, lapses that [...]

from Chapter 13 (“A Racehorse of Genius Crystallizes the Recognition of Being a Man Without Qualities") of The Man Without Qualities, by Robert Musil, translated by Sophie Wilkins:
The time had come when people were starting to speak of genius on the soccer field or in the boxing ring, although there would still be at most [...]

from Chapter 7 (“In a Weak Moment Ulrich Acquires a New Mistress") of The Man Without Qualities, by Robert Musil, translated by Sophie Wilkins:
The fascination of such a fight, he said, was the rare chance it offered in civilian life to perform so many varied, vigorous, yet precisely coordinated movements in response to barely perceptible [...]

Andrei Arshavin is already 27. Did you realize that? That's just two years younger than Henry when he transferred to Purgatory and Shevchenko when he transferred to his little three-legged stool behind the Chelsea bench. I've enjoyed watching Arshavin as much as everyone else during the two games he's played at Euro 2008, but I [...]