SoccerProse.com

Our favorite podcast is back with a new episode and a new guest. This time around Goalmouth Scramble  begins breaking down the upcoming English Premier League season by getting forecasts on Fulham, Sunderland and Newcastle United. The insight is brought to you by Curtis and John Conner. John spent the spring semester in London on an internship with Fulham. Now he’s back and sharing his firsthand knowledge of how the beautiful game gets down in England. Also in store is the Scramble’s first giveaway, so keep those e-mails coming and keep posting comments with your thoughts on the podcast and the blog.

With Euro 2008 wrapped up “Goalmouth Scramble” has decided to check its crystal ball and see what 32 nations will make it to South Africa in 2010 (assuming the country can pull everything together to host the event). Will England rebound under Fabio Capello and not be an embarrassment to the beautiful game? Who has the toughest qualifying road and what are some surprises we might see along the way. All is revealed by Curtis on the latest “Goalmouth Scramble” podcast.

Now that Euro 2008 is over, “Goalmouth Scramble” jumps feet first into the murky transfer rumors of summer while following up on the championships with a breakdown of the Top 10 busts at Euro 2008.

Personally we at SoccerProse have our own picks for who did and did not show up in Austria and Switzerland. Here’s our picks. Let us know what you think of these and what Curtis and Trader Dick picked.

1. France-One French player was too hard to choose. The entire squad stunk, nuff’ said.
2. Mario Gomez-Terrorized the Bundesliga, but looked lost in front of the goal at the Euro’s.
3. Greece-Another full squad inclusion, but really the defending champs were probably the worst team of the championships.
4. Luca Toni-The giant Italian looked off his game and failed to replicate his domestic form.
5. Petr Cech-Like the ball, Chelsea’s netminder lost his grip in the argument to be considered one of the world’s best with his late-game collapse against Turkey.
6. Miroslav Klose-Scored two goals, but was largely invisible up top for the Germans.
7. Cristiano Ronaldo-A bit harsh maybe, but when you score 42 goals domestically and are considered the world’s best player you need to be the best player on the field each game for your country, which he wasn’t (that honor goes to Deco). Also, need more than tying for the team lead with one goal.
8. UEFA-Setting the brackets up to possibly pit rematches of group stage games before the final is boring and ridiculous.
9. Old players-The championships were not kind to players north of 30 as youth ruled supreme. Unless you’re a goalie, the demands of a tournament schedule does not aide older players. Michael Ballack and Marcos Senna proved the exception.
10. France-Really, they were that bad.

If you like fantasy sports, especially fantasy soccer, the latest edition of “Goalmouth Scramble” is for you.

Curtis Stelzer and Micah Bolton delve into the the world of SoccerManager, the world’s largest soccer sim game. Curtis and Micah debunk the nine most common myths of the game and add their insight into the best ways to become a successful manager.

So jump in the game and check out the world of fantasy soccer at “Goalmouth Scramble.”

If reading about soccer isn’t enough for you, head over to www.soccerpro.com/goalmouthscramble and check out the newest soccer podcast where your soccer addiction can further be satisfied.

“Goalmouth Scramble” will cover every topic in the soccer world, including in-depth discussions on league roundups, transfer rumors, current issues in the game and fantasy soccer discussion.

“Goalmouth Scramble” made its debut last week with host Curtis Stelzer, a former professional soccer player for nine years, and jumped right into the Cristiano Ronaldo transfer-saga. Other podcasts highlighted the Euro 2008 Championships and the world’s largest online soccer sim game at www.soccermanager.com.

Brought to you by SoccerPro, “Goalmouth Scramble” delivers intelligent, insightful commentary and will also feature a rotating mix of guests and special guests, including former U.S. men’s national team goalie Tony Meola, U.S. women’s goalie Hope Solo and ESPN writer Jerrad Peters.

This podcast delivers the goods for your soccer cravings. So check it out and let “Goalmouth Scramble” know what you think.

If you missed yesterday’s Euro 2008 semifinal between Germany and Turkey I beg you to find a replay of the match or find a friend who TiVo’d it and watch it, immediately. Unlike the drab Spain and Italy encounter, which pitted two talented teams, playing scared, Turkey and Germany played a thrilling pulse-racing affair. Turkey, which was missing nine players could have packed it in and hoped to get the game to PK’s, but instead the Turks attacked the Germans and looked like the better team, even with a C-side. Germany meanwhile looked tentative and unsure of itself until its overwhelming talent and experience took over.

It’s a shame that Turkey’s run had to end. The cardiac Turks were one of the most entertaining teams to watch, producing memorable comeback after memorable comeback. The side showed tremendous resiliency and never believed it was defeated.

Turkey’s run to the semis was unlike the boring, pack-it-in mentality Greece-another undermanned and less talented side-showed in winning Euro 2004.

While most believed Turkey’s amazing run was going to end against the Germans I was disappointed to see it end. Unfortunately the clock had to strike midnight at some point. Too bad it was one game too early.

Well Spain did what every other group stage winner at Euro 2008 couldn’t do; get into the semifinals.

If anything Euro 2008 has taught us that group play means nothing. Croatia, Portugal and the Netherlands were the toast of the tournament after breezing through their groups in convincing fashion, but when the knockout round began that same form eluded them all, except Spain.

Spain was a deserving winner of Italy, which looked from the outset like it only wanted to play for penalties. The Italians continually crowded as many men behind the ball as they could, albeit quite effectively, to snuff out Spain’s intricate passing attack. The problem with this is that it created a dull game at times. Would it have killed the Italians to try and put more than just Luca Toni in the box at times?

Overall, Spain got a big win (first win over Italy in a major tournament since 1920) and proved doubters wrong in a big game.

Now the real pressure comes into play when Spain faces Russia in a semifinal rematch. Spain won the first match 4-1 in group play, but Russia was missing its one man tour-de-force, Andrei Arshavin who missed the first two games of the tournament because of suspension. Arshavin’s return to the Russian side has been immense as he has scored two goals and assisted on the game winner against the Netherlands in Russia’s 3-1 quarterfinal win. Russia is better than most people give them credit for (see: me) and in Arshavin have a leader they can rally around. Also, never count out a team with Guus Hiddink leading it.

Spain will have to fight over-confidence and not let out too big of a sigh of relief. After all, the real work has just begun for them if they want to shed that underachiever label. Winning Euro 2008 might be the only way to do that. I wish Spain versus Russia could be the tournament’s final, but alas UEFA doesn’t set the brackets up using common sense. My heart says Russia, my head says Spain (as long as Luis Aragones does not sub Fernando Torres off for Dani Guiza again!) and even after going 1-3 in my semifinal picks I’m going with Spain to win 2-1 and break the plucky Russians’ hearts in the process.

Meanwhile on the other side of the bracket I cannot see how Germany does not get past Turkey to the final. As it is with all of the suspensions and injuries Turkey has in its squad, it’s going to have a hard time finding 11 warm bodies to put on the pitch! If Germany loses it will be a major upset and it might prove fate is on Turkey’s side after the slew of comebacks and nail-biting wins it has escaped with so far in the tournament. I just see Turkey’s remarkable run coming to an end with Germany prevailing 2-0.

Well we are halfway to the Euro 2008 semifinals and I am a sterling 0-2 in my picks.

But enough about me, lets talk football.

Two stunning matches have produced a pairing of Germany and Turkey in the first semifinal pairing. The way the two sides reached this point was equally impressive.

Germany shook itself out of its pool play doldrums for a 3-2 win over Portugal, which had looked like one of the more impressive teams in group play. The Germans out-muscled and overwhelmed the Portugal defense and goalie Ricardo on set pieces. Michael Ballack has recovered from a poor performance against Croatia to look like one of, if not the, most complete midfielder in the tournament. A scary thought for Turkey is that Miroslav Klose finally found the back of the net after being silenced in group play. Germany showed that it is a battle-tested and savvy side in its dismantling of Portugal and it will be hard to count them out from reaching the finals or winning it all.

Meanwhile Turkey is putting its fans and viewers on quite the rollercoaster ride. After a remarkable comeback against the Czech Republic to reach the quarterfinals, Turkey needed a deflected shot from Semih Senturk in the second minute of added time in the second over time period, just two minutes after Croatia had taken a 1-0 lead, to send the match to penalty kicks. There Turkey won 3-1 to move on. If there is one thing about Turkey, it is that it cannot be counted out. However, it will have to summon its entire resiliency against the Germans as Tuncay Sanli, Arda Turan and Emre Asik will miss the match because of yellow card accumulation. After what’s happened so far, it’s hard to bet against Turkey.

All I know is that I’m anticipating a thrilling match up of unlikely, yet worthy, opponents.

I won’t give away my fearless prediction just yet, I want to see how the quarters end first!

Bring on the quarterfinals.

After a stirring round of group stage games that rewarded attacking football (thank you Netherlands, Croatia, Portugal and Spain) and threw out old, conventionality (see you France, Greece and Sweden) Euro 2008 moves into the knock-out stages where one bad game is all it takes for you to be sent packing.

With that in mind let us take a peak at the four upcoming matches and gaze into our crystal ball to see who will make it into the semifinals.

Portugal vs. Germany

The Germans needed a Michael Ballack thunderbolt in their final group game against an underwhelming Austrian side. Germany has rarely looked like a pre-tournament favorite it was billed as, coming in behind Croatia in its group.

If not for Lukas Podolski scoring three of Germany’s four goals, the Germans would most likely be heading home right now. Too bad he might miss the quarterfinal with a calf injury. That will leave Miroslav Klose (a shadow of his 2006 World Cup self), Mario Gomez (a shadow of his Bundesliga form, including some laughable misses) and Kevin Kuranyi to try and break through.

Meanwhile Portugal looked solid in winning its group with its only loss coming in its last match with a B-side taking the field. Cristiano Ronaldo will pose problems for whoever tries to mark him and Germany’s center backs have been less than stellar. Portugal’s only real drawback is its goalie, Ricardo and the lack of top-flight striker. However, Ronaldo and the center defense pairing of Pepe and Ricardo Carvalho make up for that. Throw in all the attacking options Portugal has in the midfield and it should be able to put the pressure on Germany if it continues to attack like it did in its first two matches.

Portugal 2, Germany 0

Croatia vs. Turkey

While Turkey needed three goals in the final 14 minutes to beat the Czech Republc and advance to the quarters, Croatia looked impressive in winning its group. Luka Modric has looked like a future star. The Tottenham Hotspur recruit is the key to Croatia’s attack. However, Croatia has gotten balanced play all over the field and showed discipline in its attack and shape. Its play has been a pleasant surprise in the tournament.

I don’t know much about Turkey, but Nihat and Hamit Altintop and Arda Turan are all classy players. Nihat can finish; look at what he did to the Czech’s. However, Turkey’s goalkeeper Volkan Demirel has been suspended two matches after receiving a red card for shoving Jan Koller in the previous match.

Croatia 1, Turkey 0

Netherlands vs. Russia

So far Netherlands has been the team of the tournament. They won their three group games by a 9-1 combines score, including demolishing France and Turkey before the substitutes mopped up Romania. The Dutch have been a joy to watch and Marco van Basten has pulled all the right strings. The 4-2-3-1 formation has worked to perfection allowing the Dutch to counter-attack with deadly precision.

Russia got to the quarters with a superb 2-0 win over Sweden in which influential playmaker Andrei Arshavin returned, and scored. Manager Guus Hiddink will be eager to get a win over his home country.

However, the Dutch are flying high and as long as they keep the pedal pushed down, Wesley Sneijder and company will be too much.

Netherlands 3, Russia 1

Spain vs. Italy

Spain was probably the second most impressive team in the group stages behind the Netherlands. Italy was disappointing, but did what it had to, like usual, to advance. Normally I would pick Italy to advance with a gritty win as Spain’s label of an underachieving side grows some more, but with midfielders Andrea Pirlo and Gennaro Gattuso out because of suspension due to yellow cards I can’t see the Italian midfield matching the likes of Xavi, Fabregas, Iniesta, Senna, Xabi Alonso or whoever else Luis Aragones throws out.

Also, David Villa has been in scorching form and looks settled in his partnership with Fernando Torres. Meanwhile Luca Toni has not looked as dangerous as he did this past season with Bayern Munich and a consistent second option in attack has not been found.

Spain 2, Italy 1

Well, what do you think?

After the Euro 2008 Group D game between Spain and Sweden in Innsbruck, reports surfaced that several players and staff members from the Spanish national team verbally attacked the head referee, Pieter Vink.

According to eyewitnesses, the head referee and his assistants were met between the main tunnel and referee dressing room by several Spanish players and staff members during halftime of the game.

Allegedly, the Spaniards were upset with Vink for not calling a penalty kick after Sweden’s center back Olof Mellberg played the ball with his hand in side of the Sweden penalty box during the first half. […]

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