Another Saturday and Looking Ahead

Chelsea winning away, Manchester United playing when it suits them and Alec Ferguson not talking to the BBC. Just another typical Saturday in the English Premier League. If you want something really surprising, you should check out this BBC story on the village team in Germany that is currently riding high in the Bundesliga. TSG Hoffenheim, village population 3,300, may have lost last night away to the mighty Bayern Munich but only to a last minute goal from Luca Toni. They are still top of the league. Yes, there is money behind the team in the form of SAP founder Dietmar Hopp but it is more than that. A great story and a sportswriter's dream.
http://news.bbc.co.uk/sport2/hi/football/7768679.stm
In terms of the Colorado Rapids and future coverage during this quiet time of the year, I am aiming to get some decent interviews on the site over the next few weeks. Some subjects you may expect, others may give you a second thought.

Fab Fab and Superb Senna to Take Spain To Glory?

Predicting results at Euro 2008 is about as useful as a chocolate teapot (I had the Dutch to beat Portugal in the final and look where that got me) but the Spanish midfield duo of Cesc Fabregas and Marcos Senna may be enough for people to take a punt on Spain finally winning a major trophy. Fabregas, who does this week in week out for Arsenal, came on as a sub in yesterday's game against Italy and proceeded to orchestrate just about every attacking move the Spanish made against the resilient Italians. He, of course, also scored the winning penalty in the shoot-out. There must surely be a place for him in the starting line-up against Russia. Senna, a Brazilian by birth, was like an attack dog. He never let anybody through, ran tirelessly all match and also set up many attacking moves. He was a beast and very, very impressive. He may be the man to shadow Russia's playmaker, Andrei Arshavin, another sensational player who some say has been the player of the tournament. Is it any coincidence that Russia looked pretty average without him in the opening two games, including a 4-1 spanking by Spain, and then proceeded to play beautiful soccer in a masterclass of defense and attack against Sweden and, especially, against the Dutch? Arshavin is right now on Chelsea's radar if gossip is to be believed.
It's really almost impossible to pick a winner of this unpredictable tournament and we haven't even discussed the other semi-final between Germany and Turkey. As an Englishman, I cannot pick the Germans for all the soccer suffering they have bestowed upon us. And Turkey have played with enormous heart in this tournament. They seem to be running out of players through injury and suspension and will struggle against the German machine but my heart goes with them. Spain will just pip Russia to the final and go on to win it. But, wait, I said it was useless to predict.