Find your "match"

If you are involved with someone who is not a soccer fan then chances are you already have an excuse for the amount of time you'll be spending in front of the TV starting this weekend.
Uefa's "World Cup Preview Tournament," aka Euro2008, will kick-off today when the Swiss face the Czech. After that match we'll have a chance to check out last edition's runners-up, Portugal, when they play Turkey to complete group A's inaugural day. Action continues tomorrow with group B matches and you can figure out which group plays after that.
On this side of the Atlantic, Mexico and the U.S. will try to make it up to their fans after disappointing mid-week performances. The U.S. will face FIFA No.1 ranked Argentina, while Mexico will take on another South American team, Peru. The stars and stripes hope to not forget their legs in the locker room during half time, as they did against Spain. The Aztecas are counting on nothing but the good luck that the pitch at Qualcomm Stadium has given them in 16 of 18 games they've played there.
Other Concacaf matches include the Haitians' visit to Honduras for a friendly that will serve as a final tune-up before their World Cup qualifiers next week. The Catracho's had a good start last Wednesday when they lengthened their unbeaten streak to 8 matches by beating Puerto Rico 4-0. Les Bicolores have yet to play their first match against Netherland Antilles.
And if you're a real junkie you won't really care about Concacaf's ongoing futsal tournament in the brand new Domo Polideportivo in Guatemala, but you will still watch the video recaps .
Whatever your excuse for the obscene level of neglect to your relationship, remember plan B: update your profile on eHarmony and find a truly compatible soul with whom you'll have kids like this.

Furia Roja

This week the kick-off for the Euro2008 will take place in Basel, when local team and co-host nation Switzerland (Nagin's wet dream: a chocolate COUNTRY) face the Czech Republic in group A. In group B, Austria, the other host, will play against Croatia on match day 2. As always, there's a group which has been given the title of the "death group", this time composed of Italy, France, the Netherlands, and Romania. The world champions are hoping to emulate the French side's performance in 2000, when they won the European tournament two years after being crowned World Champions. The scenario's set for the feat.
Although death group matches are usually the most anticipated, I personally look forward to seeing Spain play in group D, just because I usually root for the underdog. Even though Spain hosts one of the most competitive leagues in the world, its national team cannot boast great accomplishments in either European nations cup or World Cup competitions. No matter how much analysis has gone into evaluating the streak of poor performances, the conclusions reached in a given cycle never seem to hold true for the next. Perhaps the only consistant fact is that contrary to the Iberian's dreams otherwise, he team's nickname, "Red Fury," seems to refer only to the collective sentiment of the fans who have witnessed failure after failure.