A little bit forecast to the Germany team. I think normally the team can go to the final. This is not only becoz I'm supporting Germany, but their route to final can't be easier. The opponent they are facing in the same group are Austria, they are not very keen on performance this year, Poland, they didn't do very well recent years, and Croatia, they are strong, but not experienced enough to match Germany. So it can be predicted that Germany will win the group. When qualifying to the quarter final and semi final, the strongest opponents will be Czech Republic and Portugal, which are the worst case already, but for Germany, it is still capable to beat them. So you may ask where are Italy, France, Spain, and Netherlands? They are in the other side that Germany will only meet them in final. So that's why bookmarkers favours Germany to be the winner. So, what I can say is, they are only themselves to beat. If Germany goes home early, they are only person to blame.
Thursday, May 29, 2008
Germany in Euro 08 - forecast
A little bit forecast to the Germany team. I think normally the team can go to the final. This is not only becoz I'm supporting Germany, but their route to final can't be easier. The opponent they are facing in the same group are Austria, they are not very keen on performance this year, Poland, they didn't do very well recent years, and Croatia, they are strong, but not experienced enough to match Germany. So it can be predicted that Germany will win the group. When qualifying to the quarter final and semi final, the strongest opponents will be Czech Republic and Portugal, which are the worst case already, but for Germany, it is still capable to beat them. So you may ask where are Italy, France, Spain, and Netherlands? They are in the other side that Germany will only meet them in final. So that's why bookmarkers favours Germany to be the winner. So, what I can say is, they are only themselves to beat. If Germany goes home early, they are only person to blame.
Tuesday, May 27, 2008
Australia - Europe
Thursday, May 22, 2008
Germany roster in Euro 2008
Last Friday Germany national team coach Joachim Löw (picture) had announced the preliminary roster for the upcoming Euro 2008. For me there are few surprises and upsets in the list. You can see the squad list on http://www.dfb.de/. Here I'm now sharing some of my views in the squad list.
Normals: Michael Ballack is nothing more than normal, and he deserves to be in the list. He was recovered from the injury in Janurary this year but his form had been improved drastically. He is the most important member in the national team and I do think he is the key player to lead Germany to success in this year's competition. Even though he failed to win any title for Chelsea this season, I think his experience and ability can help him to get over the curse and win the title for Germany.
Surprises: Marko Marin (above) and Rene Adler (below) are absolutely the biggest surprise to the German fans. They both weren't being chosen in the national team before, but this time they are appeared in the squad list. Marko Marin is a 19-year-old young gun who plays for Gladbach, the 2nd division champion. He can play at left wing or right wing, and according to the reports, he is very good at pace. Rene Adler also a surprise. Every German fans predict the the top 3 goalie (ie, Jens Lehmann, Robert Enke, and Timo Hildebrand) will be chosen for sure. However, this time Löw decided to drop Hildebrand and chose him. He had an excellent season in Bayer Leverkusen. I can say, without him, Leverkusen never reached the UEFA Cup Quarter Final, but unluckily he was powerless to stop the champion, Zenit St. Petersburg. Adler will be in the final list for sure, and Marin I think he will be in the squad as well.
Upsets: No doubt, the biggest upset is Timo Hildebrand. Everyone, including himself, supposed he is the 2nd choice goalie in Germany national team, but Löw didn't feel this way. Valencia had a tragic season, I think they are a bit lucky they didn't relegate to 2nd division to be honest. I'm not blaming anyone in Valencia, as many of fans in the world blamed Ronald Koeman. Problems everywhere in Valencia this season, and Hildebrand cannot guarantee in term of his consistency. Yes, he helped Valencia in Spanish Cup, he had made 12 saves to kept the draw against Barcelona in the league, but he also lost 5 goals in 1 match. So I think Löw prefer the consistent goalie. Little message for him - don't give up!!
Little tactic prediction: Base on the preliminary roster, I think the tactic of Germany in Euro 2008 will be the pace of attacks. The team wanna use the speed of the wings to run to the baseline or cut back to the centre to create attacks and spaces for the forwards. Short passes and quick tempo are predicted to see. Players like Schweinsteiger, Podolski, Marin are the fast pace players who can create threats in the attacks. Ballack will be at the center and make through balls, long shots, and headers to create goals. Löw would like to make the attacks more variety by the wingers and Ballack. Torsten Frings will be at the back of the attacks, the home base you can say to protect the count attacks from the opponents and continue the attacks when the wingers, Ballack, and forwards lost the ball.
Personal point of view the roster is pretty young and energetic. These 2 factors can be the success factor of Germany in Euro 08. Later I will share with you my little view on the Germany chances on winning the Euro 08.
Sunday, May 18, 2008
Game on
New South Wales:
6. Greg Bird
9. Danny Buderus
10. Ben Cross
11. Ryan Hoffman
12. Willie Mason
13. Paul Gallen
1. Billy Slater
New South Wales once again their forwards are very threathening. Willie Mason once again got his speed and strength and can crush through the Queensland forward. Craig Fitzgibbon has a great year so far and his goal kicking is remarkable. One thing they are improved is the halved combination. Peter Wallace played a great footy since he came to Brisbane this year. I think this is the best halves lineup in these 3 years. So Queensland must be awared of the forward coz this is the biggest advantage of the New South Wales.
My little prediction is the match will be very close, maybe like the Origin 1 in 2006, when New South Wales only just won by a point. So I think the difference will be within 1 try in this match.
Tuesday, May 13, 2008
State of Origin
Monday, May 12, 2008
Coffee
Every morning, as the other coffee addicts, needs a cup of coffee to recharge myself and have a kick start of the day. Or maybe sometimes I have coffee in the noon, when I feel tired, a cup of nice coffee can refresh me up and kick back to work again.
When I walk around the coffee shop, there are more and more choice now. It's just making me a bit confused - what is it all about? Not only having the latte, mocha, cappuccino, espresso, etc, they have the other type that I've never seen. It makes me wonder it is coffee or not. The name, I don't even remember it. All I know is they are all come from espresso and get some more cream, milk, and so on so forth (please correct me if I'm wrong). Well, when I go to coffee shop, frankly I don't even know what it is.
The size - is it too much? I think it is a bit too much. There's a problem, or dilemma for me, should I stop having coffee, or should I go on having it? The point is, when I don't have coffee, I'll look like a robot without a bettery. "In-co-ordin-ate", yes, I won't be coordinate. However, when I have coffee, yes I'm fully charge but cannot stop. Usually my problem is my brain can't stop working and I realize that I was talking to myself when I sleep. Maybe the coffee works too much or maybe the size is too crazy. How many people need a Venti size of coffee a day? This is nut!! My limit is Grande (whatever you call), and that night, I will be awake all night long and the next morning, I need a coffee to wake me up again. This is a cycle.
Coffee beans, how many of you know how many types of coffee beans in the world? Frankly I don't know. For me... yes there's a difference but is it neccessary to be that good? Do you know where the most expensive coffee beans come from? It's from the animal's poop!! I don't know the name of that animal, but how it work is, they eat the coffee and they can't digest the beans so they will come out with the poop. However, the beans are being "processed" and the coffee comes out from it will be more tasteful. And becoz of this process is so "special", the price is very expensive. Ummm... maybe I have a try, I don't know if you will.
Public Announcement
I will post and polish this blog as soon as I can, as I'm currently working when I'm writing this announcement :P
Cheers