Euro Trash Day 10: Day of the Germans

It wasn’t a good day for countries formerly conquered by the Nazis, nor for former Nazi officials. But, it was a good day for the former Weimar Republic as the Teutons advanced to the Euro 2008 quarterfinals with a 1-0 victory over former conquest Austria. The formerly occupied Poland also lost to Croatia 1-0 to advance tops in Group B.

Croatia may have won more that advancement today, though, as The Sun spotted a former Nazi “civil servant” from Croatia enjoying Euro 2008 among the Volk, even going so far as to visit the war criminal’s abode. Milivoj Asner, 95, and his wife enjoyed a café in Klagenfurt, Austria. Asner is the fourth most wanted Nazi war criminal standing accused of citing genocide in Croatia. Austria has refused to extradite Asner to Croatia stating he is too ill to stand trial, although the old man seems to get around better than Kirk Douglas. Perhaps this will change his extradition status.


German 1 – 0 Austria: I can’t confirm whether Austria kept its knickers dry, but I am sure Mario Gomez has shit his pants for last time in the foreseeable future for Die Mannschafft. Gomez missed a sitter mere yards in front of an open goal in the fifth minute. The Spanish-German has had a Euro 2008 to forget missing an easy early goal in the first match against Poland and being utterly useless since then. Thankfully, Herr Ballack finally decided to show up for the Germans, netting a rocket of a free kick in the 49th minute.

The real drama happened on the sidelines in this match as managers Joachim Loew, Germany, and Josef Hickersberger, Austria, were sent off after a sideline spat. As the Gamecast commentary put it in the 40th minute:

They had a little pop at each other five minutes ago, but the fourth official has called the ref over and now both coaches will watch the rest of the game from the stands. They did shake hands on their way there though.

The managers were sent to the stands where Loew had to explain to German Angela Merkel (in orange) what happened. It remains to be seen whether Loew will face an additional sideline ban for the upcoming quarterfinal matchup against Portugal.

Croatia 1 – 0 Poland: Clearly, Slaven Bilic did not start his mother-in-law against Poland despite Leo Beenhakker’s pleas. I didn’t watch this match, but I do know that Croatia won on Ivan Klasnic’s goal. Croatia had already progressed as the top seed from Group B and will face a depleted Turkish squad in the quarterfinals.

On to the links:

- I Dislike Your Favorite Team pays UF a backhanded compliment. Or, maybe it’s not even a compliment. But, Soccernista likes us, he (it?) really likes us.

- The Premier League fixtures were released today, only two months to opening day.

- Steve Nash is confirmed as interested in bringing MLS to Vancouver, Canada.

In case you haven’t noticed, we have a new face (moniker) around these parts, The Likely Lad, he’s a Spurs fan. Be nice, they’re sensistive.