Comrade Cat meowt impressed by goalkeeping so far

TV Schedule

Some poor refereeing in the Poland-Greece game, and a dominating performance from Russia were the highlights of Day 1. Though Russia looks like sauntering into the second round, who will join them? Certainly not the Czech, based on their performance in this game.

Power Rankings

1. Russia (1-0-0, 3 pts) Beat Czech Republic 4-1. Overwhelmed Czechs, and easily could’ve won by more than four goals. Is this team a dark horse to win the tournament? Up next: Poland, June 12

2. Greece (0-1-0, 1 pt). Drew 1-1 with Poland. Despite being overwhelmed early on against the hosts and a man down for a good portion of the game, still rallied and should have won. Worries about their defense, though. Up next: Czech Republic, June 12

3. Poland (0-1-0, 1 pt). Drew 1-1 with Greece. Came out blazing against what was considered the weakest team in the group, then were outclassed despite having the man advantage for 20+ minutes. Will miss their starting goalie. Up next: Russia

4. Czech Republic (0-0-1, 0 pt). Looked good for, oh, 10 minutes or so against Russia, then were crushed. Can they win a game? Up next: Greece

Player of the Day: Alan Dzagoev, Russia. Scored twice and probably could’ve had a hat trick, had he not shot wide on a one-on-one with Petr Cech.

Disappointment of the day: A tie between the refereeing and the goalkeeping. Greece’s red card was not a red card, and they should’ve had a penalty shortly thereafter. Aside from Russia keeper Vyacheslav Malafeev, every other keeper was terrible.

Goal of the day: Roman Pavlyuchenko, Russia.

Players who will suddenly be wanted all across Europe even though no one had heard of them until now Rankings

1. Alan Dzagoev, Russia
2. Theodor Gebrie Selassie, Czech Republic
3. Pryzemyslaw Tyton, Poland
4. Kyriakos Papadopoulos, Greece
5. Vaclav Pilar, Czech Republic