Game 2: Russia 4 - Czech Republic 1

Most footballers have a knack of making me feel old. I watch them play a few major tournaments and then they retire, reminding me that if I were a footballer that I'd be well and truly over the hill. Tonight though, a footballer did the opposite. Milan Baros. He's still going and seems to have featured in pretty much every tournament I can remember. Thanks Milan (though to be fair, on tonight's performance, retirement might not be a bad shout).

Strange game this one. The Czechs looked right on top for about fifteen minutes and then Russia just blew them away, slick passing and good finishing putting paid to their early efforts. Dzagoev, as expected was a real threat, and took two very nice goals. Arshavin, as captain, was excellent. It is so refreshing to see players who give more for their country than their club.

The weight of passing from the Russian front 6 was just excellent - and I think that, coupled with a fairly solid defence, could see them pose a real threat to the group of death runners up in the QFs. But for Kerzhakov's repeated shanks, they could have had 2 or 3 more goals.

Other observations:

• Howard Webb and his baldie lookalike assistant did well and let the game flow - surely a better way to do things than his Spanish couterpart's stern efforts in the match before.
• Russia changed their flag. Now I appreciate this probably happened some time back, when the Soviet Union disbanded, but I hadn't really properly noticed until I saw the new tricolor flag emblazened on the cheek of a rather attractive blonde fan.
• No obvious signs of racism or trouble in the ground (I sincerely hope it is going to be a subtext played out in the media, rather than a reality). 

Looking forward to Holland v Denmark and Germany v Portugal tomorrow...