Chelsea in Euro - Round 2&3 - Group Stage

The matchdays 2 and 3 were also mixed for the Chelsea payers. The end of group stage meant Cech, Malouda, Anelka and Makelele won't take any further part in the tournament.

Petr Cech
Cech had a great game against the Portuguese. None of the goals scored was his mistake and he denied Ronaldo many times. Cech saved the Czech Republic from a humiliating defeat. Against Turkey, it was a different story altogether. We saw the other side of Cech, which we are beginning to see more often thesedays. His blunder meant Czech lost after leading 2-0 with just 15 minutes left. Cech said he was happy that the season is over.

Ricardo Carvalho
Ricky did have a good game against the Czech but not his best. I felt Pepe was far more involved in the game than Carvalho. He was found out of position at times. His errors didn't look that bad thanks to Baros who failed to take his chances in front of goal. The introduction of Koller also seemed to cause further problems for Carvalho. He was rested against the Swiss and that would've helped him regain his focus.

Jose Bosingwa
Bosingwa was neither bad nor good. He did nothing spectacular or worth mentioning but was always present in the right flank assisting the attackers. His pace meant problems for the opposition but he couldn't capitalize much on it. His runs through the right meant he was taking a defender with him thus giving more space to the likes of Ronaldo and Deco. Like Carvalho, he was rested against the Swiss.

Paulo Ferreira
Ferreira had a decent game against the Czechs and also fired in one or two good crosses from the left. He was among the three players not rested against the Swiss but had an average game. Some wrong passes from him in that game didn't help the Portuguese cause either.

Micheal Ballack
Ballack had a very average game against the Croats. He was seen trying to lift his team-mates and also demanded more effort from them. His own form was not helping the cause. The bad form of Frings meant the Germans were undone in the midfield, which lead to their defeat. This meant Germany had to win their last match against Austria. They failed to create much and couldn't score in the first half. Ballack took the Germans to the next round with a stunning free-kick in the second. 'Cometh the hour, cometh Ze German'.

The three Musketeers
French had lack of creativity in their midfield and someone like Makelele wasn't of much help. He also caused further problems in defense with Thuram also having aging legs like him. Malouda seems to be totally out of form. He wandered around uselessly and aimlessly in the midfield while Anelka did so in front. When France were in a do-or-die situation in the last match, Domenech kept both Malouda and Anelka on bench. Even that wise decision couldn't save France from crashing out of Euro'08. Makelele has announced his retirement from international football.