EM Days 9-10

Everyone's talkin' Turkey since Sunday's unimaginable 3 goals scored in the final 18 minutes to win 3-2 against an understand- ably stunned Czech team, now sent home. Switzerland salvaged pride from a mean- ingless 2-0 beating of an already-qualified Portugal team of second-stringers, everybody happy there. Now we can observe the poor relieved Swiss coach age ten years in four weeks' time as the stress dissipates from the hosts' several years of monumental expectations.

We frequented our favorite neighborhood coffee house/bar/salsa dance parlor (it's an eclectic place) last night with our new German/American friends to watch Germany beat Austria 1-0 as scripted. Of marginal interest other than the futile ferocity of Austria vs. their "big brother" was Germany's still-sputtering offense, to be tested in earnest vs. a fully-manned Portugal as the tournament's first big Round 2 game. Latest physiological news is that Steph and I each drank two beers last night and our bodies didn't totally reject them, probably because they're too tired to do so. Another observation from trying to watch TV screens amidst the bar crowd: Germans are tall (present company excluded).

France v. Italy play in about an hour, winner advances and loser goes home as extra drama for the already long-anticipated titanic fixture of the tournament's first round. We were invited out to watch by Steph's work colleague but simply must stay home tonight or risk "Death by EM08"...