Iceland and Wales are the best part of Euro 2016

The biggest surprises of Euro 2016 should not be big surprises.

Wales features probably the best player in the whole tournament (sans Ronaldo) in Gareth Bale and Iceland was one of the best teams in qualifying. While these two factors does not always equate to wins, they are usually prerequisites to success.

Aaron Ramsey and Gareth Bale
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However, what sets these two teams apart is their pride. The passion the players from Wales and Iceland have for their teammates and their country is incredible.

Gareth Bale gave one of the quotes of the year when asked whether anybody on England would start on Wales. He said “none,” despite the fact England, heading into the tournament, appeared to have the better team.

That is not only the sign of a leader, but of someone who believes in his teammates. Bale plays with some of the world's best at Real Madrid, yet supports his countrymen to the upmost degree. That epitomizes what this Wales team is all about. Yes, Bale is the man. But, for his teammates and his country, Bale will do anything to get the victory.

This mentality has rubbed off on his teammates. Aaron Ramsey is playing some of his best soccer ever in his attacking midfielder role. It is a shame he will be suspended for the semifinal against Portugal.

Ashley Williams
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Up front, Bale is getting some inspired play from his striker partners: Hal Robson-Kanu and Sam Vokes. Robson-Kanu, who is currently a free agent, has scored two game-winning goals so far. Vokes, who did not play in the first two matches, has gotten some playing time and scored a lovely header to put the Belgium game out of reach.

And it is not just the attackers who are playing well. Captain Ashley Williams is leading a good five-back defense that managed to hold a potent Belgium offense to one goal.

With all that being said, there are some issues facing the Dragons. Ramsey and defender Ben Davies are suspended for the semifinal due to yellow card accumulation. Ramsey’s role will be extremely difficult to fill as he and Bale have developed some good chemistry over the tournament. Their lackluster win over Northern Ireland also gives some pause, but their effort against Belgium dispels most grievances after that victory.

These issues, however, can be overcome. Portugal is coming into the semifinal with many questions. Their attack has been poor and they have not been able to win either knockout round game in 90 (or 120 minutes). While they performed better against Poland, Portugal was extremely lucky to beat Croatia in the Round of 16. If there is any team that Wales can afford the loss of Ramsey and Davies, it is most likely Portugal.

As for Iceland, their success is a little more difficult to understand. They do not have a superstar like Bale and almost all of their players do not play on the same club team. Of the team’s 23 players, only two players play on the same team. They are also spread across 12 different countries.

However, this breakthrough was coming for years. The team was the closest it has ever been to the World Cup when it lost in the final round of qualification in 2013. Instead of sulking in defeat, the team came back stronger and qualified for Euro 2016 despite being in a group with the Czech Republic, the Netherlands and Turkey, who have a combined 20 Euro appearances between them.

Iceland after the team's victory over England
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Iceland was not great in the group stage of the tournament, but thanks to a late goal by Arnór Ingvi Traustason in the final game against Austria, Iceland was able to finish second in their group.

That set them up with a match-up with England. Few people gave Iceland a chance against the Three Lions and when Wayne Rooney put England up after just four minutes, soccer fans all across the world thought the game was over.

It was far from it.

Iceland equalized two minutes later when Ragnar Sigurdsson scored off a throw-in and then took the lead just 14 minutes later after some exquisite passing led to Kolbeinn Sigthorsson beating Joe Hart.

While Iceland could have parked the bus and played it safe, they continued to play their game. England could do nothing against the Iceland defense and had few actual scoring chances.

Now Iceland has a chance to cement itself in the history books with its match Sunday against France.

The tournament hosts, besides the heroics of Dimtri Payet and Antione Grizemann, have been underwhelming. They are more than vulnerable and Iceland may be the team to take them down.

Iceland and Wales have been the most interesting teams of the tournament. If all goes their way, it might set up the most unlikely Euro final of all-time.

European Champions League of Soccer, Volleyball, and More

UEFA Champions League (Soccer)

Cristiano Ronaldo
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The Round of 16 for the UEFA Champs League has ended with three teams from La Liga (Spain), two from the Bundesliga (Germany), and one team from Serie A (Italy), Ligue 1 (France), and Super Lig (Turkey) making the quarters. No teams from England have made the quarterfinals, a first since the 1995-96 Champs League. The premier teams in the final eight are Barcelona, Bayern Munich, and Real Madrid. Borussia Dortmond, Juventes, and Paris Saint-Germain. Galatasaray is a good team that will be undervalued. Malaga is a few steps below the other seven. They have the smallest chance of making it to the semi-finals. The quarterfinals games will be played on in early April, with the first leg on the second and third and the second leg on the ninth and tenth.

The draw for the quarterfinals were on Friday. The match-ups are Barcelona-PSG, Bayern Munich-Juventus, Borussia Dortmond-Malaga, and Galatasaray-Real Madrid. Of all the games, Boruissa Dortmond has the easiest road against Malaga. Every other game will be close. Barcelona vs. PSG will be closer then you would think at first glance. Bayern Munich is better then Juventes, but after being blown out by Arsenal in the second leg of their Round of 16 series, Munich may be vulnerable. The German club will need to put that behind them to win. The final match-up is between Real Madrid and Galatasaray. The winner of this match-up will be the team does performs it's best on the road. This, and Barca-PSG, are my favorite games. 

Euroleague (Basketball)

Jordan Farmer
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The Euroleague is also in it's Round of 16. Unlike other sports, the basketball league's round of 16 has two groups of eight teams.  Each team will play fourteen games against the the other seven teams in their group. All the teams have just finished eleven games. Group E features Alba Berlin, 
Anadolu Efes Istanbul, Brose Baskets, CSKA Moscow, Panathinaikos Athens, Real Madrid, Unicaja Malaga, and Zalgiris Kaunas. In the first Group E game of week eleven, Anadolu Efes won a close game against Brose Baskets. Anadolu Efes, led by former NBA player Jordan Farmer, enhanced their record to 9-2, while Brose dropped to 0-11. Next up was Zalgiris Kaunas at CSKA Moscow. CSKA Moscow improved to 8-3 with the 70-61. Zalgiris record is now 4-7. After that, Liga ACB members Unicaja Malaga and Real Madrid went at it in Madrid. Malaga pulled off the upset away from home, winning 77-74. Real Madrid, who with the loss slid to 9-2, were without 3 time MVP of Week Rudy Fernandez. Malaga enhanced their record to 6-5. The last game of the week for Group E teams was a blowout. Panathinaikos beat Alba Berlin 82-58. With the win, Panathinakos record became 7-4, while Alba Berlin dropped to 1-10.

BC Khimki MR, Besiktas JK, Caja Laboral Vitoria, FC Barcelona Regal, Fenerbahce Ulker, Maccabi Electra, Montepaschi Siena, and Olympiacos Piraeus are the teams of Group F. The first game of the week for Group F was between BC Khimki MR and Maccabi Electra. In a game that went down to the wire, Maccabi Electra won 80-79. The win boosted Maccabi Electra's record to 6-5 and BC Khimki MR slid to 6-5. The next game was also a nail-bitter between Olympiacos and Montepaschi. With Olympiacos up by one, Montepaschi's star player Bobby Brown drove and then kicked it out. However, they could not get a shot off in time, and Olympiacos got the win away from home, 68-67. After the game, both teams had a record of 7-4. Caja Laboral then went up against Fenerbahce. At home, Caja Laboral destroyed Fenerbahce by a score of 87-67. Caja Laboral, who improved to 6-5, had five players who scored in double figures. Fenerbahce dropped to 2-9. The final game was also a blowout. FC Barcelona, in front of their home crowd, defeated Besiktas by 25, 88-61.

CEV Champions League (Volleyball)- 16th-17th

This weekend was the Final Four weekend for the CEV Champions League. The four teams that reached the semi's were Bre Baanc Lannutti of Italy, Lokomotiv Novosibrsk and Zenit Kazan of Russia, and Zaksa Kedzierzyn-Kozle of Poland. The first game of the semi's was between the two Russian teams, Lokomotiv Novosibrsk and Zenit Kazan. Novosibrsk, playing in front of the home crowd, lost the first set 25-19. Novosibrsk then rebounded in the second set, winning 25-20. The next set was close, but Zenit Kazan pulled it out with a score of 25-22. The fourth set was all Novosibrsk, winning 25-16. In the fifth and deciding set, the home team won 15-12 to advance to the final. In the other semi, Bre Baanc and Kedzierzyn-Kozle also went to the fifth set. Kedzierzyn-Kozle took the first and fourth set, while Bre Baanc won the second and third set. In the fifth set, Bre Baanc got out to the the early led and never looked back. They won the final set 15-10 and won the game, setting up a Lokomotiv Novosibrsk vs. Bre Baanc Lannutti.

Lokomotiv Novosibrsk celebrating their championship
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Before the championship game, they had a third place game between Zenit Kazan and Zaksa Kedzierzyn-Kozle. The two teams split the first two sets with Kazan taking the first one and Kedzierztn-Kozle taking the second. The next two sets went to Kazan as they took the match 3-1. The championship game went all the way to the wire. Bre Baanc Lannutti took the first set 25-22 against Lokomotiv Novosibrsk. Novosibrsk, playing at home, then took a really close set 26-24. They then took the next set too, 25-23. The fourth set went to Bre Baanc 25-20, setting up a winner-take-all fifth set. Novosibrsk took the early lead, but by the third partial they were only up by one. In the end, Novosibrsk won the match 16-14, and the match, three games to two. This is Novosibrsk's first ever CEV Champions League championship.

EHF Champions League (Handball)- 14th-17th and 21st-24th

The EHF Champions League finished up their first leg of the Round of 16. In the first game of the week, HC Dinamo Minsk and HC Metalerg faced off in Dinamo, Belarus. HC Metalerg won the match 26-23. Chekhovskie Medvedi upset the defending champions THW Kiel in a shootout, 36-34. Celje Pivovarna Lasko went up against HSV Hamburg. Even though Celje's Borut Mackovesk had thirteen goals, Hamburg still won easily 29-38. Pick Szeged and KS Vivie Targi Kielce went down to the wire. Pick Szeged had the one point led at half. They kept the lead and won 26-25. 

MKB Veszprem KC beat Reale Ademar Leon away from home, 23-20. FC Barcelona Intersport beat Bjerringbro-Silkeborg 32-26. FC Barcelona had four players, Enterrios Rodriguez, Gurbindo Martinez, Jesper Brian Noddesbo, and Siarhei Rutenka, who scored five goals and two players who scored four goals. Athletico Madrid and Fuchse Berlin played to a 29-29 tie. The last game of the first leg of the Round of 16 featured Gorenge Velenje and SG Flensburg-Handewitt. SG Flensburg-Handewitt won 28-25.

LEN Champions League (Water Polo)

The LEN Champions League is currently in it's round of 16, called the Eight Finals. The first leg of this round was played on the ninth and tenth of March, with the second and final leg being played on the twentieth. In the first leg, there were nail-bitters and blowouts. The blowouts included Jug CO Dubrovnik 19-1 demolition of Schuurmanea BZC and CN Atletic Barceloneta annihilation of CSM DiGi Oradea 15-5. These two matches have almost, but guaranteed the two winners will make the next round. Crvena Zvevda also helped their chances tremendously with their 13-6 defeat of ZF Eger.

The other five games are still up for grabs. The closest of these match-ups is Olympiakos and Spartak Volograd. Their first leg ended in a 9-8 victory for Olympiakos. This grouping could go either way. Another good match-up is between Galatasaray and Sintez Kazan. Galatasaray won the first game 9-6. The second game looks to be a nail-bitter. In a high-scoring affair, Vouliagmeni NC beat CN Marseille 16-12, setting up an interesting second leg. The last game of Final Eight is between Partizan Raiffeissen Belgrade and AN Brescia. After winning the first game, Partizan is looking to win the second game to confirm their advancing. 

CERH European League (Roller Hockey)

Group Play for the CERH European League just finished up. There were four groups of four teams that play each other twice over six weeks. The top two teams in each group make the quarterfinals. Group A was set before the sixth game. FC Barcelona and Igualada clinched were the top two teams, while HC Dinan Quevert and Candelria SC were the bottom two. These games were just for placement. Barcelona's 4-1 victory over Quevert made them the group winner, while Candelria beat Igualada. In Group B, Porto had clinched their spot in the next round. However, the second spot was still up for grabs between Noia and Amatori Lodi. Noia won their match, 4-2 against Porto. Amatori Lodi also won, 10-3 over SCRA St. Omar. Noia sealed their spot in the quarters due to having more points then Amatori Lodi.

Group C had their top two teams set with Benfica and Reus Deportiu. Benfica defeat the winless Cronenberg, 12-3. Reus Deportiu lost to CGC Viareggio, 8-3. That was their only loss in Group Play. In Group D, Lieco, the defending champ and Valdagno went head-to-head to see who would be the group winner. To win the group, Lieco needed to win and have a better goal differential. Valdagno beat Lieco 7-3 to win the group. In the other game, UD Oliverense beat Geneve RHC, 11-2. The loss dropped Geneve to 0-6 in group play. The quarterfinals start on April 6th with the first leg and the April 20th is the second leg. The four match-ups are FC Barcelona vs. Lieco, Benfica vs. CE Noia, Igualada vs. Valdagno, and Porto vs. Reus Deportiu.

Match Fixing in the World of Soccer

Europol announcing the Scandal
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There is a major scandal brewing in the world of soccer. Europol, the European Union's police force, announced that more then 680 soccer matches from 2008-2011 have ties to being fixed. 380 of the matches occurred in Europe, with the other 300 occurring mostly in Africa, Asia, and South and Central America. These matches are not just minor, unimportant games. They include World Cup and European Championship qualifiers and UEFA Championship League matches.

The investigation by Europol took about 18 months. Evidence suggests a crime syndicate based in Singapore is a main player in many of the fixed matches. A warrant has been placed for the leader of the gang. 425 people from more then 15 countries, including players, officials, and criminals were involved in the fixed matches in Europe. The names of these 425 people and other have not been released to not affect ongoing investigations. The country with the most cases of fixed matches was in Turkey with 79. 

The bribes involved more then two million euros and eight million euros in betting profits. That equals 2.7 US dollars and 10.9 million US dollars respectively. The crime group from Singapore would spend up to one hundred thousand euros, or one hundred and thirty-six thousand US dollar per match for bribes.

This scandal will have an enormous impact
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This scandal has the potential to be on, maybe even above, the level of the Lance Armstrong and cycling community doping scandal. If you have some of the top teams and players in world involved in the scandal, soccer's reputation will take a tremendous hit and will set the sport back. Even if the sports' major teams or players did not take part in the fixing, the game will take a hit. Soccer's lower leagues still draw very well and have the fandom of some of the higher level league, too. From the information  released so far, I would expect to see a mixture of mostly top tier teams and players as well as some lower profile players and teams. Europol director Rob Wainwright said that acts of the Singaporean crime-syndicate "threatens the very fabric of the game." When a major Europol official says that the game is threaten by this, that means there is lots of information not yet released. No matter the outcome, the impact the fixings' will be major.

Friedhelm Althans, a German investigator, summed up what this might mean for soccer and the integrity of the game. He said, "This is the top of the iceberg."

Euro 2012

The 2012 UEFA European Championship starts on July 8th. Hosted by both the Ukraine and Poland, it is the first time for both countries to host the championship. Both countries have 4 cities where games will be played

The toughest group is Group B. This is Portugal's 2nd consecutive tournament where there are 3 really good teams in their group. In the 2010 World Cup, Portugal had Brazil and Cote'd Ivory in the same group. This year, I think the group is even more difficult. In the group is Germany (2nd in FIFA World Rankings, 4th in World Football Elo Ratings), Netherlands (4th, 3rd), Portugal (5th, 12th), and Denmark (10th, 19th). All teams are very good and it will be the group to watch. All these teams could be champions. 

van Persie, Robben, and Sneijder must be leaders to win
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I really like the team from the Netherlands. They have a great forward in Robin van Perise and 2 great midfielders in Wesley Snejider and Arjen Robben. Rafeal van der Vaart is a good middie. They have a very good striker who comes of the bench, Klaas-Jan Huntelar. Sneijder has an ankle injury but it will most likely not affect him. This team has great potential. They may have a chip on their shoulder after losing the World Cup Final in Extra Time on a Andres Inesta by a  goal. It was their only loss of the tournament. I believe that this is the time for this team to prove they are the best. I expect them to in the Euros.

Group D is also very tough. England (6th, 6th), France (14th, 12th), Sweeden (17th, 10th), and Ukraine (52nd, 31st). While it is unlikely the Ukraine will make it past the group stages, the 3 other teams have good chances. France is going to look like a new team without former star Theirry Henry and it won't be like the World Cup where they fell apart. England is with stars Wayne Rooney, Steven Gerrard, Ashley Cole, and John Terry (despite the charges against him about being racist). Sweeden has one of the best forwards in the tournament, Zlatan Ibrahimovic, who will be the team leader. I believe, the teams that advance will be the teams whose defense can stop the forwards that can get the ball in the back of the net. 

Group A is not a very strong grouping. It features Russia (13th ,16th), Greece (15th, 25th), Czezh Republic (27th, 24th), and Poland (62nd, 35th). Poland has a slight chance of making the next round. The favorite is Russia.  This team has experience with success in the Euro 08 and having one of the better forward lines, led by captain Andrei Arshavin and Roman Pavlyuchenko. Greece, the Euro 2004 champs are a team that I think could be good or bad. The Czech Republic has one of the better goalies in Petr Cech. 

Casillias, Sergio Ramos, Fernando Torres, Xavi, and
 Inesta Will Play Very Well In the Euros
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Group C is the group that interests me. Spain (1st, 1st) will make it through this round without a doubt with the great play of Andres Inesta, Xavi, Iker Casillas, and others on the star studded squad. They will do very well in the tournament. Then comes the question mark. I am not big on Italy (12th, 15th) as a team, but I think Mario Balotelli is a great striker that can lead a team. Croatia (8th, 11th) is a team that is ranked high, but didn't even play in the 2010 World Cup. Ireland (18th, 21st) will have a hard time making it, but who knows what could happen.