Federer in 7th heaven as Murray falls short once again

Roger Federer claimed his 7th Wimbledon title to disappoint Andy Murray and the raucous home support. Federer has now equalled Pete Sampras's record total of wins at SW19.

Despite a strong start from the Scot, winning the first set, new world number one Federer proved to be too strong for Murray, and has now won a remarkable 17 Grand Slam titles.

It all started perfectly for Murray. He held serve comfortably in the opening game before striking an early break to the Federer serve, albeit aided by an unusually nervous start from his opponent.

Federer responded like a multi-slam winner, breaking back immediately but the Swiss was surprisingly wayward throughout that first set with an extremely high amount of unforced errors. There was something almost strangely inevitable about what followed. And Murray duly broke the Federer serve once more in the tenth game of the set to take an early advantage in this epic match.

The man from Basel was subdued and wayward throughout the opening exchanges and he failed to convince for large parts of the second set but then as the set inexorably headed towards a tie break Federer struck, cobra-like. In the flash of a second Federer broke, decisively to win the set 7-5. The momentum had swung and the rain started to pour.

Just in time, many thought, for Murray to have a breather and collect his thoughts. It seemed like perfect timing for Murray. In that sense it probably was as something was needed to stem the tide.

Yet as the roof closed and the players returned it was Federer that seemed to have increased his powers and then came 'that' game. Both players held relatively comfortably until Federer led 3-2. An unbelievable backhand from Federer gave him two break points but Murray responded brilliantly to take the game to deuce. Nine more deuces followed with some sumptuous shots from Federer, before the Swiss finally broke, after nearly 20 minutes of play. Murray crucially slipping as he was lobbed just prior to being broken at the sixth time of asking. Unbelievable.

Federer began to open up his famous forehand, though it was still littered with unforced errors, and Murray just could not live with his opponent as a two sets to one lead became inevitable.

Murray struggled to hold on from here and when the new world number one broke mid-way through the fourth set all seemed set for Federer.

Yet Murray had one last chance. At 15-30 on the Federer serve Murray opened a forehand of his own, only to get too excited and go long. With that any last chance of glory was gone and Federer closed out for victory as Murray had nothing left in the tank.

A grand slam still seems possible for Murray, but maybe this was his best chance at Wimbledon gone. Federer showed shines of the great play of yesteryear at times here, but he was there for the taking, particularly the unforced errors gifting Murray an early lead.

Still there are question marks over the mental toughness of Murray, particularly when the going got tough. There were the petulant remarks aimed in no particular direction as the match slipped away that you never seemed to see from the top players.

When the players return here in a few weeks for the upcoming Olympics, Federer will now be looking for a gold medal to complete his remarkable collection, whilst Murray will have to wipe away the tears, re-group and respond. Good luck with that.

We are going home

Kiev's Olympic Stadium: the scene of England's crime

It was a massacre in all but the score line and even the most ardent of England fans couldn't deny the better team won.

Nevertheless, as the penalty shoot out began it didn’t prevent a wave of optimism when Riccardo Montolivo missed his penalty for Italy, giving England the advantage that they soon squandered after tame efforts from Ashley Young and the normally reliable Ashley Cole.

The English section of the stadium was something akin to a morgue after the defeat. Many of which were younger fans, the older ones now almost getting used to such failures. The younger ones just staring into the abyss like so many of the more senior supporters have done in Turin, Wembley, Shizouka and Gelsenkirchen.

As for the game itself, oh how we missed Jack Wilshere. Our inability to keep the ball has been well documented and the silky passing of the young Arsenal midfielder would have been essential if we'd had any hopes of having a major impact on this tournament.

Even the evergreen Paul Scholes would have been a more welcome addition to the pitch than the underwhelming introduction of Jordan Henderson.

As majestic as Italy’s Andrea Pirlo was, this tweet from Michael Owen shortly after England’s exit summed up the absence of Scholes: ‘Pirlo was awesome but we have a player of a similar age and equally as good. Unfortunately, he wasn’t there. #Scholes.’

Some may have viewed him coming out of retirement as regressive step but do you think the Italians would readily discard Pirlo, or the Spanish Xavi, in such a hurry? I think not.

Anyway, back to the England fans, who behaved impeccably throughout Sunday night’s game, thoughts were already turning towards Brazil. The endless optimism of an England fan is both reprehensible and admirable in equal measure. 

We just hope we have more ball retainers than ball hoofers next time out. Joe Hart’s endless long balls towards Andy Carroll became a familiar theme during the heartbreaking defeat to Italy.

But where there are young midfield starlets like Wilshere and Manchester United’s Tom Cleverley there is hope. My goodness we need it. We are going home, we are going we going home (but we’ll be back). See you in Brazil in 2014, providing we qualify of course.

Step by step

Euro 2012: it does exactly what it says on the tin

In the hours before kick off against Ukraine, the England fans, just like eight days before when we played France, congregated around the Golden Lion pub. The pub is situated in the city centre with a giant Lenin statue adjacent. What the Russian revolutionary would have made of it all is anyone’s guess.

The most intriguing aspect was certainly the few Ukrainians, some making their regular walk home from work that they may have been doing for a decade or more, daring not look in the direction of the English supporters for fear of reprisal.

Then there were others that would just come and watch, almost like children on their first day at the zoo. There are obvious comparisons but I will let you draw your own.

The atmosphere both in and outside the stadium was a good one, though the home support was less fervent once England scored.

And the away support? Well behaved, respecting the Ukrainian national anthem, which I know should be a given, but is often flouted at Wembley.

There is one thing to add that intrigues me about England fans: what is all this about ‘England til I tie’? As if an England fan is going to suddenly wake up tomorrow and discover he’s Icelandic.

Anyway, it is a pity that both host nations have exited the competition at the group stage. Talking of the group stage, this is now at an end and despite England’s best efforts, the tournament has yet to garner a goalless draw. Perhaps Italy are the ideal opponents for the Three Lions to break that record.

This tournament has rightly been heralded as one of the best for many a year. However, it might be a good idea to wait until it is over before bestowing such an honour as tournaments are generally defined by its knockout stages and there will be plenty of opportunities for Greece, England and Italy to yet turn this competition into a forgettable stinker.

Now it is back to Kiev for England’s quarter final but when and how have yet to be decided. It would be great to hold fire in Donetsk until Saturday night’s quarter final between France and Spain that is here at the Donbass Arena.

However, the Ukrainian transport network is doing its best to conspire against me. There is only one train to the capital on Sunday morning and that is fully booked. There are murmurings that many locals, call them touts if you will, have bought up all the tickets and trying to sell them off for a huge profit. If so, there is something that the authorities should do about this. This is extremely unlikely as they have slightly bigger fish to fry. Namely the £2.5 billion in state funds opposition leaders claim was illegally awarded for no-bid contracts for Euro 2012. Confused? Read more on this topic from the experts:

Talking of off the pitch misdemeanours: when is someone going to get a grip at UEFA? I know it has been mentioned aplenty but the moral outrage to the pitiful fines dished out for racism compared with the £80,000 fine for Nicolas Bendtner flashing his sponsored pants is fully justified.

An open letter to Roy Keane

Dear Roy,

I'd like to take you to task on your recent criticism of the Irish national team in the Sun so here goes.

Perhaps the margin of defeat against Spain was lamentable, yet what cannot be denied is the lack of quality, which you highlight yourself at the beginning of your piece. I think this was more to blame than either effort or the coach which seems to be your main bone of contention.

When I look back on the Irish team of the late 80s, early 90s and perhaps even in 2002, there was a lot more quality on offer than I realised at the time. Bonner, Given, Irwin, Kelly, Staunton, Lawrenson, McGrath, you yourself Roy, Houghton, Aldridge, Robbie Keane, O'Leary, Kevin Sheedy (who I wasn't going to include then recalled that sweet left foot which was most evident against England at italia 90), Moran, Whelan, Beglin and many more. These players should be reaching the knockout stages of major tournaments. St Ledger, Long and Cox should not.

Secondly, your dig at Keith Andrews for saying that Ireland will play for pride in their last game is harsh. What is he supposed to say with a microphone shoved in his face following the thrashing by Spain (they're not the first or the last to receive such a beating from arguably the best international side of all time).

Nevertheless, you are always a great read/listen which cannot always be said of some of your peers. Chris Waddle, Alan Shearer, Mark Bright and Robbie Savage spring to mind. The latter who's opinion is solely based on his friendship, or lack of, with the individual he's analysing (ie Roberto Mancini, Mark Hughes).

This criticism could never be aimed in your direction so keep the forthright opinions coming. A football world without these comments would be a very dull one indeed.

Yours sincerely,

John Silk

To read Roy Keane's article in full go to http://www.thesun.co.uk/sol/homepage/sport/football/euro2012/4377157/Euro-2012-Roy-Keane-says-Republic-of-Ireland-should-dump-em-all.html

Footnotes from Ukraine

Tasty: when in Kiev...

Whilst Ukraine have been a welcoming host (I even received two bags of crisps on the street for free yesterday in Kiev, any country that bears gifts as nice as this gets my vote) there is one thing sorely lacking when compared to previous tournaments: the lack of variety of travelling support in each host city. 

In Tokyo, stood at central station, the place was buzzing with supporters from all over the world. From Ireland to Argentina, from Germany to Cameroon, it was a fantastic place to be as the hub of the World Cup with 16 nations based in Japan, many of which playing in the country’s capital at some stage during the tournament.

In Poland and Ukraine, though, this is not the case. The size of the two host nations, aligned with varying transport issues (there’s no bullet train here) there is not the same international feel. Sweden, for example, are based solely in Kiev, whilst Spain remain in Gdansk, for the time being at least.

I understand the logistics, I just miss the lack of an international feel when the cities are dominated by just one or two nation's fans.

A dog: this funny thing has no business being here, aside from the fact he is a cute dog, which is enough in itself

Anyway, moan over and I am returning to my crisps as my trip takes another dramatic twist (there have been more twists and turns than a twisty-turny thing so far). I have decided to become a culture vulture, taking in a monastery and some of the amazing views on offer near Kiev’s famous arc. 

Irish pub: at O'Brien's with fellow Norfolk boy (also in red) who goes simply by the name of Calvin

It is not long, however, before I revert to type to visit the Irish bar to watch football before drinking myself silly whilst singing to Oasis songs in a downstairs bar called Dockers which gets a seal of approval in terms of ambience, but a seal of disapproval on the ever increasing price of drinks throughout the evening.

Now for the long train journey to Donetsk from Kiev which will pass by much more quickly as it will be dominated by some much needed sleep.

 
Don't look back in anger: Oasis being sung at the Dockers bar in Kiev