Euro 2012 – is it the most exciting Euro in the last 2 decades?

I have been watching Euro ever since I was a 9-year old kid in 1992 (my house didn’t have a TV, I used to watch it at my neighbor’s place) when Denmark, who came in as a replacement for war-torn Yugoslavia stunned the football world by winning it. Since then, there has been five Euro’s – 1996 when the 16-team tournament was played for the first time, 2000 when France win via a Golden Goal, 2004 when Greece defended their way to a win, 2008 when La Rojas started to show form that would take them to the top of the soccer world in a couple of years’ time and of course, this year’s spectacle that is nearing its end I have often discussed with my sports’ loving father about which of the Euros he finds the most exciting. Now, first things first, neither of us are fans of European football, we both support teams from South America (my father also supports African teams while I support Asian teams) – but after a lot of discussion, we agreed on one point - this Euro may not be the biggest in terms of the established stars (some of them like Villa (Spain) are missing due to injuries, some have retired – Del Piero, Ballack), yet in terms of excitement, this one ranks at the top in the last 2 decades Let us analyze the reasons: (a) A good mix of youth and experience – while some of the old guard (Arshavin, Shevchenko, Ibrahamovic, Pirlo, Schwensteiger, Buffon, Srna, Casillas, Klose) are there playing well, guiding their teams, scoring goals and making fantastic saves, new talent has been abundance – Balotelli, Wellbeck, Mata, Krohn-Deli have made their mark. Even some of the reigning superstars – Ronaldo, who many say is the best footballer in the world, Oezil, Muller are pretty young (b) More players playing each others’ leagues and more exchange of ideas – when Italy and England squared off against each other, neither seemed to be unknown entity to the other anymore. English football has seen an influx of Italian coaches – Capello, Mancini to name a couple, while Italian footballers like Mario Balotelli play in English Premier League. Case in point – semi final 1 between Iberian Peninsula rivals Spain and Portugal meant Ronaldo was playing his Real Madrid teammates and Barcelona rivals in equal measure. His rival captain was Casillas, his captain at Madrid. The fear of the unknown gone, there has been greater confidence in all the teams as they have taken the field (c) More goals and attacking flair – This Euro Cup has seen most number of goals per match in the last 20 years. A huge chunk of credit goes to the attacking flair of the strikers and team formations. 4-4-2 and 4-3-3 have been the preferred formations. The only significant exception perhaps has been Spain’s 4-6-0 formation with a “false attacking line”. Even Italy, who generally choke opponents with their defensive tactics have attacked more than ever Could Euro 2012 have been better? Yes of course. The tournament has been played in the backdrop of heavy political and financial disarray entire Europe is going through. The PIGS nations (Portugal, Greece, Italy and Spain) are financially under pressure. Germany and France have an onus to save them, the alliance and thus prevent the continent and world economy from spiraling out of control. In this backdrop, some exceptional football has been played, especially by Greece, who punched way above their weight at a time when they were facing a stormy election session. Football enthusiast Angela Merkel had to face an unusual situation when she was present in the quarter-final match against Greece, the country Germany has been bailing out The early exit of Holland, where they lost all group matches was a disappointment, as was the insipid football by a leader less and rudderless France, whose pathos on the field culminated in Samir Nasri being suspended by the Federation. Ukraine showed a lot of promise, but flattered to deceive Holland Coach looks on after they lose all three group league matches Questions have been raised on the raison d’être of giving hosting rights to 2 countries, as it results in a country like Turkey, Belgium or Norway missing out. This, despite Poland and Ukraine defying odds and negative expectations to do a good job of hosting the cup. Next time, the tournament will be played with a unwieldy 24 teams, and might see a glut of one-sided matches This Euro will also be the last Euro of Swedish and AC Milan maestro Zlatan Ibrahamovic and Ukraine’s Andrei Shevchenko. They distinguished tem in their last appearance, scoring 2 goals apiece. Rumors afloat that Buffon and Casillas would also end their Euro careers here and both would want to leave on a high, winning the tournament Whoever lifts the trophy on July 2, it will be a Euro to remember. New reputations will be built (though as opposed to earlier eras when internet wasn’t there or travel wasn’t easy, these tournament used to be opportunities to showcase talent and be noticed by top clubs – nowadays, accessing information about players from smaller countries is not difficult), some will be lost. New heroes (like Torres in 2008) will make it their own. Here’s hoping for a grand finish and also doff a hat at the small nations Poland and Ukarine for doing a good job

French Open, the most unique one of them all

So Rafael Nadal has won yet another French Open, his 7th. Thus he has gone past Bjorn Borg as the man with the most Musketeers' Cups. Only one other man, Pete Sampras, has won 7 Grand Slams at a particular venue (Wimbledon). Only one other tennis player, Chris Evert, has won 7 French Opens In the process, Rafa also stopped Novak Djokovic's quest for holding all 4 Grand Slams together, like he did to Roger Federer in 2006 and 2007. He himself failed in the Australian Open 2011 to achieve the same feat, thus keeping Rod Laver and Don Budge's record intact So what makes Rafa click on the red clay of Rolland Garros? (Remember he has failed to win at the blue clay of Madrid Open, losing to compatriot Fernando Verdasco for the first time in their head to head career). Not that he is a bad player on other surfaces, having won all the other Grand Slams at least once, also winning a Olympic Singles Gold and Davis Cup - but on clay he is simply unstoppable Similar is the case with a quite a few players who had otherwise unremarkable or moderate careers on other surfaces, but shone on the red dirt of Rolland Garros - Bruguera, Kuerten, Muster, Ferrero,Moya even one of the greatest of them all Ivan Lendl (who said "Grass is for cows to graze" and never won a Wimbledon much to his regret). On the other hand, there has been several "greats" - Sampras and Courier prime examples, who have failed to make an impression of clay. 2 men - Agassi and Federer, did win on clay, but it had more to do with their "tennis grey matter", rather than their mastery of the surface. (And there are unknown quantities like Gaston Gaudio, whose only claim to fame is a single Grand Slam on clay) What makes certain players click on clay, others abject failures on the same surface? What makes players of Spanish origin, on both sides of the Atlantic masters of the surface? Why is Rolland Garros so different? Till the 70s, Tennis was played only with wooden racquets. It was a game of skill, perseverance, long rallies, out thinking your opponent, a game of grace and class. Then the metal racquets started coming in - and with it innovations - the "serve and volley" games, quick points, more aces, shorter matches. Grand Slams other than the French Open, played on clay, shifted to faster surfaces - the hard courts, cement and plastic courts. The balance of power shifted from the Australians (Laver, Roche, Newcombe) to the Americans (McEnroe, later Sampras, Agassi etc). The rise of the Nick Bolitieri system of coaching which encouraged hard court specialists became another reason why focus shifted to making the matches shorter The French Open almost became a outlier. Here the courts remained slow, the ball took in more spin, and serve and volley meant nothing. Players who had the stamina to play long matches, play long rallies from the baseline thrived on the surface. And they were usually were not trained in the American way. Gradually, from the last 80s, the Spanish school started to take over - slowing down the game, keep chugging at your opponent, tire him down and beat him - a combination of heavy physical, emotional and mental tennis. Bruguera, Guga Kuerten and Muster, to a lesser extent Andre Medvedev became masters of this style. Agassi, one of Bolitieri's proteges - however, still cracked the system - it was however, more to do with his tennis acumen and survival skills than anything. Sampras, undoubtedly one of the greatest of all time, failed to do so, and managed a semi final appearance as his best result Still, the French Open was the most competitive of all the Grand Slams in the 90s. Anybody who played with the above points in mind, did well. The 2000s was a different ball game together. The Spanish-origin players, both from Spain and Argentina, grew up on these surfaces, and it became a second nature to them. They were not averse to playing long rallies. The soil in their country matched that of France, thus giving them a feeling of home. Mentally they were at ease. Physically, they started to bulk up And ever since 2005, when 2 Spanish, one from Argentina and one from Spain, clashed in the final of Rolland Garros, there was no looking back. One of them, the winner that day, went on to becaome perhaps the best player on clay. His mates, Almagro, Ferrer and Verdasco began to look up to him However, in recent times, there has been signs that the Armada can be challenged. But it requires a certain exalted level of tennis, a lot of Bravado and some luck to challenge them, as evident in the latest edition by the Red Star from Belgrade. And this bodes well for Tennis