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
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