Euro 2008 is over and it is the Spanish clacking their castanets together excitedly as they become the best football nation in the continent of Europe.
England, of course, were a load of old tosh and failed to qualify with Russia making it through at our expense and despite what the St George flag waving folk told us before the whole shebang started, England was not missed.
Our dour footballing style would not of contributed to more excitement on the pitch and i am almost certain that the sight of our boozed-up fans lobbing cafe chairs at groups of Germans would not of enhanced things off it.
What we did learn was that despite being labelled the worst German team for decades, they should never be written off or underestimated while the Dutch and Portuguese teams should be written off every time.
We also found out that the Italians, Swedes and French are past their best while Austria, Switzerland and Poland never reached the dizzying heights of being rubbish to start with.
Holders Greece proved that when they won it last time it wasn't a fluke as many suggested, it was a real life miracle and the Russia that swept so majestically past Holland in the Quarter Final were left bemused and dizzy as they got battered around the head with a rolled up Spanish flag in the semi-final.
Spain deserve to be Champions, they were easily the best team at the competition, but the most entertaining team by far were Turkey who have obviously spent the last four years practising the tactic of letting the other team take the lead and then pottering about until the referee was checking his watch and then launching one into the top corner.
Great stuff and it all whets the appetite for the new Premier League season where newly promoted West Bromwich Albion will attempt the same tactics as Turkey only without the scoring at the end bit.
7 comments:
I'm tipping the Baggies to survive actually. Looks like they've got a strongish overall squad, and they definitely played better football than Portsmouth in their FA Cup semi-final (before losing). I think Stoke and Hull will both do very well to escape relegation though...
But yes, well done to you, Spain. You played so well that we almost forgot about the unsavoury 'monkey chant incident', the last time we played you in Madrid. Not quite, but almost.
I'm with you that Stoke & Hull are as good as down before it even starts but i can also see West Brom struggling with Kevin Phillips as the main striker, just can't see him getting the goals.
Agree Phillips might be fairly long in the tooth these days... although he's just had a good season in the Championship. However, they've just signed some Czech fella (called Bedner or something?) who's apparently a decent goalscorer. It would be pretty depressing if exactly the same three team who went up one season went down the next, so I'm betting on the Baggies to break the mould.
I agree that Turky offered the best entertainment...
Q
First off, a huge cross-continental and oceanic THANK YOU for doing some Euro posts, Lucy. I feel so lonely out here being the only guy in my building who gave a toss about this.
Now then, absolutely Spain deserved the win. They were consistently the best team, and played with a verve and openness that was fun to watch, and they finally managed to wash away that stench of failure and choking in major tournaments.
Holland peaked too soon; Turkey ran out of miracles; Italy was (as my cousin put it) soccer constipation; France was old and tired (Henry purely sucked); Germany were dull and fortunate; Croatia were young and unfortunate; Greece were outclassed; Russia, Sweden, Czech, Poland, and Romania were fodder; Portugal did their traditional collapse; the hosts were useless.
It was a great June. I can't wait for 2010.
I did consider writing more regularly about the Euro 2008 but didn't think there would be that much interest in it so never bothered and concentrated on telling the Queen to get off her backside and open her own purse instead. If anybody wants me i will be in the Tower.
It seems to me as though state-state rivalries in American sports are the cultural equivalents of nation-nation rivalries in European sports. I suppose this could come from the sizes of American states and of the States together being well within the same order of magnitude as the Nations of Europe and Europe as a whole.
Spain v. Germany seems eerily much like "LSU (Louisiana State University) v. USC (University of Southern California)" or "Boston v. LA".
-Nog
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