EURO 2012: A Fabulous Feast Of Football That Could Do With More Turkey

Si's Insights reflects on the story so far in Poland and Ukraine, concluding that even in the midst of such excitement, something is missing...

This has been a highly enjoyable tournament, a worthy follow up to the exhilirating extravaganza in the Alps four years ago. Delight, drama, disappointment and dodgy officiating in abundance, with England exceeding expectations for a change. And yet... And yet...

Needs more turkey...

Euro 2008 still seems more fun in retrospect. That competition created countless memories... David Villa scoring the tournament's one and only hat-trick as Spain set off on their way to ending thirty-four years of hurt... Holland rampaging their way through a group they were expected to struggle in (by contrast, look at them today)... Russia and Turkey bouncing back from early defeats to provide us with so much drama, heroics and excitement, before class eventually told...

Ah, the Turks. Who could forget them? They were like an exciting version of Greece. Opposition sides found them very, very hard to shake off. The moment you let your guard down against them, you were likely to be punished, as Switzerland, the Czech Republic and especially Croatia discovered, to unforgettably dramatic effect. Sure, they ran out of steam against the Germans, but they still went down fighting. Even nine missing squad members couldn't deter them.

Such indomitable team spirit - shown in patches by England, Greece and Denmark, although in a not quite as exciting manner - is exactly what this very good tournament needs to elevate it to the level of great. (Better television theme tunes would help too; as good as Peter And The Wolf is, it's no Queen Of The Night.) Either that or, through no fault of its own, it's missing the element of surprise that prevailed throughout Euro 2008. It's easy to forget that before that tournament began, international football was becoming more and more of an irrelevance, thanks to the bloated elitism of the "Champions" League and the lack of truly great international sides. To expect Euro 2012 to provide a similar spark is probably asking too much. 

But give it credit where credit's due. It's doing its best.

* * * * *

THE STORY SO FAR...

No more goals for Dzagoev...

Group A did not pan out as expected, with the two "nothing sides", the Czech Republic and Greece, qualifying in place of co-hosts Poland and group favourites Russia. Both the Polish fans and the Russian flair will be missed, but while the Poles simply ran out of steam, Russia engineered their own downfall. Right from the start of the tournament, they had shown signs of flattering to deceive. The 4-1 win over the Czechs could have been greater, while similar wastefulness in their second game saw them fail to finish off the Poles when they were there for the taking. Far from the dangerous underdogs we thought they might be, Russia - and especially Andrei Arshavin - looked to be living off the reputation forged at the previous European Championships. They seemed to be strolling through their last game with an "it's only Greece, we only need a point" attitude, and when Karagounis netted with the last kick of the first half, they never fully recovered. Greece soaked up the "more illustrious" opposition, then demoralised them with an unexpected goal; a tactic that served them well on the way to winning Euro 2004. Their quarter-final opponents, Germany, should be cautious.

Germany's fellow Group B qualifiers, Portugal, need not be quite as cautious. Despite some maddeningly inconsistent displays, they - and Ronaldo - appear to be hitting form at the right time, and while I admire the Czech Republic for bouncing back following the Russian trouncing, the Portuguese should be too strong for them.

Naturally, most of the Group B talk will centre around the shock elimination of Holland, but to be frank, they had it coming. They never looked like beating Portugal by two goals, even after Rafael Van Der Vaart had given them an early lead with a strike totally out of keeping with their tournament. Ultimately, they were undone by divisions in the camp, under-performing star players and managerial nepotism; note that they didn't take the lead in a match until Bert Van Marwijk dropped his son-in-law, Mark Van Bommel, for Van Der Vaart. By contrast, Denmark's narrow failure to emulate the spirit of 1992 should be applauded. The Danes battled gamely in a tough group, and can return home with pride and dignity intact. (Yes, even Nicklas Bendtner.)

Lucky Spain, unlucky Croatia

It says something about Euro 2012 that Group C winners and media darlings Spain aren't receiving quite as much applause as you'd think. Apart from the Ireland match - and let's face it, that was a stroll - they've been disappointing, and Group D runners up France are bound to provide a sterner test for them in the knockout stages, though Spain should still have enough quality to edge them out. Frankly, Spain are fortunate that neither France nor England can legitimately be called tournament favourites; the French collapse against Sweden and England's unconvincing win over Ukraine are clear evidence of that.

In fact, Croatia and Sweden - and to a lesser extent, Ukraine - can count themselves unlucky not to still be involved in the tournament. Croatia have shown a bit of flair in tandem with the pluck and organisation promised, but not delivered, by the Irish at the start of the competition; Sweden have taken the lead in every match, only to be edged out narrowly in two of them; and Ukraine, like co-hosts Poland, arguably peaked too soon. Yet they still swarmed over the English for long periods without reward. (At least the goal that should have been given has forced Sepp Blatter to finally call for goal-line technology, but that will be scant consolation to the Ukrainians at this moment in time.)

But England might just surprise us against the dour Italians. Roy Hodgson's approach, the underdog tag and an off day for Cassano and Balotelli (something that did not happen against Ireland) could see to that. It's that sort of tournament.

And finally...

IRLANDE, NUL POINTS

What-a mistake-a to make-a...

Just when you thought little more could be said about Ireland's miserable European Championship, our manager literally went ahead and set his own Trap. With Ireland already eliminated, the Italy game would have been a great opportunity to give the Darron Gibson's, Paul McShane's and especially James McClean's of this world a proper go on the international stage. Instead, Trappatoni's starting line-up was virtually unchanged from the previous game. 

Infuriating.

I suppose we can be thankful, at least, that we saw a more dogged display from the lads against Italy, at least until Shay Given had a touch of the Packie Bonner's. Given will want to forget this tournament as quickly as possible, as will Trappatoni. Only Keith Andrews and the fans can really come out of Euro 2012 with any credit; despite knowing that they and/or the team were out of their depth, they kept going right through to the end.

As Inish Times sports editor Johnny Craig so aptly put it in his column, the rebuilding job must start now. 

In the meantime, let's have a sing-song with the Apres Match crew...