Euro 2012 has been fantastic, but it has largely been business as usual at the top level of international football.
Who was your team of the tournament?
Many people billed Russia as a dark horse in the competition – they had a formidable team and the venues suited them as their matches felt pretty much home games with plenty of support. However, they disappointed and went out in the group stages with a surprising loss to Greece in the final match.
The Netherlands were the flops of the tournament, their trademark bright orange football kit sinking to losses against Germany, Portugal and Denmark. The Dutch only hit the back of opposition football nets twice and crashed out bottom of their group.
Germany embarked on their usual clinical deposing of opponents, playing so well that any team that came up against them may as well have been wearing football bibs and been on the training ground. Even they failed though, unpredictably faltering in their semi-final against Italy.
Italy themselves though have emerged as the phoenix rising from the ashes of their past team, who went out in the group stages of the 2010 World Cup after losing to Paraguay. They instilled some sense of pride back into the Azzuri and will surely continue to be a dominant force in tournaments to come.
England surpassed low expectations by not only getting out of their group, but finishing above France. When new manager Roy Hodgson was appointed there were fewer than two months to go until the start of European Championships, and then there was the myriad of injuries that crippled the squad and made selection tough. In beating Sweden for the first time in a competitive game though, they looked like a new team and hopes ran high. Sadly, the standard penalty shoot-out occurred in the quarter-final against Italy which, typically, England lost.
The eventual winners Spain utilised their own brand of playing to great effect, although they did come up against tough opposition in the rigid, organised defence from Croatia in their final group game. It was enough for the Spaniards to convincingly beat any team that appeared in front of them though, and they became the only team to win three major consecutive football trophies.
The tournament itself was a raving success – the local populations of Poland and Ukraine galvanised to create an electric atmosphere which was welcoming and made all fans and teams feel at home and comfortable.
The worries of violence only flared briefly in a game between old rivals Russia and Poland, and racism only reared its ugly head on a couple of occasions, each time resulting in fines and the culprits’ football association criticised. It was no big problem, at least no more than would be experienced in any other large-scale competition. The players, fans and officials alike have conducted themselves extremely well to put on an entertaining spectacle.
Now the teams will look forward to the beginning World Cup 2014 qualifying campaign, where champions Spain will seek to defend their title and reputation against the legendary likes of Brazil.
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