... do you remember?
I found an interesting article about the Euro 2008 in Monday's Kicker and thought I'd share it with you. Pardon me if there are any mistakes, I can't translate properly in this heat.
Do you remember?
Drama, records and a monument - all extremes are part of this retrospect on the Euro. The final was the end of the line for the German team, but two captains had a disastrous start already.
All razors had been sharpened in Madrid and many other Spanish cities already. About 12,000 fans had gotten in touch with a sports magazine and promised to have their heads shaved if their Selección brought the Euro trophy back home. Now, after the final triumph against Germany, thousands of fans have to shed their hair. Never let it be said that in Spain the clubs are everything and the national team is nothing.
The black-red-gold fans would just as well have given their shirts off their backs for the fourth Euro title. In the end, however, the DFB team had to admit defeat against the technically best team of the tournament. Still, the participation in the final can be seen as success; the Germans' performances simply were too unstable.
Martial pictures in the Polish press provided with additional heat for the kick-off duel of the neighbours. The favourite won with their usual aplomb thanks to two Podolski goals - and the heads remained on the necks. All the same, the DFB team followed up with a lousy run-out at the 1-2 against Croatia, which caused a nail-biter against Austria, prior to which no other word was mentioned as often as the name of the Argentine province town Córdoba.
Besides Ballack's hammer free kick, pictures of a sending off made a lasting impression in this game, when Joachim Löw and his colleague Josef Hickersberger shook hands on their way to the stands. During the quarterfinal game against Portugal, the federal coach sat behind glass because of this. Down at the side of the pitch, his assistant Hansi Flick directed the 3-2 victory over Portugal and thus sent the previously proclaimed superstar Cristiano Ronaldo on an early beach holiday.
Heavy thunderstorms were no rarity in this Euro. In the Germans' semifinal against Turkey, they crippled the TV broadcast for about six minutes. The German performance was hardly watchable anyway, but even despite that, Philipp Lahm pushed open the gate to the final at the end. And then suddenly, the trepidation about Ballack's calf started.
For two other captains the Euro had a disastrous beginning already. Italy's Fabio Cannavaro needed crutches after a foul during training and was sidelined before the start of the tournament. The Swiss Alex Frei sustained a knee injury in the first half of the opening game and lay on the pitch crying. After the second loss in their second game, his colleagues had to call it quits as well. A nation of sad confederates remained.
The Euro took a disagreeable course for Mario Gomez also. Stuttgart's striker had entered the tournament as the secret favourite for the inofficial title of the superstar. Yet, he was a couple of centimetres too late during the first good attack against Poland, and then he threw away a huge chance against Austria in an almost bizarre manner.
A few exceptions aside, offensive play counted on the pitch. The insanely quick switch between defensive and attack has been a part of the top clubs' repertoire for quite a while. More eye-catching was the tendency towards a solo striker with extremely offensive-oriented midfielders behind him, posing unsolvable problems for several defense rows by flexibly moving up. New columns of numbers emerged, like the 4-1-4-1, the Spanish final formation, or the 4-3-2-1 presented by the initially splendid Dutch and the Germans after the quarterfinals. Many things seemed chaotic with the Turks but still turned out right shortly before the end, until Germany turned the tables in the semifinal.
Some numbers even made new records in Euro history. Croatia's lead against Austria after 3:35 minutes was the fastest goal of the tournament and at the same time the earliest penalty. "Before we even started breathing, it was 0-1 already," the general secretary of the Austrian football association Alfred Ludwig sighed. On the other hand, Ivica Vastić, the oldest Euro scorer, was part of the Austrian team. With the experience of 38 years and 257 days, he scored with his late penalty against Poland. The Spaniard Cesc Fàbregas scored the 4-1 against Russia at the age of 21 years and 37 days, no Euro scorer has ever been younger.
Others had an extremely early end of their work day - and still no reason for joy. France's dribbler Franck Ribéry had to leave the pitch injured after ten minutes in the game against Italy and is now EM record holder of the quickest substitution. Fourteen minutes later, his peer Éric Abidal made a record for the quickest sending off during an Euro.
Even without those two, France fell flat on their faces. In 2006, they were the second best team in the world. Now, the "Bleus" are the fourth worst team in Europe. The equally disappointing world champions from Italy at least managed to reach the quarterfinals thanks to their goalkeeper Gigi Buffon. Otto Rehhagel and his Greek cross-field pass specialists (zero points, worst title holder) and Austria (one point, worst Euro host) provided with more statistical records.
Once again, the coach of the surprise team was Guus Hiddink. Even though his previously astoundingly tireless Russians didn't make a trick in the semifinal against Spain, the Dutchman still has the comfort of this one 3-1 victory, with which he sent his countrymen into the valley of tears. The Russian passport offered to him by president Medvedev has been declined with thanks already. Still, some fans named their kids "Guus", others constructed a monument of plaster for him. Hiddink took it with a smile: "That is nice, but I think they made me a bit too chubby." His great coup was planned for the World Cup of 2010 the earliest, anyway. Then, maybe a bust of marble might be in order.
(Martin Gruener, kicker, 30.06.2008)
Thoughts? Opinions? Hit me. :)
Do you remember?
Drama, records and a monument - all extremes are part of this retrospect on the Euro. The final was the end of the line for the German team, but two captains had a disastrous start already.
All razors had been sharpened in Madrid and many other Spanish cities already. About 12,000 fans had gotten in touch with a sports magazine and promised to have their heads shaved if their Selección brought the Euro trophy back home. Now, after the final triumph against Germany, thousands of fans have to shed their hair. Never let it be said that in Spain the clubs are everything and the national team is nothing.
The black-red-gold fans would just as well have given their shirts off their backs for the fourth Euro title. In the end, however, the DFB team had to admit defeat against the technically best team of the tournament. Still, the participation in the final can be seen as success; the Germans' performances simply were too unstable.
Martial pictures in the Polish press provided with additional heat for the kick-off duel of the neighbours. The favourite won with their usual aplomb thanks to two Podolski goals - and the heads remained on the necks. All the same, the DFB team followed up with a lousy run-out at the 1-2 against Croatia, which caused a nail-biter against Austria, prior to which no other word was mentioned as often as the name of the Argentine province town Córdoba.
Besides Ballack's hammer free kick, pictures of a sending off made a lasting impression in this game, when Joachim Löw and his colleague Josef Hickersberger shook hands on their way to the stands. During the quarterfinal game against Portugal, the federal coach sat behind glass because of this. Down at the side of the pitch, his assistant Hansi Flick directed the 3-2 victory over Portugal and thus sent the previously proclaimed superstar Cristiano Ronaldo on an early beach holiday.
Heavy thunderstorms were no rarity in this Euro. In the Germans' semifinal against Turkey, they crippled the TV broadcast for about six minutes. The German performance was hardly watchable anyway, but even despite that, Philipp Lahm pushed open the gate to the final at the end. And then suddenly, the trepidation about Ballack's calf started.
For two other captains the Euro had a disastrous beginning already. Italy's Fabio Cannavaro needed crutches after a foul during training and was sidelined before the start of the tournament. The Swiss Alex Frei sustained a knee injury in the first half of the opening game and lay on the pitch crying. After the second loss in their second game, his colleagues had to call it quits as well. A nation of sad confederates remained.
The Euro took a disagreeable course for Mario Gomez also. Stuttgart's striker had entered the tournament as the secret favourite for the inofficial title of the superstar. Yet, he was a couple of centimetres too late during the first good attack against Poland, and then he threw away a huge chance against Austria in an almost bizarre manner.
A few exceptions aside, offensive play counted on the pitch. The insanely quick switch between defensive and attack has been a part of the top clubs' repertoire for quite a while. More eye-catching was the tendency towards a solo striker with extremely offensive-oriented midfielders behind him, posing unsolvable problems for several defense rows by flexibly moving up. New columns of numbers emerged, like the 4-1-4-1, the Spanish final formation, or the 4-3-2-1 presented by the initially splendid Dutch and the Germans after the quarterfinals. Many things seemed chaotic with the Turks but still turned out right shortly before the end, until Germany turned the tables in the semifinal.
Some numbers even made new records in Euro history. Croatia's lead against Austria after 3:35 minutes was the fastest goal of the tournament and at the same time the earliest penalty. "Before we even started breathing, it was 0-1 already," the general secretary of the Austrian football association Alfred Ludwig sighed. On the other hand, Ivica Vastić, the oldest Euro scorer, was part of the Austrian team. With the experience of 38 years and 257 days, he scored with his late penalty against Poland. The Spaniard Cesc Fàbregas scored the 4-1 against Russia at the age of 21 years and 37 days, no Euro scorer has ever been younger.
Others had an extremely early end of their work day - and still no reason for joy. France's dribbler Franck Ribéry had to leave the pitch injured after ten minutes in the game against Italy and is now EM record holder of the quickest substitution. Fourteen minutes later, his peer Éric Abidal made a record for the quickest sending off during an Euro.
Even without those two, France fell flat on their faces. In 2006, they were the second best team in the world. Now, the "Bleus" are the fourth worst team in Europe. The equally disappointing world champions from Italy at least managed to reach the quarterfinals thanks to their goalkeeper Gigi Buffon. Otto Rehhagel and his Greek cross-field pass specialists (zero points, worst title holder) and Austria (one point, worst Euro host) provided with more statistical records.
Once again, the coach of the surprise team was Guus Hiddink. Even though his previously astoundingly tireless Russians didn't make a trick in the semifinal against Spain, the Dutchman still has the comfort of this one 3-1 victory, with which he sent his countrymen into the valley of tears. The Russian passport offered to him by president Medvedev has been declined with thanks already. Still, some fans named their kids "Guus", others constructed a monument of plaster for him. Hiddink took it with a smile: "That is nice, but I think they made me a bit too chubby." His great coup was planned for the World Cup of 2010 the earliest, anyway. Then, maybe a bust of marble might be in order.
(Martin Gruener, kicker, 30.06.2008)
Thoughts? Opinions? Hit me. :)