Almost three weeks have passed since the culmination of the
15th European Championships, which ended in a surprise coronation for
first-time winners Portugal. After 51 games, 108 goals, 1,367 shots, 45,868
passes and about 100 times more renditions of David Guetta’s anthem drizzle
than I could stomach, the unfancied Seleção had beaten the
favourites in their own backyard. It was, in essence, the ultimate smash and
grab, raising echoes of Portugal’s own tormentors Greece, in the 2004 edition.
Despite the shockwaves reverberating
around European football following Portugal’s triumph, this was no repeat of
Greece ‘04, or even Denmark ‘92. The fact is that Portugal possess unquestionably the best player in the world
right now, and therefore they cannot be seriously compared to the relative
minnows that Greece were 12 years ago.
THE WINNERS
Portugal had a good squad, with the obvious
star man and a sprinkling of quality names here and there. Other than the
heralded Ronaldo, several other players stood out from the pack, and played key
roles for the winners.
Nani did a good job of proving his
naysayers wrong, chipping in with three goals. With his pace, smart runs and
decisive thrust, the Cape Verde born player looked several times removed from
the player who had, time and time again, frustrated many Manchester United
fans, constantly showing flashes of brilliance but then making poor choices
with the ball. One of the most perplexing decisions of David Moyes’s reign at
Old Trafford had been to bestow Nani a new five-year deal after a season when
he started seven times in the Premier League. It looked like an even worse call
when he made seven league starts in 2013-14 and – stuck with an expensive,
apparently bust flush that they could not move on – United were forced to loan
him back to Sporting. There, a vindicated Nani helped take Sporting back to the
Champions League and to domestic cup glory, leading to a move to Turkish giants
Fenerbahce, from whom he has since transferred to the Mestalla to play for Valencia.
His comeback from almost falling away from the periphery at United was complete
when given the captain’s armband in the final after the exit of Ronaldo. In
Nani, Portugal now have another experienced and successful winger to drive the
team forward in the absence of Ronaldo.
Nani Showed United just what they're missing
Young midfield talent Renato Sanches capped his meteoric rise
with the young player of the tournament award, and looks to be an exciting
prospect for both Bayern Munich and his national team in the years to come.
Although I have my doubts about his tactical awareness, he is an outstanding
player given his tender age, and any weaknesses look set to be ironed out of
him under the tutelage of the incomparable Carlo Ancelotti. Fellow midfielder João Mário also shined, and was, just recently,
the subject of a failed 33.5 million pound bid by Liverpool.
Left-back Raphaël Guerreiro, newly of Dortmund, was an excellent shuttler up
and down the left flank and an imperative part of Portugal’s solid defensive
setup. Guerreiro was named in the Euro 2016 team of the tournament as well as
completing a tidy 84.7% of his passes in the tournament. Pepe was outstanding, and certainly made me warm to him a little
bit, although the mere memory of his antics in the 2016 Champions League final
still makes my blood boil.
‘’Many have questioned whether Portugal were worthy
winners but in a sense they are the most worthy of winners: no champion ever,
perhaps, has been so representative of the ethos of a tournament. Two forwards
left to their own devices in advance of an eight-man citadel that conceded one
goal in 420 knockout minutes and won only one game in normal time in the entire
tournament: this is modern international football.’’ (Jonathan Wilson)
The abiding takeaway of
Portugal’s triumph is that they played to their strengths and recognised their
limitations. This is certainly not a
vintage Portugal side, and their lack of invention from midfield has been
surprising for a nation that traditionally produces wonderful playmakers, such
as Deco, Rui Costa, and Luis Figo.. Coach Fernando
Santos created a resilient, well-drilled unit
and understandably relied on individual magic up front. Even he, however, will
be amazed that Éder proved the hero, his precise shot arrowing its way into the
bottom right-hand corner of Hugo Lloris’s net.
Santos did excellently to win the tournament, given the squad he had
THE FORMAT
When, at a meeting of the UEFA Executive
Committee in September 2008, the decision was made to expand the format of the
European Championships to accommodate an extra 8 teams, the reaction was
unanimously that of scepticism. Critics viewed the format change as weakening
the playing field of what was a dense and hard-to-call continental tournament.
Some even viewed the then UEFA President Michel Platini as pandering to the
demands of the traditionally smaller football federations, as a means of
influencing them in elections and guaranteeing himself more power.
Platini's decision was criticised by many who felt it devalued and complicated the tournament
The scepticism carried into the
qualifying stage of the tournament, especially when countries such as Albania
and Iceland successfully qualified, and European powerhouses such as Holland
and Denmark failed. However, it is important to recognise that the expansion of
the tournament meant that there were two automatic qualifying spots up for
grabs in each group, and Holland failed spectacularly to even get to 3rd spot,
which offered a way in through the back door via the play-offs. Wales, Iceland
and Albania did not just get third spot, they each finished runners-up in their
groups - enough to get them into the playoffs under normal UEFA qualifying
group rules.
As the tournament got underway, the
majority of the viewing public baulked at the prospect of matches such as
Albania vs Romania, and Iceland vs Hungary. Personally, however, I was looking
forward to watching the traditionally smaller teams compete at this level of
competition, and finding out about players from countries that I would not have
ever seen play before.
Frustratingly, the general media often
ridiculed the paucity of genuinely strong teams at this tournament, and
undermined the achievements of some teams to even reach the tournament. If it
wasn’t ‘plucky little Iceland’, it was ‘plucky little Northern Ireland’, or
‘plucky little Albania’. Honestly, it did my head in, and I was delighted when
some of these teams proved the critics delightfully wrong. Albania broke ground, scoring their first goal and securing their
first win at a major tournament in a 1-0 win over Romania. Northern Ireland exceeded expectations in getting out of their
group, and were unlucky not to progress further beyond the last 16.
Northern Ireland scored just 2 goals in 4 games, perhaps they'd have had more success with this man...
Despite being traditional European giants,
Hungary’s stock has fallen
dramatically in the last several decades. However, at this tournament, the
Magyars, although not at all magical, were a bright spark in what was a
slightly dull ship. From shocking Austria 2-0, to managing to make Portugal
play a bit in a 3-3 draw, they were never boring to watch, and when it came to
an end in their thrashing by Belgium, the tournament had lost one of its
interesting sides.
Welsh fans would protest that they are
not a small side, yet by every stretch of the imagination, they exceeded
expectations to the tilt by reaching the semi-finals. Wales should now look to qualify for the World Cup in 2018,
however, they are in a reasonably tough qualifying group on paper, with
Austria, Serbia and Ireland lying in prospect.
On paper, Iceland were ‘meant’ to get
walloped by England, by which I mean the media expected, in their usual,
jingoistic way, that England would win comfortably as they always do, right?
Erm…
POWELL’S PERSPECTIVE EURO 2016 AWARDS
Of course, deciding who, or what, is best
at a particular field is completely subjective. It depends on a variety of
factors, such as personal feelings, tastes, or opinions. As such, the following
awards must be taken with a pinch of salt. The winners have been chosen
according to my own personal opinions right now. Some of my choices would not
have been my choice during the tournament, whilst some may completely change in
the future as I look back at the tournament with a bit more hindsight. While
there are innumerable topics to contemplate, I thought it best to limit the awards
to four.
BEST PLAYER
Antoine Griezmann - Came
under intense scrutiny and pressure in France after a subdued start, losing his
place at one point, but responded with class and composure to help guide the
hosts to the final. Griezmann was truly sublime to watch, and ended up running
away with the Golden Boot. Honourable mentions go to Pepe, Aaron Ramsey, Ragnar Sigurdsson, and Toni Kroos.
BEST YOUNG PLAYER
Renato Sanches - As
mentioned above, Sanches looks to be, not just one for the future, but a star
right now. At just 18 years old, Sanches has the world at his feet. Watch out
for him in the Bundesliga this season. I was also impressed with Kingsley Coman, and the aforementioned Guerreiro.
GOAL OF THE TOURNAMENT
The Hal Robson-Kanu Cruyff-esque
close finish has been mentioned repeatedly, and deservedly so. The Modric volley, as the ball dropped down
from the heavens, has also been amongst the talk for best goal. However, my
pick for the most beautiful goal was Griezmann’s
effortless chip against Iceland to make it 4-0 on the stroke of half-time.
The pass from the back of the French defence sliced open the Icelandic back
four, Giroud let the ball run to Griezmann, who, with a couple of short, quick
strides, waited, and waited, and dinked the ball over Halldorsson. Beautiful.
MATCH OF THE TOURNAMENT
Many of those near me on the 13th June
would have heard me extolling the virtues of Albania 0-1 Switzerland, a game which I felt was a minor classic,
due to the many stories behind the players. However, in hindsight, I think I
was swept away by Euro 2016 fever at that point, with the fact that it was the
first match of the first full day leading me to watch it keenly.
The Xhaka brothers played for opposing sides in Albania and Switzerland's clash
I really enjoyed Croatia 2-2 Czech Republic, for the goals, the controversy at the
end, and the masterful performance from Luka Modric. England 1-2 Iceland was certainly memorable, and the passion and
courage shown by the Icelandic players will live long on in the memory. If I
had actually seen the whole match (I had prior commitments), then Hungary 3-3 Portugal would have been a
dead cert for me. The sheer unexpectedness of the goal-fest was as thrilling
for the fans as it was frustrating for those who missed the match. However, I
am reluctant to attribute this award to a match I did not see live.
I would have to say that the best match
of the tournament was Italy 2-0 Spain.
A match that had been billed as a clash between two giants did not fail to
disappoint.
Italy were brave, pressed Spain all over
the pitch, giving them no air to breathe. Spain's movement to escape that
press, plus their movement in the attacking positions, was absolutely horrible.
Italy’s approach was risky, but it paid off, because Spain were taken totally
off guard, probably expecting the usual 10 men behind the ball they face so
often.
Spain's defence was ridiculously brittle. Pique and Ramos were all over the pitch, couldn't handle Pelle at all. De Gea did have a few excellent saves, but the goal was his fault and he looked suspect a few times.
Spain's defence was ridiculously brittle. Pique and Ramos were all over the pitch, couldn't handle Pelle at all. De Gea did have a few excellent saves, but the goal was his fault and he looked suspect a few times.
Despite winning their group, Italy had to play Spain in the Last 16. But they disposed of the reigning champions with ease
In the second half, Spain looked less timid, were threatening from set-pieces in particular in the beginning. Italy's pressing game started to take its toll and they were tiring. Spain increased the pressure and had a few good chances, Buffon with a number of crucial saves. Then, when you thought that Spain were close to scoring at the end of the match, Pelle struck with yet another sucker punch in trademark Italian fashion.
All in all, deserved and, for me at least, expected win by Italy. As far as Spain is concerned, the final nail on the coffin of an era that really ended 2 years ago.
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