Portuguese tears... of joy!

It is only grudgingly I congratulate Portugal and their fans for their in all manners surprising victory against France in the final of the Euro 2016.
Of course a team that wins a tournament of 24 teams, over seven matches, are to be congratulated and shown respect for their achievement, but indeed Portugal's way to the title was less than glamorous. The only reason they got past 1st round as best 3rd placed team (behind unglamorous Hungary and Iceland) was because there are now 24 teams in the tournament. In the last-16 they won a historically boring match against Croatia (first match without shots on target), and only beat Poland on penalties in the quarterfinals. Indeed, their defeat of Wales in the semifinals was their first (and only) regular victory of the tournament.
The final was an enormous disappointment: the first ever 0-0 in 90 minutes of a Euro final. France started well, but were a disappointment of nerves and lack of pace in front of a rather lame home crowd.
With an early injury for Cristiano Ronaldo everything seemed to be stacked against Portugal, but two  things happened: the team seemed better organized without Ronaldo, and manager Fernando Santos made some brilliant choices to re-adapt his team during the match. Eder, who entered late in the second half instead of the young Renato Sanches (youngest player ever to play a final), scored an excellent winner in the second half of extra time as the match was seemingly on the way to penalty kicks.
Cristiano Ronaldo cried when he had to leave the pitch, but when the match ended he joined the rest of his team in tears of joy for a victory as unlikely as the one suffered by Portugal itself in the final of Euro 2004.
Congratulations, grudgingly, to Portugal.

France-Portugal: the final

The final of the European Championship 2016 is ready after a lot of mediocre, and a few not so mediocre matches.
France, the home side, deserve to be in the final. Despite a friendly referee they were overall the better team against the German world champions, and Antoine Griezmann is a deserved star. France has only won tournaments when they are at home (Euro 1984 and the 1998 World Cup), and I certainly hope they win the tournament yet again!
Portugal... I am personally not impressed. Their first real victory were against a Wales team who was there mainly because of weak opposition. Their second final ever; their first one was a memorable home loss to Greece. And certainly they will be up against real opposition against France!
But the great thing (and the sad thing if you support France) is that in a final anything can happen, and even Portugal could win...
No matter what happens on Sunday, Iceland are the real champions of this tournament.

Germany-Italy football history

Finally some real matches: Germany-Italy in the quarterfinal of the Euro 2016. Another chapter in one of the greatest rivalries in football.
The sides played for the first time in 1923 (with an Italian 3-1 victory) and have since played one another 33 times, with 15 victories for Italy and 8 for Germany. Their first important match was in the 1962 World Cup Group stages (0-0), and their second important confrontation was in the 1970 World Cup semifinal, one of the greatest World Cup matches of all time, when Italy won 4-3 after extra time, and went on to lose the World Cup final to the greatest Brazilian side of all time.
In 1978 the sides again played 0-0 in the World Cup Group stages, but four years later came another legendary clash in the 1982 World Cup final, when Italy won 3-1 (and who does not remember Marco Tardelli's celebration?). In the 2006 World Cup, in Germany, Italy defeated the hosts in the semi-final 0-2, and went on to become World Champions.
Germany has never defeated Italy in a World Cup.
Their Euro history is much more recent: first time they played was in the 1988 group stages, when it ended 1-1, and in the 1996 group stages it ended 0-0 (and Germany later won the tournament). In the 2012 European Championships the two sides clashed in the semifinals, and Italy won 2-1 on two goals by Mario Balotelli, and then went on to lose the final to Spain.
Germany has never defeated Italy in a European Championship.

History is against Germany today. But if any side has defeated history in the last two years it is Germany. That said, they will be facing an Italian side that has all odds to continue having the upper hand against the Germans.
Whatever happens, it will be football history.

Portugal/Wales in the final!?

Either Wales or Portugal will be in the Euro 2016 final. I am not even going to bother with watching the semifinal between these two unlikeable sides. The real final will be in the other semifinal, and if Portugal or Wales wins, it shows how little the Euro is still worth.

Top 10 excuses for England

England is out, and with that their boring team and hooligans are going home to lick their wounds after showing their "skills" in Europe. Surely their manager Roy Hodgson (the most highly paid of all Euro managers) will have to go, and England will be reflecting and making excuses about their 2-1 loss to a much, much better Iceland side.
So with that, I would like to help the English and their excuses:

10. "Uh! Is that an Icelander farting or a mighty volcano!?!"
9. "We contributed to making football history"
8. "The Iceland manager is a part time dentist, which explains why they have more Teeth than the English"
7. "At least we lost to a non-EU side; better than being humiliated by France."
6. "The Icelanders do not have a professional league, which means they have more time to train passes and free kicks"
5. "Russia is out anyway, so nobody to get into fights with"
4. "We are still second best among the British teams"
3. "There are too many foreigners in English football; that is why we cannot develop the skills of our players"
2. "We are better off outside Europe anyway"
1. "I thought Iceland was part of the Shetland islands...?"

The best that could happen to Belgium

Belgium lost their opening match of the Euro 2016 to Italy, and as things now appear, this may have been the best thing that could happen to Belgium in the tournament. Winning over Ireland and Sweden gave Belgium second place in the group, avoiding a clash against Spain, and instead putting them face to face with the surprising Hungarians, who nevertheless had no surprises for Belgium. An awesome Belgian side seems to be coming together as a team and defeated Hungary 4-0, with a splendid performance by Eden Hazard!

Belgium's next opponent will be Wales, a team that has also surprised positively making it among the eight best sides in Europe, but are hardly a team that will make the Belgians tremble in fear. Indeed, Belgium should be favourites to take a semifinal spot, where they will be facing either Poland or Portugal. Both teams should be beatable by the talented Belgians: Poland has been solid, but not a team that would be expected to make it all the way, while Portugal has been pathetically bad, and although they can only improve, it is hard to see how they could improve so much as to defeat the Belgians.
So, although many things can happen in football, Belgium's way to the final seems to be paved with possibilities. In the meantime, the other half will struggle: Germany will be facing either Spain or Italy, and the winner of that match will face France/England/Iceland in the semifinals (Iceland would be great but highly unlikely).
Whatever happens, I hope Belgium takes one of the final spots!

Absolute boredom

I thought that now that we have reached the knock-out stages of Euro 2016 matches would get more dramatic and interesting.
How wrong I was...
When I sat to watch Wales-Northern Ireland I was not expecting much, but got even less than I bargained for in a match where neither team seemed to have quality to break the defenses, and only an own-goal gave Wales the victory to make it to the quarterfinals.
After this bore, expectations were nevertheless high for the next match: Croatia-Portugal!
But this was even a greater bore; an insult to paint drying, which is far more interesting than what both these teams showed. It took them 116 minutes to make a shot on target, and when finally done, it gave Portugal the victory. I drank many beers to forget these two dreadful hours of my life.
The match compares to another absolute bore, Ukraine-Switzerland in the World Cup of 2006, and probably is worse, since this is apparently the first match in a major tournament since 1966 without shots on target.
After big expectations, I am happy that Croatia is going home, but must now live with the terrible knowledge that a Poland-Portugal quarterfinal is awaiting, and I will have to find something better to do, such as watching paint dry.

Reflections on the Euro 2016 Group stages

• 24 teams are too many: all due respect to some of the surprise teams, but there were too many defensive and risk-free matches. 
• Some groups in qualification were not very strong. Everyone from Austria's group (including Sweden and Russia), ended at the bottom of their qualifiers. Portugal's group included Albania and Denmark (the last of which was eliminated by Sweden in the play-off, another bottom team).
• The goal average has been 1.95 (47 goals in 24 matches), and if it continues below 2, it will be the lowest scoring tournament since 1980 (when 27 goals were scored in 14 matches). It is not surprising given the quality of defenses and lack of risk taking from many sides, and we are well below the averages of the last three tournaments, all above 2.4 goals per match.
• Despite few goals, some have been truly fantastic: Dimitri Payet's against Romania in the opening match stands out, but so does Luka Modric's against Turkey, Ronaldo's first goal against Hungary, and Axel Witsel's against Ireland (following 28 passes!)
• It is hard to say which has been the best team, but some stand out: Italy (following their brilliant performance against Belgium), Croatia (their fans stood in the way of making them the only team to go through with three victories), Spain (two strong easy victories and a defeat to a great team), France and Germany (both teams won their groups as expected, but more is expected of them).
• Some players have stood out: Andres Iniesta, Ivan Perisic, Dimitri Payet and Gareth Bale
• Iceland has been the biggest surprise of the tournament, with 8% of their population in the stands. Surely they are not a seeworthy team in the technical sense, but their organization and fighting spirit has carried them this far, and they are the darlings of the tournament.
• The other big surprise has been Hungary. It is refreshing to see a side that has meant so much in football history, but not participated in a major tournament for 30 years, back among the 16 best.
• Portugal has been the biggest disappointment. And they have not won many friends by being too full of themselves and looking down on opponents.
• We will all miss Zlatan Ibrahimovic.
• Hooliganism, nationalism and (in)security have rightfully been issues of concern, and have cast a shadow over the tournament. A pity for the many good fans, but it does not take away the disgrace of hooliganism again making such a return in 2016.

Euro 2016: Round of 16

With the last matches of the group stages we are now ready to the knock-out rounds of the Euro 2016. There were quite some surprises, with no team going through with maximum points:

• Switzerland-Poland: Each came second in their groups, after France and Germany respectively, and with good results they are very evenly paired sides, with both having good options of making it to the quarterfinals, where the winner would face Croatia or Portugal.
• Croatia-Portugal: Croatia won their group ahead of Spain and have been one of the best teams of the tournament. Portugal on the other hand have been a big disappointment, just making it to third place behind Hungary and Iceland. Croatia are surely favourites, although one never knows with Ronaldo...
•  Wales-Northern Ireland: A British clash where Wales will surely be favourites after their outstanding group victory ahead of England, with Gareth Bale central in a fantastic team effort. The Irish just made it through on the last 3rd spot following their victory over Ukraine, and surely Wales are favourites. The winner will face the winner of Hungary-Belgium.
• Hungary-Belgium: Hungary has been the second biggest surprise of the tournament (after Iceland), winning their group with a strong team effort and confidence. Belgium has been a bit disappointing after they had been so highly rated, but they still have a fantastic team that should be able to take Hungary. But do not underestimate the Hungarians!
• Germany-Slovakia: As expected the German world champions won their group ahead of Poland, and will be favourites against Slovakia, who went through as the best third placed side after Wales and England. The winner will face Italy or Spain, in what seems to be the hardest path to the final!
• Italy-Spain: If any match is obligatory, it should be this one. Both started as the best teams of the tournament, but looked more shaky when losing their last group match. Still, Italy lost to Ireland with a largely substitute team, and if they can put a display on like they did against Belgium, they should be favourites against a Spain side that exposed many weaknesses against Croatia.
• France-Ireland: Ireland did what they had to do when they defeated Italy in their last match to just make it through to the knock-out stages. France won their group, although they had to struggle in every match, and still has to show their full potential. That said, the hosts will surely expect a quarterfinal against England or Iceland.
• England-Iceland: The sensational Icelanders are the darlings of the tournament having made it through on second place after Hungary and ahead of Portugal (take that Ronaldo!). Again they will be up against the odds. England made it through on second spot, and have played fine on occasions, but  seem to lack the last quality. England are surely favourites by far, but if the tournament has shown anything, it is that Iceland are not there just to be run over! So look out England, as the world supports Iceland!

In my view this is when the tournament really starts; there were too many boring matches in the group stages!

Spain up against real opposition

I was wary of everyone being so impressed about Spain's performance so far in the Euro 2016. A meager victory over a weak Czech side, and a strong victory against a weaker Turkish side are not much to brag about.
So it was bound to be interesting to see them against a real side, Croatia, who despite of their fans and the absence of Luka Modric, remain a strong outsider to the title.
And Croatia's performance against Spain proved the potential of the Balkan side: a 2-1 victory on goals by Nikola Kalinic and a splendid Ivan Perisic means that they are now group winners ahead of Spain.
I find it impossible not to like Croatia a lot, even though I try not to because of their fans.

In the meantime the match proved a lot of vulnerabilities in Spain, and notably in the selections of Vicente del Bosque; the change of Nolito for Bruno showed a certain insecurity. Iniesta looked tired, and should perhaps have been rested, while De Gea did not look good at Perisic's goal (I still think they should use the legendary Iker Casillas). And on top of it all, Sergio Ramos missed a penalty after a Silva dive, and one has to wonder why Ramos, of all people, shoots the penalty?
It is now likely that Spain will face Italy in the last-16, and that is also real opposition that is, perhaps, even better than Croatia.

The impossible rejoicing

Cristiano Ronaldo is a football genious. But his comments after the Iceland game showed a man too full of himself, a bad loser, who did not have the magnanimity to acknowledge the achievement of a team that uses its resources to the maximum (contrary to Portugal...).
But I acknowledge that it is because Ronaldo is a highly competitive man, and that is what makes his a football genious.
But when Ronaldo missed his penalty against Austria today, I must admit that I was more than delighted when Ronaldo missed his penalty.
No excuses, just himself, and that is the payback for his stupid comments after the Iceland game.

Go home Croatia

Croatia had in my view become the dark horses of the tournament: after an efficient victory against Turkey, they were again incredibly good against the Czech Republic. Up 2-0 on goals by Ivan Perisic and Ivan Rakitic, the Czechs got an undeserved goal on an outstanding header by Milan Skoda. Still, Croatia were in control, concentrated, to take the victory.
But then the Croatian fans stepped in: riots on the stands as flares were thrown into the pitch (I still do not understand how they can get flares into the stadium? Isn't France supposed to be under heightened security!!??? I feel so much safer....), and the match was stopped by the referee. Starting again, the Croatians lost some of their concentration, and gave away a silly penalty that Tomas Necid converted for the end result 2-2.
Croatia were on their way to the next round, but now they will be facing Spain, and if UEFA is in anyway consistent (don't count on it), they will hand Croatia a conditional disqualification, such as they did with Russia.
Sadly, a great team does not deserve to be in France, thanks to their Croatian supporters.
Go home Croatia.

Reflections on the first round of Euro 2016

All teams have now been in action in Euro 2016, and I have some initial reflections:

• Italy have been the most impressive team so far. Their ice-cold victory against the Belgians was what can make a team champions. Emanuele Giacherinni's and Graziano Pelle's goals were fantastic.
• Belgium is not bad, and still has a chance, but needs to show much more commitment from their highly paid superstars.
• Germany also looked in complete control against Ukraine, and with Italy, seems like the other team to beat after the first round.
• Spain were good, but lack striking force. Then on the other hand, they have the splendid Andres Iniesta! Croatia, with their incredible midfield and an inspired Luka Modric, will certainly be able to challenge the Spaniards
• England in the first half against Russia is one of the best England sides we have seen for a long time, but as so many Spanish fans, they seem unable to keep their heads cool.
• Wales has been one of the best surprises in their 2-1 victory over Slovakia, and they should be able to defeat both England and Russia.
• The biggest surprise has been Iceland after their tie against Portugal.
• The biggest disappointment has been Austria, but not a big disappointment, as there have not been many.
• France managed their obligatory opening victory against a hard-fighting Romania. That said, Romania would not have deserved a tie, and Dimitri Payet's goal remains the best of the tournament (with very hard competition from Emanuele Giacherinni's incredible control in his goal against the Belgians).
• Northern Ireland has been the poorest side of the tournament. Poland should have scored more than their lone goal.
• Much has been made of the hooligans. But there are also some great fans, and the best are Sweden's and Ireland's (who needs to be champions with fans like this?):

Iceland is in the House!

Iceland qualified in style for the Euro 2016 from a very difficult group ahead of Turkey and the Netherlands (and behind the Czechs). So it is perhaps surprising that they have been considered the minnows of the tournament.
Not after today, where they are rather the Cinderella of the tournament, after an outstanding 1-1 against Portugal. Portugal were not as disappointing as they so often have been in these tournaments, although one cannot but feel that they again fell into their common trap of arrogance whenever they play "smaller" teams.
Iceland were equals to the Portuguese stars throughout most of the match and that should be a wake-up call for the other two teams in the group, Austria and Hungary (where the Hungarians surprisingly defeated Austria 0-2 earlier in the day). But what is interesting in this group is that all teams are strong and could make it to the next round.
Even the Cinderella of the tournament.

Best goal of the tournament

France won against Romania 2-1 in the opening match and an outstanding Dimitri Payet scored an incredible goal when the score was 1-1.
I do not care what will happen in the rest of the tournament, but that was the best goal of Euro 2016.

The Greatest Matches of the European Championships

The Euro 2016 will take place in France this summer, and as a countdown to the tournament I will do something that I did as a countdown to the 2010 World Cup, when I wrote about the 50 greatest matches in World Cup History.
This being a younger tournament (it started in 1960, and the first tournament was, as this one in 2016, hosted in France) it will "only" be the 23 best matches, and I will start tomorrow with the very first match, France-Yugoslavia, in 1960.
The series will continue until the tournament starts in France in June, so be sure to tune in and learn about the legends of the European Championships!!!

Zlatan to the European Championship

When two teams that are not among the top 20 of European football clash in a play-off match to qualify for the European Championship, one is justified in not expecting much in terms of quality. Denmark and Sweden was one of these play-off matches: two former greats who have fallen low, but with one difference between these two mediocre sides: Zlatan Ibrahimovic is still one of the greatest players in the world, and the one to watch out for in France. He played around a Danish side that was better than the Swedish at times, but who have no striker of any quality whatsoever, justifying Denmark's awful scoring record in qualification.
While Sweden has Zlatan, they will have to improve significantly if they are to have any chance at the European Championship. In the meantime, Denmark will have to work from scratch: Morten Olsen, the manager since 2000, is stepping down. He has been leading Danish football for 15 years, and the transition will not be easy, in particular because Denmark lacks talent in its youth. So it is unlikely to see Denmark in any major tournament for the foreseeable future.

But big congratulations to Sweden and in particular to the fantastic Zlatan!

The Euro Qualified nations

20 out of 24 nations are ready for the 2016 European Championship in France. Despite the fact that I am those who think that a European Championship of 24 teams is way too much, I cannot help but notice some notable newcomers among the 20 nations, some of which would even have qualified with 16 nations, showing what is perhaps a power shift going on in European football:

• Group A: The Czech Republic and Iceland qualified. Besides the big surprise of Iceland, ending on second place, the upset here was that the Netherlands did not qualify at all, not even taking the third spot, which gave Turkey direct qualification (and is it really something to be proud of to qualify as third out of six...?)
• Group B: While not surprising that Belgium qualified on first place, it is perhaps a bit more surprising that Wales took second spot to participate in their first major tournament since 1958. That said, the group did not look that strong, with Bosnia-Hercegovina being the other contenders, and taking the play-off third spot.
• Group C: Spain never seemed in doubt as group winners, although Slovakia did threaten them on the way. Ukraine will be going to the play-offs.
• Group D: This was a surprisingly close group for the World Champions of Germany, who despite defeats to Poland and Ireland on the way, took the first spot and were followed by Poland. Ireland will be someone's difficult opponent for the play-off.
• Group E: Perhaps the most surprising thing in this group is that England, as the only side in Europe, won all their matches, and scored a record 31 goals. Switzerland came on second spot with little competition from third placed Slovenia.
• Group F: The big surprise of this group is that the 2004 European Champions of Greece ended in the last place, behind even little Faroe Islands. For a big nation, this is a bigger humiliation than the Netherlands fourth place in group A, and show the crisis Greece is in. The winners were also a surprise: Northern Ireland qualified ahead of Romania, while Hungary will be going into the play-ff.
• Group G: Austria is the new country to watch in the European Championship as they won the group in style and swept aside their opponents. Russia came in second, with Sweden going into the play-offs.
• Group H: One of the few groups with no surprises as Italy and Croatia took the two qualifying spots, and Norway not as unsurprising taking a play-off spot.
• Group I: Portugal won the group with seven victories and only one defeat, to second placed surprise of Albania, who qualified deservedly despite also having been awarded a 0-3 victory after a scandalous match against Serbia. A Danish side which completely lacks the quality of former times took the play-off spot.

Of course, the 20th nation, not among the above, are the hosts of France!
The draw for the play-off matches that will decide the last four participating teams will take place next Sunday. 
We will soon know all 24 participating countries!

The beginning of a saga

If there is any team I will surely support at next year's European Championships it is Iceland. The small charming and beautiful island nation has never been a footballing heavyweight, but has improved greatly in the last few years: they were only a play-off match against Croatia away from the World Cup in Brazil, but are now on the verge of qualifying for their first major tournament ever after defeating the World Cup bronze winners of Netherlands 0-1 in Amsterdam. One victory at home against Kazakhstan in the next match, and Iceland will have qualified.
The team is composed mostly of players in medium sized clubs and leagues, but play with an optimistic style, and most importantly, hard hard work.
With national team football becoming ever so boring, it is wonderfully refreshing to see small teams bringing surprises against some of the world's best, and these Vikings from Iceland will surely be making history in France next year!

Spanish gratitude for Casillas

For the first time since 2006 Spain lost a qualifier, when they lost 2-1 to Slovakia in their qualifier for Euro 2014. And as everyone in Spain seems to be doing these days, they blame Iker Casillas, who made a mistake in allowing the first Slovak goal.
Spain should be thankful to Iker Casillas, a true gentleman and great sportsman: he and Carles Puyol were more than anyone else the architects behind the team that won the World Cup and two European titles.
And now they should perhaps be more thankful than ever: they can continue blaming a man who has done everything for Spain and for Madrid, for every crap performance of their team. Because Spain should face the truth; the problem is not Iker Casillas.
It is Vicente del Bosque.
With a lot of possession and dominance Spain only shot on goal seven times, and they continue insisting on Diego Costa, who is a genious under Mourinho, but who does not fit into the style of Spain. The refusal to use some of the yougn players was partly corrected when Paco Alcacer finally came on for David Silva and scored. But only partly, and Vicente del Bosque's refusal (or incapacity?) to change and to renew, will end up making the near future difficult for Spain, despite the country, along with France and Germany, having the most outstanding pool of football talent in Europe.