I said it before but it deserves to be said again: Euro 2008 was the best international tournament I’ve ever seen. Lots of goals, lots of late goals, general fair play all around, fairly decent refereeing, and a worthy champion. Not often do you get that. This unparalleled success means, of course, that UEFA wants to muck with it by expanding to 20 or 24 teams. That means more money, but more crappy games and more tired legs. Let’s hope that for once common sense trumps greed and they keep it at 16—but I’m not holding my breath.

Phil Ball and I agree again on many points as his article “The Best Team Won (for a change)” echoes a lot my sentiments from yesterday: that the cheats and whiners went home early, that Spain deserved everything they got, that the German team wasn’t as good as they let on, and that indeed, politics always plays some kind of role in regards to forming a national team. Amusingly, idiot Jamie Trecker’s report on the final shows that the man never came to grips with the idea that the Spanish team were actually quite handy all through the tournament and that Germany was neither the favorite nor really all that good. But it’s morons like him that lead to MSN headlines like “Spain Stuns Italy in Quarterfinals” and “Spain Stuns Germany in final.” Um. No. These weren’t upsets—unless of course you believe that Spain really never was that good.

Which of course begs the question, if you thought the Spanish really weren’t that good then how did they rack up a 22-game unbeaten streak that has included victories over France, Italy (twice), England, and now Germany? And where did this unfounded faith in Germany come from? They had a flapper for a goalkeeper to thank for their narrow 3-2 win over Portugal and needed a last-gasp goal from a defender to beat the Turkish B team. Can someone please send a telegram to Mr. Trecker to say he’s a bit behind the times when writes that Spain “might finally be in position to make a stern challenge soccer’s old guard for a place among the international elite” (emphasis mine). It’s probably best just to ignore everything this man has to say. I only read him for the masochistic pleasure of hating everything he writes.

And while I like Fox Soccer Channel’s Nick Webster, his Euro 2008 Best XI has some strange omissions. Erm, Xavi anyone? Not only did he make the Spanish midfield tick, he also picked up the small honor of Player of the Tournament. Looking up top, Pavlyuchenko and van Nistelrooy are Nick’s strikers? Pavlyuchenko had an awful goals-to-chances ratio and the horse-faced Dutchman only scored twice—one being the infamous offside goal against Italy and the other in the losing effort to Russia. Seems a tad odd to leave out David Villa, the tournament’s top scorer who bagged a classy hat-trick against Russia and snatched the last-second winner against Sweden, a goal I would argue did plenty to raise Spain’s confidence level.

Back to Englishman Phil Ball: I love how he ends his article with this pot-shot: “Spain’s win has been about good technique and imagination – something that the English, for all their boasting about their over-hyped and inflated Premier League, would do well to note.” I have long believed that the Premier League, while being wildly entertaining, is not miles better than Spain’s La Liga, which I feel is a better league top to bottom. Note to self: find time to watch more Spanish football this year.

Current Mood: Correcting the Opinions of Others is Hard Work |