finally, e massive footballing country i grew up knowin as e perennial chokers/underachievers n to me e next best team (after holland) to have not won a World Cup now has something new to show for their huge reputation. after e 1964 European Championships home win, spain has landed its second major title in 44 years n in its history.
i gave my vote to spain to win in e final against germany, with e only factor pullin me in e other direction being germany's doggedness as a tournament team tt never gives up. like how i had believed they would definitely remove portugal n turkey. but ultimately, e matadors prevailed with their brand of attackin adventurous football over german might, which is good for all football fans.
germany went from being a 4-4-2 to a 4-2-3-1 as e tournament progressed, to better utilise e wing threats of Lukas Podolski n Bastian Schweinsteiger, to allow Michael Ballack a free role, n to remove e misfiring Mario Gomez. in e other corner, e standard 4-4-2 of spain was forced to alter into a 4-5-1 for e final as top scorer David Villa was injured. problematic for spain? not really. e momentum n groove was with em n it would be hard to repress it. even with a lone striker in Fernando Torres, he would definitely be too big a headache for e unstable german defence, especially e weak link, Per Mertesacker. e german midfield's shape n talents are good n can beat other teams on any day, but it already looked shabby even before we kicked off against a slick spanish engine room. this midfield was mobile n creative, while e germans were rigid n lacked ideas, basing itself more on a trio of individual talents. maybe a blessing in disguise for e spanish when Cesc Fabregas had to be drafted in, making up an excellent midfield force. if Ballack was shackled by e turks, prospects didnt look good for him here. germany has Philip Lahm, but spain has Sergio Ramos too.
player of e tournament Xavi starts from deep, but is highly dangerous when he does his radar passing near e opponents' goal. David Silva n Andres Iniesta, though not full wingers, could interchange when things didnt look good. in e final, as e quick Lahm was doing a good job preventin Silva from playin his usual dribblin game, Iniesta came over n took over e role. e Barca starlet is irresistible n plays such a direct game Lahm was put on e backfoot. in all e drama happening in midfield, germany still had to contend with a certain Fabregas. it was indeed no easy feat. it was simply fate n fitting tt spain scored just one goal, one tt magnificently reflected how e match would n eventually turned out. a typical Torres' poacher goal. latching onto a quick pass with amazing change of pace, he makes clowns out of defenders n uses his superior stride n pace to unleash a shot. n he did all these to e quick fullback Lahm, of all people. made us think how e hell do we actually stop this striker.
from my followin n as usual petty analysis of e tournament, ive broken down how they managed to do it, in a tournament with such stiff opposition in talented squads like holland n portugal.
let me start from within. e spain squad came into e tournament boasting a very talented outfit. but it always does n there were other such teams as well. e key difference was, spain clicked as a team, individuals peaked, n they lasted all e way, without letting ghosts haunt em. one of e reasons how they could do so was due to a very young, new n adventurous team. e livewire Andres Iniesta, lynchpin Marcos Senna n young supremo Fabregas, all key players, only debuted in 2006. another two first teamers, Ramos n Villa, debuted a year earlier. ur lookin at a team refreshed from previous ghosts n raring to go. even captain Iker Casillas is only 27, but has played for a good decade already. e best proof of a resurgent spain is e dug-deep victory over world champions italy in e quarter-final, a team spain has not beaten in a competitive match since 1922.
spain had e shortest team at this tournament, which is definitely something worth highlightin in a european football game tt considers size n power relevant. while short, this team had no lack of guts. they were daring n took on opponents without worries, what a sight it has been for spectators. these short players are none other than outstanding footballers like Xavi, Iniesta, Silva, Fabregas, Villa n Puyol. all short, but famous for being big on heart. for e very fact tt they take e game to e opponents, spain was also e top scoring country this tournament. what better way to boost ur confidence than scoring n scoring. in addition to e 4-1 thrashing of a poor russia on opening day, they swept e rejuvenated one 3-0 in e semi-final, a scoreline tt made critics sit up. it was a side tt had silenced e orange tide in e previous round, an orange tide tt had made fools out of italy n france in e Group of Death.
it is not to say spain was awesome n monstrous all e way. luck, as always, played its part. of e 16 finalists for euro 2008, spain was actually seeded last in pot 3. of course, if it had fallen into e last pot, it would have effectively drawn 3 group stage teams ranked higher than itself. but although they were seeded last in e third pot, they were still in this pot, meaning it would be ranked third in its eventual group. n how lucky can u get. e pot 1 team came in e form of defending champions greece, which was definitely not going to repeat its feat four years ago having slid horribly in form. pot 2, which boasted italy n croatia, gave spain sweden, a team traditionally inferior to e former. maybe having no pressure of being favourites helped too. spain, being seeded 12th, was even behind romania.
of course, like all major tournaments have played out, for a team to win, there are usually giants who fall unexpectedly. we almost can never see all e top teams in a tournament perform to their peak. tt would be too hard to win isnt it. spain was undefeated, hence it was one of e few teams tt actually lasted e tournament n lived up to expectations. germany did not enter this edition on good form n with a talented squad, but we never write e germans off, n they delivered once again. but powerhouses france n italy didnt show up, portugal had no way past e german machine, n holland became e disappointment of e tournament.
i still remember many media analysin e shift in traditional tactics seen at this tournament. out goes 4-4-2, in comes 4-2-3-1. e proposition of this 4-2-3-1 is exciting. two, n not just one, destroyers. attacking fullbacks. a triumvirate of offensive weapons, behind a capable lone striker. e media proposed this as holland n portugal were exciting e senses in e opening stages. e triumvirate is e key to killing off opponents. holland had Robin van Persie, Rafael van der Vaart n e magical Wesley Sneijder. they even had Arjen Robben in reserve. portugal boasted Deco, Simao n e hotshot Cristiano Ronaldo. but ultimately, this formation was exposed as e two giants were eliminated. it depended too much on e triumvirate to play opponents silly. it was great marketing of e sport, but this triumvirate usually works only against weaker opponents. once it's shackled, e team is gone. germany closed down portugal, while an off-day in e dutch camp includin striker Ruud van Nistelrooy gave russia a famous victory. yes germany changed to tt formation later too but e same fate happened to em in e final. it wont be easy replacing e tried-n-tested n well-balanced 4-4-2, which spain also used to perfection. one anchorman was enough in Senna, Xavi n his two sergeants Iniesta n Silva roamed. most importantly, would u prefer a lone van Nistelrooy, Luca Toni, Miroslav Klose, or a twin threat of Torres n Villa?
moving on from spain, there were afew other topics for focus this tournament. italy n france were crap, tt was as simple as it was. e world champions seemed to be missing e superstars needed for any team to win. france is seriously a declining force. e new generation is not comin in quick enough. e two tournament favourites, holland n portugal, disappointed. holland promised so much, being touted by most to blitz e competition n lift its second crown after outclassin italy n france in e Group of Death. even in a meaningless third group match against a hot-blooded romania, e dutch reserves tore em apart. e foursome of van Persie, Sneijder, van der Vaart n Robben looked unstoppable. unfortunately e whole team didnt show up against e underdogs of russia n a script already written was torn up. portugal simply does not need more elaboration. they have become e new chokers.
kudos to russia, turkey n croatia. they deserve mention everywhere in fact. i remember blasting e russians after their defeat to spain, calling em easily one of e worst teams this tournament. at e back of my head, i did notice they had a certain Guus Hiddink on their bench. n he did it again, bringin another country further than expectations. e return of e awesome Andrei Arshavin from suspension, n e up-gear of e rest of e team, helped em win over e neutrals. turkey simply bulldozed a path out of seemingly nothing. in total e turks only led their matches for less than 10mins, but made e semi-finals. they scored late goals against switzerland, czech republic, croatia n germany, but in e last it just wasnt good enough. still, ive never seen such impossible spirit. 22 of e 23 played, due to injuries n suspensions. they lost only thru a late goal to germany while playin w a bare squad of 14 players. i thought korea 2002 was crazy.
e story of e european leagues' top scorers was another something tt caught many's attention. not because how good they were or how they were competing for scoring honours, but because of e no-show. e crazy 42-goal cristiano ronaldo put only one into e net this tournament. top scorers from Serie A n La Liga, Alessandro Del Piero n Dani Guiza, were substitutes for their countries. at least Guiza scored twice as a sub. e other juventus star, Serie A runner-up golden boot David Trezeguet was totally left out of e french squad. well but most of us wouldnt think it was his form, we definitely blame Raymond Domenech more. lastly, from e Bundesliga, top scorer Toni tried n tried but it just wouldnt go in once. another bayern star, klose, did his part for germany but was not his usual clinical tournament self like before. mario gomez, who came with a good league reputation, totally flunked.
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