Euro 2012 has reached
its semi-final stage with a line-up that will surprise few observers. With the
notable exception of the pre-tournament favourites Holland – who many
commentators would have fancied to topple the Portuguese – and an explosive
Russian side that fizzled out like a Taiwanese firework, Germany, Italy,
Portugal and Spain have unquestionably been the four most consistent teams in
the tournament.
The first quarter-final saw a Cristiano Ronaldo-inspired
overcome a lacklustre
by a single goal, although their dominance was far greater than that narrow
victory would suggest. Ronaldo has finally brought his club form to the
international stage, peppering Petr Cech’s goal with stinging shots from all angles
and desperately unfortunate to be denied twice by the woodwork having
comprehensively beaten the Chelsea keeper.
support cast have also belatedly arrived at the party too; Fabio Contreao and in particular Joao Moutinho generously offering belated assistance to their
world-class talisman in their finest display of Euro 2012 thus far. The real
success for the Czech’s was negotiating their way to the quarter-final stage
and they were always likely to struggle in the absence of their captain Tomas Rosicky. Vaclav Pilar’s performances have displayed a maturity that belies
his relative youth but with Rosicky’s days numbered and the retirement of
striker Milan Baros – whose goalscoring
heroics during his early career always masked his limitations at the highest
level – the Czech’s face an uncertain period of transition as they bid to
qualify for the FIFA World Cup in 2014.
rivalry with neighbours
colleagues Iker Casillas, Sergio Ramos and Alvaro Arbeloa. Vicente del
Bosque once again selected his much-criticised six-man midfield against France and, while the tiki-taka passing interchanges were
noticeably sharper than in the group stage, Spain’s favouring of yet another 78
passes rather than shooting on goal is beginning to wear down even the most
ardent fan of technical football. Apparently Del Bosque has entrusted Cesc Fabregas with replicating the role
Lionel Messi occupies at
note to Vicente….Fabregas is NOT
Messi!
continue to look a shadow of their past incarnations and lack direction without
the attacking focal point provided by a genuine striker. Fabregas, David Silva
and even Xavi seemed to find
themselves drifting half-heartedly into that striking position against
but it was obvious to me that they all lack the natural instincts of movement
and anticipation possessed in the armoury of an orthodox striker. Quite what Fernando Torres or especially Fernando Llorente make of this curious
experiment would be an interesting disclosure I’m sure….
It was left to Xabi
Alonso to provide the cutting edge for
against a
side who signalled their trembling fear of the Spanish by naming an
uber-defensive starting-XI to repel the frequent raids of Andres Iniesta. Whilst it is entirely reasonable to make provision
for Iniesta’s skills, the decision to sacrifice the attacking flair of Samir Nasri in favour of TWO
right-backs sent out all the wrong messages to the Spanish camp. Had Nasri been
dropped because of his abject displays and replaced by a like-minded player
such as Jeremy Menez then so be it –
by far the most passion and desire we’ve seen from Nasri throughout the entire
tournament was during his sustained rant at a French journalist as he skulked
towards the team bus after elimination by Spain – but to promote a defender
instead gave an uncertain Spain confidence and momentum going into the match. As
coach Laurent Blanc prepares for
pasture new – perhaps at Spurs – and the woeful Florent Malouda follows suit, the first conundrum faced by his
replacement – apart from papering over the traditional disunity and barely
disguised personal agendas within the French camp – will be trying to motivate Karim Benzema and Frank Ribery into giving something approaching their respective
club performances for Les Bleus.
The valiant Greeks proved no match for the frustratingly
efficient Teutonic machine as
steamrollered
most one-sided knockout matches I’ve seen in recent years. The eventual 4-2 scoreline
– swollen by the most sympathetic of penalty decisions – flattered
in the extreme! Harshly deprived of their inspirational captain
erected their trademark defensive wall (patent
pending c/o R. di Matteo,
economy, was promptly smashed to pieces by German intervention! Joachim Loew had chosen to rotate the
talents available to him but newcomers Andre
Schurrle and Marco ‘Rolls’ Reus effortlessly slipped
into the well-oiled German machine while veteran striker Miroslav Klose grabbed his obligatory tournament goal to further
cement his place in European football history. With the creative probing of Mesut Ozil, the outstanding Sami Khedira – whose superb net-busting
strike stakes a claim for the ‘Goal of
the Tornament’ – and arguably the player of the tournament thus far, Bastien Schweinsteiger, dominating the
midfield, Germany have been THE team of Euro 2012 so far.
FIFA World Cup
2014winners England succumbed to
quarter-final heartache yet again, and once more saw their exit confirmed by
the dreaded penalty shootout; the fifth time in the last six tournaments that
England have stumbled in that manner. But that brutal statistic barely conceals
the cold hard facts of England’s demise; ONE shot on target in comparison to
the EIGHT efforts on Joe Hart’s goal, FIVE shots off target compared to the
FIFTEEN compiled by Antonio Cassano & Co. Had either of
two beautifully created one-on-one opportunities fallen to a professional
footballer rather than the petulant Mario
Balotelli then
fate would surely have been sealed in normal time. Balotelli clearly wants to
showcase his full range of personal agendas, gripes, moans and groans alongside
an unparalleled level of arrogance that his performances simply do not back up!
His outrageous dithering and complacency cost
what could have been a vital 3pts in their opening fixture against
– somehow contriving to allow Sergio Ramos a recovering tackle having been
clean through on goal – and a similar smugness saw him waste arguably an even
better goal-scoring opportunity against
How he gifted John Terry the opportunity to block his half-arsed shot is
something that cannot be tolerated in the professional arena with such narrow
margins between success and failure?!? Neither the lively Antonio Cassano nor the clinical Antonio di Natale would’ve spurned such an opportunity…nor their
upcoming opponents Mario Gomez and Miroslav Klose! The challenge facing Cesare Prandelli as he prepares for the
encounter with Euro 2012 favourites
is how to deal with Balotelli’s monumental ego; whatever decision he arrives at
could ignite the notoriously temperamental striker and obliterate any notion of
togetherness and spirit within the Italian camp.
I’ll delve into
performance at a later date but for now I’ll focus on the likely finalists. Ronaldo will be the key to
hopes and he will thrive on the challenge thrown down by his Real Madrid club colleagues.
Meanwhile
simply have to ditch this ill-conceived midfield experiment to best utilise
their stunning array of talents. If Torres,
Llorente or even Pedro start the match I strongly fancy
to prevail; without a recognised striker I think
will take heart and potentially set themselves up to cause a shock. But
have such quality, even if it does warm the substitutes bench, and I fancy them
to progress. I think
made an average
look very impressive and I just cannot see
affording the Italians a similar luxury. Andrea
Pirlo will not be lavished with the time and space gifted to him by Scott Parker and Steven Gerrard and, with his influence restricted, I cannot look
beyond a solid German victory.
Indeed EOTF…England were the lesser team against a bit of a “mixed-bag” Italian team. Pirlo is pure class, but you are correct…npbody closed him down and Rooney was a lazy sod in this regard. Who’s your fancy for winners ?
Germany are by far the most complete side I’ve seen at Euro 2012 but don’t underestimate an average Italian side spurred on by a sense of injustice and a siege-mentally cunningly cultivated by coach Cesare Prandelli. The last time Italy were fired up like this they went on to win the FIFA World Cup 2006! But I fancy Germany will just have too much for them on the field of play; particularly in that crucial midfield area.
Hiya Jack, oh how England cried out for a 25yr old Paul Scholes or Steven Gerrard in his prime! That 68yr old Pirlo was so influencial showed up two things, his own quality and Gerrard and Parker’s limitations. How he was consistently allowed to dictate play was a scandal! Someone should’ve got much closer to him…even if the completely ineffective Rooney was to drop back to give England numbers in the midfield.
The English TV commentators said, “In a football sense justice was done” as the Italians celebrated their victory and I don’t think many can argue with that. A very average Italy were superior in every way.
Greetings EOTF ! England’s lack of a classy midfielder and attacking play was exposed last night. I predict a Germany vs Italy final, with the “deck-chair mafia” to win 2-1 and Reus scoring both goals for the krauts. They look formidable.