By Kristian Jack
It was a tournament where story lines came from those who should create them, the friendly championships that you could watch with a smile on your face. There was very little dissent or confrontations from players who simply got on with doing what they do best. Referees stayed out the way meaning controversies and injustices subsequently did the same. Even when they tried to show the unfortunate side of a game run by human beings – a harsh red or a goal that should have counted – the game responded as the 10-man Greeks played better and Ukraine realised their ‘no-goal’ actually wasn’t a goal anyway due to a missed offside call. Some of the best sides and players the world has to offer showed up yet there was still room for a big side to crash out in disgrace.
Whether or not the 2012 edition of the European Championships was the best ever really doesn’t matter. What does matter is that it wasn’t the worse. Far from it.
One month ago international football was in a terrible state and as Poland and Ukraine got set to host arguably the second biggest championship international football offers, it faced a potentially perilous time. After the 2011 Copa America and the 2010 World Cup delivered far too many mundane matches where destroyers beat creators the last thing this tournament needed was another dull stretch of football games. Club football had just wrapped up one of the most dramatic European seasons the game has ever seen full of sensational goals, finishes and comebacks. International football didn’t need all of that but it certainly needed some of it.
Tactical trends
In the end they more than just leaned on their club cousins. They took the systems and players at some of their best clubs, put them together in a different colour shirt and the results were magnificent. Spain’s false nine, as used with Barcelona and Lionel Messi, dominated many tactical discussions. Italy’s flexibilty in different systems and use of 3-5-2 early in the tournament looked like Juventus and the Azzuri definitely offered a breath of fresh air in a tournament dominated by 4-2-3-1. Russia looked a lot like Zenit while the Czech’s improved the moment they started to use more Viktoria Plzen players. Even Germany, with their eight Bayern Munich players, mirrored the highs and real lows that the club went through this past season.
Group Stage
Every tournament dreams of a good start and thankfully it didn’t take long for the drama to begin. Goals do not automatically make games better but they certainly help and the 2012 European Championships became the first ever major international competition to have none of their first 27 games end scoreless. Every single group game had at least a goal and ten of them saw at least three goals.
Group Winners – Czech Republic, Germany, Spain & England.
For the fifth and final time under the format of four groups and 16 teams at a Euro the group stage offered tremendous entertainment from start to finish. If you didn’t know your permutations and tiebreakers during the third games then you were lost. Only Ireland and Sweden were eliminated after everyone had played two games and not one side was guaranteed a spot in the final eight. Most thought Russia were in before their lack of clinical finishing caught up with them against Greece. Two decent performances, one average one and goodbye. Germany won their first two group games but in their final match, drawing 1-1 against Denmark, with Portugal beating the Netherlands, a goal for the Danes would have sent them home. In typical German fashion they remained composed and did more than enough to get through. Spain won group C but as Italy were beating Ireland in Poznan they came very close to being knocked out by Croatia in Gdansk before a late winner by Jesus Navas proved to be a massive goal as it sent Spain and Italy into the other halves of the draw. And then there was France who cruised through their opening two games and then got beat by Sweden which forced them to play the reigning champions in the next round.
Teams eliminated in the group stage in reverse order based on performance - 16th. Ireland 15th. Poland 14th. Netherlands 13th. Sweden 12th. Ukraine 11th. Denmark 10th. Russia 9th. Croatia.
Best XI from teams eliminated - Stipe Pletikosa (CRO) ; Lukasz Piszczek (POL) Damien Perquis (POL), Dan Agger (DEN) Simon Poulsen (DEN); Luka Modric (CRO) Michael Krohn-Dehli (DEN) Andrey Arshavin (RUS); Alan Dzagoev (RUS) Zlatan Ibrahimovic (SWE) Andriy Shevchenko (UKR).
Shevchenko’s brace against Sweden in Ukraine’s opening match in Kiev was one of the standout moments from the tournament. One of the greatest players this era has produced deserved that moment and earned it himself, showing his quality with two fantastic headers that gave the locals a moment with their hero they’ll never forget. Co-hosts Poland also had their moment when their skipper Jakub Blaszczykowski smashed home a deserved equaliser against Russia in a thrilling game in Warsaw. Unfortunately, that’s as good as it got for the Poles.
Most Disappointing XI from teams eliminated – Shay Given (IRE); Gregory Van der Wiel (NED) ; John Heitinga (NED) Sergei Ignashevich (RUS) Jetro Willems (NED) ; Arjen Robben (NED) Mark Van Bommel (NED) Ludovic Obraniak (POL) Christian Eriksen (DEN); Robin Van Persie (NED) Aleksandr Kerzhakov (RUS).
It comes as no surprise that six Dutch players are in this side as they were without doubt the most disappointing team in this tournament. The inclusion of Willems – the youngest player in the tournament – is harsh and is more of a reflection on both his inexperience and the fact that left back was a position many excelled in. Less than two years removed from a World Cup final the Dutch lost all three games in Group B, lost their team unity almost immediately, lost their heads often and lost their manager before the tournament ended.
Eliminated at the Quarter Finals – Czech Republic, Greece, France, England.
In the space of four days group B and group C collectively kicked out group A and D participants showing just how much stronger their groups were. The Czechs and Greeks were actually huge underdogs against Portugal and Germany and gave good accounts of themselves, finishing their games content with how far they had come. France and England, meanwhile, got reality checks in their matches against superior opposition and went home.
Eliminated at the Semi-Finals – Portugal, Germany.
Portugal, who arrived at this tournament via a playoff win, were the biggest surprise in this tournament coming through a very difficult group and playing their own game against Spain and almost defeating them. Led by the best player at this tournament in Cristiano Ronaldo they finally showed talent, maturity, composure and belief all at the same time. Yes, they got beat on penalties by Spain and their best player was waiting to take one but that shouldn’t overshadow the outstanding performances by many of their players before the shootout. The same cannot be said for Germany and their players who had played very well in the majority of their games before two Mario Balotelli goals and a 2-0 deficit suddenly made some of their stars look quite ordinary. They will be back and be a force again in two and four years time but for the likes of Bastian Schweinsteiger, Philipp Lahm and Mario Gomez this was another missed opportunity for them as they attempt to stamp their careers with a tournament victory.
The final - Spain 4 Italy 0
Having not gotten out of third gear for the entire tournament Spain arrived in Kiev, hit top gear and completely outclassed a very good Italian side in the final. Their interchanging, passing, movement and overall composure on the ball was exhilariting as they became the first team to ever win a European Championship & World Cup final by a four goal margin. As they walked off the field in Kiev they took another trophy and a whole hosts of records with them.
- Spain have joined (West) Germany as the only country to win the European Championship three times and are the first to retain the title.
- Spain have kept a clean sheet in their last 10 knockout matches at a Euro or World Cup. Iker Casillas has therefore not conceded a goal in Euro or World Cup KO stages for an unprecedented 990 minutes.
- Spain have won their last 62 matches in which they scored the opening goal. The last time they lost when taking a 1-0 lead was in a 3-2 defeat at Northern Ireland in September 2006.
- Vicente Del Bosque became the 2nd coach to win a Euro and a World Cup title, joining Helmut Schön (Euro 1972, 1974 World Cup) and the first to win those two, a Champions League and a Club World Cup.
- Xavi is the 1st player to have an assist in 2 different ECh finals. He also assisted on the Fernando Torres goal in the Euro 2008 final.
- Iker Casillas has won 100 of his 137 international matches, becoming the first player ever to reach a century of international wins. He also holds the world record with 79 clean sheets
- Busquets, Pedro and Piqué joined an elite group of players that have won the European Championship, FIFA World Cup, Champions Cup/Champions League and Intercontinental Cup/FIFA Club World Cup in their career. This group now contains 19 players.
- Pedro, Gerard Piqué, Sergio Busquets, Juan Mata, Jesus Navas, Fernando Llorente, Víctor Valdés and Javi Martínez joined the list of players (23 GER, 23 ESP, 18 FRA, 1 ITA) that have won a Euro and a World Cup title.
Golden Boot Winner(s) – Fernando Torres. Spain played more of this tournament with a false nine rather than a real number nine yet Fernando Torres still ran out the winner with three goals and an assist. It was fitting, though, that the winner did score just three goals as the position of striker seems to be relied upon less and less in international football. Two striker systems died some time ago and we now have a no striker system. One striker systems remain dominant.
Total Goals Scored in past 4 Euro’s under this current format - 77 (2008) 77 (2004) 85 (2000) 64 (1996).
Total Goals Scored at Euro 2012 - 76 (Avg 2.45 goals per game)
A sensational 22 of these goals were headers. The tournament began with a header from Poland’s Robert Lewandowski, saw three superb headers from three Mario’s – Gomez, Mandzukic and Balotelli – and one from David Silva in the final and easily broke the record for the amount of headed goals at a European Championships, which is even more remarkable when you look at how many narrow 4-2-3-1 systems were being used.
Amount of penalties awarded – 4.
This was without doubt one of the highlights of the tournament. The combination of a faster game, more rules to help attackers and questionable refereeing means the sport has never seen so many penalties awarded. For example, 601 penalties have been awarded in the past six Premier League seasons – averaging over 100 per season – meaning a penalty is now being given in 26% of matches. Such a percentage is ridiculously high for many reasons not just because it hands the team a massive advantage and rarely gives a punishment that fits the crime but also because it continues to promote the drivel that comes out of managers and players mouths about that moment as if the rest of the match barely mattered. Thankfully, these championships meant we went from commentators saying “I’ve seen them given” to “not a chance he went down far too easily”.
Top 10 goals – 10. Roman Pavlyuchenko makes it four for Russia vs Czech Rep. 9. David Silva puts Spain ahead in the final after great passing. 8. Cristiano Ronaldo’s brilliant run and header wins the QF vs Czech Rep. 7. Andrea Pirlo’s free kick against Croatia. 6. Mario Balotelli volleys Italy past Ireland. 5. Danny Welbeck backheels England into a 3-2 lead against Sweden. 4. Sami Khedira volleys Germany ahead of Greece for good. 3. Jakub Blaszczykowski ignites Poland with a piledriver against Russia. 2. Zlatan Ibrahimovic’s volley stuns France. 1. Mario Balotelli blasts Italy into a 2-0 lead in the semi finals.
Top 10 games – 10. Portugal 2-1 Holland 9. Russia 1-1 Poland 8. Sweden 2-3 England 7. Germany 4-2 Greece 6. Ukraine 2-1 Sweden 5. Holland 1-2 Germany 4. Denmark 2-3 Portugal 3. Poland 1-1 Greece 2. Germany 1-2 Italy. 1. Spain 4-0 Italy.
My team of the tournament – (4-2-3-1): Gianluigi Buffon (ITA); Joao Periera (POR) Sergio Ramos (ESP) Pepe (POR) Jordi Alba (ESP); Andrea Pirlo (ITA) Sami Khedira (GER); Andres Iniesta (ESP), Mesut Ozil (GER) Cristiano Ronaldo (POR); Mario Balotelli (ITA).
My top 50 players of Euro 2012 – 50. Andriy Shevchenko 49. Andrey Arshavin 48. Giorgios Karagounis 47. Nicklas Bendtner 46. Zlatan Ibrahimovic 45. Dimitris Salpingidis 44. Michael Krohn-Dehli 43. Joe Hart 42. Tomas Hubschman 41. Darijo Srna 40. Antonio Cassano 39. Kyriakos Papadopoulos 38. Yohan Cabaye 37. Franck Ribery 36. Petr Jiracek 35. Dan Agger 34. Theodor Gebre Selassie 33. Leonardo Bonucci 32. Mario Gomez 31. Raul Meireles 30. Luka Modric 29. Steven Gerrard 28. Philipp Lahm 27. Sergio Busquets 26. Alan Dzagoev 25. Riccardo Montolivo 24. Bruno Alves 23. Xabi Alonso 22. Fabio Coentrao 21. Gerard Pique 20. Mats Hummels 19. Xavi 18. Giorgio Chiellini 17. David Silva 16. Andrea Barzagli 15. Joao Pereira 14. Mario Balotelli 13. Pepe 12. Joao Moutinho 11. Iker Casillas 10. Gianluigi Buffon 9. Jordi Alba 8. Daniele De Rossi 7. Sami Khedira 6. Cesc Fabregas 5. Sergio Ramos 4. Mesut Ozil 3. Cristiano Ronaldo 2. Andrea Pirlo
Best Player of the tournament
Andres Iniesta’s performance in the final just managed to overtake Andrea Pirlo as the tournament’s best player. The Barcelona man was Spain’s most consistent player at these championships as the pure conductor of the Spanish attack. At 28, he is not only one of the finest players in the game he is also now in the discussion as one of the most successful players in the history of the game. Take time to digest what he and his magnificent teammate Xavi have accomplished in the past four years:
- Three major international tourmaments entered (won all three).
- Four league campaigns (won three).
- Four Champions League campaigns (won two).
- Four Copa Del Rey competitions (won two).
- Three Spanish Super Cups (won all three).
- Two European Super Cups (won both).
- Two Club World Cup competitions (won both).
In four years Andres Iniesta and Xavi have been handed 17 winning medals from a possible 22 and to top it all off they’ve been arguably the most influential players on their teams in that period.
Conclusion
Only time will dictate just where this championship stacks up compared to others and although it lacked the top individual quality of 2000, or the late drama of 2008, what it did bring was many advanced technical games of football at a pivitol time in the sport. You only need to look at the top players in the list of 50 to see which players succeeded. All four semi finalists wanted the ball, passed it superbly at times, showed great composure on the ball and ensured that physical, compact games that lack fluency were pushed from the majority to the minority. The leaders of course in all of this were the eventual champions who, having already changed the way the game is played, have now changed the way you attack a tournament. Accused of being boring at times, they gave a masterclass in calculating their energy levels throughout the championships before performing one of the truly best performances a major international final has seen. Four years ago on penalties against Italy (once again) this team learned how to win and most importantly put away their past demons and forgot how to lose. Four years that still remains and they are now a true dynasty, setting an unprecedented record and leaving a benchmark that will be incredibly difficult for any team to ever match let alone break. Don’t be bored watching them because in years to come you’ll be asked about them and you don’t want to realise then what some already know now. This is a very special team who belong in the discussion as the greatest team to ever play this game.
