Thoughts on Euro 2008.

Ok, maybe it's a little post-dated, but what the hell, I still enjoyed Euro 2008 and feel like writing about it.
It was in stark contrast to 2004, where the Greeks with their suffocating style of football strangled teams to 1-0 victories; rather, this was the time of the raging Spanish bull. Call it an armada if you may, but what a magnificent performance by the Spaniards. My memory takes me back to that 1998 World Cup and Euro 200, where the French played some real smooth football to clinch the titles.

It wasn't to be a second time for the Greeks though, and they were well countered in the group stages itself and suffered three straight defeats to be knocked out...ouch! The tournament would be remembered for the never say die attitude of the Turks..... trust them to pull out a last gasp winner. Whether it was stunning the Czech's when they thought they were through to the quarters, or beating the Croats, and pushing Germany to the very end, Turkey showed enough class to prove that their 2002 World Cup third place wasn't a fluke. Another lasting impression would be of the Italians going out to Spain in the quarters. Though a big fan of the Italians', I must admit they didn't deserve to go through that. Having won the 2006 World Cup on penalties convincingly, they left it to the shoot out; in the bargain, they played some of the most uninspiring football I've seen in the recent past. Spain were the one creating all the chances, and rightly so went through to the semis via the shoot-out.

Oh, how could the cup be complete without some Dutch flovor. The Netherlands hammered the Italians and then the French; in the process topping their group. The French fell in the group of death and rightly so. It seemed that the tournament would be colored Orange, but the Russians had other ideas; knocking out the Dutch with a 3-1 win in extra time to cause a major upset. Oh how miserable I felt when they were knocked out. So then my eyes were set on the Portugal - Germany quarter final game. I'd tipped the Portuguese to lift the title this time, but the Germans followed some crisp marking and executed a plan so meticulous that led to a 3-2 defeat of Portugal. Oh for some beautuiful football! What was left in the tournament were Germany, Spain, Russia and Turkey. The final line up though predictable, was Germay and Spain. Spain played their trademark beautiful game to knock out the Russians' 3-0, while Germany scrapped hard for a 3-2 win over the tireless Turks. The final saw Spain emerge 1-0 winners; though not a high scoring game, the Spanish side showed some great flair, and were worthy winners.

I must say I thoroughly enjoyed the tournament, and look forward to the young Spaniard side picking up more trophies soon. Hail the Spanish armada.