The Euro that it was

Poland and Ukraine were ready to host the fourteenth edition of the Union of European Football Association, commonly known as UEFA, Euro 2012. The stage was set and the competition started on the eighth of June with the co-hosts starting off things against Greece. The match was not as exciting as it seemed to be, but the host fans were on the edge of their seats, as they were praying for a win against the 2004 champions, but all they got was a draw and they couldn’t be happier with the result after seeing their nation play. The blues keeper, Petr Cech had a bad start in the tournament against the Russians letting the ball past him not once or twice but four times. The qualifying teams were decided on the last game day and to everyone’s surprise the Greeks knocked out the Russians to secure a place in the quarterfinals. The co-hosts Polish were knocked out and there was no surprise there. Czech Republic qualified after having had a good game against Greece with a convincing 2-1 victory and a struggled 1-0 victory against Poland.

The next group certainly justified the title given, Group of Death. The Germans were definitely the favourites in the group having the youngest team in the tournament. The Portuguese defense couldn’t hold the Germans so long with Mario Gomez striking a good header scoring past Rui Patricio. The underdogs Danish outplayed the Dutch with a neat 1-0 victory. Mario Gomez seemed unstoppable with two more goals to his name against the Dutch with the Deutschland claiming a 2-1 victory. The Dutch fans and players were having a nightmare. Two consecutive losses meant they had to win against Portugal with a goal difference of two which was nowhere close to possible. Cristiano Ronaldo having had a bad game against the Danish was set to make a mark against the Dutch, and he most certainly nailed it with two goals. Portugal won 2-1 against Netherlands. Netherlands were humiliated very badly having lost all the games they played. The Germans topped the group winning all their fixtures followed by the Portuguese. Lionel Messi and football seemed inseparable with fans chanting his name even though he had no role in this tournament.

The third group seemed un-exciting when compared to the previous groups. The former champions were definitely the favourites and it was partially right. The Spanish side started their Euro campaign against Italy. The match ended as a draw. The Spanish side was playing a different formation altogether, 4-6-0, they were without a striker. Republic of Ireland stood no chance and they ended up losing all the games they played. It was Spain, Italy and Croatia battling it out for two spots in the quarters. Chelsea’s golden boy Torres proved his critics wrong by scoring two fabulous goals against the Republic of Ireland. Balotelli too silenced critics with his phenomenal strikes. In the end, it was Spain versus Italy.

The last group promised action for three reasons; One, it was Roy Hodgson’s first major competitive game as a manager for the English team, Two, teams wanted to put an end to France’s 20 match unbeaten streak and three co-hosts Ukraine were in the group. The English team played no different except that they were more defensive. They couldn’t dribble past the ball and majorly depended on air balls. Captain Steven Gerrard was the heart and soul of the team. Andrey Shevchenko showed he still had it in him with two goals against Sweden. John Terry was rock solid for the English side and his last man save against Ukraine was brilliant even though the ball was over the line. This again brought in the debate of the use of goal line technology. It was a fierce contest between the four and ultimately it was England and France who were through to the quarters. Sweden’s exit was not a big surprise but they did have something to cheer about, ending France’s 23 match unbeaten streak by beating them 2-0. It was sad to see Ukraine exit leaving no hosts in the quarters.

The quarter final clashes seemed fiery. The Portuguese and the Germans had easy fixtures against Czech and Greece respectively after having been in the Group of Death. The results of both the matches were easily predictable. Portugal and Germany marched on. The other two fixtures seemed a delight to watch. With the former champions looking to scrape through to the semis, the match was not all that exciting. Alonso’s early strike put Spain in the lead and the French had a tough time breaking the Spanish defense. Roy Hodgson’s side was put to test by Prandelli’s men. The English were playing more defensive than ever. With the game ending goalless after 120mins, shootouts seemed the decider. The two Ashleys-Cole and Young let the team down having failed to score a penalty.

The semi final fixtures were certainly something to look forward to. The Portuguese were battling it out against the former European champions, Spain. It was an amazing match even though it ended goal-less even after 120 mins. Both the sides played an amazing football creating lot of good chances. At the end of the shootout, it was a good bye for the Portuguese side. Funny thing here is they were out before Ronaldo could even take a kick.

The Germans’ fortress was falling down. Mario Balotelli and Pirlo were tearing the team apart. The Germans did create a lot of chances but only to be denied by the skipper Gianluigi Buffon. Again a great quality of football from both the teams. It was absolutely delightful to watch the game. I, a German fan, appreciate the way the Italians played. They sure did deserve to qualify.

The fever and hype was high as the Italians were set to face the Spanish side in the finals at the Olympic stadium, Ukraine. Spain were defending their title. The Spanish dominated throughout the match. Italians were left ablaze. Xavi was the man for Spain with his incredible passing skills. David Silva gave the Spanish side an early lead converting an amazing through ball from Xavi. Spain had no intensions of stopping there; they kept penetrating the Italian defense easily. Jordi Alba gave the side a 2-0 lead with an incredible run converting another through ball from the engine (Xavi). Things were getting bad to worse for Prandelli’s men. Cassano was taken off and Di Natale was brought in at the half time hoping for a miracle. Italy was finding it difficult to maintain possession.  The Spanish were on top of their game. Fernando Torres replaced Cesc Fabregas and he scored making it 3-0. Juan Mata was set to play for the remainder five minutes, his first five in the tournament. The Italians couldn’t have been more humiliated just then Mata converted Torres’ pass into the net. It was 4-0 to Spain and they after a long tournament successfully defended their title with Fernando Torres winning the golden boot even though he was on the field for just 150 minutes.

The tournament had lot of twists and turns and in the end it was Spain tasting the glory for the second time. This tournament brought into light many things and it sure did pressurize Fifa to look into the Goal line technology.