And so the Euros have passed through all stages of the tournament bar one - The Final. The route to this match has taught us many things, most of all that you often cannot rely on statistics to predict the victorious party and the same may be said for the ultimate match itself...
The competition began just over three weeks ago and in the time that it has been running, those who have witnessed the games have seen a spectacle that moments of greatness for the teams who entered the pitch to do themselves proud but also some unexpected results. Before a ball was kicked in Euro 2012, there existed a number of favourites teams, two from Group B and one from C, selected by commentators on the sport, who would be present in the last four and two teams that would make up the final. Luck had her say on several occasions and events played out differently.
This edition of the European Championships, was being styled as the one where Germany finally faced down their great nemesis of recent years and beat Spain on the way to lifting their first trophy since 1996, at least according to some. It was also supposed to be the year in which Spain completed an unprecedented win of three consecutive major tournaments, that of Euro 2008, the 2010 World Cup, culminating in their crowning as the Champions of Europe. Teams that were not given fantastic odds at progressing, not only impressed the critics but in a few cases actually outshone the favourites.
The likes of Greece, Denmark and Portugal all produced wins against greater opposition such as Russia and Holland and as a result of this, with the exception of the Danes, progressed at the expense of their much fancied adversaries. It was in games that involved the former bunch versus the latter, as well as a few more, that provided the various twists and turns that can make these international contests so entertaining and interesting for those who watched them.
With respect to the teams which experienced success in these games, there was another aspect to watching these games that made looking at the eight squads that advanced to the quarter finals, all the more heartbreaking and it was that of the Irish supporter. Prior to the commencement of activity in Group C, much was made of the ability of the Irish National Football Team to cause an upset somewhere along the way and maybe, just maybe reach the knockout stage. Sadly Irish hopes were dashed in the third minute of the opening match against Croatia and despite a short- lived comeback which saw Ireland score their only goal of their campaign, their game fell to pieces and confidence destroyed.
Another early setback occurring in the fourth minute in a four nil defeat at the hands of Spain, as well as Italy's two goal victory over the Boys in Green left Ireland down and out of the tournament, with La Roja and the Italians securing advancement. However, the spirit of the fans was to win acclaim from all corners, with their singing and cheering as events on the pitch provided nothing but reason for despair. Ireland's exit from the competition led to questioning over the renewal of Trappatoni's contract with the team, his tactics as well as the place of a number of players in the team whose age showed in the three games. All in all, for the team that the Irish possessed, they simply could have played a lot better.
As has been discussed, the last eight came to be composed of the expected teams but there were also a few surprise teams that reached this stage. Germany, Spain and Italy all cleared their groups on the final night with a win. There were nerves for England, France and Portugal amongst other teams as had results in their games and those of the teams in their groups, not gone their way, they could have been on the plane home. A two nil defeat to already eliminated Sweden meant that the English topped Group D but a fragile one goal win over the Ukraine, who scored a disallowed goal in a late comeback provided scary viewing for both sets of fans. Depending on who you were supporting, either John Terry and Michel Platini played either hero or villain that night.
The Germans secured qualification to the next round, in first place with three wins but an unexpected triplet of defeats for Holland with the third by Portugal meant that the Dutch were going home while Cristiano Ronaldo and co. marched on. Only the Danes were left disappointed in the last round of group games. In Group A, Russia were widely expected, by myself included, to qualify after a four one trashing of the Czech Republic but a defeat to Greece meant that despite having a superior goal difference to them, it would be Dick Advocaat's team that lost out with Poland, finishing third and fourth respectively. It was the Czechs and the Hellens who were to advance to the knockout stages.
With the spaces in the quarter finals filled, the first match to be played was between the Czech Republic and Portugal and it was to show the brilliance of senhor Ronaldo, who was finally rewarded for his efforts with a superb goal that even Czech captain Petr Cech couldn't keep out, in the seventy ninth minute. The eastern Europeans appeared unable to deal with Ronaldos quality as well as a Portuguese team who looked to be finding form at just the right time. The game was won on excellent workmanship from their squad.
The next game between the Greeks and the Germans had political ill feeling behind it but fantastic teamwork from Germany put them a goal up from just before the break. An equaliser in the second half put the game back in Greeces reach but by the end of the match, they had let in four goals and not even Dimitris Salpingidis' converted penalty in the eighty ninth minute could have taken the game out of Germanys grasp. The game finished Four Two to the northern Europeans.
The French provided the formal opposition on Spains route to the final with a sloppy performance from France and some outstanding play from the Spaniards, including a masterclass and a brace from Xabi Alonso on his 100th cap. Throughout the whole game, victory for Spain was all that could be seen with Alonso scoring in the nineteenth minute after make a long run to head a corner into the net of Les Bleus. A sublime passing game from Vincente del Bosque's team meant that Spain kept most of the possession with France getting few chances to score, ultimately tiring out their neighbours from north of the Pyrenees. Laurent Blanc's side were punished for a foul in the box and Alonso stepped up to bring the final score to two nil with his second goal, Spain winning on a system of passing that was a class above every one else.
The last game of the quarter finals looked set to provide entertainment as Roy Hodgsons England which defied expectation to progress, came up against the Italy of Cesare Prandelli to contest a place in the semi finals. A lacklustre first half that saw both sides a match for each other but unable to score was in contrast to to the second where the Italians dominated in possession but after a goalless ninety minutes as well as another thirty of extra time in which Rooney attempted a recreation of his bicycle kick against City, the match that finished scoreless was to be decided on penalties. With both Gerrard and Rooney scoring theirs but both Ashley Young and Cole missing their own, the English were eliminated, unbeaten in normal time, from the tournament losing four two on a lottery of kicks after Diamante scored his. The team that showed the courage to take the game to their opponents, won on the day.
The Semi Finals, showed the observer that good tactics and skill with the ball can only go so far, that taking that extra step forward requires passion and determination and most of all, to be able fight for your team and not just for yourself. In the first game, Portugal and Spain locked horns as the former looked to gain revenge over the latter for being knocked out by them in the most recent World Cup. Again, like in their previous matches Portugal's captain Cristiano Ronaldo excellence shone through but it was a team effort that prevented Spain from operating their signature passing game until late into the second half.
When the Spanish finally managed to achieve the task of tiring the opposition through passing it was too far gone in ninety minutes so extra time was played, in which Ronaldo missed many opportunities to take the lead. The game was decided on penalties and despite the brilliance of the Portuguese captain, it was he who would be the teams weak-point when he waited to take his intended penalty last which he was unable to due to Bruno Alves' miss and eventually the Spanish won the duel. Ronaldos shot at personal glory backfiring.
In the other semi final game, there had been one definite favourite to proceed to the final and one team that was definitely going to made a fool of but events in this game showed that the order of these would be reversed with Italy coming out trumps in a two one win over Germany in what has been called the best game of the tournament so far. The Italians were written off as most critics of the game had labelled this as the year in which the Germans came out on top over Spain in the final. However Italy came out onto the pitch with all guns blazing and thanks to two first half Mario Balotelli goals, they maintained a healthy lead over the Germans until a very dubious penalty led to the Deutsch gaining a goal but it all proved to little too late and it was Italy who won the game over normal time to advance to the final. An outfoxing by Prandelli over Jogi Loew as well as exceptional teamwork proved victorious over a team that looked more jaded as the game moved on.
And so, the pairing for the ultimate game of the competition was made and it is Spain who face Italy in the final of the 2012 tournament. As luck would have it the two teams that faced each other in their first games would again meet in the last, an encounter that has only happened twice before but hopefully, it can all provide for a more interesting game of football as the magnificent look to beat the resurgent. With some luck we will have a final to remember...
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