The 'Euro'pean Summer of 2012

When the Premier League and the La Liga ended in quick succession in the middle of May 2012, people were looking forward to the Champions League final between Chelsea and Bayern Munich, even if, for most of us, our favorite teams had been eliminated. Football has become an addiction for most of us, where each one tries to watch every match possible. The game has developed so much that the people cant hide their ecstasy when they switch channels, and end up watching some Live game happening in some corner of the world. Each one of us has become a football pundit, a scout, and a football critic in a way. This Summer provides the perfect example with the Euro.

Gone are the days when people supported only those 2-3 famous teams, and those few players which people knew because they were there in that awesome Pepsi commercial. This Euro, every football fan, especially in India, has sat up all night to catch a glimpse of that prospective talent who is rumored to be transferred to their favorite clubs, and i believe so far no one has been disappointed. The new generation of football players are rising with players as young as 17 or 18 getting contracts from major clubs.

It all began with that Poland – Greece game where half the world barely knew the Polish team, and expected them to be the underdogs of the tournament, playing Greece, whose 2004 Euro victory had slowly faded due of the absence of any high profile star player. But that game changed the way this Euro was going to be viewed because of the brilliant performances by the players. The reason why we all love this sport shone through; a matter of seconds can change the game and the team that takes their chances wins rather than the team that attempts the most. This was best justified in the Denmark vs Netherlands game where the Danes defended for their lives but took that once chance which they had, and sank the Dutch. I believe there are lot of promising stars from this Euro, and the transfer market will be the most exciting thing to look forward to before the start of the next season.

Robert Lewandowski, Christian Eriksen, Alan Dzagoev, Marco Reus are just a few of the young talents who showcased their class at this Euro. The best part of watching the Euro this time around was that people were actually enjoying the game, analyzing and predicting the winners by watching which team was playing better rather than which team had more star studded players. Ironically at this Euro, the team surrounded by most hype, The Netherlands, failed to win even a single game. Such is this sport, and such is the way it’s changing that I hope it keeps us guessing which team is going to win for years to come.