UEFA EURO 2012 - A glance at the grande event

“Creating History Together” – that’s What the UEFA EURO 2012 is all about. So will it be able to stand up to the expectation? Well, let’s see.

Sport is politics. This has been evident ever since the 1933 Berlin Olympics. Who gets to host a major international sports’ event has enormous profits to gain economically and in terms of goodwill. However, it is also a big gamble, as the opposite is equally true if organizers fail to successfully go through with the event. Then, it involves great losses in both profit and prestige for the states concerned.

Faced by such considerations, the UEFA Executive Committee still decided for the Poland-Ukraine joint candidacy. The main contender and favorite was Italy, which already has the necessary infrastructure in terms of arenas, airports, roads, etc. However, what in the end seems to have turned the tide against Italy, are the recent bribery scandals and hooligan riots that so has tarred the image of Italian soccer internationally. This was not the case with Poland and Ukraine, but this positive image may also prove an unwelcome blessing for Warsaw and Kiev.

Without the necessary infrastructure, Poland and Ukraine now face the gigantic task of forming the preconditions for a successful event, e.g. building eight new UEFA standard soccer arenas. The championship finals are intended to take place on the Kiev Olympic Stadium, which now has to undergo fundamental renovations in upcoming years. All these efforts will, of course, take enormous amounts of money, and it is exactly here the entire project may backfire on both Warzaw and Kiev. Without an extremely transparent tender process for the fat contracts to build arenas, develop infrastructure or sell Championship paraphernalia, organizers may face a constant media nightmare in founded or unfounded allegations of foul play and bribery in the process up till the 2012 UEFA Championships.

The Euro 2012 finals are more than eight months away but a depressing pattern has already been established. Where England scrap, other major nations shine. Friday night will be a case in point. Fabio Capello’s side could qualify for the finals in Poland and Ukraine but they will have to do it the hard way by getting at least a point in the less-than-friendly environment of Podgorica, in Montenegro. Compare that to the situation of already-qualified Spain, Italy, Germany and Holland who – with the smugness of someone who has finished their Christmas shopping in November – can put their feet up, and try out some new players and simply observe the other nations’ mad, exhausting rush for late points.

So even if England does qualify for the Euro 2012 finals there is still a long way to go before they can call themselves genuine contenders to win the tournament.

Let’s have a look at the contenders ==>>

#1. Netherlands

On the other hand, Bert van Marwijk’s side have responded to the criticism they received for their negative attitude in the World Cup final against Spain by producing some heart-warmingly attractive football on their way to eight wins in eight games. They are averaging more than four goals a game and have three players among the top eight goal scorers in qualifying – Klaas-Jan Huntelaar (10), Robin van Persie (6) and Dirk Kuyt (5). True, 16 goals have come in the two games against San Marino, but beating second-placed Sweden 4-1 and third-placed Hungary 5-3 was impressive. The core of the team remains the same but Erik Pieters has replaced Giovanni van Bronckhorst at left-back and Barcelona‘s attacking midfielder Ibrahim Afellay has had more of a role to play. Van Marwijk has also been able to flaunt the depth of his squad by refusing to pick Nigel de Jong after the Manchester City midfielder’s leg-breaking tackle on Hatem Ben Arfa, while Arjen Robben has yet to feature in this qualifying campaign because of injuries.

#2. Germany

Joachim Löw’s team, which so brutally exposed England’s limitations at the 2010 World Cup, is continuing to evolve. They too have a 100% record after winning all of their eight matches in Group A with a goal difference of 28-5. Beating Austria 6-2 and Turkey 3-0 have been the highlights of a campaign that has seen Bayern Munich’s 21-year-old midfielder Toni Kroos establish himself in the starting XI. Voted player of the tournament at the Under-17 World Cup in 2007, Kroos is a player whose trajectory has actually matched the hype of his teenage years. He forms a formidable deep-lying midfield shield with Bastian Schweinsteiger and the emergence of Mario Götze and André Schürrle has put pressure on the attack-minded players in the team. And, then they have the sensation – Mesut Oezil who will be the main highlight in the competition. So far, Miroslav Klose and Lukas Podolski are hanging on to their places with nine and three goals respectively in qualifying but the fact that Mario Gomez, the Bayern striker who scored twice against Manchester City in the Champions League, is struggling to get in the team is an accurate picture of the vast array of talent at Löw’s disposal. “This is the best Germany team I have ever been part of,” Klose said recently. High praise indeed, considering that the striker made his debut in 2001.

#3. Spain

Whereas, the world and European champions have continued their unbeaten run in competitive matches with six wins out of six in Group I, but there have been unusual defensive lapses as well as a few friendly defeats (Argentina, Portugal and Italy). The only clean sheets in qualifying have come against Liechtenstein. Hardly a crisis – and key players such as Carles Puyol have been missing because of injury – but they have yet to hit top form in this qualifying campaign. Fernando Torres continues – as he does at Chelsea – to be a talking point. He has been selected in the squad to face the Czech Republic and Scotland and the coach, Vicente Del Bosque, defended the striker this week but also, ominously, warned that there is a lot of competition for places up front. He is not wrong. Fernando Llorente and Alvaro Negredo both appear to be ahead of Torres in the pecking order – the Chelsea player was not even on the bench for the game against Liechtenstein – and it is surely only a question of time before Valencia’s Roberto Soldado is selected. Then Torres may well lose his place in the squad. Barcelona’s outstanding prospect Thiago Alcántara has made his competitive debut, coming on for Sergio Ramos in the 6-0 win over Liechtenstein, with his former Under-21 colleague Javi Martínez making an equally seamless transition to the senior set-up in midfield.

#4. Italy

Cesare Prandelli has given Italy fresh impetus after the disastrous re-appointment of Marcello Lippi and subsequent failure at last year’s World Cup. Only nine players from South Africa made the new coach’s first squad with the likes of Fabio Cannavaro and Gennaro Gattuso retiring and Antonio Di Natale and Gianluca Zambrotta being left out. Prandelli also vowed to give trouble-makers their chance and promptly selected Antonio Cassano and Mario Balotelli. Cassano has played well up front with Giuseppe Rossi and is the team’s leading goal scorer in qualifying. Balotelli, meanwhile, has courted more controversy than he has scored goals with his decision to bring his iPad to the substitutes’ bench (Why Always Me??? :D) for the game against the Faroe Islands. And earlier in qualifying, he was omitted by Prandelli for two matches after a high tackle earned him a red card while playing for Manchester City against Dynamo Kyiv in the Europa League. Some of the older players remain, such as Andrea Pirlo and Gianluigi Buffon, but there is a new spring in the Italians’ steps with defender Leonardo Bonucci, midfielder Riccardo Montolivo and forward Giampaolo Pazzini given ample chances during qualifying. Defensively they are frighteningly robust. Prandelli’s team has conceded only once in eight games and only dropped two points.

Well, the night of 1st July, 2012 will tell which team comes out as the winner. Will Spain retain it? Or the Netherlands will take their revenge? As A Germany fan, I would like to see them lift the trophy, with Oezil scoring the late winner. Go DFB Go!