UEFA Euro 2012

[Anghammarad]

Spain was clearly in a different league from Italy. It's a pity really that Germany have such problems with Italian style football, they would have fared much better against the Spanish. That would have been a mouthwatering final, this was just no contest. I would rank Spain, Germany and Portugal, in that order, as the best three teams with Italy and maybe England a bit behind them.

I think the most impressive stat when it comes to Spain is that hey have not conceded a single goal in the knockout phase of a championship since they lost the round of 16 game against France in WC 2006. That's three major championship knock out phases without a single goal against.

 

[emacifa]

Spain was clearly in a different league from Italy. It's a pity really that Germany have such problems with Italian style football, they would have fared much better against the Spanish. That would have been a mouthwatering final, this was just no contest. I would rank Spain, Germany and Portugal, in that order, as the best three teams with Italy and maybe England a bit behind them.

I think the most impressive stat when it comes to Spain is that hey have not conceded a single goal in the knockout phase of a championship since they lost the round of 16 game against France in WC 2006. That's three major championship knock out phases without a single goal against.

I don't completly agree with that, the difference is that ...how many good and talented players the spain have? Every of them, almost! And this is not true for the other Europeans team we must say, they have two or three really talented players, spanish they are all...

 

[KWZX10]

No, Spain took down Italy. Even if they didn't have injuries, Spain would have still won.

Won? Yeah Probably.
4 - 0 humilation? Probably not.

 

[cuco33]

I'm a huge believer that had Italy not gotten the injuries, Spain would still have won. Would it have been 4-0? Absolutely not. The last 2 goals came very late in the game, against a 10man Italy, from fresh legs, against an Italian side that pretty much knew it was over. Italy was only losing 1-0 and started to play pretty decent just before Chiellini got injured. It seems many forgot the 2 blasts Casillas had to stop or the few plays that Italy put together. Still, I knew Spain would lift the Euro trophy again, but not from a 4-0 scoreline. What irks me the most is that Spain's biggest competition lost in PKs, not FT... PKs... but it is what it is and that's my usual Portugal

If you look at Spain's starting squad, it speaks volumes when you have players who play together at club level or at least in the same league. 6 were from Barcelona (granted Alba just signed for Barca, still La Liga), 4 were from Real Madrid, only 1 'outsider' (David Silva - Man City). And the 'outsider' was subbed off for another Barcelona player, Pedro. Had Puyol and Villa been healthy, that's 2 more Barca players to the mix. Del Bosque had the easiest coaching job ever. 'Play like you do in La Liga, like Barcelona. Done.' lol

Spain could very well continue doing major damage in World Cup 2014!! That's what's scary. I don't think it's over for them.

 

[Ross]

Well, I go on holiday to the Canaries in the summer which is Spanish so at least the mood will be good over there. There were so many records broken in that final though.

 

[MUSC4EVER]

Hey

in the paper today they printed the 3 spain teams that played in those finals, its was interesting, so i thought id post them..

EURO 2008 FINAL

SPAIN 1 GERMANY 0
(torres 33)

TEAM..Casillas, Ramos, Marchena, Puyol, Capdevila, Iniesta, Xavi, Senna, Fabregas (Alonso 63), Villa (Cazorla 66), Torres (Guiza 78)


WORLD CUP FINAL 2010

SPAIN 1 HOLLAND 0
(Iniesta 116)

TEAM..Casillas, Ramos, Pique, Puyol, Capdevila, Busquets, Alonso (Fabregas 87), Iniesta, Xavi, Pedro (Navas 60), Villa (Torres 106)


EURO 2012 FINAL

SPAIN 4 ITALY 0
Silva 14
Alba 41
Torres 84
Mata 88

TEAM..Casillas, Arebeloa, Pique, Ramos, Jordi Alba, Xavi, Busquets, Alonso, Fabregas (Torres 75), Silva (Pedro 58), Iniesta (Mata 87)

 

[dhandeh]

Not sure about Xavi, but the rest of them have at least another 2 years of international football in them. Maybe even 4 or 6 years when thinking about it!

 

[TyrrellRacing]

Hard to see Spain receding any time soon. For every player that looks like retiring, they've got 5 or so players able to replace them. Their strikers are probably the weakest as Villa is getting on (30), but they proved they don't even need a striker to win.

How are Brazil and Argentina these days as it doesn't look there are any European teams able to beat them, maybe Germany but that's it, oh and Wales.

I wasn't around in the 70's to see the fabled Brazilian side but I don't think there can be many arguments against this side as the best of all time. 3 major trophies in a row and a 4-0 win in the final says enough.

 

[cuco33]

Hard to see Spain receding any time soon. For every player that looks like retiring, they've got 5 or so players able to replace them. Their strikers are probably the weakest as Villa is getting on (30), but they proved they don't even need a striker to win.

How are Brazil and Argentina these days as it doesn't look there are any European teams able to beat them, maybe Germany but that's it, oh and Wales.

I wasn't around in the 70's to see the fabled Brazilian side but I don't think there can be many arguments against this side as the best of all time. 3 major trophies in a row and a 4-0 win in the final says enough.

I think Portugal and Germany could beat Spain. Spain's biggest threat all tournament was Portugal and they needed PKs to decide the semifinal, not regular time footy. Germany are very young and should still be a powerhouse come the World Cup but I agree with you that Spain will continue to be a contender for the next 2-3 tournaments.

Brazil are hurting big time and won't be a threat this coming WC, not in my book. The whole squad and coach need a big eye opener. I have a lot of Brazilian friends that are really angry right now at how Brazil is looking.
Argentina I'm not 100% sure on right now but I think they are still hit or miss. I still am amazed how Maradona didn't call up Zanetti and Cambiasso for WC2010. I mean it was an easy decision... all with the treble winning Inter Milan squad and all, you had Samuel, Zanetti, Cambiasso and Milito and all he called up was Walter Samuel and Diego Milito. All he thought about was his poster child Messi and anyone who can support him, completely forgetting about defense... and that's why they got embarrassed being knocked out 4-0 to Germany

 

[Bye Ya]

Anyone think Pirlo will make an appearance at WC 2014? I sure hope he does.

 

[Horde_R35]

I think Portugal and Germany could beat Spain. Spain's biggest threat all tournament was Portugal and they needed PKs to decide the semifinal, not regular time footy. Germany are very young and should still be a powerhouse come the World Cup but I agree with you that Spain will continue to be a contender for the next 2-3 tournaments.

Brazil are hurting big time and won't be a threat this coming WC, not in my book. The whole squad and coach need a big eye opener. I have a lot of Brazilian friends that are really angry right now at how Brazil is looking.
Argentina I'm not 100% sure on right now but I think they are still hit or miss. I still am amazed how Maradona didn't call up Zanetti and Cambiasso for WC2010. I mean it was an easy decision... all with the treble winning Inter Milan squad and all, you had Samuel, Zanetti, Cambiasso and Milito and all he called up was Walter Samuel and Diego Milito. All he thought about was his poster child Messi and anyone who can support him, completely forgetting about defense... and that's why they got embarrassed being knocked out 4-0 to Germany

100 % true. The only thing that i have to add is that Spain is not playing a football from another world, nothing spectacular, but its effective and they have a very important factor helping them wich is called luck.
I wish we meet them again in the World Cup . We should have won this thing... again... we never have any luck even when we play better than the opponent. Our time will come sooner or later .

 

[Pagey279]

100 % true. The only thing that i have to add is that Spain is not playing a football from another world, nothing spectacular, but its effective and they have a very important factor helping them wich is called luck.
I wish we meet them again in the World Cup . We should have won this thing... again... we never have any luck even when we play better than the opponent. Our time will come sooner or later .

It wasn't luck, or a lack of it, that put Portugal out the tournament. They just couldn't capitalise against Spain even though they were the better team for 90 minutes. When you have your opponents on the back foot you HAVE to take advantage and score. Otherwise you will regret it.
Spain were not by any means playing their best that match yet they still came through. And if Spain come up against Portugal again, and both teams played their absolute best football Spain would still win.
They won Euro 2012 by playing superb football, especially in the final. And the matches they didn't play well in they still won or drew, thats not called luck, thats called class.

 

[Horde_R35]

Well thats your opinion (and some members here). That doesnt mean its true. Professional coaches and players think otherwise. Portugal didnt lost the game to Spain. Portugal was the only team to "eliminate" Spains "tici taca" and were better than them in 90 min of a 120 minutes game that got decided by penaltys and that is where the luck comes forward.

 

[Pagey279]

Well thats your opinion (and some members here). That doesnt mean its true. Professional coaches and players think otherwise. Portugal didnt lost the game to Spain. Portugal was the only team to "eliminate" Spains "tici taca" and were better than them in 90 min of a 120 minutes game that got decided by penaltys and that is where the luck comes forward.

Yes they managed to quell Spains usual style somewhat but they still couldn't drive home their advantage and score. They couldn't get the job done and it went to penalties and they lost.
And like I said that was against a team that by no means played their best, far from it.

 

[Horde_R35]

They didn't play their best because we didnt let them. And remember Portugal always played with 10. We dont have a proper attacker. We were not at our best either.

 

[Biffy]

Excuses, excuses, excuses.

Spain won, they're the best team in the world right now, and that includes Portugal. Live with it.

 

[Pagey279]

No you didn't let them play their best, but you still couldn't win. That's my point here, it's one thing to stop a team playing their best, but you still have to be good enough to score against them. And Portugal weren't, no ifs, no buts.

 

[Bye Ya]

How can you possibly call it luck just because Spain won on penalties?

- Your team has chances and does not finish them. This is not bad luck against you, it is your own fault.

- You go to penalties, everything is equal. They score more than you. This is not your bad luck, it is your own fault again.


I'm not trying to pick a fight. I like Portugal and I was rooting for them. But it is not luck that Spain put them out. And Spain are being called possibly the best national team in history. They are miles better than Portugal, even if they had one sub-par game.

 

[emacifa]

i personally agree with who says it wasnt bad luck in portugal spain. How many chances ronaldo had to score from the free kicks during the game ? He was even near to spain area at times,but he missed everything. He was a bit like balotelli in the first matches,lots of chances,but no goals, well thats a problem...its not just being unlucky

 

[daan]

When was the last time Italy lost 4 goals?

Italy have always been known as having a mean defense, yet the Spanish team playing for most of the match with no strikers, still managed to score 4 past them.

 

[StGeorge]

When was the last time Italy lost 4 goals?

Italy have always been known as having a mean defense, yet the Spanish team playing for most of the match with no strikers, still managed to score 4 past them.

1970 World Cup Final against Brazil if my memory serves me correct.

In all seriousness though Italy couldn't keep up physically, you could see the 120 minutes against us & the 90 minutes of non stop hassling against the Germans had tired them out big time, plus Spain had an extra 48 hours to recover which makes a difference over a 90 minute period (something I'd like to see changed, both teams should have equal rest especially in a final).

It's also hard playing against 6 midfielders sometimes 8 (Iniesta, Silva, Fabregas, Alonso, Busquets, Xavi, Alba & Arbeloa) when you've only lined up with 4 midfielders yourself (Pirlo, Marchisio, De Rossi & Montolivo).

I think the closest we saw to a Spanish upset was when they played Croatia, the Spanish looked horrible as they did in majority of the tournament & they really don't like it when they're played at their own game, they panic, just like teams do when the Spanish are pressing & closing down instantly.

I think it was Lee Dixon who said that if the Spanish loose the ball then 5/6 players will instantly hunt you down, BUT if you can get the ball away quick enough you've eliminated 5/6 Spanish players high up the pitch & you've got space & room to run at weakend Spanish midfield. Modric did that & supplied a quality ball only for Rakitic to head straight at the keeper the plant pot! Spain was there for the taking.

Follow in Croatias footsteps gameplan wise & the Spanish can & will be beaten.

 

[Anghammarad]

Well anyway. Ibra scored the best goal at least.

 

[Jimlaad43]

http://www.bbc.co.uk/sport/0/football/18630764

Best goals of the tournament (UK users only)

 

[cuco33]

I agree with the posters saying that Spain will continue being a dominating force in EURO and World Cups. Even if they lose Xavi now (which I think he has at least WC minimum) and Iniesta due to age, they have something good going and plenty of youth filling up spots.

And I'm not trying to take anything away from this amazing squad, and it could be my Portuguese bias, but there's too many people in the media continuously hyping Spain and neglecting everyone else (I mean even ESPN jumped on the bandwagon!!) Spain beat Portugal in PKs in the semifinal, beat Portugal only 1-0 with an offsides goal in the World Cup 2010, and the last time these 2 met was a friendly after the WC where Portugal smashed Spain 4-0 (5-0 if you count CRON's onside goal that was called offsides lol). Yes, it was only a friendly and we aren't to judge too much on friendlies but both teams played with full squads and didn't let up the entire 90'. Who knows what would have happened if there was a rematch in the Euro, like maybe when Nani broke free ONSIDES the ref might not have called him offsides .
But I won't take it away from Spain, back to back to back international tournaments is massively impressive no matter how much someone tries to say otherwise. Spain can very well win the WC 2014. I fully expect another interesting La Liga with Barcelona being a top contender, but Mourinho will win a treble with Real Madrid this year

 

[cuco33]

Yes they managed to quell Spains usual style somewhat but they still couldn't drive home their advantage and score. They couldn't get the job done and it went to penalties and they lost.
And like I said that was against a team that by no means played their best, far from it.

For me it was the 2 best teams in the tournament and neither let the other play their style. Portugal stopped the farca tica taca style and Spain stopped Portugal's major attacking threat. It's a shame we played without Postiga because Hugo Almeida didn't do much. Slow, big, powerful but completely useless the whole match. He got subbed off for a 20yr old rookie. I think it would have been a different game had Postiga been there to help but that's footy for you and it is what it is. I'm holding my head up high because I seriously thought Portugal was going to get slaughtered in the group stage and be embarrassed out, based on late coach change, based on key veteran players not making it, based on a really bad qualification, based on piss poor friendlies prior to the tournament, etc so I was most surprised at how well we played against Germany (could have won) and all throughout the rest of it. This tourney Portugal got knocked out in PKs and last tourney Portugal got knocked out by an offisides goal. The luck has to swing our way some time. I have BIG FAITH now for the World Cup that wasn't there before. If we play the qualis like we did in the Euro, we'll advance into the WC in 1st place

 

[TyrrellRacing]

I will laugh so hard if Portugal don't qualify. You only just qualified for the Euros.

Also read today that there will be 24 teams instead of 16 at Euro 2016. Not sure what to make of this. More matches, but it will remove the no certain win stigma ; every match there was no certain result, except every game against Ireland.

 

[Ross]

I will laugh so hard if Portugal don't qualify. You only just qualified for the Euros.

Also read today that there will be 24 teams instead of 16 at Euro 2016. Not sure what to make of this. More matches, but it will remove the no certain win stigma ; every match there was no certain result, except every game against Ireland.

I actually felt sorry for Ireland. Spain, Italy and Croatia.

 

[cuco33]

I will laugh so hard if Portugal don't qualify. You only just qualified for the Euros.

Also read today that there will be 24 teams instead of 16 at Euro 2016. Not sure what to make of this. More matches, but it will remove the no certain win stigma ; every match there was no certain result, except every game against Ireland.

And we only just qualified for the World Cup 2010, played the final qualifier playoff, still made it in, advanced out of a tough group stage in 2nd place, and got knocked out in Round of 16 to Spain (who won it) from an offsides goal nonetheless.

*ish happens, Portugal has been due for a championship for decades now. Bring on the World Cup!!! I'm sure brit minded folks will still keep on hating Portugal though. Portugal will qualify for the World Cup.

And yep, 24 team tourney, I think because of the whole 2 host nation thing (even though it's going to be in France next).

 

[TyrrellRacing]

Well looking at your qualifying group you should easily qualify at least.

 

[cuco33]

Well looking at your qualifying group you should easily qualify at least.

I want 1st place though with complete and utter dominance, all wins in all games. And Portugal has a tendency to give me heart attacks in the qualifiers, with games we should dominate we end up limping to the next one.