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Euro 2000 excitement top-notch
Posted: Saturday June 24, 2000 09:36 AM
Wow. Pardon me, but I'm still reeling after that Spain-Yugoslavia game. What a great advertisement for soccer! Euro 2000 may have been marred by fan violence and some dubious refereeing, but if it were to end right now, it would be remembered for some of the best, most exciting games we've seen in a world competition since the 1982 World Cup, which offered up such classics as Germany-France and Italy-Brazil. We've seen it all so far. And what's best is that, for once, the eight surviving teams are probably the most deserving ones. Normally, you always go back and wish that one or more of the knocked out teams was still in the tournament. But it's hard to make that case here. The only exception might be the Czech Republic. Pavel Nedved and mates had Holland and France on the ropes for long stretches. They probably deserved more, but then, when you're stuck in a group with the two best teams in the tournament, you can only do so much. The other losing teams can have few complaints. Denmark was outclassed in every department, and would've needed more than a couple of Laudrups to turn it around. Little Slovenia might have been the darling of the tournament, but you donıt give up 3-0 leads against ten men and get away with it. 
Good riddance to Norway and Nils Johan Semb's demented long-ball style. Not only is it painful to watch, it's the antithesis of what soccer should be. I'm not sure if the saddest part was seeing the players cry when they heard that Spain had turned it around against Yugoslavia or the sheer torture of forcing talented guys like Tore Andre Flo, Bent Skammelsrud and Erik Mykland play Semb's perverted system. It was over and out from Sweden as well. While perhaps it was a little unlucky against Belgium, it was shockingly bad against Turkey and thoroughly deserved to go home. Itıs always a little sad when the host nation can't get past the first round, but Belgium can't complain too much. Robert Waseige did what he could with a bunch of mediocre players and then threw it all away against Turkey. Sometimes, a single match can cost you the tournament and thatıs what happened. England had the squad to make the semifinals, but when you twice allow your opponents to come from behind and beat you, you have no business advancing. Kevin Keegan was a great player and is a likeable man, but tactically he was reminiscent of Forrest Gump . I hate to point fingers at managers. In this case however, it's safe to say that, more than anyone else he was responsible for England's debacle. Which leaves Germany. The less said the better. Suffice it to say that it is now Year Zero and it's time to rebuild from scratch. Hopefully, Lothar Matthaus won't be around. All this brings us to some juicy semifinals. Here's a rundown: Portugal v. Turkey: Mustafa Denizli's team only operates in extremes. Sometimes it's passing and movement makes it look like Argentina redux, other times it gets overrun like a bunch of ants taking on a Sherman tank. We have yet to see the best of Hakan Sukur, Saturday might be a good time to start turning on the style. Most of all, Denizli will have to figure out a way to counter Portugal's slick passing in midfield, where Luis Figo and Rui Costa are as good as any pairing in the tournament. It's time for Turkey to go to blackboard and figure out a tactical system that can contain them. Nuno Gomes is nothing special up front and, at the back, apart from Jorge Costa , Portugal is sometimes as sound as a glass skyscraper on the San Andreas Fault. There are weaknesses to exploit. England wasn't even looking for them, Germany couldn't find them, Romania did but was felled in the 94th minute. Will Turkey have better luck? Italy v. Romania: Gheorghe Hagi will be back which means anything can happen, not to mention the fact that Romania wasn't that far off from winning all three of its group games. Having said that, coach Emerich Jenei will be without defenders Cosmin Contra and Gica Popescu , wingback Dan Petrescu and striker Adrian Illie . Few teams can spot Italy four starters and get away with it. Especially since Dino Zoff has managed to get the Azzurri to keep their defensive solidity, while showing some level of creativity up front. Throw in the fact that Francesco Toldo has probably been the best goalkeeper in the tournament so far, and it doesnt look too good for Romania. Holland v. Yugoslavia: It's time for the Dutch to turn on the style in a real game (forget Wednesday's win over France's B team, that doesn't count). Frank Rijkaard's boys have not been firing on all cylinders and now would be a good time to snap out of it. As for Yugoslavia, it looks like a team held together by masking tape and raw emotion. No matter how down it gets, it never seems to go out. These guys are experienced warriors, veterans of a thousand battles, with the mental strength and sterling talent (Predrag Mijatovic, Sinisa Mihailovic, Dragan Stojkovic) to strike at any time. Plus, they have the hot goalscorer in Savo Milosevic. If any time can capitalize on Holland's sluggishness, this is it. Spain v. France: Have the perennial chokers turned it around? Is Spain finally going to play to its potential? That's the question everybody wants answered. Forget the fairy tale ending against Yugoslavia. That's once-in-a-lifetime stuff and, odds are, Roger Lemerre's team will do a better marking job on set-piece than the Yugoslavs did. Enrique Camacho needs to erase that game from memory and focus on the fact that, player for player, his boys can be equal to France. His problem is that Spain doesn't match up well with the World Champions. Spain is an attacking team with little pace at the back, and Anelka and Henry seem custom-made to exploit this on the counterattack. In midfield, Pep Guardiola will have his hands full with Zinedine Zidane , which means he'll be hard-pressed to stop "Zizou" and run the Spanish offense. The key is Raul. Big games need big performances from big stars. It's as simple as that. If Raul can step it up, Spain has a chance. If not, France could romp all the way to the final. London-based Gabriele Marcotti writes a weekly column on international soccer for CNNSI.com. To submit questions or comments to Gabriele Marcotti, click here.
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