At last, relief for all purist football fans! WE can all once again love & admire Spain! They deservedly retained their European title by finally showcasing their rampant goal scoring touch against a gallant Italian side which themselves brought so much to the tournament.
Spain can now deservedly be considered one of the greatest teams of all time. The only mild criticism of this Spanish side in Euro 2012 was their lack of goals. They silenced their critics with their rampant 4-0 win in the final. With David Villa coming back from injury & Fernando Torres finding his goal scoring touch again, and new talent such as JORDI ALBA (in my opinion, the player of the tournament) coming through the youth system, this team can continue to win more trophies in the years to come.
And Spain's dominance once again highlighted the fact that Barcelona & Real Madrid can only be dealt with by other clubs in Europe in a 2 leg home & away format). Spain (& Real & Barcelona) can be absolutely ruthless when it counts, as evident by the final of Euro 2012.
The powerhouses of South American football better watch out! No European team has ever won the World Cup when staged in South America. But Euro 2012 proved European football, at least in the mainland, has never had it better & is in great shape.
Spain have been & are a delight to watch. As their tactically difficult passing possession game was about to turn the fans away, they turned their guns on & in a rampant performance reminded the fans what they are capable of by retaining their crown.
Italy & Germany, the professional tournament teams once again went far, but this time both teams entertained & scored delightful goals. Whilst this has been Germany's trademark for a while, Italy surprised most pundits, including me, with their attractive attacking & tactically sophisticated football, spearheaded by the rejuvenated Andrea Pirlo.
The young German side , having reached their 4th consecutive semi final in major tournaments & set a world record 15 consecutive competitive wins, made defensive as well as tactical errors against Italy.
However, their major weakness exposed vs Italy was lack of a true leader that can rally players when the chips are down. Ballack & Kahn were the last true leaders. A role that eg Pirlo perform so effectively for Italy. Both Lahm & Schweinsteiger have proven less than effective as motivating leaders both at Bayern Munich (eg vs Chelsea at CL final) & when playing for Germany. That was the undoing of the side. The legendary come back from behind Germany mentality as a result tends to be missing in the big occasions these days mainly because Germany tend to lack the inspirational leadership to rally them when they fall behind in big games. (although coming back from behind vs Italy or Spain is a tall order for any team)
Portugal were also great to watch & unlucky at times but impressed. France & Holland demonstrated they will be highly competitive & should do well in Brazil in 2014. Even the likes of Greece, Poland, Czech Republic, Ukraine & Croatia showed plenty of flair & promise.
But Spain, with its star studded side, technical superiority of leaders such as Xavi, Iniesta & Alonso, and with its highly complex tactical approach proved itself to be miles ahead of the rest, and one of the greatest teams in a once in a life time era of football for Spanish football.
As for the player of the tournament, in my view the choice is clear: Jordi Alba (Andreas Iniesta was officially chosen the player of Euro2012 but Iniesta & Xavi are legendary figures & in my view two of the greatest players of all time)
Alba, the Valencia left back had a great game in every match & capped off his tournament by scoring the brilliant second goal in the final, and by signing for Barcelona)
Ukraine & Poland organised a great tournament
Tactically the football was great
Only two matches ended scoreless
There were almost no controversial decisions based on play acting/diving etc
The final produced 4 goals (equal highest with the 1976 final) after the last two finals had ended 1-0
And in Spain, the tournament earmarked one, if not the greatest national football team of all time, a team that silenced its critics by showcasing its technical & tactical superiority when it counted the most, in the final!
