By Mohamed Jaward Nyallay
Last night saw the end of the group stage phase of the European championship. As some teams have progressed, some had long since gone home and others clinched their fist in hope of progression till 10pm on Wednesday night .
This tournament has been different from previous editions. For a start, it is an extended edition; with 24 teams participating now instead of the usual 16. The whole extension idea was the brainchild of the UEFA President, Michel Platini.
What this has done is that smaller teams who always came so close to qualifying actually got a chance now to reach to the finals of the tournament. Teams like Wales, Albania, Hungary, Slovakia, Northern Ireland and Iceland have all benefitted immensely from this new format. All these teams have actually proved a point; that they really deserve to be in France .
Their performance so far in the tournament explains it all. Wales finished top of group B, above England. Hungary had a chance to top their group and Slovakia and Northern Ireland managed to qualify as two of the four best third place teams. Their performances have given the tournament something new; surprise.
But this 24 team format has also come at a cost. For a start, the expansion benefits TV stations and business franchise more than the players and the fans. This is so because they bring more money to the UEFA, that might be a bit of a defense.
But here is the down side, fans from Albania have to wait extra two days to know whether they are still in the competition or not. Fans of Turkey as well will had to wait for one more day after their game against Czech Republic .
Turkey’s win in group D ensured Northern Ireland’s qualification in group C. This is so because; their progress to the round of 16 was attached to the outcome of other games in other groups. Bizarre!
It is true that football fans want intrigue, drama and suspense in tournaments, but they want to see all that on the pitch, not on some complex mathematics table.
The same bad mathematics is robbing group winners like Italy a great chance of further progression.
Group E winner Italy, deserved an easier draw; perhaps with a third place team. But, NO; instead they get to play the runners up in Group C, defending champions, Spain.
You would understand that sometimes teams get unlucky with draws in tournaments, but Italy’s draw was not unlucky, it was unfair.
The Solution or Dissolution?
All this has made the tournament look more like a complex algorithm rather than a simple format football competition . To solve the problem, in future, the tournament could be expanded to 32 teams, so 16 teams could progress straight off to the knockout stages.
The down side to this future solution is that the quality of matches that you would have in the tournament would drastically reduce, because every fringe team would have the opportunity to qualify.
The insistence on tournament quality was one of the main reasons why the English and German Football Associations did not support Platini’s idea of tournament extension back in 2008.
Germany coach, Joachim Lowe, was even quoted saying: “The 16 teams was ideal. It made for great tournament, right from match day one.”
This same problem is currently affecting the UEFA Champions League.
Because there are 32 teams qualifying for the Champions League, average teams, mostly from the Eastern European bloc just get there for the beating and collection of fat revenue. The real quality matches only set in after the group stage. And such a drastic evolution of performance from the group stage to the knock out stage has been the major criticism of the competition in recent years.
In the past, there have been mute talks about establishing a super league, with only bigger and more established teams like AC Milan, Juventus, Real Madrid, Barcelona and other top teams in Europe to participate.
The talks have faded so far, but one cannot rule this out in the near future.
The football on the pitch
On the pitch itself the tournament has not produced too much spark. There have been few brilliant displays from unexpected oppositions but apart from that, nothing amazing has happened.
Power houses like Germany and hosts France have gone through, not necessarily with the ruthlessness as most people expected.
Defending champions Spain looked to be cruising on top form until they got a rude awakening against Croatia on Tuesday evening. They lost 2-1 and finished second behind Croatia.
Italy have done more good than most people could give them credit for. They won their group with a game to spear.
And as usual, our good old England are still their normal self, underperforming once again in another major tournament. Despite their progress, but they themselves know that they are nowhere close to being their best.
These are status of teams so far. On an individual level, perhaps the most brilliant player in the whole tournament has been Spain’s Andres Iniesta. He is such a genius of a player; he mesmerizes everyone with his displays.
Arsenal’s new boy, Granit Xhaka has been good on the ball as well.
The tournament has not been one for strikers so far, especially the usual suspects. Cristiano Ronaldo, Zlatan Ibrahimovic and Harry Kane were all on fire heading in to this tournament, but they have all continued to misfire in France so far.
Back to the teams, the jury is still out on whether France can march on and win the tournaments as hosts. Their group displays haven’t helped their confidence so far. Two scrappy wins and a draw? It is not good enough for a potential champion.
Germany and Spain are your best bet for the finals. World champions, Germany have gone through their group stage affair with precision, even though many expected thorough German ruthlessness right from the opening game against Ukraine. They won two of their group games and drew one. They did so whiles scoring three goals and conceding none in the process. You have to respect them. Every team would dread the chance to face them.
La Roja know now that they are fallible. That Tuesday evening defeat against Croatia showed other teams that they can still give up possession against Spain and win. But make no mistake, they still have enough depth, quality and finesse to cruise pass anyone in this tournament. On their day they could annihilate France or may be even Germany. They could make that Croatia defeat look like a flash in the pan.
In all of this, watch out for the Azzuri. Antonia Conte and his group of Italian men are not the ones to overlook easily. They have not been magnificent, but like Germany and Spain, they have been efficient when they need to be. Plus, they have a manager with so much fire in his belly for winning, probably more than any other coach in the tournament.
With this, the tournament continues. Good luck to your best team.
(C) Politico 23/06/16
