Finally, this year’s international football fiesta is over. Spain has taken the cup back to Madrid from Vienna. They won’t get it for keeps, but still they can claim that their Europe’s greatest football prowess, atleast for now.
Euro 2008 has seen the rise of many new teams, and the fall of the old powerhouses of Europe. The rise of Turkey and Russia has been the most noted of all these. Russia beat Sweden to enter the semi-finals after a staggering loss in the group stages to Spain. The games coming after that saw a new avatar saving Russia from the clutches of defeat, Andrei Arshavin. Together with Roman Pavlyuchenko, Russia looked promising until they had to face superiors Spain again in the semi-finals.
Turkey also, under the leadership of Fatih Terim, have showcased their talent again. After becoming third placed in the 2002 Korea-Japan World Cup, Turkey again did not qualify for World Cup 2006 at Germany. Finally, under the leadership of Fatih Terim and captaincy of Nihat Kahveci, Turkey made it to the semis after a stunning comeback in extra-time, thanks to a goal by Semih Senturk. Turkey had to face Germany in the semis, and they did well over there too. Ugur Boral made no mistake and created ripples in the net in the 22nd minute itself, giving Turkey an edge over their rivals. But Turkey do not have the history of keeping their lead for long. Bastian Schweinsteiger, who became an international phenomenon after his stunning performance in the tourney, hit the net 4 minutes after Ugur’s goal. The match was back in a deadlock. Miroslav Klose got a goal for himself in the second half, but Turkey hit back with Sabri crossing to Semih Senturk. Semih made no mistake. As the game looked poised for another extra-time or penalty shootout decider, Philipp Lahm broke through Turkey defensive wall to make it 3-2. Turkey, sadly, missed an opportunity to make it to the finals.
The Euro 2008 has created a niche for players to get signed by big clubs and get a name for themselves. Samir Nasri, Andrei Arshavin, Arda Turan, Jose Bosingwa and Nihat Kahveci will see themselves getting signed by some big club. Nasri seems to be going with Arsenal, and Bosingwa has already been signed up by English football major Chelsea. Arshavin has been approached by both Arsenal and Chelsea, and also by Newcastle United. Woah!!these players seem to becoming superstars in just a single day, and a single superb goal.
Well, I too enjoyed the Euro 08. Here’s my dream team:
GK : Buffon, Casillas and Van Der Sar
DEF : Bosingwa, Lahm, Marchena, Pepe, Puyol, Zhirkov, Sergio Ramos
MID : Altintop, Modric, Senna, Xavi, Zyryanov, Ballack, Fabregas, Iniesta. Ronaldo, Tuncay, Deco
ST: Podolski, Sneijder, Arshavin, Pavlyuchenko, Torres, Villa, Schweinsteiger, van Persie, Nihat
This turns out to be a fabulous team after recreating it in Fifa 07, although Bosingwa, Zhirkov, Modric, Zyryanov, Arshavin and Pavlyuchenko are missing. Create them in the creation central and the end-result will be a five star star-studded team winning all matches without any difficulties. Fatigue might be a problem, but when you’ve got so many stars in your team, substituting the fatigued player won’t make much difference to the team.
