The format of Euro 2020 is flawed. And has come in for significant stick. Allowing third-place teams through from the group stage and runners up playing runners up was all done to increase the number of matches, creating a round of 16 where none used to exist as a means of generating extra reven… okay, fair enough, you win this one Uefa.
Here’s a countdown of Monday’s ridiculousness:
10) Mislav Orsic, game-changer
Few players at this tournament have had a more circuitous route to the top than Orsic. At 28, he only started his first competitive game for Croatia in March. He left Rijeka in 2016 for South Korea and China before returning home to Dinamo Zagreb two years later.
And yet Orsic, given his first tournament minutes against Spain, changed the game. His direct running and ball retention spooked tired opponents, hauling Croatia back into the tie and forcing extra time. If a projected summer move comes off, can you think of a player who has bloomed later in his professional career?
9) Paul Pogba’s flat pass
We’re not going to forget Pogba’s outrageous goal in a hurry, regaining his balance after a slip to curl his shot into the corner of the goal where the spiders live. But just as outrageous was Pogba’s pass shortly afterwards, volleyed from hip height with enough backspin to hold the ball up for Kingsley Coman and enough inside-out bend to avoid interception and allow Coman to advance onto it.
Perhaps this was Pogba’s career in microcosm, an array of gorgeous moments before the attention switched to him losing possession for Switzerland’s third goal. As a relative neutral, he remains the most watchable midfielder – for better and for worse – in world football.
8) Unai Simon, villain to hero
It was a portent of things to come. When Pedri played a 49-yard pass from halfway to relieve the pressure of Crostia’s press, Unai Simon stretched out a foot to control the ball but made the fatal mistake of thinking two moves ahead. Players are taught to play backpasses wide of the goal to avoid this exact scenario, but no blame can be laid at Pedri’s feet. Simon saw his future international career disappear from view.
And yet Spain would not have qualified without Simon, whose impossible save at the start of extra-time gave his teammates the same jolt of energy as Hugo Lloris’ penalty save in the later game. Do not underestimate the mental resolve required to rid your mind of your highest-profile blunder and use it as fuel for instant karmic atonement.
7) Granit Xhaka’s masterpiece
It is precisely because we know what Xhaka can be that makes him so utterly infuriating. At his best he is the complete holding midfielder, charging into tackles, harrying opponents and with a passing range that makes managers purr. So rarely do we see all three in combination at Arsenal – and, crucially, without the ill-discipline that has dogged his time in England.
Against France, Xhaka produced arguably the best performance of his career. He had 18 more touches than any of his teammates, had comfortably the best passing accuracy, committed two fouls in 120 minutes against a wonderful array of attacking opponents and assisted a goal. This is the Xhaka that you want to build your midfield around.
6) Alvaro Morata’s redemption
If the cliche about a striker only worrying when they aren’t getting chances to miss rings true, Morata had not got the memo. There are few players so obviously enveloped by ennui after a spurned opportunity than him. Monday brought reports of abuse towards his family over his profligacy at this tournament; the notion that elite footballers have things easy loses all of its weight.
There is no reason for me – or anyone else – to feel huge sympathy towards a striker missing chances, but the involuntary yelps across England after Morata took down the ball with one foot and lashed it past Dominik Livaković with the other revealed our subconscious compassion. If anybody deserved to find redemption amid the chaos, it was him. Winner in the final, anyone?
Euro 2020 results
- Spain 3-3 (5-3 aet) Croatia
- France 3-3 (4-5 pens) Switzerland
5) Karim Benzema’s Bergkamp creation
The ‘did he mean it?’ debates are built on a fallacy. As with Dennis Bergkamp against Newcastle United, Benzema probably didn’t expect his turn to come off quite as perfectly as it did. But that’s not the point: Both forwards produced their astonishing piece of improvised skill out of hope rather than expectation. Of course they needed some good fortune for they could not know exactly how the ball would beat the flat-footed defender. That they even tried it is worthy of our praise.
This has been an odd tournament for Benzema, who for long periods sat on the periphery of France’s matches and yet ends it with four goals. For all the fallout of France’s early exit, Didier Deschamps at least has some vindication for that call.
4) Increased substitutions add to the chaos
When a manager only has three substitutions to play with, the tendency is to react to match situations: Striker comes on for defender when chasing a game, defender comes on for striker when saving one, a single substitute is left in case of emergency.
This tournament has flipped that on its head. During extra-time in Croatia vs Spain, only eight of the original 20 outfield players remained on the pitch. That produced the comical situation where fresh-legged introductions were in direct competition with fatigued opponents and only added to the chaos. We worried that five subs (six in extra-time) may break up the flow of matches. On Monday, they facilitated that flow. More of this, please.
3) Football’s new meme
It’s the best thing in the whole damn world:
2) Mbappe left all alone
You can tell an awful lot about the togetherness of a group by their response to heartbreak. When Kylian Mbappe missed France’s crucial penalty, his disappointed teammates should have consoled him and reminded him that he will get many more shots at international glory. Instead, Mbappe was left to trudge from the pitch alone. More Swiss players offered their support than French; that is a damning indictment.
Mbappe had a rotten tournament given the hype. That does not mean that he is a fraud nor that he “just has some pace”. But his solitude as he left the field raises questions about the delicate dynamics within the French squad and probably offers evidence of why Mbappe may prefer to move abroad this summer or next. It’s time for a change.
1) You forgot to be worried
Had France scored two first-half goals against the Swiss and coasted to victory, thoughts in England would inevitably have wandered to what was to follow. There are two times when I am envious of those who don’t like football: the 24 hours before an England knockout match and the 20 minutes after we have been eliminated. The key is to mitigate the first period by keeping busy, squashing those nerves deep into your psyche.
Monday was the perfect preparation. For six glorious hours we could ignore the debates over back three or four, Grealish, Saka or Foden, whether England could actually take one of their early chances rather than hitting the post and the mental preparation for potential doom if the worst happens. This was football as pure aesthetic wonder rather than as a conduit to interminable angst. We could all get used to it.
More from i on Euro 2020
- England aren’t ‘rubbish’ and Southgate isn’t a ‘fraud’ – we just need a bit of patience
- What the Premier League could learn from Euro 2020’s controversy-free referees
- The football nomad who became a hero for his role in saving Eriksen’s life
- How Ronaldo’s Coca-Cola stunt could change the face of football sponsorship
- How to watch every Euro 2020 match on TV and online in the UK
from Football – inews.co.uk https://ift.tt/3y0TFsD
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