Round
two of the European Championships is done and dusted and the picture now looks
a whole lot clearer with one group game left. Although only the fates of
Germany, Sweden and the Republic of Ireland have been sealed, the other 13
nations are still mathematically in with a chance of reaching the knockout
stages of the competition. Here are the things that caught our eye this week:
HEROES
Theo
Walcott – The one-time boy wonder has been dining out on one tremendous
international performance for a number of years now. Well, at least he has
something to replace the hat trick in Croatia with. England looked down and out
after the Swedes produced a comeback from nowhere that left the Three Lions
staring down the barrel. Roy Hodgson sent on Walcott though and he made an
immediate impact, sending a swerving 25-yard drive past Andreas Isaksson (who
made an absolute howler coincidentally). More surprisingly, Theo also provided
the assist for the winner, crossing for Welbeck to level. His cross completion
rate was 100%, a fact that someone needs to frame. It will never be seen again.
Fernando
Torres – Say what you like about his record at Chelsea, indeed many people
already have, but it takes a strong character to recover from the abuse he’s
suffered this year. He may have been poor against Italy, but he looked in
sparkling form against the Irish, as bad as they were. Two goals should
revitalise his confidence and nudge him up in the Spanish pecking order. Golden
boot anyone?
Mario
Gomes – He’s been in possession for a total of 22 seconds at this tournament,
yet he’s scored three goals. Gomes is the ultimate poacher and with the German
midfield providing plenty of ammunition, you’d expect the Bayern hitman to
continue his lethal form in front of goal. He’s also bagged his goals against
two of the better sides at the competition, the Netherlands and Portugal.
Croatia
– Slaven Bilic’s men were barely mentioned at the start of the tournament,
mainly thanks to the presence of Spain and Italy in their group. However,
they’ve been excellent so far with Modric pulling the strings in midfield,
taking four points from their two games. Group C also has seen the emergence of
a new Super Mario and not the one we expected to take centre stage. Mario
Mandzukic has looked very dangerous in attack alongside Everton’s Jelavic and a
2-2 draw with Spain would be enough to send them through to the next round.
Jakub
Błaszczykowski – Cometh the hour, cometh the man. With Poland 1-0 down to
Russia, a result that would have left them struggling in Group A, the captain
stepped forward to fire home one of the goals of the tournament so far. He beat
the first man before driving home a sensational strike. Poland weren’t great
against the Russians, but at least their fate is now in their own hands.
ZEROS
Giovanni
Trapattoni – The wily old Italian may have pulled off a masterstroke in getting
the Irish to the tournament in the first place, but his stubborn refusal to
change his system or team selection ensured his side are the first ones heading
for the plane home. There’s no shame in losing to the Spanish, but they simply
capitulated after the early goal while they were woeful against the Croatians
as well. It’s obvious to everyone that James McClean should have been on the
pitch, while the boss needs to solve Ireland’s inability to keep hold of the
ball. Disappointing for the fans.
Sweden
– For a side so usually competitive at major tournaments, the Swedes have been
awful this time around. They failed to deal with the wave of nationalistic
emotion that swept Ukraine to victory in the first game and apart from twenty
minutes and two Olof Mellberg headers, England made the Swedes look like Graham
Taylor’s prize turnips. See you inevitably next time boys.
Cristiano
Ronaldo – What a joy it is to include CR7 in this list for once. However, it’s
probably the level of expectation that surrounds him that intensifies the
scrutiny of his performances. His coach Paulo Bento has come out and defended
his form but there’s no doubt there’s something wrong with the second best
player in world football. If he was ineffective against Germany, he was
positively dreadful against the Danes, missing a couple of chances that Emile
Heskey would expect to put away with his eyes closed. Portugal’s fortuitous 3-2
win had almost nothing to do with their skipper.
Hooligans
– Once again, hooliganism is proving a scour on the beautiful game. If the
tournament hasn’t suffered enough thanks the constant allegations of racism,
the last thing it needed was a mass brawl between the hosts Poland and the
Russians. The boys scrapping in Warsaw aren’t exactly your Danny Dyer
impressionists that the English game occasionally sees these days, but proper
headcases. The issue has become as problematic in Eastern Europe as it was for
England in the 1980’s. At least we’re not involved this time round.
The
Netherlands – What has happened to Bert van Marwijk’s side? They’ve gone from
World Cup finalists to Euro disaster in a single stroke. The combative, yet
stylish side that lit up South Africa is almost unrecognisable and the likes of
Van Persie, Sneijder and Robben just haven’t performed. They need a huge slice
of luck otherwise an early exit beckons.
By The Coin Toss
Twitter: https://twitter.com/The_CoinToss
