The group stage has come to an end at the Euros and it’s
been eventful to say the least. While the average goals scored per game
remained a lowly 1.92, there’s no denying the quality of football that has been
on display in the tournament so far. More significantly, the underdog fever
seems to have spilled right over from the Barclays Premier League to the
ongoing tournament. While this is the first edition of the Euros to have 24
teams vying for top honours, UEFA’s new rule for third placed teams to qualify
seems to have brought the best out of lower-ranked teams. And boy have they
managed to upset the apple cart!
Iceland unanimously tops the list of underdogs that
impressed. With a population of a little over 300,000 and a small pool of professional
and mostly semi-professional players, they began their campaign by ruffling the
feathers of Cristiano Ronaldo’s Portugal in a gritty 1-1 draw. To prove it
wasn’t by accident, they drew again with higher-ranked Hungary before showing
incredible character in a decisive 2-1 win against Austria clinched by a
stoppage time goal. And with the kind of spirit and clutch plays they have
made, there’s every reason to call them the Leicester of the Euros. The
Republic of Ireland clearly seemed to be on their way out after picking up a
point from the first two games, drawing 1-1 with Sweden and going down 0-3 to
Belgium. But the hardened Irishmen just refused to go out of the competition
when a late header by Robbie Brady stunned Italian fans as the Azzuri went down
to the Irish by the solitary goal and Ireland went through to the next stage.
Neighbors Northern Ireland are not far behind as they made
full use of the third-place rule and booking their spot in the Round of 16.
They defeated Ukraine 2-0 and lost out narrowly to both Poland and Germany by
identical margins of 0-1, putting up impressive performances in the group
stage. Striker Kyle Lafferty has already grabbed a few headlines but
interestingly, it’s goalie Michael McGovern who’s creating the most waves in
the football world, drawing comparisons with some of the greats and also being
hailed as one of the reasons why they’ve maintained a decent goal difference.
The Slovakians will also be looking to make some headway going into the next
stage of the tournament. Team talisman and striker Marek Hamsik has already become
the darling of the Slovakian fans after the striker’s crucial strike against
Russia took the team to the next stage, having lost 1-2 to Wales and going on
to a goalless draw against England.
But champion teams are champions for a reason and it would
probably be a little too optimistic to hope for a Leicester-like story for any
of these minnows. France are taking shape with the likes of Dimitri Payet and
Paul Pogba. England’s Jamie Vardy is regularly blitzing across opposition
defenders and Spain’s Andres Iniesta has just aged like wine, seems to get
better with age. With teams loaded with talent, exciting football is yet to
come.
Author’s Bio: Goldengoals.com is a football website detailing
about football events, match results, transfers and other news. Visit their
Facebook and Twitter pages to stay updated on the latest news.
No comments:
Post a Comment