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Section 2:
business, health and environment
sPorts
eUro 2012
the best soccer teams
in europe square off
this summer
England's start striker Wayne Rooney was suspended for the first two games for an egregious foul in a
qualifying match. Photo by ian C. (CC)
by tyler allen
big Sky weekly contributor
It looks like Americans are finally paying attention to
the most popular sport in the world. Sure, every four
years the FIFA World Cup inspires a spike of interest in
the global game here at home, but that tournament can
hardly be ignored since it usually includes our national
team. Yet through the first six matches of Euro 2012,
ESPN’s live coverage averaged 1.3 million viewers from
the U.S., a three-fold increase over the network’s presentation
in 2008.
The tournament is being held in Poland and Ukraine,
and the storylines surrounding the contest are as compelling
as the soccer matchups. Many European leaders
have boycotted the matches played in Ukraine over
the continued imprisonment of former President Yulia
Tymoshenko. UEFA officials have denounced stories
of price gouging for accommodations in Ukraine in the
months prior to the start of the tournament; concern
over racial targeting there has proven accurate; and the
rancor of nationalism that often accompanies European
soccer has made headlines.
Russia was fined after its first match when fans taunted
a black player from the Czech Republic and beat up a
security guard. Dutch players were also targeted with racial
chants by a few of the 25,000 spectators at a practice
pitch before their first game. Polish officials will likely
rethink their decision to allow Russian fans to march
through the streets of Warsaw on Russia Day, prior to
the match between the two countries. Nearly 200 supporters
from both sides were arrested for fighting and
disorderly conduct as police used tear gas, water cannons
and rubber bullets to prevent an all-out riot.
As far as the soccer goes, 16 teams qualified—including
automatic bids for the two host countries—to compete
in four groups, with the top two teams in each group
moving on to the knockout stages. The teams played
each opponent in their group once, being awarded three
points for a win and one for a tie.
Spain, the defending champion, was one of the favorites
going into the tournament, having been winners of
the last World Cup and looking for a third consecutive
major championship. However, that team had a lackluster
performance in the group stage, including a 1-1 tie
with Italy and a tense 1-0 win over Croatia that was in
question until a goal in the 88th minute. While Spain
won Group C, they created surprisingly few chances and
had to rely on goalie Iker
Casillas to bail them out a
few times. Italy also survived
that group, looking
more dangerous this year
than most expected.
Germany was another
pre-tournament favorite,
with a talented, youngbut-maturing
team
that won all 10 of its
qualifying matches. They
emerged victorious from
the “Group of Death”
by beating Portugal, the
Netherlands and Denmark,
each by one goal.
Runners-up in World
Cup 2010, the disappointing
Dutch failed
to earn a single point
in the group stage after
losing a shocking opener
to Denmark 1-0. They
reached the knockout
stages in the 11 previous
major championships, but
their porous defense and
lack of cohesive offense
proved fatal. Portugal was
the runner-up in Group B,
with Christiano Ronaldo,
arguably the best player
in the tournament, finally
able to finish in the team’s
last group match against
the Dutch. After wasting
easy chances against
Denmark and early misses
in the Netherlands match,
he broke through with
two goals and clinched
explorebigsky.com
Big Sky Weekly
June 29, 2012
Volume 3 // Issue No. 13
Portugal’s entrance into the knockout round.
Group A saw a catastrophic collapse of Russia, who
opened the tournament by crushing Czech Republic
4-1, then could only manage a tie against Poland, and
finally lost to a surprising Greek team 1-0. Greece took
runner-up in the group with scrappy defense, and the
Czechs rebounded after their first loss to win Group A.
England stormed into the knockout stage thanks to a
header from returning star striker Wayne Rooney; he
was suspended for the first two games for an egregious
foul in a qualifying match. They beat host Ukraine on
the last day of the group stage, silencing a stadium filled
with yellow and blue. France was the other survivor of
Group D, after they limped into the quarterfinals following
a 2-0 loss to an already eliminated Swedish team.
Germany continued its dominant play in the quarterfinals,
as they trounced Greece 4-2, and Spain had a
methodical 2-0 win over a French team that could only
muster a few inspired counter attacks. Portugal won a
tight match over the Czech Republic 1-0 off the header
from Ronaldo, and Italy beat England in penalty kicks after
both teams failed to score in 90 minutes or extra time.
As this issue went to press, Spain had beaten Portugal in
penalty kicks after a scoreless draw and will look to defend
its crown against the winner of the other semifinal
contest played Thursday between Germany and Italy.
The final match will be Sunday July 1 in Kiev, Ukraine
(at 12:45 p.m. MST), and is sure to be a quality of soccer
you won’t see again until World Cup 2014.