Here are a couple of largely
uncontroversial statements connected with tonight’s international at
Wembley. 1) Spain are the
favourites to beat England; 2) England are not serious contenders to win Euro
2012.
On the basis that half-decent journalism is
about stating something other than the bleedin’ obvious, here are a couple of
others. 1) Spain would be the
favourites whoever they were playing, except possibly Germany; 2) Nobody are
serious contenders to win Euro 2012, except Spain and Germany.
This is a particularly odd time for
international football. It is
under attack from many directions, one of which comprises the notion that the
international game is of significantly less quality than top level European club
football.
And yet. The last World Cup had the best knockout stage – surely the
best measure for the quality of a tournament – of any since 1998. There is an argument – a contrary one,
perhaps, but not indefensible – that this is a golden era of international
football. It is quite possible
that Spain and Germany are the two best sides in international football
history.
Certainly, they are among the most
consistent. It is quite possible
that, come the end of next year’s European Championship, Spain and Germany will
have both gone three straight major tournaments (excluding Spain at the 2009
FIFA Confederations Cup) having been knocked out only by each other. Along with hosts Brazil, they will be
the favourites to win the 2014 World Cup.
Yet the build up to the Spain match has
consisted of little more than hand-wriging comparisons between the technique of
the Spanish squad players and their English counterparts. Granted, if you compare David Silva and
Juan Mata with James Milner and Gareth Barry
, or Fernando Torres and Fernando
Llorente with Danny Welbeck and Gabriel Agbonlahor, you will probably not
conclude that England are European Champions elect. But the same game can be played with France, Italy, Portugal;
indeed, any of the major nations in Europe.
Only the Dutch are realistic challengers to
the Germany-Spain axis. They have
a recent record almost as consistent as the ‘big two’ and, unlike Spain, also
tend to do well in friendlies. So
where does that leave the rest? Is
Euro 2012 a waste of time for England, Italy and France; never mind Denmark,
Sweden and Greece? Of course not.
International tournaments do something
peculiar to the passage of time; unfancied teams can suddenly become brilliant
(Italy 1982, Romania 1994, Brazil 2002) while apparently strong sides can
collapse (France 2002, Italy 2010).
Just as new generations can come of age, so can experienced quality
quickly become past it.
English football culture prides itself on
the dedication of its fans. Yet
the ‘thick and thin’ principle now appears to apply solely to club fans, who
loyally follow their side despite consecutive relegations. Yet why does this not apply to the
international side? England go
through a spell of poor results and suddenly are treated as a burden, a
distraction which must be endured.
England are, quite properly, ranked as one of the top eight sides in the
world. I do not find the side a
national embarrassment and nor should anybody else.
Besides, if Greece can win the European
Championship…
