The final has been played - the winner is found, and Poland and Ukraine is slowly going back to the every day. It is time to take a look back at the EURO 2012.
Most football fans have been surprised during this year’s
EURO. While some teams and players have played beyond expectations, others have been one big disappointment. Not many had seen Holland lose all three matches in the group stages, and Coach Bert van Marwijk has taken the consequent of it. It is hard to say what went wrong for the Dutch, but one of the answers could be the highly profiled squad. Already before the start of the competition there were problems with unhappy players.
One of the great surprises at the EURO was Italy and especially Mario Balotelli. Italy was not seen as favorites to a spot in the final, but with the help from a phenomenal Andrea Pirlo and an ice cold Mario Balotelli, the Mediterranean’s surprised us all. Balotelli has proved that even though, he is most known for his scandalous behavior he has a real talent. Question is now, if he can keep the steam up in the Premier League. If he is capable of this, he will be one of the top strikers in the world within the next couple of years. Andrea Pirlo might be in the last years of his career, but the midfielder as been one of the best at this EURO. This is supported by the fact that he has been awarded the Carlsberg Man of The Match award three times. More than anyone else during the competition. This might be his last tournament for
Italy, and the little playmaker will be missed – not only by Italians but all football fans.
We have said goodbye to many high profiled footballers this EURO. Players as Shevchenko, Milan Baros and Van Bommel has already announced their retirement, and many will follow. Like Pirlo, these players are going to be missed as they have been some key figures in European football the last century. However, we have also seen that the next generation is knocking on the door. Young players as Alan Dzagoev from Russia, Rafał Wolski from Poland and Balotelli will take over the European stage the next couple of years. Neither shall we fear to miss strikers in the future EURO competitions. Mario Gomez has proved that he is ready to take over for Klose in
Germany, and it is also worth keeping an eye on the East European countries the next couple of years. There are some goal scorers around those teams.
Even though, Poland was eliminated in the group stages, they have shown that they should be feared. The offensive line with Lewandowski, Błaszczykowski, Polanski and the upcoming Wolski can turn out to be terrifying for defends all over the world. Especially if, the players comes to larger leagues as Lewandowski is reported to
Manchester United.
Before EURO 2012, Poland and Ukraine was criticized as host nations, because of their history of hooliganism and racism. However, it has been countries like Spain, Croatia, Germany and Russia who has been the behind the cases relating to these issues. We have actually only seen one serious fight between fans, and that was when Russia met Poland. Here, the Polish police was fast to break down the riot. Well done from the host nations and I believe that, overall, have we seen a EURO played and celebrated in a good spirit.
UEFA, on the other hand, is worth criticizing, and I have made a
post about this before. No one can reject that Nicklas Bendtner shall be fined for showing his underwear sponsored by a company who is not part of the UEFA partners. However, penalizing him harder than most of the countries, which fans have been acting racist is just ridicules. UEFA really has to start penalizing racism even harder now!
Fernando Torres won the Golden Boot. Not many had seen the Spaniard winning this title, given his latest season. However, the forward paid back the faith from Del Bosque. We have also seen a EURO full of wonderfully performed goals. Some of them will be found on Great Dane Football Blog tomorrow, when I nominate the five best goals.
A wonder boy, bad boy or Superstar? There are many views on Mario Balotelli, and now the Italian is on his way to Liverpool as a replacement for Luis Suarez. 
