Euro 2016 Group stage Round 1

So “matchday 1” is over and it is worth a quick review, I think.

I am a huge fan of tournament football and I make every attempt to watch every single game, which is possible due to the importance given to football in the UK^[1]. Having now seen every team in the tournament, what have we learnt and what have we seen?

Expanded competition.

The naysayers said that this would be a weak tournament with too many weak teams and mismatches throughout. Of the twelve games so far, I do not think a single one could be described as a battering with all teams making a good account of themselves. The largest margin of victory is two goals but all games have been kept alive (i.e. only a goal in it) into the last few minutes with Hungary killing the game in the 87th and both Germany and Italy into injury time – all on counters. And I think it is also fair to say that Italy and Hungary were seen as surprising victors in their games.

It has been a very good, tight tournament so far. The level has been high and that is in both attack and defence and this has reminded me, more so than a few recent tournaments, of my youth. The tactical discipline and awareness is of a great level and the teams have all had solid, understandable gameplans going into their matches and this is in an era where club football, with its ability to get a far greater cohesion, is in the ascendancy. This does suggest a general improvement in the overall level of European football. 

Europe has a number of teams of quite varying standards over time – look at who is not even in this mammoth tournament – notable teams to have failed to qualify are: the Netherlands ('88 champions), Denmark ('92 champions), Greece ('04 champions) and other sometime major teams like Norway, Scotland etc. But, and this may be where I differ from others in terms of the purpose of tournament football, there are also teams with potentially brighter futures that should be nurtured. In my opinion, the purpose of the regional confederations, like UEFA, is to promote the sport and improve the quality of that region. I think this view may be shaped by my time in Japan, but the way that football can flower in previously quiet places is truly amazing. And I think UEFA have a responsibility, a duty of care you might say, to help their nations do well and improve - which they do with providing practice for the European nations for the World Cup. For example, if Wales make it to the next World Cup, they will be far better placed to approach that with a Euros under their belt. If you agree with that, in many ways it does not matter too much if the games are close or not - less established teams are practising their tournament approach and getting goals or working on their defence in order to prepare for the future.
Whether the games remain as tight is up for debate - for many teams the focus on the first game is different to the group. Smaller teams may be aiming for a solid start, or concentrating on on their introduction to the big scene where bigger teams may want to ease themselves in like Italy of yore...

Never underestimate Italy

The last terrible Italy team managed to get to the Euro finals in 2012^[2] so we should not be too surprised that their mentality can make up for a weakness in playing talent. They are not lacking mid-level quality but there are few that would be namechecked as the best around unlike the teams of the past. Even so, they took the hipster's choice (maybe for 2014 - possibly too mainstream now) of Belgium for a lesson in tournament football. I think Pelle's is probably my favourite of the round. Beautifully cutting through on the counter and then a pass for an open goal yet emphatically finished.

Roll on round 2. The fact that up to three teams can progress means that it really is all to play for going into the round.

^{1. I think I may have seen every single Euro match on TV since the final of 1988, definitely every game since Euro 96. In all honestly, I was a week ago wondering whether it was going to be worth it - watching an England friendly against Portugal was almost enough to put me off. Almost.↩}

^{2. It was also, rather bizarrely, when it felt like the commentators on TV seemed to discover the wonderful Andrea Pirlo (and this article is almost as wonderful). I had spent many years admiring Pirlo and many of my friends shared my love of his finesse - this was not always the case with people I knew less well.↩}