Euro 2004-Portugal
Euro 2004-Portugal
Commentary by J.Chiam
Every year the celebration of one of the most watched sport in the world, football, is demonstrated through events such as World Cup, Euro, African Nations Cup, Copa America and so on. This year we have the privilege of enjoying football at the highest stage in Euro 2004, Portugal. Featuring 16 countries that have made painstaking efforts to qualify for the finals, this year’s Euro 2004 championship promised to be an exciting, enthralling event for the eyes of the world to feast on.
Euro 2004 till now
Until this current date, all group stages have proceeded at least till round 2 of the tournament. Since the opening match between Portugal and Greece, where Greece stunned the host to a 2-1 win, this Euro has slowly unveiled itself into a tournament where the underdogs have now turned into giant-slayers. Examples of these are evident where Greece held Spain to a 1-1 draw, Croatia fought gallantly against the mighty French to hold them 2-2. Latvia, a country of just 2.4 million people managed to salvage a goalless draw against world cup finalist Germany, and the most recently, the famous and most talked about come-back for the Czech Republic against fancied Holland, in a enthralling 3-2 win.
Since the exciting match between France and England, where French midfield maestro Zinedine Zidane almost single-handedly snatched victory from the English, it is evident that throughout this tournament, a 1-0 advantage does not guarantee a win. Referring to the Holland defeat by the Czechs, even a two-goal advantage is not enough to secure a win, if the team loses concentration and allows the opponent a chance to score. Many equalizers are scored during the dying moments of the match, examples as in where Swedish ace Ibrahimovich, Dutch marksman Ruud van Nistelrooy, and many other examples, managed to give their team a second chance. No longer can any team expect to score a goal and just sit back and happily defend their own half. England learnt it the hard way. Football has evolved where attacking isn’t an option anymore. Countries such as Croatia and Germany where disciplined, defending football seems to pay-off for the past few years, have no choice but to “come out and play”.
Teams,Tactics and Subsitutions
If anyone presumes that football is just individual skills trying to kick a ball into a fishing net, he’s definitely not understand the religion of football. Team formation, tactics and substitutions contribute to 90% of the gameplay. Since the beginning when England first invented football, experts and coaches have been pondering and spending sleepless nights trying to maximize the use of their players most effectively. Every formation of football displays the characteristic and approach of every team towards the game.
The most favored and most used 4-4-2 formation is adapted highly by countries such as Germany, Croatia, France, Spain, Portugal, Greece, etc. This is because this formation covers entirely the whole pitch, giving enough width at the same time strength to the midfield for the team to control the game flow. At the same time a four-man defence not only gives a solid back four, but also gives a balance and a chance for the full backs to move forward to provide attacking options. Twin strikers in front are always effective and can be devastating if both strikers can work wonderfully well. Examples where some teams rely heavily upon the striking duo include Andy Cole and Dwight Yorke of Manchester United, where this combination helped the club achieve a feat where none other English club has ever done, which is winning the treble.
There are also other formations, usually depending upon the qualities of every individual player also. Formations such as 3-5-2, 4-5-1, or even Holland’s favourite 4-3-3 are all at the manager’s disposal. England’s manager Sven Goran Eriksson spent most of his time sharpening the edge of his favored diamond formation, 4-1-2-1-2, but ironically was consulted by his players to revert back to the traditional 4-4-2, where they beat the Swiss by 3-0. There are certain managers that form their formation base on star players. An example is France, where when Zidane is absent, another formation is used. Italy’s manager Trappatoni uses a formation to suit his star player, Francesco Totti, deliberately granting him all permission to roam the field as he pleases, as he said during the interview, “ Limiting Totti would be like caging a roaring lion.”
One of the qualities to judge a football manager of any club or country would be his decisions during game play. A good manager would be one who can read the game easily, sniff out the opponent’s weakness and take precautions to counter it. There is why substitution is very important, some much so that sometimes it can prove to be a key to victory. Some people would ask, what is the use to substitutions? Substitutions, which is done generally during the end of the game, is meant to provide fresh legs to the tiring warriors out in the pitch. Certain managers choose to unleash their fastest attackers during this times, where the opponent’s defenders are starting to see stars.
Substitutions can be also an indication of the team’s approach regarding the game. Introducing a defensive midfielder and taking out strikers would indicate that the team is ready to defend the advantage that they might have. On the other hand, unleashing strikers and taking out their defence would mean that the team is ready to bombard the opponent with everything they’ve got. So is the case of the most recent game of Portugal vs Spain, where with Portugal having scored one goal, Spain manager Inaki Saez has no choice but to field 3 strikers, releasing star striker Fernando Morientes to try to salvage the game but to no avail. Sometimes, managers make wrong decisions and field the wrong players as well. As in the case of England vs France, fielding bench- warmer Emile Heskey in place of wonder-boy-teen-sensation Wayne Rooney prove to be a mistake as it was Emile who conceded a clumsy foul on France, allowing Zidane to unleash a powerful freekick which could go down into history as one of best goals of the game.
All in all, teams, tactics and substitutions are fundamentals of competitive football, sometimes to the extend of certain teams training in secret for fear of unveiling their tactics, an example Holland, and many teams often choose to unveil their starting line-ups and formation only at the final moment, as to prevent opponent from taking counter measures.
Conclusion
To conclude this segment of Euro 2004 generally, it is a joy to every football fan around the world to see every country proudly fielding their home-grown stars, a delight to everyone to see football played at the highest stage, a dream to see dazzling skills and tricks by these professional footballers, and finally a chance by all to support whole-heartedly the country they have belief and hope to achieve this glorious success. This is probably why the great football legend Pele called this game, The Beautiful Game.
Commentary by J.Chiam
Every year the celebration of one of the most watched sport in the world, football, is demonstrated through events such as World Cup, Euro, African Nations Cup, Copa America and so on. This year we have the privilege of enjoying football at the highest stage in Euro 2004, Portugal. Featuring 16 countries that have made painstaking efforts to qualify for the finals, this year’s Euro 2004 championship promised to be an exciting, enthralling event for the eyes of the world to feast on.
Euro 2004 till now
Until this current date, all group stages have proceeded at least till round 2 of the tournament. Since the opening match between Portugal and Greece, where Greece stunned the host to a 2-1 win, this Euro has slowly unveiled itself into a tournament where the underdogs have now turned into giant-slayers. Examples of these are evident where Greece held Spain to a 1-1 draw, Croatia fought gallantly against the mighty French to hold them 2-2. Latvia, a country of just 2.4 million people managed to salvage a goalless draw against world cup finalist Germany, and the most recently, the famous and most talked about come-back for the Czech Republic against fancied Holland, in a enthralling 3-2 win.
Since the exciting match between France and England, where French midfield maestro Zinedine Zidane almost single-handedly snatched victory from the English, it is evident that throughout this tournament, a 1-0 advantage does not guarantee a win. Referring to the Holland defeat by the Czechs, even a two-goal advantage is not enough to secure a win, if the team loses concentration and allows the opponent a chance to score. Many equalizers are scored during the dying moments of the match, examples as in where Swedish ace Ibrahimovich, Dutch marksman Ruud van Nistelrooy, and many other examples, managed to give their team a second chance. No longer can any team expect to score a goal and just sit back and happily defend their own half. England learnt it the hard way. Football has evolved where attacking isn’t an option anymore. Countries such as Croatia and Germany where disciplined, defending football seems to pay-off for the past few years, have no choice but to “come out and play”.
Teams,Tactics and Subsitutions
If anyone presumes that football is just individual skills trying to kick a ball into a fishing net, he’s definitely not understand the religion of football. Team formation, tactics and substitutions contribute to 90% of the gameplay. Since the beginning when England first invented football, experts and coaches have been pondering and spending sleepless nights trying to maximize the use of their players most effectively. Every formation of football displays the characteristic and approach of every team towards the game.
The most favored and most used 4-4-2 formation is adapted highly by countries such as Germany, Croatia, France, Spain, Portugal, Greece, etc. This is because this formation covers entirely the whole pitch, giving enough width at the same time strength to the midfield for the team to control the game flow. At the same time a four-man defence not only gives a solid back four, but also gives a balance and a chance for the full backs to move forward to provide attacking options. Twin strikers in front are always effective and can be devastating if both strikers can work wonderfully well. Examples where some teams rely heavily upon the striking duo include Andy Cole and Dwight Yorke of Manchester United, where this combination helped the club achieve a feat where none other English club has ever done, which is winning the treble.
There are also other formations, usually depending upon the qualities of every individual player also. Formations such as 3-5-2, 4-5-1, or even Holland’s favourite 4-3-3 are all at the manager’s disposal. England’s manager Sven Goran Eriksson spent most of his time sharpening the edge of his favored diamond formation, 4-1-2-1-2, but ironically was consulted by his players to revert back to the traditional 4-4-2, where they beat the Swiss by 3-0. There are certain managers that form their formation base on star players. An example is France, where when Zidane is absent, another formation is used. Italy’s manager Trappatoni uses a formation to suit his star player, Francesco Totti, deliberately granting him all permission to roam the field as he pleases, as he said during the interview, “ Limiting Totti would be like caging a roaring lion.”
One of the qualities to judge a football manager of any club or country would be his decisions during game play. A good manager would be one who can read the game easily, sniff out the opponent’s weakness and take precautions to counter it. There is why substitution is very important, some much so that sometimes it can prove to be a key to victory. Some people would ask, what is the use to substitutions? Substitutions, which is done generally during the end of the game, is meant to provide fresh legs to the tiring warriors out in the pitch. Certain managers choose to unleash their fastest attackers during this times, where the opponent’s defenders are starting to see stars.
Substitutions can be also an indication of the team’s approach regarding the game. Introducing a defensive midfielder and taking out strikers would indicate that the team is ready to defend the advantage that they might have. On the other hand, unleashing strikers and taking out their defence would mean that the team is ready to bombard the opponent with everything they’ve got. So is the case of the most recent game of Portugal vs Spain, where with Portugal having scored one goal, Spain manager Inaki Saez has no choice but to field 3 strikers, releasing star striker Fernando Morientes to try to salvage the game but to no avail. Sometimes, managers make wrong decisions and field the wrong players as well. As in the case of England vs France, fielding bench- warmer Emile Heskey in place of wonder-boy-teen-sensation Wayne Rooney prove to be a mistake as it was Emile who conceded a clumsy foul on France, allowing Zidane to unleash a powerful freekick which could go down into history as one of best goals of the game.
All in all, teams, tactics and substitutions are fundamentals of competitive football, sometimes to the extend of certain teams training in secret for fear of unveiling their tactics, an example Holland, and many teams often choose to unveil their starting line-ups and formation only at the final moment, as to prevent opponent from taking counter measures.
Conclusion
To conclude this segment of Euro 2004 generally, it is a joy to every football fan around the world to see every country proudly fielding their home-grown stars, a delight to everyone to see football played at the highest stage, a dream to see dazzling skills and tricks by these professional footballers, and finally a chance by all to support whole-heartedly the country they have belief and hope to achieve this glorious success. This is probably why the great football legend Pele called this game, The Beautiful Game.
0 Comments:
Post a Comment
<< Home