The biggest winners and losers of Euro 2016
It was the best of Euros (the atmosphere, the new stars, the Cinderella stories) and it was the worst of Euros (the disappointing level of play, the format, the hooliganism).
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So let’s, with Euro 2016 now in the books, separate the good from the bad.
THE LOSERS
France
The French had every opportunity to win a third straight major tournament on home soil – after the 1998 World Cup and Euro 1984. They dominated Portugal early in the final and had the better chances until very late on. In the 92nd minute, in fact, substitute Andre-Pierre Gignac hit the inside of the post after ripping through the Portuguese defense. But Les Bleus let it all slip away in extra time.
That’s their failure. They were the more talented team.
Spain
The dynasty is well and truly over. After the Euro-World Cup-Euro three-peat, Spain is mortal again. And Vicente Del Bosque, who oversaw the last two of those titles, is no longer the manager, having resigned.
After the Spanish flamed out in the group stage during their World Cup title defense in Brazil two years ago, they were cunningly eliminated by Italy in the round of 16 of the Euro. The likes of Andres Iniesta, Sergio Busquets, Sergio Ramos, David Silva and Gerard Pique are still in their prime, while other talent has broken through, but Spain isn’t imperious anymore.
England
At this point, it’s getting hard to stifle a chuckle at the predictability of England deluding itself into thinking its team is good – just because it’s famous, courtesy of playing in the world’s most visible league – only for it to get dumped out way sooner than it was supposed to. Albeit almost exactly when the rest of the world thought it would.
The round of 16 was the final destination this time around, where the Three Lions were eliminated by Iceland, and not at all undeservedly so.
Wayne Rooney
It had been apparent for a while that Rooney, at 30, is past his prime. This tends to happen with players who come to prominence as teenagers. But he was particularly humbled at the Euro where his manager Roy Hodgson insisted on keeping him in the lineup, even though it was obvious that he was slowing down a team that had enough trouble forging chances.
Roy Hodgson
Hodgson, coming off his third successive failure as England manager, finally resigned in the wake of his team’s latest humiliation. For a brief flash, it had looked as if he’d forged a quick and exciting young team. But he managed to once again bring a team to the tournament that looked scared when it really mattered. His tenure wasn’t exactly triumphant.
Thomas Muller
The curious case of Muller would not abate during Euro 2016. In two World Cups, he has already scored 10 goals. But in two Euros, he has none. Even though he scored nine times in qualifying for Euro 2016.
His continued misfiring played some part in Germany falling short and losing to France in the semifinals in spite of being the superior team. Muller had a few chances to get Germany ahead.
Vicente Del Bosque
What a strange turn things have taken for the old manager, who has gone from winning a World Cup and a Euro consecutively with Spain to overseeing the aforementioned premature eliminations.
Talent continues to gush out of the Spanish youth academies, and the players get plenty of playing time in La Liga. That, then, isn’t the problem. Yet somehow, his team just couldn’t put it together. Again.
Stadium security
Following the terrorist attacks on Paris last November in which security personnel was able to keep three suicide bombers from entering Stade de France, where the Euro kicked off and ended, the stadiums were supposed to be hermetically sealed, as a figure of speech. Yet fans managed to bring in flares and all manner of other banned items. And the number of pitch invaders was embarrassingly high.
The new format
We’ve discussed the pros and cons of expanding the Euro by 50 percent, from 16 teams to 24, at length in this space. But in this first edition, it seemed the dilution had not so much taken its toll on the level of the teams – they all belonged, as evidenced by the runs of first-timers Wales and Iceland – but on the urgency of a lot of the games. The group stage felt meaningless, with two-thirds of teams advancing.
The fan
The soccer, as a whole, was mediocre and unexciting. Few of the stars were their best selves. And the format watered down what was the most concentrated and difficult tournament out there.
UEFA announced before the final that it would be making about $1 billion in profit for the tournament, for some reason, but the fan was not served as well as he/she could have been.
THE WINNERS
Portugal
As the kids would say: obvi. The Portuguese won the tournament and are therefore winners. But the way they did it was particularly impressive, in an unimpressive sort of way – if that makes sense.
Fernando Santos and his men aren’t purely defensive specialists. But they’re hardly an attacking team either. Instead, they tailored their game plans to their opponents just so, jumping from one set of tactics to another. Mostly, that meant they defended and countered.
And say what you will of their results-based approach but it worked. Even though they won just one of their seven games in regulation, they lost none. It wasn’t pretty, but it was shrewd.
Antoine Griezmann
The little attacker was already a star. But in this tournament, the Atletico Madrid man was unveiled to those who may not watch La Liga or missed him in his club’s run to the Champions League final.
With six goals, earning him the Golden Boot by three, he was France’s leading scorer and spark plug. At 25, he enters his prime and has gotten his breakout moment.
Wales
The Welsh were some of the biggest beneficiaries of the expanded tournament, reaching the Euro for the first time ever – after just one World Cup appearance, in 1958. But they didn’t just go to France. They went to the final four with a clever game plan and some standout individual performances from the likes of Joe Allen, Aaron Ramsey and Ashley Williams.
Gareth Bale
And then, of course, there was Bale, who was very much in danger of never making a major tournament, like other Welsh legends such as Ryan Giggs, Mark Hughes and Ian Rush. He demonstrated anew that he can carry a team, the way he did at Tottenham Hotspur before playing second fiddle to Cristiano Ronaldo at Real Madrid.
Nani
Plainly, this Portuguese side is Ronaldo’s team, as evidenced by his unabashed coaching after coming off early with an injury in the final. But Nani, in a new role as striker, helped his stock the most by scoring three goals in the tournament, as many as Ronaldo and anyone but Griezmann. Before the tournament was over, he had earned a transfer from Fenerbahce to Valencia.
Iceland
Clap ….. clap …. clap … clap .. clap, clapclapclap.
The thunder clap became the defining celebration of the tournament, coopted by the French after they’d knocked Iceland out in the quarterfinals. But that the Icelanders had gotten there at all was remarkable, considering the country’s population numbering a third of a million and total lack of previous achievements in international soccer. But their run was no accident, and they’ll be back.
Antonio Conte
The former Juventus manager had already announced his new job at Chelsea before the Euro, meaning it would be his final assignment in charge of Italy.
Expectations were low when he reacted to the injuries of playmakers Marco Verratti and Claudio Marchisio by selecting an exceedingly defensive and unadventurous squad. But his team nevertheless reached the quarterfinals by resoundingly beating favorites Belgium and Spain along the way.
Italy
It’s hard to explain just how low expectations really were. For a team that has won the World Cup four times, plenty thought Italy might not even survive the group stage. Sure, its defense was as sound as ever, but there was little else to the Italians. But somehow, as often when nothing is expected of them, they coalesced and performed anyway.
Rui Patricio
The Portugal goalkeeper has been reliably good season after season for his country and Sporting Lisbon. But, toiling in the anonymity of the Portuguese league, he hasn’t gotten his due.
Now, finally, the 28-year-old, who has already been a starter for his club for nine years and his country for 5½, was recognized.
Olivier Giroud
The Arsenal striker has become sort of synonymous with being the dreaded high-profile striker who just doesn’t quite score enough when it matters. But with Karim Benzema kicked off the team in a blackmail scandal, the job of leading the French line fell to Giroud.
He answered with three goals, two assists and a great rapport with Griezmann, good enough for the Bronze Boot.
Leander Schaerlaeckens is a soccer columnist for Yahoo Sports. Follow him on Twitter @LeanderAlphabet.
