What an unexpected pleasure it was to watch the opening matches of Euro 2012. The headlines across the media had been dominated by racism, Rio and raging Eastern hooligans and yet on this celebratory opening night everything returned to its source - Football. England aren't playing until Monday so I sat down to watch the opening games without many expectations. So ok, apart from Russia's fantastic demolition of the Czech Republic the actual quality wasn't up to the high standards we're spoilt with in the champions league or the top european leagues, but it was genuinely fun to watch. We've spent the last few weeks worrying about line-ups, injuries, scandals and inconclusive friendlies but finally the teams came out onto the pitches and what we saw was exactly what typifies great tournaments.
First up were the Poles, host nation alongside Ukraine, playing a Greek team with a reputation for miserliness in front of a massively partisan home crowd in Warsaw. The game had everything: a goal apiece, an erred penalty, refereeing mistakes and howlers, a red card, and a good level of tension despite the obvious fact that neither of these sub-par teams can seriously be considered contenders for the title due to their apparent lack of a killer instinct. They huffed and puffed and the first goal came early thanks to a classic piece of calamity keeping. Early goals are always the recipe for a good match in terms of the spectacle of the occasion. Score early and you force the other team to come out and play, simple: you're losing and you're going home if you don't put up a fight and demonstrate why you think you deserve to be in the tournament. So in the face of adversity after losing a goal and a man before half-time the Greeks did exactly that and left their dressing room seemingly inspired by the challenge. Within 5 minutes their half-time substitute got on the end of another defensive mess and slammed home his effort to send the Greeks wild and silence the home fans. After that it was the Poles on the back foot losing their keeper to a straight red for a clumsy challenge on the Greeks' goalscorer but the drama of the turnaround in fortunes was capped off by the substitute goalkeeper fantastically saving the Greek captains penalty! Wonderful theatrics to be sure. The game continued in a more diminished vein with neither team showing the quality to score a winning goal but as a neutral I was pleased with what I'd seen.
After the next match things became clear in terms of the capabilities of these teams. Russia and the Czechs played out a feisty encounter in which the goals began to flow like thawing snows in early spring. Firstly the Czechs pushed forward looking to hit the Ruskies with an early goal as the Poles had done to their opponents previously but their attacks came to nothing and Russia's defence finally settled down in a rather imperious manner, leaving their attacking players free to open up the Czechs with a certain degree of style. Arshavin particularly was inspired in a way we rarely saw him play for Arsenal, picking out passes that caught the enemy backline standing still while the impressive Russian forwards managed to find space and time for shot after shot. Petr Cech was hopelessly exposed by his defenders and once Dzagoev slammed home a rebound off the post there was only one way this game was going to go. Shirokov delicatley chipped over the keeper for two nil before the Czechs manufactured a clinical goal to give them some hope but even after Kerzhakov wasted 7 chances virtually one on one with the keeper there was no coming back for the Czech Republic. His replacement Pavlyuchenko picked a perfect pass for Dzagoev's second and then turned into space to launch a piledriver high into the top to cap off a fine performance from the Russians, surely favourites to qualify and a good outisde bet for the title in my eyes.
All round it showed me why I love to watch football. The emotion of a tight game, the joy of seeing talented, quality players working well together to fashion chances and wonderful goals and the rib tickling fun of horrendous refereeing decisions (when they're not against my team!). Yesterday reminded me why I don't need Game of Thrones, Dexter or soap operas. Football is my real-time drama with a cast of thousands from all over the world. The twisting fortunes, the endless debates, the agony, the ecstasy and the goals galore make it a true feast on the eyes for me. Being a neutral all I want to see are good games, fun, exciting encounters between teams who display a passion and desire to win and can help us forget the silly arguments that "Their hearts aren't in it" or "They're all tired after a long domestic season". Football is about playing and if yesterday is anything to go by I can't wait for the rest of the tournament. Let's move on from the silly antics of a small minority, ignore the bleeting of spurned veterans and enjoy the game.
Play ball.
