Diego Forlan writes a weekly column for The National, appearing each Friday. The former Manchester United, Inter Milan and Atletico Madrid striker has been the top scorer in Europe twice and won the Golden Boot at the 2010 World Cup. Forlan’s column is written with the assistance of European football correspondent Andy Mitten.
don’t buy the backlash against the European Championship that just finished in France. Critics say that, as it’s now a 24-team tournament, the quality has been much reduced. On the contrary, I think the quality has improved in international football.
I’m not saying that I embrace all change. I don’t like the idea of the tournament being played in 13 different European countries as it will from 2020.
I like it when one country hosts a tournament and it’s great being part of that country during tournament time. It dominates the media, and people who usually have little interest in football get into the spirit.
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South Africa was a wonderful place to be in June 2010 for the World Cup, just as I’ve enjoyed the atmosphere around Copa America tournaments from Venezuela in the north to Argentina in the south. Did anybody at Uefa think of the fans who travel around to games when it was decided to move the tournament across all those countries?
Or has football become a sport where television is now the most powerful force? Television was a driving force in the changes at Euro 2016. More games means more big audiences, more opportunities for advertisers and more money.
Business usually triumphs in football and the 24-team format will be seen as a success commercially. The expanded stadiums were all full and the average attendance was an incredible 47,000 – the highest since 1988 when stadiums had terraces and larger capacities.
Fans of smaller countries travelled in huge numbers. They looked great on television – the Icelanders clapping and the Welsh singing, the huge numbers of Albanians and Irish.
The 24-team tournament was supposed to help smaller countries play a part, but let’s not forget that Northern Ireland and Iceland, two of the smallest, would have qualified under the old format. They were strong in their groups; they beat top sides.
That is why I wasn’t surprised to see the games as tight as they were. People are criticising the lack of goals, but as a professional I would rather play in a 1-0 than a 3-2. If there are five goals then more mistakes have been made.
The worse the quality of the football, the more goals. I’ve seen many great games of football that finished 0-0, the perfect battle between two equals.
Would you prefer an evenly matched game or the equivalent of a knockout in the first minute and a one sided match? The big matches between France and Germany or Spain and Italy were tight until the very end. That’s a good thing.
The format also suited the supposed stronger teams. It was quite hard to get eliminated as every first- and second-placed team, plus most of the third-placed teams, from the four-team groups progressed to the knockout stage. The winners, Portugal, didn’t win a single group game and still progressed.
There are other reasons for fewer goals and tighter matches.
Players are now more athletic than ever. Fitter, stronger and better prepared. They eat better, they have personal trainers. There has been a big change in the past 15 years. If they can run at top speed after 80 minutes then they are less likely to be making mistakes, which leads to goals.
Being fitter means less space on the pitch as it can be closed down much quicker. That’s why people who expected to Iceland lose every game 4-0 were wrong. They actually beat England.
I wasn’t surprised. I have seen standards rise right across South America and football’s globalisation also means that styles are mixing and levelling out.
Almost every team in the Euros had at least one player in the top European leagues, who can share information about the best players with his teammates.
Teams are much better prepared. At the start of my career I would play against opponents I knew little about. Now, players are briefed on every strength and weakness of opponents, by scouts and with video technology. There’s less chance of a defender being caught by surprise by a winger who drops his shoulder and then goes right or left, because you already know what he’s likely to do.
Systems are becoming more important than individual style. That’s why Iceland can beat England, but there were still some fantastic individual showings.
Renato Sanchez of Portugal is only 18 but he has great technique, wins the ball, never hides and passes well. It’s a shame Manchester United missed out on him, because he was effective in every game he played, including the final. To do that at 18 against France in Paris is exceptional. I was pleased for my old teammate Cristiano Ronaldo. I saw him in 2004 when his side lost in the final at home to Greece. He was upset.
The great thing about football is that it usually offers a second chance. Ronaldo may have gone off injured in the final, but he can be happy with the role he played in a system which suited Portugal very well. The system, rather than the individual, triumphed. Football is a team sport and I see no problem with that. Ronaldo’s had a great year, champion of Europe with his club and now his country.
Euro 2016 showed to me that football continues to evolve. What worked for Louis van Gaal in 1995 didn’t work for him in 2015. Players change, coaches have new ideas. It keeps it interesting when you see Leicester City win the Premier League. It also means that you wonder what will happen next.
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