Now that the group stages are all done and dusted, Steve Luckings takes a look back on what we've learnt from Euro 2016 so far.
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Will Grigg’s on fire, but who the hell is he?
One of the highlights of the tournament has undoubtedly been the Northern Ireland following rocking Nice, Lyon and then the Stade Velodrome in Marseille with arguably the greatest chant ever uttered: “Will Grigg’s on fire, your defence is terrified.” The only problem is that many in France, Europe — indeed anywhere outside of Wigan or Northern Ireland — don’t have a clue who he is. An anomaly of this tournament is that the Irish, through to the last 16 as one of the four best third-place finishers, will play at least four games at Euro 2016 with Grigg, arguably the most popular man in France right now by name, not playing a single minute on the pitch. A heat map of his activity will be pretty easy to follow, sat stationary on the substitutes’ bench, so here are a few things you could easily do a Google search about Grigg but we’ve saved you the trouble of:
• He plays for Wigan Athletic.
• His 25 goals helped them to win League One last season, England’s third tier.
• He was born in Solihull, England. That’s England, in England, not Northern Ireland.
• He has eight caps for Northern Ireland.
• He is 24 years old.
• He hates Gala's original song to which his chant was adapted, Freed From Desire (this may or may not be true).
Expanding European Championship to 24 teams Best Decision Ever
Before the tournament many sceptics wondered how the decision by Uefa to expand the tournament from 16 to 24 teams would pan out. Would it result in the so-called smaller nations providing cannon fodder for the more established nations or would allowing them to participate in an major tournament bridge the gap? Thankfully it’s the latter. Tournament debutants such as Albania, Iceland and Wales have not only punched above their respective weights but in Wales’ case outperformed teams ranked well above them to top a group containing England, Russia and Slovakia. Iceland’s dogs of wars were not given nearly enough credit for frustrating Cristiano Ronaldo’s Portugal, forcing the Prince of Petulance to not only shun shaking Icelandic hands but to label them “small minded”. Pot. Kettle. Black, Cristiano. It’s estimated as much as 15 per cent of Iceland’s 330,000 inhabitants are in France for the tournament, but these Vikings have come armed only with hearty voice and admiration. Albania — desperately unlucky to not come away with a point against Switzerland despite playing the majority of the game with 10 men — were undone against hosts France by a sprinkle of last-minute Dimitri Payet magic to kill them off in time added on. They finally registered a first win when Armando Sadiku headed in the only goal against Romania in their final Group A game to record a historic first win at a major championship. Although their heroics are unlikely to lead to many big-money transfers to the cream of Europe’s crop, getting diplomatic passports from the Albanian government must soften the blow. Well done, Uefa.
Why the long faces, England?
So you finished second to Wales in Group B, hardly a disaster. A last-16 clash against Iceland awaits, infinitely winnable. Being in the same half of the draw as Germany and France ... well, let’s not get too far ahead of ourselves. The usual doom and gloom surrounding an England campaign at a major tournament has already set in despite them arguably playing three of their best games in succession since their semi-final run at Euro ’96. A quirk of England’s play so far is that the man of the match in their three group games have been their right-backs: Kyle Walker, against Russia and Wales, and Nathaniel Clyne against Slovakia. If you hadn’t seen the games you might think defenders getting the nod for best player was down to a stoic rearguard action or containing a tricky winger. Nothing could be farther from the truth. Walker was a one-man flank against Russia and Wales, and Vladimir Weiss must still be chasing Clyne in his sleep, such was the freedom the Liverpool man enjoyed in behind against Slovakia. England dominated all three games but won only once, against Wales, and even that required a last-minute winner from Daniel Sturridge. That game could easily have ended a draw. True, but then the 1-1 draw against Russia could easily have ended up as three points instead of one, such was the dominance of their display, undone by a moment’s lapse in concentration and James Milner failing to close down quickly enough. Don’t panic England, all is not lost.
Never ever write Ronaldo off. Ever.
If you had asked me before the tournament how many goals Cristiano Ronaldo would score in his first 20 shots at goal I would have said three, and that would have been conservative, considering his first two group games were against Iceland and Austria, with Hungary still to come. So a big fat zero in the goals column almost knocked me off my chair. Depending on your view point, Ronaldo should be condemned for being wasteful or applauded for his determination to keep going when things were so obviously not going his way. I tend to lean towards the latter, we all love a trier, don’t we? In Wednesday’s final group game against Hungary, Ronaldo showed why you never write him off. Ever. From profligate to prolific. An assist and two beautifully taken goals — the second a header off a sumptuous cross from former Al Ahli winger Ricardo Quaresma — reminded us why he is his country’s record scorer with 60, and why he is the first player to score at four different European Championship’s. He is now one behind Michel Platini’s all-time Euros scoring record of nine. Expect him to surpass it by the end of the tournament.
When expectations are lowest, Italy are most dangerous
In 1982 Italy won the World Cup as the country struggled for credibility following the 1980 Totonero scandal for match-fixing among some of Serie A’s most prominent clubs. Paolo Rossi, who was banned for three seasons, reduced to two on appeal, would spearhead Italy’s success at that tournament in Spain. In 2006, amid the backdrop of the Calciopoli scandal, which again involved Italy’s most prominent clubs cosying up to referee organisations to get favourable officials for certain games, lowered expectations of success at the World Cup in Germany. But if anything it only united a squad, made them battle-ready and, ultimately, saw them conquer all. The 2016 incarnation of Italy is, thankfully, not mired in scandal but a lack of supposed world-class attacking players certainly had dampened Azzurri fans’ belief of going far in France, especially in a group containing Belgium, Ireland and Sweden. Their manager Antonio Conte did as much as anyone to fuel assumptions that Italy would struggle. Three group games and six points later, Italy, who face Spain in the last 16, are now the talk of the town. Built on the solid foundations of Juventus quartet Gigi Buffon, Giorgio Chiellini, Leonardo Bonucci and Andrea Barzaghli, with a core of players ahead of them ranging from rock solid to potential rock stars, Italy are now genuine contenders to be the first name on the trophy not called Spain since 2008.
