Part II and the vote is currently Turkey 1, Romania 1
So yesterday, we left off in a desperate search to find a team for me to cheer on in the upcoming Euros. We've 86'd Austria, Italy, Germany, Croatia and Portugal leaving eleven possibilities in two categories - The Meh and The Contenders.
Meh.
Switzerland, Czech Republic, Turkey, France, Sweden, Russia, Greece, Spain
Switzerland. Like the chocolate. Like to make fun of one of their centerbacks because he plays for Arsenal and he is terrible. (Arsenal is another of the top English clubs and while I don't loathe them like Man U, they do nothing for me. And their mad professor French manager is a megalomaniac.) Kind of meh on the team though. In World Cup '06, they became the first team to not have conceded a goal in open play and yet flush out of the tournament. (They lost on penalty kicks to the Ukraine.) Zzzzzzzzz.
Czech Republic. Actually, maybe these guys should have in the nope category. In 1990 they beat the US like a drum in the opening round of the World Cup. In 2006, they absolutely dominated the US again. Unlike the Germans though, they didn't cheat or get the benefit of the referee's selective blindness. They just kicked our asses up and down the field. On that basis, I'm not cheering for them. Whatever, I'm not objective. Never said I was. I hope their little goal-scoring elf gets scurvy.
Turkey. Have already had the debate with deridere about whether Turkey truly belongs in a European tournament and we agreed to disagree. Unlike say, Israel, which can't play in the Asian or African tournaments for security reasons, I fail to see why Turkey plays here. Yeah, anyway. They're a pretty good team. Finished third in World Cup '02. They tend toward having very quality forwards and absolutely brutal defenders. Not brutally bad, but more like brutal in the sense of tackling two-footed with studs showing. Not always dirty, but always very, very physical. I'm not taking them however because they're very unlikely to win (their best players are a bit long in the tooth) and I find their nation's inability to come clean about the Armenian genocide disturbing, galling and offensive.
France. Dude, it's France. They're good (world champs in '98, won Euro 2000 and lost in the finals in '06) but their best striker was a world beater for Arsenal. But honestly, I have some issues with the country and its generally sniveling approach to world affairs. And I have a HUGE issue with them bombing and sinking a Greenpeace ship. At times (under Michel Platini and Zidane, respectively) they played very exciting soccer and their goalkeeper memorably dated Linda Evangelista. I don't even know why I think that's important, but whatever, it's France and they sank a Greenpeace ship. No thanks.
Sweden and Russia. They're both in the same boat here. They both had a nasty proclivity for going to war with each other and using Finland as the field of battle. And then sticking around and generally subjugating my ancestors. Screw them. (They're only in the "Meh" category due to the fact that the Swedish stuff was centuries ago and the fact Finland kicked the Soviet Union's ass in the Winter War in World War II.)
Greece. Now, I gave them some real consideration because my best friend asa a kid was first-generation Greek. And they came from literally nowhere to win Euro 2004 and beat Portugal in the final to boot. Those are the factors in their favor. The factors not in their favor? They generally play an uber-defensive style and even though they're the defending champs, there's absolutely no way they're going to win it. In fact, with Spain, Sweden and Russia in their opening group, I'm not even sure they'll make it out of that to the quarterfinals.
Spain. Along with Italy and England, Spain has one of the three best club leagues in the world. Start any conversation about the best club teams in history and presently and two Spanish clubs, Real Madrid and Barcelona are always included. And I can name any of about twenty Spanish players who would be in the consideration for being the best at their respective positions in the world. And any discussion of the best managers in the world would include at least five Spaniards. And yet Spain's best World Cup finish was fourth in 1950. They haven't won a Euro tournament since 1964. They are chronic and historic underachievers. In terms of playing style, they can be both enthralling to watch and frustrating. In the same game. Within a span of five minutes even. Don't know how to explain it other than to say they're kind of a head case. I already have enough of those in my pantheon of teams I support (Michigan football, Newcastle, Tigers, Lions) and don't really want another. No thanks.
The survivors. Finally . . .
Poland. Growing up near Hamtramck it's hard not to have a soft spot for the Poles. It's even harder because their national team goalkeeper was a coach at a soccer camp I went to and he told me I was a "shelf-top" keeper for my age. The Poles have finished third twice at the World Cup, but this is the first time they've qualified for a Euro tournament. These days, they have sterling goal keeping - no less than four quality keepers. (One of whom plays at Man U and one of whom plays at Arsenal, but both of whom are backups and neither of whom is likely to play this summer. It's a small slight, but that makes me happy.) Anyway, the team style has changed over the years from a hard-tackling-likely-to-cripple-someone-soon in the 70s to more of a mellow, pass and shoot style albeit with very tough, physical defending. Kind of like Germany, but without some of the skill and none of the constant tormenting from the English. They're also a bit of a longshot to win the whole thing, but it's not totally inconceivable like the Greeks repeating or Austria winning anything would be. And lastly, the Solidarity union was somewhat responsible for hastening the demise of the military-Communist kleptocracy and I grew up in a union household. I am inclined to go this route at this point.
Romania. Not a historic power by any means. They did well in 1994 when the World Cup was in the US and they were pretty decent throughout the 90s as a whole. A lot of that was on the strength of this little tiny little midfielder, < a href=http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Gheorghe_Hagi>Gheorghe Hagi. I watched him a bunch in the lead up to WC '94 and he was simply amazing. Had great touch, speed to burn and a killer instinct for the net. And he lobbed the Colombian keeper from about forty yards during the World Cup. (youtube and search for "Hagi world cup") They've been absent from most of the rest of the tournaments in recent memory, but when they going in the 90s they were a sight to behold. If they play like that again, I'll definitely watch their games. Their best player is probably a guy named Adrian Mutu and he's worth the price of admission. Sadly their uniforms might be the worst in all of Europe.
Netherlands. A bit like the Spaniards, the Dutch are generally regarded as underachievers. Finished second in consecutive World Cups in the 1970s. Won a Euro in 1988 in part to one of the sickest volleys ever. (Go to youtube and type in "Van Basten volley" and watch the angle and touch he hits it with. WOW.) Always seem to be in the final eight teams or so, but never pull through. In the 90s, these guys were my team. Loved watching them play. The current squad has a few players of note, but they don't play so much of the very open attacking style that they used to. Partly because they just don't have the horses to pull it off -- no Marco Van Basten or Ruud Gullitt or Joahn Cryuff on the team. Another potential bonus here is that for reasons that aren't entirely apparent, the Dutch team always wears an all-orange uniform. It's cooler than it sounds, trust me.
I NEED HELP -- TOO MANY CHOICES . . .
Meh.
Switzerland, Czech Republic, Turkey, France, Sweden, Russia, Greece, Spain
Switzerland. Like the chocolate. Like to make fun of one of their centerbacks because he plays for Arsenal and he is terrible. (Arsenal is another of the top English clubs and while I don't loathe them like Man U, they do nothing for me. And their mad professor French manager is a megalomaniac.) Kind of meh on the team though. In World Cup '06, they became the first team to not have conceded a goal in open play and yet flush out of the tournament. (They lost on penalty kicks to the Ukraine.) Zzzzzzzzz.
Czech Republic. Actually, maybe these guys should have in the nope category. In 1990 they beat the US like a drum in the opening round of the World Cup. In 2006, they absolutely dominated the US again. Unlike the Germans though, they didn't cheat or get the benefit of the referee's selective blindness. They just kicked our asses up and down the field. On that basis, I'm not cheering for them. Whatever, I'm not objective. Never said I was. I hope their little goal-scoring elf gets scurvy.
Turkey. Have already had the debate with deridere about whether Turkey truly belongs in a European tournament and we agreed to disagree. Unlike say, Israel, which can't play in the Asian or African tournaments for security reasons, I fail to see why Turkey plays here. Yeah, anyway. They're a pretty good team. Finished third in World Cup '02. They tend toward having very quality forwards and absolutely brutal defenders. Not brutally bad, but more like brutal in the sense of tackling two-footed with studs showing. Not always dirty, but always very, very physical. I'm not taking them however because they're very unlikely to win (their best players are a bit long in the tooth) and I find their nation's inability to come clean about the Armenian genocide disturbing, galling and offensive.
France. Dude, it's France. They're good (world champs in '98, won Euro 2000 and lost in the finals in '06) but their best striker was a world beater for Arsenal. But honestly, I have some issues with the country and its generally sniveling approach to world affairs. And I have a HUGE issue with them bombing and sinking a Greenpeace ship. At times (under Michel Platini and Zidane, respectively) they played very exciting soccer and their goalkeeper memorably dated Linda Evangelista. I don't even know why I think that's important, but whatever, it's France and they sank a Greenpeace ship. No thanks.
Sweden and Russia. They're both in the same boat here. They both had a nasty proclivity for going to war with each other and using Finland as the field of battle. And then sticking around and generally subjugating my ancestors. Screw them. (They're only in the "Meh" category due to the fact that the Swedish stuff was centuries ago and the fact Finland kicked the Soviet Union's ass in the Winter War in World War II.)
Greece. Now, I gave them some real consideration because my best friend asa a kid was first-generation Greek. And they came from literally nowhere to win Euro 2004 and beat Portugal in the final to boot. Those are the factors in their favor. The factors not in their favor? They generally play an uber-defensive style and even though they're the defending champs, there's absolutely no way they're going to win it. In fact, with Spain, Sweden and Russia in their opening group, I'm not even sure they'll make it out of that to the quarterfinals.
Spain. Along with Italy and England, Spain has one of the three best club leagues in the world. Start any conversation about the best club teams in history and presently and two Spanish clubs, Real Madrid and Barcelona are always included. And I can name any of about twenty Spanish players who would be in the consideration for being the best at their respective positions in the world. And any discussion of the best managers in the world would include at least five Spaniards. And yet Spain's best World Cup finish was fourth in 1950. They haven't won a Euro tournament since 1964. They are chronic and historic underachievers. In terms of playing style, they can be both enthralling to watch and frustrating. In the same game. Within a span of five minutes even. Don't know how to explain it other than to say they're kind of a head case. I already have enough of those in my pantheon of teams I support (Michigan football, Newcastle, Tigers, Lions) and don't really want another. No thanks.
The survivors. Finally . . .
Poland. Growing up near Hamtramck it's hard not to have a soft spot for the Poles. It's even harder because their national team goalkeeper was a coach at a soccer camp I went to and he told me I was a "shelf-top" keeper for my age. The Poles have finished third twice at the World Cup, but this is the first time they've qualified for a Euro tournament. These days, they have sterling goal keeping - no less than four quality keepers. (One of whom plays at Man U and one of whom plays at Arsenal, but both of whom are backups and neither of whom is likely to play this summer. It's a small slight, but that makes me happy.) Anyway, the team style has changed over the years from a hard-tackling-likely-to-cripple-someone-soon in the 70s to more of a mellow, pass and shoot style albeit with very tough, physical defending. Kind of like Germany, but without some of the skill and none of the constant tormenting from the English. They're also a bit of a longshot to win the whole thing, but it's not totally inconceivable like the Greeks repeating or Austria winning anything would be. And lastly, the Solidarity union was somewhat responsible for hastening the demise of the military-Communist kleptocracy and I grew up in a union household. I am inclined to go this route at this point.
Romania. Not a historic power by any means. They did well in 1994 when the World Cup was in the US and they were pretty decent throughout the 90s as a whole. A lot of that was on the strength of this little tiny little midfielder, < a href=http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Gheorghe_Hagi>Gheorghe Hagi. I watched him a bunch in the lead up to WC '94 and he was simply amazing. Had great touch, speed to burn and a killer instinct for the net. And he lobbed the Colombian keeper from about forty yards during the World Cup. (youtube and search for "Hagi world cup") They've been absent from most of the rest of the tournaments in recent memory, but when they going in the 90s they were a sight to behold. If they play like that again, I'll definitely watch their games. Their best player is probably a guy named Adrian Mutu and he's worth the price of admission. Sadly their uniforms might be the worst in all of Europe.
Netherlands. A bit like the Spaniards, the Dutch are generally regarded as underachievers. Finished second in consecutive World Cups in the 1970s. Won a Euro in 1988 in part to one of the sickest volleys ever. (Go to youtube and type in "Van Basten volley" and watch the angle and touch he hits it with. WOW.) Always seem to be in the final eight teams or so, but never pull through. In the 90s, these guys were my team. Loved watching them play. The current squad has a few players of note, but they don't play so much of the very open attacking style that they used to. Partly because they just don't have the horses to pull it off -- no Marco Van Basten or Ruud Gullitt or Joahn Cryuff on the team. Another potential bonus here is that for reasons that aren't entirely apparent, the Dutch team always wears an all-orange uniform. It's cooler than it sounds, trust me.
I NEED HELP -- TOO MANY CHOICES . . .