EURO 2016 Review

This year's tournament was staged in France, where it contained 6 groups, consisting of 24 teams, with 16 advancing out of the group stages. There was a change this year, where four 3rd place teams advanced to the round of 16.  The change was made so that on the final match day of the group, all the teams will have something other than national pride to play for. This cause debate among media and fans. Those who were for it, asked why is UEFA rewarding 3rd place teams, it will bring down the quality of the tournament, while those for it, praised the organizers that it presented the opportunity for an underdog team to win it. Portugal was the team to take advantage of this rule change. They wasn't among the favorites to win but fought their way to the final and upset favorites France.

Football was supposed to be the focus but the tournament was marred by hooliganism. There was violence on the streets of France. There were also security concerns at the various stadia hosting matches, where flares were allowed to be brought in the stadiums,  lit in the stands and thrown onto the field. Many were arrested and waiting for trial.

It is true the football at this tournament wasn't entertaining, not many goals scored. Many teams were cautious about playing attacking football, they were more concerned about being well organized defensively, this resulted in many tight games. Regardless of this, I enjoyed EURO 2016, where we saw cinderella runs by Iceland, the smallest nation ever to qualify for an European championship and make it all the way to the quarterfinals and Wales, playing in their 1st tournament since 1958 and losing to eventual winners Portugal. Portugal themselves didn't win a game in 90 minutes in the whole tournament but became champions, their first major trophy. Many critics complained that they played negatively or boring.They weren't blessed with great attacking players like their final opponents, France, except for the all-time great Cristiano Ronaldo, who carried their attack  but instead they had defenders and midfielders who played well in an organized system, where they outplayed their opponents and deserved to win.  I really hope they keep this format, it was intriguing to watch.