Comment by Michael Osareme
The Euro 2016 has finally come to an end,no doubt,the finals in France was a beauty.
Here is my summary assessment of each participated countries
Winners
PORTUGAL: Euro 2016 was a historical triumph brilliantly orchestrated by coach Fernando Santos, in which the unity and spirit of the whole squad
brought the ultimate reward.
Runners-up
FRANCE: Although supporters were immensely
disappointed by losing the final to Portugal,
Euro 2016 was a success for France, who will
head into the 2018 World Cup confident they
can win it.
Semifinalists
GERMANY: Disappointment is the prevailing
emotion despite a decent campaign that ended
with defeat to hosts France, but the World Cup
winners can still hold their heads high despite
their semifinal exit.
WALES: Wales exceeded the expectations and
dreams of their supporters and did so not
through luck but belief and an unbeatable
togetherness that extended beyond the players
to an entire nation.
Quarterfinalists
ICELAND: The fairy- tale ended in the last four.
France were too strong for Iceland in the
quarterfinals, but the team's performance in
this tournament will long be remembered.
ITALY : This may have been the worst Italy
squad in years but they showed unity and
tactical intelligence, allowing them to exceed
expectations and win the heart of their many
critics back home.
BELGIUM : Euro 2016's most expensively
assembled squad still needs a semblance of a
tactical plan if trophies are the aim.
POLAND: The flight home to Warsaw was tinged
with disappointment following a quarterfinal
shootout defeat to eventual winners Portugal,
but Adam Nwalka's men achieved their targets.
Round of 16
CROATIA: Croatia played the most exciting
football of the group stage only to get knocked
out by Portugal in perhaps the most tedious
game in Euros history.
ENGLAND: Until the Iceland game, the word to
sum up England's Euro 2016 campaign was
"frustrating." After it, "embarrassing" was more
accurate. They looked disjointed throughout and
while there were moments of hope in the
group games, they were dashed in the
knockouts in the most abject fashion.
HUNGARY: Fans were disappointed to exit in
the round of 16 but to even think they had a
chance shows how far this team has come.
NORTHERN IRELAND : Michael O'Neill's players
and the country's boisterous supporters were
ousted by a cruel own goal and Gareth Bale's
impact but were a superb example of how
spirit, preparation and diligence can impact
major tournaments.
REPUBLIC OF IRELAND : A fantastic and
ultimately heart-breaking roller-coaster with the
prevailing mood after each game going: one
and done; useless and hopeless; unbeatable
and heroic; unlucky, plucky and proud.
SLOVAKIA: Slovakia fulfilled their pre-
tournament goal; to advance from a tough
group. Anything else would have been a bonus. You cannot beat Germany, the world champions, in every match (and Slovakia did so
in May).
SPAIN: Spain failed to defend their title as
Vicente del Bosque did not find the right mix
between old guard and new blood.
SWITZERLAND : Switzerland did pretty much
what was expected of them. Xherdan Shaqiri's
stunning overhead kick against Poland will give
them some fond memories.
Group stage
TURKEY : A cruel way to be eliminated as
Ireland scored late to pip them to a third-best
place but, upon reflection, fans will accept Fatih
Terim's side didn't do enough to qualify. The
moral of the story is to not rely on others.
SWEDEN: Erik Hamren's men were only going to
go as far as Zlatan Ibrahimovic could take them
and in the end, their talisman just wasn't at
the top of his game.
AUSTRIA : Marcel Koller's side couldn't meet
high expectations and there's a lot of work to
be done in order to build a team to qualify for
the 2018 World Cup.
ALBANIA : The team were eliminated with their
heads held high, having recorded a victory in
their first appearance at an international
competition and nearly qualifying for the
knockout phase.
CZECH REPUBLIC: The organisation Pavel Vrba
imparted was talked up before the tournament
began, but in the end it was undone by the
manager's over-reliance on old legs and old
names.
RUSSIA: An absolutely disastrous performance
just two years before hosting the World Cup
proves that Russia need to build the team from
scratch.
ROMANIA: Romania's final game with Albania
was one of the worst defeats in the country's
Euro history.
UKRAINE: Andriy Yarmolenko perfectly summed
up Ukraine's performance at Euro 2016 by
calling it shameful.
And that does it on my very last piece on the Euros.
Will be back in a fortnight(need to cool the brain nerves) on an interesting comment on the new English premier league season.
Until then......... Stay blessed fellas.
Michael Osareme penned this.
Myk d pundit
Peace out.
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