Euro 2008: Initial Impressions

I don't like the way the Olympics are organized. National Olympic committees raise the funds and send the athletes, and it's all around jingoistic national pride. Furthermore, it is totally inconsistent with the original (Greek) Olympiad, which was about individual honor and glory (not that we need more of that in today's society). If I had my way, all the team sports would be eliminated from the Olympics, the medal count by country would be an interesting incidental statistic (like the popular vote in the primaries), and the Opening Ceremony would no longer have people marching around the track organized by country (more like the Closing Ceremony, which is a lot of fun).

Perhaps inconsistently, though, I like the nation-based competitions in soccer. The World Cup is the biggest event in world sport, and justifiably so (the NBA is the only American sports event with comparable--but lesser--following, except that it's impact is diminished because it occurs every year). Soccer is indisputably a team sport, and unlike the club competitions, the athletes on the national teams seem motivated by something besides money. OK, maybe not all the teams' players are well-prepared and motivated, but that just highlights the efforts of those who are. The European championships seem healthy, a way for the Yerpeans to maintain some interest in their attenuated tribal affiliations; national citizenship is like a voluntary association in today's continent.

My only criticism generally of the way these things are organized is the persistence of "national" teams for England, Scotland, Wales, and Northern Ireland--this is the English "reward" for inventing the sport; they don't have to play alongside their fellow countrymen from lesser provinces--and their just desserts, this year, was England's clamorous failure to make the Euro 2008 finals.

Most everyone else that should be there ("there" being the wonderfully insignificant host soccer powers, Switzerland and Austria), is there. There are many teams ready for competition at the top level, and so far the enjoyment level in the play has been excellent. (The refereeing, not so much.)

The sensation of the first round has been Netherlands. The Dutch are my wife's favorite: they come together from their various league participations all over Europe, and they always demonstrate excessive quantity of talent for such a small nation. Generally they are rooked in some round by the dreaded penalty shootout lottery.

This year, the Dutch are in the so-called Group of Death. There's always one, in which too many good teams are placed together in the first round by the luck of the draw, so that some top teams get eliminated through little fault of their own. They're in with Italy and France (the finalists from 2006's World Cup), and Romania (along with Croatia, perennially underrated--like the Dutch in terms of talent, and they don't have a strong domestic league).

In the first two games, the Dutch beat Italy 3-0 and now, yesterday, France 4-1. Their play has been sparkling. Those results will make anyone sit up and take notice, and, eventually, someone will figure out how to neutralize their one-touch, sudden attack from the run of play, but we must try to enjoy their sparkle while it lasts. The Dutch will have the chance to eliminate both Italy and France in one fell swoop, simply by not trying too hard against Romania in their final first-round game: it will be a good test of character.