Euro 2012: Day 7


Are We Nearly There Yet? Italy 1 – 1 Croatia

The weirdest thing about the second round matches is that while some of them mean the world, others mean almost nothing, especially when the result is a tired stagnatory draw like this one. Neither team really loses, both live to fight another day, although the Italians begin to worry about conspiracy theories and matchfixing – which adds a whole new level of delicious irony to the proceedings. Apparently, if the Croats and the Spanish were to draw 2 – 2, then any result the Italians got against the Irish (and it’s as safe a bet as any that the Italians will get a result against the Irish) will still result in the Italians flying home to deal with their latest league fixing, bribery and corruption scandal. Last time they had one they won the World Cup, this time their technocrat PM has suggested they suspend their league for three years while they sort out their endemic football corruption issues.

Anyway, this match appeared to matter little and impressed few. The Italians were as obdurate as always, the Croats simply reinforced the feeling that they aren’t quite as good as their teams of a decade and four years ago. Luca Modric on his own simply can’t compensate for the rest of the team. Yet simply for the humour value of it, you have to hope the Spanish and the Croats do actually get to a 2 – 2 draw and call it a day.

And That’s Your Ticket Home, See You At The Airport: Spain 4 – 0 Ireland

You have to sense that the Irish are glad it’s all over. To be honest, they’d probably be glad if matches finished after the first five minutes and they’d only lost them one – nil. Comfortably the worst side to have made it here, the Irish didn’t even go as far as making up the numbers. They simply imploded. If ever there was a lesson that the choices and tactics of the likes of MCarthy and his ilk have become utterly redundant, then this Irish side are it. There is, it appears, a world of difference between coming second in your group behind Russia, then winning a playoff against the mighty Estonia, and actually being able to compete with the big boys.

And of all the big boys, Spain are top dogs (although the next fortnight will determine if they stay there). And the Irish simply had no answer to them. Admittedly they lasted a whole minute more than they did against Croatia, but it was all over after 5 minutes as another defensive catastrophe saw Torres score his first competitive international goal in 2 years. After that it was Spain’s new version of tiki-taka for the rest of the match.

While Roy Keane will apparently always have an axe to grind with regard to his country’s team, you have to agree with his comment that the side need to get out of the ‘just here for the craic and a sing-song’ mentality. However, Ireland have been so comfortably bad that it’s hard to think of any positives they could take away. Like Engerland at World Cup 2010, they may live to regret having signed up their manager for another two years just before the tournament.

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