Andy May's Euro 2012 Blog

June 30, 2012

Barcelona and Real Madrid versus Italy in the Euro 2012 final

The rivalry is intense, historic and relentless. Every time they do battle, there are new stories, goals and yellow and red cards. Make no doubt about it, Barcelona and Real Madrid deeply dislike one another - and that is putting it mildly.

Yet when it comes to Spain's national team, the two giants are forced to work together.

For the first time in a European Championship final, one of the nations involved could send out a starting eleven consisting entirely of players owned by two clubs. It is highly conceivable that on Sunday evening a joint Barcelona and Real Madrid side will take on Italy.

This is the team that Vicente del Bosque - a three-times Real Madrid head coach - could send out at Kiev's Olympic Stadium:

Iker Casillas (Real Madrid);
Alvaro Arbeloa (RM) Sergio Ramos (RM) Gerard Pique (Barcelona) Jordi Alba (B);
Xabi Alonso (RM) Sergio Busquets (B) Xavi (B);
Andres Iniesta (B) Cesc Fabregas (B) Pedro (B).

I have been fortunate enough to cover nine of the last eleven clasicos in Spain and the brutal nature of such clashes makes this possible - and quite realistic - alliance unique and fascinating. Four of the players listed above have taken part in Catalonia international matches [the concept of the Catalan side is a football team - and country - separate from Spain].

Of course there is a strong possibility Manchester City attacker David Silva will play alongside Chelsea's Fernando Torres and Iniesta in del Bosque's front three but even then, Spain will face italy with nine Barca or Madrid men.

Spain's position is highly unique at the top level of international football - in their most recent matches these nations used players (starting line ups) from the following number of clubs: England (5); France (10); Germany (4); Italy (6); and Portugal (9).

Andy May will be blogging for ESPNSTAR.com throughout the 2012 European Championship. You can also see his reports on SportsCenter and ESPNews. His Twitter handle is @andymaytvradio

June 26, 2012

UEFA say Russia can learn from Ukraine

You do need to be an Eastern Europe history expert to know that Ukraine and Russia have not always enjoyed the greatest of relationships and its citizens will be able to list plenty of differences between the former Soviet republics.

But one common ground is football. Ukraine are co-hosting the first major soccer tournament in the east of Europe; Russia will be home to the first World Cup in these parts in 2018.

I was delighted to accept an invitation to interview one of the men in charge of Euro 2012 - in UEFA's Kiev office. Aside from asking Tournament Director Markiyan Lubkivskyi about racism and allegations of corruption [answers that went out on SportsCenter on ESPN], it was interesting to hear how he believes Russia can learn from Ukraine.

"Euro 2012 [sends out] a very good signal to the rest of the world when it comes to Eastern Europe.

"A problem has been that Europeans and others [elsewhere in the world] do not know about Eastern Europe, which is the same for Russia. This has been the first chance to open Ukraine [for others to see] and I believe the same will happen in Russia."

Mr. Lubkivskyi pointed out that there have been no complaints about racism in Ukraine during the European Championship, the stadiums and infrastructure was complete for the start of the tournament and Ukrainians are very friendly and hospitable people. I have been in Kiev for three weeks and I have had no problem travelling around on the city's Metro system or in a taxi, the fan zone and Olympic Stadium match day experience have been well organised and Ukrainians are indeed very welcoming, chatty folk.

But whilst Russia can look to emulate Ukraine in those areas - and in others such as rail travel and airports - they have absolutely no control over the most important factor at the 2018 World Cup .. the football.

Discounting the semi-finals and final of Euro 2012, there have been 69 goals in 28 matches plus a penalty shootout. It has been exciting stuff; stuff that - crucially - helps to shape the opinion of supporters.

Andy May will be blogging for ESPNSTAR.com througout the 2012 European Championship. You can also see his reports on SportsCenter and ESPNews. His Twitter handle is @andymaytvradio

June 20, 2012

Empty seats but strong local interest

UEFA has been widely criticised for a number of reasons at Euro 2012 - one being the amount of empty seats during matches at the eight stadiums being used in Poland and Ukraine.

But from my experience in Kiev they have partly succeeded on the ticketing front.

In their planning, UEFA realised that - on the whole - people earn and have less money to spend in the host countries, compared to other parts of Europe. Therefore the football at Euro 2012 is cheaper than it was four years ago in Austria and Switzerland. For example, I remember paying €50 [$63] to go and watch Croatia beat Austria 1-0 in 2008; this month it cost as little as €15 [$19] to see any of Sweden's three matches at the Olympic Stadium in Ukraine's capital.

In February, I visited Kiev and Donetsk, and got the impression that Ukrainians were not too fussed about world football's second biggest tournament coming to eastern Europe. In fact some were completely against it - given the current economic situation globally.

Ukrainians certainly seemed fussed now.

Even whilst their own country was in action in Donetsk against England, the locals in Kiev paid to go and watch two foreign nations do battle - one of whom qualified for the quarter finals of Euro 2012 at Ukraine's expense. And it was not just Sweden vs France. When the Swedes took on England at the Olympic Stadium there was a passionate, vociferous Ukrainian interest inside the stadium that will host the final.

That final - the culmination of what has been an historic moment in European football - is drawing ever closer and whilst Oleh Blokhin's men may be out of their own competition, do not bet against hearing a chant of 'Ukrainia' on July 1st.

Andy May will be blogging for ESPNSTAR.com througout the 2012 European Championship. You can also see his reports on SportsCenter and ESPNews. His Twitter handle is @andymaytvradio

June 17, 2012

Greece keep it interesting

As a country, Greece may be on its knees financially but they really have hit the jackpot in Poland and Ukraine - beating Russia to reach the quarter-finals of Euro 2012. This should not have happened .. almost everyone out here in eastern Europe expected Dick Advocaat's men to progress along with Poland or Czech Republic.

Fair enough, the Russians were overwhelming winners when it came to chances in Warsaw but Giorgos Karagounis was the difference between success and failure. It is such a shame that he will miss the last-eight through suspension; the 35-year-old was playing in a record-equalling 120th international match.

I was quite disappointed not to come across any real Greeks in the fan zone in Kiev - even though half of the tournament is in Poland, I have seen fans from pretty much all of the countries taking part here in Ukraine during games. Russia supporters were stunned .. I saw one - complete with two flags on his cheeks - head in hands, slumped on the street at full-time.

Forgive me Russians; this was good for Euro 2012.

So far, the tournament has been far easier on the eye than the 2010 World Cup (I am talking about the football by the way and not the actions of a few mindless fans) and from a neutral point of view, it is intriguing and extremely exciting to have little curve balls like Greece-Russia.

It could be bad thing that from 2016 onwards, the European Championship will be contested by 24-nations - as opposed to 16. I believe that fewer countries means better quality groups and this means coaches are forced - on the whole - to encourage attacking football. For example, would we have seen five goals in a clash between Portugal and Denmark if the two were in a group with Finland and Austria instead of The Netherlands and Germany?

And reaching the knockout stage after finishing third does seem a bit daft.

Before the changes for the next tournament in France, we should all continue to enjoy these thrilling clashes and hopefully - probably - there will be a few more twists and turns ahead of the final in Kiev on July 1st. Maybe Greece - complete with the warrior Karagounis in their starting eleven - will be there? They did win the whole thing in 2004.

Andy May will be blogging for ESPNSTAR.com througout the 2012 European Championship. You can also see his reports on SportsCenter and ESPNews. His Twitter handle is @andymaytvradio

June 14, 2012

Kiev belongs to Sweden

I have been in Ukraine's capital for a week now and have not been able to go anywhere without coming into contact with a Swede. They are everywhere!

Granted, Sweden are playing all of their Euro 2012 group matches in Kiev but even then, they are certainly one of the best supported nations in Europe when it comes to international football. More than 35,000 Sweden fans have apparently travelled to Ukraine.

Any visitor to the fan zone here will quickly see 'Swedish Corner' - it is not actually a corner but it is extremely noisy and very profitable - I expect - for those in charge of alcohol sales. Even during the match between Denmark and Portugal, Sweden supporters were in all-yellow jumping up and down on tables - cheering on their Nordic neighbours.

Due to the volume of Swedes in Ukraine and the chronic lack of hotel rooms and apartments, a specially designed 'Camp Sweden' has been built - for more than 3,500 supporters. It sounds like it could be fun for a couple of nights .. that is because 300 people have to use one shower and for the first few days there was little hot water and no electricity.

Despite possibly having one quick cold shower in two days, the Swedish army have been in great form - they are friendly, they love their football and they have caused no problems in Ukraine from what I have heard. Most of them also realise that they will be going home at the start of next week - after losing to Ukraine their chances of making the quarter finals of the European Championship seem slim at best.

Kiev will miss Sweden!

Andy May will be blogging for ESPNSTAR.com througout the 2012 European Championship. You can also see his reports on SportsCenter and ESPNews. His Twitter handle is @andymaytvradio

June 12, 2012

Still a place for the traditional striker

In the last few days, Spain have been criticised for operating without a striker in their opening European Championship match - Vicente del Bosque decided to go with six midfielders against Italy. It was not as effective as the reigning Euro and World Cup champions would have expected.

At the Olympic Stadium, Ukraine and Sweden both used a big target man - Andriy Shevchenko and Zlatan Ibrahimovic. This was effective.

Ibrahimovic is a joy to watch - the half Bosnian, half Croatian is almost two metres tall, built like a tank and causes opponents no end of problems. As well as scoring the first goal in this Group D clash, Ibrahimovic was involved in several other goalscoring opportunities - towards the end, when Sweden were losing, he looked incredibly frustrated with Kim Kallstrom who failed to finish off some of his hard work. If he was trying to hide his annoyance when the television cameras zoomed in on him, he did a bad job.

And then there is Shevchenko.

I remember watching the Ukraine captain at Chelsea and he was certainly no Drog - in fact, more a Chris Sutton. The Stamford Bridge faithful may have forgotten - or tried to forget - Shevchenko but his country never will. Even before his seven minute brace against Sweden - in Ukraine's first ever European Championship match - the 35-year-old looked a real threat. It is amazing to think that he of all people could have missed the entire tournament - Shevchenko has had back AND knee trouble for at least six months.

It was more than fitting that Shevchenko led Ukraine to victory - the co-hosts now have a genuine chance of reaching the quarter finals. For me, this Group D match proved that there will always be a place for the so called English-style out-and-out striker. It should at least be an option when tiki-taka cannot break down a defence.

The atmosphere by the way was incredible inside the Olympic Stadium. My ears were still ringing at three in the morning afterwards.

Andy May will be blogging for ESPNSTAR.com througout the 2012 European Championship.  You can also see his reports on SportsCenter and ESPNews. His Twitter handle is @andymaytvradio