Has realism replaced triumphalism ahead of Euro 2012?
As England find out who they will face in Euro 2012 football commentator John Anderson writes for Channel 4 News about what lies ahead for Fabio Capello and his team.
England will face hosts Ukraine, Sweden and France in the finals of Euro 2012 next summer, following Friday night’s draw in Kiev.
Coach Fabio Capello will be happy with the outcome, after seeing his team land in what looks to be the second kindest group on paper.
Although it is highly questionable whether the England boss justifies his £6m salary, there is one area in which he does seem to represent value for money. Stick Capello in a room full of local dance troupes, Euro-pop divas and ex players swirling little balls around in perspex pots and he is a world beater.
On all four occasions in his tenure, the fates have conspired to treat England kindly in a qualification or major tournament group. If Capello bought a lottery ticket he might be able to eclipse his FA paycheck in one fell swoop.
His main complaint last night would be having to sit through 40 minutes of “entertainment” at the Palace Of Arts in Kiev before the draw itself began. This included a thinly-veiled advert for the new Adidas ball which was introduced, somewhat incongruously, by six times world champion pole vaulter Sergei Bubka. Maybe we can expect to see it flying over the bar at regular intervals next summer.
England will find themselves in the tougher half of the draw if they do qualify. John Anderson
When the real business began, a pattern very quickly emerged. Group B was the sort of collective for which the term Group of Death seemed barely sufficient, while Group A could hardly have been more benign if Peter Schmeichel or Marco van Basten had held up a piece of paper with Dagenham & Redbridge printed on it.
There was a delicious sense of schadenfreude as the Germans ended up alongside Holland, Portugal and Denmark; while the grouping of Poland, Greece, Russia and the Czech Republic is more worthy of the Eurovision Song Contest than the European Football Championships.
There were audible sighs of relief as Spain, the Republic of Ireland and Croatia were avoided leaving England, the last of the sixteen teams to be drawn, nestling in the comparative comfort of Group D. But one of the many harsh lessons hopefully learnt at the World Cup last year, is that a favourable group is no guarantee of a straightforward passage into the knock-out stages.
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What lies ahead?
England’s first opponents France are undoubtedly the toughest of the fourth tier of seeds. Despite their poor recent tournament showings, “Les Bleus” played Capello’s men off the park in a friendly at Wembley just over a year ago and Zinedine Zidane scored two late goals to turn an England victory into defeat in the Euro 2004 opener in Portugal.
England ended a 44-year winless streak against Sweden at Wembley last month but have never beaten them at a major tournament. Much may depend on whether the Scandinavians’ mercurial skipper Zlatan Ibrahimovic is silky or sulky come June.
Hosts are always awkward opponents and Ukraine could be tough in front of their fanatical support in Donetsk. But the 35-year-old Andriy Shevchenko leads an ageing side who, despite their home comforts. are rated as 40-1 outsiders by the bookies. They did, however, inflict Capello’s first ever competitive defeat as England coach in a World Cup qualifier in 2009.
Although there is genuine cause for optimism, other factors could conspire to derail the campaign. England, having taken the decision to base themselves in Poland, will have to play all their group matches in Ukraine.
The FA were rightly criticised for imposing social isolation on the squad in South Africa, but have now contrived to isolate themselves geographically with long journeys to and from games. Two of the opening three fixtures are in Donetsk which is a shade under 1,000 miles from the England HQ in Krakow and, by the end of the group, the squad will have travelled nearly 5,000 miles in total. Remember, tiredness was held up by Capello as a contributory factor in last summer’s fiasco.
The other sense in which the draw has not been so kind, is that England will find themselves in the tougher half of the draw if they do qualify. Should they finish second, as they did at the World Cup, they could face yet another long trip to Donetsk, most likely against holders Spain. Even top place is likely to set up a tricky quarter-final against Italy or the Irish.
If this all sounds a little negative after what is certainly another decent draw, I make no apology. Happily there has been a shift away from the absurd pre-tournament triumphalism which has afflicted both the English fans and media in years gone by. A healthy and very welcome dollop of realism has taken its place and long may it continue. Capello’s luck can only go so far.
