UEFA"Direct #119 (07.2012)
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Historic triumph for Spain WE CARE ABOUT FOOTBALL No. 119 | July 2012 In this issue Official publication of the UEFA EURO 2012 4 Union des associations européennes de football Spain lifted the Henri Delaunay Cup in Kyiv on 1 July, rounding off a spectacular EURO 2012. Chief editor : Getty Images André Vieli Produced by : Atema Communication SA, CH-1196 Gland ExecutivE COmmittee meeting In KyIv 7 Printing : The UEFA president, Michel Platini, chaired Artgraphic Cavin SA, a meeting of the UEFA Executive Committee in Kyiv CH-1422 Grandson on the eve of the EURO 2012 final. Editorial deadline : UEFA 2 July 2012 The views expressed in signed articles are not necessarily UEFA Grassroots DAy 8 the official views of UEFA. The reproduction of articles Grassroots football was celebrated all over published in UEFA·direct Europe on 16 May, with events in Munich linked is authorised, provided the to the UEFA Champions League final and the winners source is indicated. of UEFA’s Grassroots Day Awards announced. UEFA Club competition REvEnUE distribution 10 The clubs that participated in the UEFA Champions League and UEFA Europa League have received their share of the revenues, calculated on the basis of clearly defined criteria. UEFA OLympIqUE LyOnnAIS DEFEnD THEIR EuropEAn crown 15 The UEFA Women’s Champions League trophy remains in the hands of Olympique Lyonnais after they beat 1. FFC Frankfurt in the Munich final. UEFA nEWS from mEmBER associationS 21 Cover: SUppLEmEnT Goalkeeper Iker Casillas lifts the Henri Delaunay Cup The 52nd issue of the UEFA·Technician considers the factors after Spain’s unprecedented that influence a coach’s career path. feat of retaining the title of European champions Photo: Getty Images 2 | UEFA •direct | 07.12 Editorial UEFA fantastic achievEmEnT First of all, congratulations to Spain and the European football can be proud of the image Spanish Football Federation. Winning a third it presented throughout this tournament: excel- successive major title in Kyiv was an unprece- lent matches, high technical standards and dented feat, and one which made this final tour- magnificent stadiums filled with spectators in nament in Poland and Ukraine even more of a high spirits. The Republic of Ireland fans, in historic event. particular, were exemplary and their support of their team unfailing, even in defeat. Congratulations also to Italy, valiant finalists, and a big thank you to everyone else who con- Thanks to indisputably high-quality television tributed to the success of this brilliant EURO broadcasts, the whole world was able to enjoy 2012: the players and their coaches, who played this great celebration of European football attacking football and demonstrated exemplary which, once again, highlighted the incredible sportsmanship; the referees, who fulfilled their force of national team football. EURO 2012 was role successfully, without ever influencing the the best possible advertisement for the national result of a match; the spectators in the stands team game and its success was in large part and supporters in the fan zones, whose passion thanks to the spirit of openness on which the brought the stadiums alive and lit up the streets tournament was built. of the host cities, creating a fun, friendly atmos- phere. Congratulations and thanks also, of course, to the hosts, Poland and Ukraine, who rose to the daunting challenge and provided everything Michel Platini required to make this tournament a success – UEFA President something some had considered almost impos- sible. Thanks also to everyone working behind the scenes, in particular the volunteers, for whom I hope EURO 2012 was an unforgettable experience. UEFA •direct | 07.12 | 3 EURO 2012 Spain make history EURO 2012 saw Spain make history by becoming the first team ever to win two consecutive European Football Championship titles –an achievement made all the more remarkable by the fact that they also lifted the FIFA World Cup in between. In fact, the team coached by vicente Del Bosque killed two birds with one stone, since they also equalled germany’s record of three European Championship crowns. Spain’s victory over Italy in the fi- physically than their opponents, the attacking nal was nothing short of brilliant. spirit they had displayed in the semi-final against However, their route to the final Germany eluded them. Moreover, the Spanish was not quite such a smooth ride. pressing seriously hampered the Italians’ build- Held to a draw by Italy in their up play, frequently putting Andrea Pirlo, one of first match, the Spaniards then the stars of the competition, on the back foot. did what was required to finish top of their Two goals down and reduced to ten men by an group, although they found Croatia a tough nut injury to Thiago Motta, Italy were unable to turn to crack. They knocked France out of the compe- the tide. Although defeat became inevitable, tition without too much trouble in the quarter- Cesare Prandelli can be proud of the overall per- finals but needed penalties to dispose of Portu- formance of a team which had hit rock bottom gal in the last four. However, their performance when it was eliminated in the group stage of the in the final forced all those who had been pre- 2010 World Cup. With Gianluigi Buffon im- dicting the end of an era to eat their words. By pressive in goal and Andrea Pirlo dictating play scoring twice in the first half, Del Bosque’s men superbly, Italy rediscovered a foundation worthy silenced their critics and proved that their strik- of their ambitions. ing potency remained intact, as was demon - The mastery of strated by the superb construction of each goal. Highly competitive Portugal Italy’s midfielder Along with Italy, Portugal completed a success- Andrea Pirlo – in Italy hit form ful tournament for Latin football. With Cristiano action here against Germany’s Holger Italy, the revelation of the tournament, were Ronaldo, who improved game by game, the focal Badstuber – lit up left to wipe away their tears, having been un- point, Paulo Bento’s team were highly competi- EURO 2012 able to impose themselves in the final. Less fresh tive. They responded well to losing their first match against Germany and deservedly booked a semi-final place by beating the Czech Republic. They then took Spain right to the wire, going out on penalties, and can be proud of their overall performance. Bitter disappointment for Germany As for Germany, they enjoyed an almost per- fect run to their semi-final against Italy, before which many observers had even considered them to be the only team capable of disputing Spain’s supremacy. After sweeping aside their group opponents with relative ease, Joachim Löw’s men endured bitter disappointment against Italy, whose two first-half Mario Balotelli goals proved an insurmountable handicap for the Germans. Mesut Özil’s penalty came too late to deny the Italians victory in this semi-final. Germany, with three goals from Mario Gomez, nevertheless enjoyed a reasonably good tourna- ment. They may have had the wherewithal to reach the final, but they missed the boat at the critical moment. Netherlands flop Two years after reaching the World Cup final Images in South Africa, the Netherlands flopped badly. The World Cup runners-up had to return home Getty after the group stage, in which they lost all three 4 | UEFA •direct | 07.12 Getty Images Despite his energy and resourcefulness, matches, a truly dreadful performance for the Smiles and gnashing of teeth Portugal’s Cristiano Ronaldo was still “Oranje”. It was no surprise when Bert van Despite their elimination at the quarter-final unable to break Marwijk, who had succeeded Marco van Basten stage, Greece and the Czech Republic can con- down the Spanish four years ago, tendered his resignation. Despite sider themselves to have had a successful tour- defence tinkering with his line-up, the Dutch coach failed nament. After a poor start, the Greeks did sur- to breathe new life into a team which had rarely prisingly well. A more mixed impression was left been as lacklustre with the likes of Sneijder, by Roy Hodgson’s England, who were without Robben and Van Persie in its midst. several key players but still put in a decent show- ing before losing to Italy on penalties in quarter- New setbacks for France final. Meanwhile, Russia completely went off the France, despite starting the tournament well rails after a fantastic opening and three goals with a draw against England followed by an ex- from Alan Dzagoev. pected win against Ukraine, failed to build on The co-hosts were also hoping to achieve those results. The team coached by Laurent more from the tournament. Both Poland and Blanc fell apart as the competition progressed. Ukraine were knocked out in the group stage, Firstly, they suffered a disappointing defeat at their potential clearly not enough to carry them the hands of Sweden which, although it did not through. Croatia, on the other hand, had an in- prevent them qualifying for the quarter-finals, teresting role to play, almost knocking out Italy. showed that something was not quite right. Sweden, meanwhile, failed to live up to expecta- Then, against Spain, the “Bleus” were unable tions, despite the presence of front man Zlatan to summon the nerve that was needed to cause Ibrahimovic’. Denmark also expected much more a surprise. In an overcautious display, they were after winning their opening match against the inevitably defeated by the “Roja”, who barely Netherlands. needed to break sweat to qualify. Admittedly, Finally, Giovanni Trapattoni’s Republic of Ireland reaching the quarter-finals is, in itself, not a bad were clearly out of their depth, unlike their sup- result for the French, but the spirit they showed porters, who were deservedly awarded a special certainly fell short of what was expected.