I Loved Euro 2008

It’s not often that sports are compared to a bloody invasion in the 1600s.
But when they are, you can bet that something big is happening. And when it comes to sports anywhere outside of the United States, you can also bet that it probably involves soccer.
That’s right, I’ve been watching the UEFA European Championship, and it’s been so amazing.
When it began on June 7 with 16 teams, it didn’t look like it was going to be all that great. England didn’t qualify, so we wouldn’t get to see Beckham. Sure, Portugal has the next big thing in Cristiano Ronaldo, but it’s hard to get too excited about a tournament with one quasi-famous face.
Then the tournament started, and despite my intentions of remaining a casual observer, I got hooked.
When Polish-born striker Lukas Podolski scored a beautiful left-footer for Germany against his native team, I wondered how inappropriate it would be to keep thinking about the last time that Germany ran through Poland on its way to world domination.
And when Turkey came from behind to beat Switzerland, I couldn’t believe that Arda Turan was able to find that much open space to score the game-winner. Then when the Dutch dismantled France with a three-goal victory, I silently wondered if I could get away with wearing all orange in any situation in life as well as the Netherlands do.
Things just kept getting better: the Turks came from behind (again!) and beat the Czech Republic; the Italians blanked the French, with a little help from an amazing save by goal keeper Gianluigi Buffon on a penalty kick; and the surprising Russians outran the favored Swedes to advance to the quarterfinals.
Needless to say, by this point in the tournament, I had my DVR set to record anything that even resembled the word “soccer” on the program guide. I may have ended up with a few programs about socks, Socrates, sorcery and futbol de liga Mexicana, but it was totally worth it.
Then, of course, came the quarterfinal round, where it shifted from group play into “win-or-go-home” mode. And if you know anything about how Europeans love soccer, you know how disappointing it is to the players to be eliminated. I was ready for the real deal, and I have not been disappointed so far.
First came the Germany—Portugal match, and despite the best flopping I’ve seen in a while, Cristiano Ronaldo could not get his Portuguese mates into the semis.
By far, though, the best match I’ve seen in any kind of soccer, was the Turkey—Croatia quarterfinal game. Even before the match began, it was drawing comparisons to the last time the Turks invaded what is now Croatia, and that was back in the 1600s.
The Turks had just turned in two come-from-behind wins, which is all but impossible to accomplish at this level of play. They had their starting goal keeper, Volkan Demirel, suspended for two matches after he picked up a red card in the team’s win over the Czech Republic. Backup goalie Rüştü Reçber, a 35-year-old keeper with 117 international games under his belt, was suddenly thrust into the limelight.
And he responded. All game long, the Croatians found ways to break through the Turkish defense, and Rüştü kept finding ways to turn them aside.
The game was scoreless through all 90 minutes of regulation, and the teams headed into the 30 minutes of extra time to decide a winner.
With just under a minute remaining in the extra time, Rüştü made a huge mistake; he left the net in pursuit of a wide pass, and before he could recover, the Croatians had scored. The game continued, but there was virtually no hope of Turkey pulling off yet another comeback, especially not with only two minutes of stoppage time added on.
But sure enough, with time running down, Rüştü took a free kick from his own end and sailed it down to his strikers at the edge of the Croatian penalty area. After an airborne battle for the ball and a crazy bounce, attacker Semih Senturk found the only open lane in the Croatian defense and somehow put the ball in the back of the net as time expired. No Hollywood script could have written anything so unlikely, yet here were the Turks, forcing the game into penalty kicks only a minute after they were doomed to elimination.
With momentum firmly on the Turkish side, the Croatians missed two of their first three kicks, and in fitting fashion, Rüştü made a diving save on the deciding kick to win the game for Turkey.
And after all that, Turkey’s reward is to face a seemingly-unbeatable German squad, while the other semifinal features a Russian team coming off a big win over the Netherlands (despite the retina-scorching orange uniforms) taking on Spain, a team with a reputation for finding a way to blow it in a big game.
I personally can’t wait, mostly because I just enjoy quality competition, and you can’t find any better than this.
There are, of course, a few things that enhance the experience, such as play-by-play announcers Derek Rae and Tommy Smyth, who have such endearing accents that they could be broadcasting a crocheting circle and I’d still be enthralled.
Quick side note: I still can’t decide if I like it or not, but the Brits refer to a team in the plural (as in, “Germany are really playing well today,”) even though we in America refer to a team as a singular entity (as in, “Valley Center is really playing well today.”) Ah, who am I kidding? Everything is so much cooler in a British accent.
I can’t wait to see how it all plays out.
Hopefully things end up a little better than that invasion in the 1600s.
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Next week, we’ll discuss more soccer, specifically why it’s so popular in other countries. I have a few theories on that, and I’m excited to share what I’ve learned.
In the meantime, if you have any thoughts about soccer, the Euro 2008 tournament, or anything at all, don’t hesitate to drop me a line at sports@valleycenter.com anytime.