Hosting it used to be the best way of
winning it for France. Not so now.
Despite having the Golden Boot winner in
their ranks and possibly the best array of player-for-player talent to pick
from (the Germans possibly better) on Sunday we witnessed the players pick up
their silver medals and immediately rip them from around their necks.
Their Group was easy and they sailed
through it. Ireland and Iceland in the first stages of the knock-outs was
friendly too. Germany in the semis was their biggest challenge and they sailed
through.
But Payet started the tournament well but
faded. Pogba flattered to deceive. He will become a great but he is not there
yet. Up front Gignac and Giroud are far from a world-class duo, but add
Griezmann and the Triple G looks stronger.
So the hosts continue to go through a
drought. Indeed, France in the World Cup of 1998 remain the last host nation to
win a major football tournament involving European teams. Here’s the list of
failures: 2014 Brazil, 2012 Poland/Ukraine, 2010 South Africa, 2008
Austria/Switzerland, 2006 Germany, 2004 Portugal, 2002 Japan/South Korea, 2000
Belgium/Netherlands.
No comments:
Post a Comment