The 17th European Football Championship is history and Spain have become the record winners of the continental competition. But the tournament in Germany also provided plenty to talk about off the pitch. Five episodes from 28 days at EURO 2024.
15.07.2024, 14:26
SDA
Selfies with the European champion coach
Spain are European champions for the fourth time. A month ago, Luis de la Fuente's young team was not one of the favorites. Instead, the French, the English and hosts Germany were among the favorites. But the Iberians were the most consistent team in Germany and could count on outstanding young individuals. Lamine Yamal, who was named the best young player of the tournament, set up the 1-0 in the final and cemented his status as the best preparer with his fourth assist. And Nico Williams, who was named best player of the final, paved the way to victory for the Spaniards with his second goal of the European Championship.
Above all, however, the "Selección" impressed as a strong collective, as a well-functioning team in which everyone knew what their job was. And as a team that always had an answer ready after conceding goals. As in the final, when Mikel Oyarzabal put the Spaniards decisively in front after England's Cole Palmer had equalized. Incidentally, the Bilbao-based Williams is being courted by FC Barcelona. It is therefore quite possible that the Spanish winger Yamal-Williams will soon be playing for the Catalans.
Coach Luis de la Fuente has been criticized by fans and the media ever since he took over after the World Cup in Qatar. Accordingly, the 63-year-old has never shied away from confrontation with members of the media. After his greatest triumph as coach to date, however, de la Fuente is extremely approachable and fulfills every wish for a selfie with the press representatives in the underground of the Berlin Olympic Stadium, some of whom euphorically embrace him.
Scots with powerful voices
Hundreds of thousands of fans made the pilgrimage to Germany from all over the world for this European Championship. Not all of them made a lasting impression on the collective memory with their performances. Or do you remember something special about the Polish supporters? It was other fan groups that made positive headlines. The powerful-voiced Scots, for example, who sang their anthem "Flower of Scotland", accompanied by traditional bagpipe music, with such fervor that the passion and devotion for the "Bravehearts" could be felt and seen in every fiber. "No Scotland, no party" was a popular chant among the Scots, most of whom were traveling in kilts, suggesting that the football festival would be over after their elimination in the preliminary round.
Proof to the contrary was provided by the Dutch, who once again added a splash of orange to the tournament. Tens of thousands of Oranje fans sang and danced in the streets of Hamburg, Leipzig, Berlin and Munich. And made the party song "Links rechts" by the band Snollebollekes their anthem on the way to the Elftal's first semi-final qualification in 20 years.
In the Weimar oasis
Spacious zones were set up in each of the ten host cities for fans, where they could not only watch the 51 European Championship matches in public viewing, but also take part in numerous activities and concerts. The largest fan zone stretched through Berlin and, according to the organizers, the world's largest football goal was set up behind the Brandenburg Gate - 23 meters high and 64 meters wide.
Anyone who wanted to could lose themselves in the microcosm of the fan zone for a month and enjoy the fact that the "most important minor matter in the world" is the main thing for millions of people.
Surprisingly, it wasn't that difficult to escape the hustle and bustle of the European Championships. Two hours on the train and EURO 2024 is just another event taking place in Germany. As a visit to Weimar at the beginning of July showed. Walking through the tranquil little town in Thuringia, Goethe and Schiller, who lived in Weimar and are immortalized with a monument on the Theaterplatz, are more interesting than Gakpo and Stanciu, who are on the pitch at that moment in the round of 16 match between the Netherlands and Romania.
There are no crowds forming in front of screens here. For the simple reason that there are no screens to attract football fans. However, if the hostess of one of the many rustic breweries has a heart for the European Championships, she lets a game play as background noise to the clinking of glasses and cutlery.
On rails
Speaking of travel. In the run-up to the European Championships, there was widespread concern that Deutsche Bahn would not be able to cope with the crowds or that, in the worst-case scenario, there would even be a strike. After all, dissatisfied DB employees could rarely generate as much attention as during a football tournament that attracts worldwide attention. But there were no strikes. The transport company, which as the official mobility partner of EURO 2024 wanted to contribute to staging the "most sustainable European Championship ever", even drew an extremely positive conclusion on Friday. Over twelve million fans had used the long-distance trains in the last month, and yet there was always enough space for all passengers. DB's only "mixed" conclusion was in the area of punctuality.
Even high-ranking officials such as tournament director Philipp Lahm, who was only able to watch parts of the match between Ukraine and Slovakia in the Düsseldorf stadium after his train connection was delayed, were not immune to this issue. The Swiss national team also traveled by train a few times to their commitments at this tournament. However, the Dutch team had to switch to a plane at short notice before the semi-final against England in Dortmund because their connection was canceled. The DB European champions are the Romanian delegation, who took the train six times.
After several thousand DB kilometers and several hours of delays, it can be stated: The smart one travels by train - but the smart one also travels with an early connection.
Cucurella's arm, Schärer's determination
This European Championship has shown it once again. What was assumed to have an effect before the introduction of the video referee, namely that there would be less discussion about the referees and their decisions, has not materialized. The mother of all discussions, so to speak, broke out when hosts Germany were denied a penalty in the quarter-final against Spain, even though the ball had hit defender Marc Cucurella's arm in the penalty area. England's Anthony Taylor was pilloried by Germany and singled out as the scapegoat for having prevented the second summer fairytale after 2006.
In the emotionally charged million-dollar business of football, such discussions are part and parcel of the game - after all, many people have high hopes that their national team will come out on top. Accordingly, many are disappointed.
Sandro Schärer was less in the limelight at his first finals. The player from the canton of Schwyz made two appearances and did not shy away from putting icons in the spotlight. Like Cristiano Ronaldo, who was cautioned in Portugal's final group game against Georgia (0:2) after Schärer failed to award him a penalty, which made the 39-year-old furious.
