Camden Sports: Richard Osley | Euro 2008

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Camden New Journal - MATCH POINT by RICHARD OSLEY
Published: 19 June 2008

Thierry’s tantrums are as bad as Shearer’s shirts

THINGS I learned watching Euro 2008 (part II)

1. THE Dutch deserve to win it: ITALY slain. France knocked out. Romania obliterated. And all three despatched in dazzling style by the Netherlands. Let’s hope the Italians or the Germans don’t do that old trick of stumbling their way through the tournament and ending up with the trophy. The purist has to back Holland. Give that cup to Robin van Persie, his goal on Tuesday night was a real treat.

2. SPURS fans don’t know who to support: It’s always fun to cheer on your club’s players in an international competition. So who are Tottenham fans following? It seems there is a distinct lack of Spurs representation at the finals, aside from Croatia’s Luka Modric, who is heading to White Hart Lane. Guess it’s not so great filling your team with second-rate English players after all.

3. PEOPLE might have had a point when they said Thierry was a bit of a whinger: It’s hard to spot when you are watching from the stands and the scarf around your neck is red and white, and I can’t remember a time when I’ve uttered a bad word about Thierry Henry. But I caught a glimpse of what everybody else has been banging on about for years on Tuesday as France collapsed against Italy.
When the French were in dire straits and needed his va-va voom, they got shoulder shrugs and outstretched arms. He was the greatest player ever to grace the Premiership, so how sad it was to see him clutching at straws as his team fell through the group of death’s trap-door.

4. IT’S not over until the big man fumbles it: Contrary to previous wisdom, pumping harmless-looking crosses into the box for Petr Cech to catch is actually a valid tactic. It gets results. Cech lost the ball in the sky against Arsenal earlier this season, leading to a Chelsea defeat at the Emirates. The Czech repeated the trick against Turkey and his country tumbled out of Euro 2008. As the old saying goes, missing the ball once is unfortunate, twice – just downright careless.

5. ALAN Shearer gets dressed in the dark: Lawrenson, Dixon, Lineker – they spend all season trying to outdo each other with their shiny, stripy, silvery, going-up-West-with-the-lads shirts. But Shearer went a step too far on Friday night. White shirt, brown collar – you don’t have to be a fashion expert to realise Shearer should go back to letting the wife do the clothes shopping.

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