The curse of June 22 has been lifted. The curse of not able to win on penalties has been lifted. The curse of not able to progress beyond the quarter-finals has been lifted. The best thing of them all - The curse of not able to beat Italy in 88 years in competitive matches has been lifted. Spain had managed to banish all those ghosts on one single night in Vienna.
It was really a drab match between Spain and Italy in the final Euro 2008 quarter-final match in the Austrian capital (which has seen a fair share of drama on...and off the pitch) other than the refereeing which is like, I don't know. There were a few highlights during the normal time of play (including one mad scramble around the Spain goal area) and I have to give credit that whenever Spain is attempting to score a goal, an almost whole load of Italian defenders start to follow the attempted goal-scorer. One in red (Spain) about to score, a whole lot of white shirts (Italy) will start to arrive soon. Whatever they had always said about Italy producing defenders are true. I know Italy lost on penalties (with the Italian media saying that coach Roberto Donadoni's reign will end and Marcello Lippi will return as coach) with 4-2 the final result in the penalty shootout (with Cesc Fabregas eventually scoring the winning penalty, ending Spain's infamous reputation as 'bottlers'). But if there's anything Italy can take heart from the match, their defenders did a decent job. And, time to look ahead to the 2010 World Cup.
I was actually surprised my father woke up and watched the match. But given of the nature of the match, it made him fell asleep on the sofa half the time. He was going for Spain to beat Italy. Even if I told him what could be holding Spain back (whatever I said in the first paragraph) he doesn't care. Catenaccio is not his thing. There is a reason why Holland is his team after England. Give him free-flowing football anytime.
For me, I was going for Spain to win. Though my mind is telling me ahead of the match that it will be Italy. Heart say Spain, mind say Italy. Though my reason is more like...it's about time. More on the sentimental side of things. If England have not won anything since the 1966 World Cup, Spain had it worse - the 1964 European Championships (which they also hosted) was their only major title to date. And for people like me who watches the Premier League, there are a handful of Spanish footballers who play their club football in England. So in a way we know how good they can be but then overall, when one look at the quality and depth of the current Spanish national team, those in the squad who play their football at home play for some of the well-known Spanish clubs around with the likes of Real Madrid, Barcelona, Valencia represented. Getafe (Ruben de la Red is from there) is also represented too. So who says only the who's who of Spanish football is represented?
In between the breaks before the penalty shootout, I was thinking about the state of penalty shootout for both sides. Comparing between Spain and Italy's records, Italy has the slight upper hand given they did won on that two years ago during the World Cup final against France. Coincidentally for Spain, the past three times they have to take penalties...it has always been June 22 and also the quarter-final stages. On the night of 22 June 2008 in Vienna's Ernst-Happel Stadium, Spain goalkeeper and captain Iker Casillas became the hero. Even he himself admitted his team had been lucky to progress to the semi-finals (as the last time this happens...for a moment he struggled to remember when was the last time they were this lucky - the 2002 World Cup against Ireland then in the quarter-finals, co-hosts South Korea knocked them out). As for Italy coach Roberto Donadoni (with the Italy Football Federation president Giancarlo Abete failed to back the coach), he defended his choice of penalty takers.
Naturally, the Spanish media were united in their relief on that Spain had finally laid to rest their quarter-final curse. While Spain is celebrating (with even the King of Spain Juan Carlos and his wife Queen Sofia who were in Vienna to watch the boys in action, King Juan Carlos declared that the Spanish national football team has broken the quarter-final hoodoo), coach Luis Aragones is not carried away, saying that he is just doing his job. But whatever happens to Spain after being in the semi-finals since 1984, Aragones said that he will still step down from his post after the tournament is over. He will be 70 in July (so imagine he was like 25-going on-26 when Spain won their only major title to date). While for his counterpart Roberto Donadoni, he has ruled out quitting his post and being defiant that his side played well.
As for the eventual penalty goalscorer Cesc Fabregas (I remembered when he stepped up to take the penalty, I was like thinking 'Fabregas?' given I don't remember he take penalties at Arsenal but then after he converted it, I was telling my father 'Arsene Wenger will be very proud now'...given the Arsenal manager was spotted being among the stadium audience), he was glad to be given the chance to shine. And believing that justice was done. It may have to stretch all the way to the penalties after goalless draw to the end of the added extra-time...at least it's Spain beating an old rival and bogey team in the form of Italy (the current world champions too). The match might had been cagey, at least we have a winner in the end.
The semi-final matches will only resume on Wednesday (it will be early Thursday morning here by then) and Thursday. But until then, it's about taking stock of how the tournament has been on and off the pitch. On the pitch, UEFA's technical director Andy Roxburgh (the one-time Scotland coach) is amazed by Russia's playmaker Andrei Arshavin whom he said had added magic to this tourament and pointed out that late goals that have turned around matches at Euro 2008 are no accident but the result of coaches making bold use of substitutions (as he noted that this has happened in the Champions League as well).
Off the pitch? The Austrian interior ministry reported that in the first two weeks of the tournament, a total of 520 people have been arrested and 1,500 charges filed. The measles epidemic which has plagued Switzerland since last year (and which also posted a threat to fans coming for the tournament), is on a decline. But it's too early to make an assessment actually given the incubation period lasts a few days as explained by the spokesman of the Federal Office of Public Health Jean-Louis Zurcher. Now something not so heavy. In the wake of the manner how Croatia exited from the tournament, a psychiatrist has been roped by one of Croatia newspapers Jutarnji List to give some sound medical advice to their readers.
With non-stop football action since early this month, it's also time for me to take a little breather for now. On a personal scale, I also need to take stock of the tournament as well. But, the Euro 2008 news does not stop there.
Euro 2008 thoughts of the day: After Spain's Cesc Fabregas converted his penalty to send his country to the semi-finals and at the same time, booked a re-match with their fellow Group D opponents Russia (which they beat in their opening match 4-1), my mind was saying this - 'Arrivederci!'. The Italians were out, you know. And if Spain managed to break the quarter-final curse, I don't see why England cannot do that in the near future. Until like Spain recently, always out in the quarter-finals...
Theatricals starting to spoil the football (Reuters correspondent Erik Kirschbaum on theatrics in Euro 2008 matches)
Guide to Euro 2008 semi-finalists (AFP's focus on the coaches, key players of the semi-finalists)
Germany aside, semi-finalists are underdogs of war (Whereas Europe's "Big three" of Germany, Italy, France have regularly picked off World Cup honours, where the European Championships are concerned the glory has in contrast been spread around with nine different winners suggesting smaller nations are punching above their weight.)
Germans lose out on home-grown young Turks (But where Die Mannschaft is losing out is over young German-born players of Turkish origin who, when they make it to international level, prefer to don the red shirt and white crescent of the country straddling Europe and Asia rather than the black and white of the game's most successful nation.)
Humble Casillas goes from saint to godlike status (Iker Casillas used to be known as 'Saint Iker' now according to Spanish team-mate Joan Capdevila the Real Madrid goalkeeper is a god after saving two of world champions Italy's penalties in the Euro 2008 quarter-final shootout win on Sunday.)
