EUROPEAN CHAMPIONSHIPS 2000

Well, the tournament that we were all looking forward to since July of 1998 has come and gone.
I think most would agree that it was a success, and the violence wasn't as bad as some may have thought. There were several "upsets" in the tourney, namely England & Germany's inabilities to reach the 2nd stage, Portugal's outstanding form, Turkey's reaching the 2nd round, and Slovenia's suprise results. There were also some great comebacks, including Yugoslavia's overcoming of a 3-goal deficit versus Slovenia, Portugal's upset over England after being down
2-0, Spain's 2-goal injury time miracle versus Yugoslavia to win 4-3, and, perhaps the most dramatic of all, France's comeback in the Championship Final versus the Italians. We saw some great offense (Netherlands 6-1 Yugoslavia, Spain 4-3 Yugoslavia, Slovenia 3-3 Yugoslavia) and a couple of boring 0-0 draws. We also said farewell to some of the game's most celebrated stars in Dennis Bergkamp, Alan Shearer, Lothar Mattheus & Gheorge Hagi. All in all, it was a great tournament, one that we will not soon forget. I have chosen my All-Star team for the tournament after quite a bit of thought, so take a look at my Starting 11 below. I think that I have chosen quite a strong side.

EURO 2000 Starting 11

GOALKEEPER

As much as I hate to admit it, Francesco Toldo had an outstanding tournament in net, and I believe
him to be the reason that Italy made it to the final (along with their boring defensive style of play).
Not bad for a guy who figured he'd be sitting on the bench a month before the tourney!

DEFENDERS

Lilian Thuram of France had an impressive tourney with his offensive spurts as well as great defending. Jaap Stam of Holland was also solid at the back for the Dutch. The two Italians, Alessandro Nesta & Fabio Cannavaro, anchored the Italian back 4 (or should I say back 10) quite well, and are worthy of much praise.

MIDFIELDERS

Boudewijn Zenden came out of nowhere and delighted fans with his outstanding form on the left side of
midfield for the Dutch, beating his man down the wing numerous times and providing many quality crosses, and
he also found the net on two occasions. As for Zinedine Zidane, there is little doubt in my mind that he was the
most impressive player at the tournament. His creativity with the ball is just magical. Luis Figo has also got to be
a notorious choice in this team of all-stars. His blistering shot against England aside, Figo threaded so many beautiful passes to his teammates, and is one of the main reasons that Portugal made it as far as the semi-finals.
Finally, after only being listed as an honourable mention, Edgar Davids rounds out the midfield. Much like the Dutch squad, Davids got better each game, and showed amazing form in the semi-final against Italy.
I don't think anyone can really argue his inclusion in this All-Star midfield.

FORWARDS

Quite an easy decision here, Patrick Kluivert of Holland and Thierry Henry of France. Kluivert wasn't looking too bad in the round robin, notching 2 goals...and then came the Holland v Yugoslavia match where he exploded for
3 goals in a span of 30 minutes to knock the Yugoslavs out of the tourney, where they belonged. Henry also impressed with 3 goals, and was a constant threat to the opposition with his blistering speed.
He also managed to win 3 Man of the Match awards in his 4 games played.

HONOURABLE MENTIONS

No fewer than 4 more Dutchmen here in Arsenal players Bergkamp & Overmars, as well as
Barcelona's Reiziger & Van Der Sar of Juventus. Two Spaniards also deserve mention, Alfonso & Mendieta.
The two Frenchmen who make the honourable mentions list are Trezeguet & Wiltord. To round out the list,
we have Totti of Italy, Rui Costa of Portugal, Zahovic of Slovenia & Emile Mpenza of Belgium.

NOT SO HONOURABLE MENTIONS

Now, here are some of EURO 2000's not-so-popular players.

Alessandro Del Piero - It boggles the mind to think about how he did not score on his numerous glorious chances in the final versus France, not to mention the entire tournament. Brutal.

Phil Neville - Great defending against Romania cost England a birth in the quarterfinals. Way to go, Phil!

Raul - Wasn't he supposed to be a good player?

Sinisa Mihajlovic - Was outstanding versus Holland in their 6-1 loss to the Dutch. And red cards put your team at a disadvantage. Oh, by the way...your free kicks are shit compared to Roberto Carlos.

PLAYERS I LOVE TO HATE

Here are some players who I absolutely CANNOT stand

Laurent Blanc - Other than the fact that he's not the prettiest face in the business, I think it has to do with him knocking Holland out of Euro 96 in their quarterfinal shootout...

Gheorge Hagi - Retire.

Pavel Nedved - (a) Cut your hair, (b) Learn to run properly, (c) Stop diving, (d) Stop whining.

Hakan Sukur - Perhaps the ugliest soccer player in the world.

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