[Anonymous]

The just concluded Euro 2016 tournament – won by Portugal – had in it diverse elements that left a great deal of variegated impressions on all those who spared time to eyeball the quadrennial football showpiece.

Here are some of the the Good, the Bad and Horrible components of the tournament.

THE GOOD

GOLAZOS GALORE

From Payet’s stupendous thunderbolt in the opening game of Euro 2016 to Modric’s spectacular effort, Nainggolan’s spectacular pile-driver, right down to Ronaldo’s nifty flick and Sahqiri’s otherworldly bicycle kick, Euro 2016 would be remembered for the great goals that littered it. Perhaps a tournament that was characterized by lots of bland displays and pedestrian contests that could qualify as sleeping pills, the tournament can at least be glad that the encouraging number of great goals helped spared its blushes.

THE GIANT SLAYERS

In what could be described as a welcome development, the fair amount of upsets recorded at Euro 2016 give the future of the competition a great cause for encouragement. After being expanded from 16 to 24 teams, the Euro championship was expected to have lots of cakewalk victories for the big teams. The likes of Iceland (who knocked out England), Ireland (who defeated Italy), Wales (who eliminated Belgium), Croatia (who won against Spain) and Iceland (who drew with Portugal), caused the major upsets, thus giving neutrals more reasons to want to watch other David-and-Goliath encou

nters.

GUDMUNDUR THE WACKADOODLE

If there was ever any hilarious moment at the Euro 2016, it would be the wild celebration of the Icelandic commentator, Gudmundur Benediktsson, who became an online hit for his ear-splitting goal celebrations squeals. Having already become an online hit for his jubilation when his beloved team scored a last-minute winner against Austria at the Stade de France in Paris, Gudmundur exploded again with delirium during his team's victory over England. One could stretch the imagination to conceive the manner of celebration Gudmundur would exhibit if his country ever manage to win the World Cup.

THE BAD

JOGI LOW A.K.A The Scratching and sniffing coach

Germany coach, Jogi Low, incredibly created a stir during the Euro 2016 tournament with some nauseating habitual indulgence. Low, who couldn’t just resist scratching and smelling himself at every given opportunity, became a butt of jokes amongst football fans the world-over. His unsavoury acts against Ukraine, Slovakia and during a training session, makes one wonder he if he derives a special kind of pleasure (that we are unaware of) from smelling parts of his body (in public) that oozes anything but a fragrance. ‘I’m sorry for it,’ he said after the match. ‘When you’re full of adrenalin, things happen that you don’t perceive.’. Unfortunately, he wasn't sorry enough to resist repeating this habit of his after apologizing. It's obvious old habits (in this case, bad habits) die hard.

THE HORRIBLE

STREET-FIGHTERS WANNABE

Undoubtedly the biggest minus of this tournament. It was simply a shocking sight seeing supporters of developed countries ludicrously contrive to disrupt law and order. The UEFA Euro 2016 in France saw several recorded instances of football hooliganism and related violence between fans, both at the venues where matches took place, and in cities near the participating stadiums. The violence started immediately before the tournament began, and involved clashes between several countries, majorly Russia, England and Croatia. Some of the rioting came from established gangs and football hooligan organisations, which deliberately intended to provoke violence. They clashed with riot police who elected to control the crowds using tear gas and a water cannon. So intense was the situation that teams were threatened with expulsion from the tournament. As it appeared, a further ban on alcohol ironically seemed to intoxicate and galvanized these sets of supporters to attain a new level of hooliganism that was nothing more than a repugnant show of shame.

By Abayomi Kalejaye

[Author]

Posts