Last night, world champions France opened their Euro 2020 campaign with a 1 – 0 win against Germany.
Their group also contains defending European champions Portugal, meaning Germany are underdogs. In 2014, when Germany were all conquering world champions, this was unthinkable.
Similarly for 2010 world champions Spain, who laboured to a 0 – 0 draw with Sweden in their Euro 2020 opener.
The more tactical approach of France and Portugal has superseded the technical passing game that Spanish and German football used to dominate football.
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Against Sweden, Spain were very much in character. They dominated possession and passed the ball around smoothly. However, this kind of football hasn’t been effective for some years now. Without the stars of the past, Spain were just passing with no urgency or conviction. Luis Enrique has tried to make them more direct. Sadly though, they lack the players to make it work.
When Alvaro Morata missed a one-on-one chance, it highlighted the drop off in quality for Spain. Morata, Moreno, Koke and Dani Olmo are a far cry from Davids Villa and Silva, Fabregas, Xavi and Iniesta. In a group with Poland and Slovakia, Spain should still qualify. However, don’t expect them to do much in the next round.
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Against France, Germany were arguably the more proactive team. They didn’t couldn’t capitalise, though, and France waited for their opportunities. On paper, the Germany team is up there with any at Euro 2020. However in practise, it is clear that this team is nearly there, rather than there. And it was a game of nearly moments for Germany, who probed well, but fell down at the time of the final pass. Credit must be given to the French defenders, who didn’t give Havertz, Gnabry and Kimmich a moment to breathe all night.
It’s a solid start to the tournament for France. For Germany, with Portugal winning their first game, it’s a long shot to make the next round.
