A tournament thriving on dodgy defences

It's the frailty and fallibility of all the leading teams which is making Euro 2008 such fantastic fun to watch, writes Kevin McCarra.

Twilight in the era of great international teams is making this tournament picturesque. Results keep beguiling us because no side looks out of harm's reach. Every day there is a new country to be doubted or conceivably ridiculed. In this instability you can't even count on failures to keep on floundering.

Croatia, haggard in a threadbare win over Austria, outclassed Germany in the next match. Joachim Lï¿½w's squad made the same journey in reverse. The pre-tournament favourites flaunted their status while beating Poland, yet now brows crinkle at the slight prospect of them being eliminated at the group phase. We ought to relish all this.

There is no use lamenting the disappearance of awe-inspiring international teams. The most recent, at Euro 2000, did not get the homage to which it was entitled. Maybe that was because the final was far from France's best match. But for the fact that Sylvain Wiltord, at the very end of normal time, sneaked an equaliser through a nearly imperceptible gap at the far post Italy would have triumphed.

The majesty of the winner was far more representative of a France side that seemed liberated in its football after the strain of becoming world champions two years before. No one can have forgotten the uninhibited first-time shot by David Trezeguet from Robert Pires's cut-back for the golden goal that settled the Euro 2000 final in extra-time. A striker without his instinctiveness would have wanted to tame the ball and review his options.

Another attacker offered more still that summer. Those who ramble on sceptically about Thierry Henry's showings in major games somehow did not discern that the tournament eight years ago was his peak, especially in interplay with Zinedine Zidane that made onlookers light-headed with happiness. There is no reason to expect we will see the like of that again at international level. Since then economics, if not emotions, dictate that footballers owe their fealty to club rather than country.

That commitment taxes them more than ever in this age of hyper-fitness. Countries play at least as many matches as ever, but to what effect when the Champions League has taken priority? Fabio Capello has quite a task before him to instil the attitude and method he wants from England.

After Manchester United and Chelsea had been through extra-time and a shoot-out in Moscow even the victors were more ready for counselling than tough training under the Italian.

This does not mean that we should be supercilious about international football. Quite the reverse where Euro 2008 is concerned. The event might turn into a delight considering how open the games have been so far.

Of the 13 fixtures completed before the match between Holland and France just one was goalless. Greece look the only team with designs on boring us.

Most of the rest could not do that if they tried. There must be expert defenders out here but you would hesitate to state that there has been a good defence.

Spain could dish out a drubbing to Russia while some people like me wondered if they were wise to have tipped them as winners of the tournament. With Pavel Pogrebnyak gone because of injury and Andrei Arshavin suspended, Guus Hiddink's side still had openings.

Is Iker Casillas the best goalkeeper in the world? He had better be if Carles Puyol and Carlos Marchena are at the core of the back four.

The same observations about defensive disquiet could be made about virtually all the contestants. Despite the hour of glory against Italy, no one will class the Holland defence as a failsafe mechanism while it contains Khalid Boulahrouz and Andrï¿½ Ooijer. When it comes to Italy, they made it look in that match as if it was inconceivable that they could muster any durability when Fabio Cannavaro is no longer there at centre-half.

Marco Materazzi had a miserable time while straining to assume those duties and had to be taken off. A similar fate awaited Marcell Jansen, the Germany left-back who could not show the rigour anticipated of a Bayern Munich player.

Croatia preyed on him until his removal. Before lambasting a lengthening list of fallible individuals we would be wiser to pause and remember that if international teams are not so well prepared as they once were it is in defence that the lack of understanding will be most glaring, no matter who is picked. Euro 2008 is highly promising for strikers. Good.