Where at Euro 2008 is the romance, the imagination, the moments that will live in the memory forever, asks Jamie Jackson.
Here’s a simple question regarding Euro 2008: where have the great goals gone? Remember them — the humdingers, the mesmerising dribbles and balletic finishes, the viciously bending free-kicks ‘magicked’ beyond a transfixed ’keeper into that sweet top corner.
Great goals are all about romance and, here in Switzerland and Austria, there has been absolutely none. So far, there have been no strikes direct from a free-kick. And, apart from Zlatan Ibrahimovic’s goal for Sweden against Greece in the opening match of Group D, nothing even approached memorable. No sublime over-the-shoulder-from-a-ridiculous-angle-volley like Marco van Basten in the 1988 final. No breathtaking run, dink over Colin Hendry, and finish a la Paul Gascoigne at Euro ’96.
No scraggy-haired centre-half being shoved the ball on the halfway line, who suddenly finds a dazzling ability to ride tackles before unleashing a swashbuckling 35-yarder that has us all grateful we argued with the missus about watching Cyprus versus Denmark in a dead rubber.
Never mind execution, it would be nice if someone would actually try. Everyone at this tournament seems too frightened to even dare the impossible. Are Franck Ribery, Ruud van Nistelrooy and Marco Materazzi really scared? Chaps, forget the tactics and team talk, this is about glory, creating a moment that reminds us why we watch football. About grabbing a place in the mythology of the game. About why millions of kids fall in love with a ball in the first place.
There was an effort which in any other tournament would hardly be considered. Turkey captain Nihat Kahveci beat Petr Cech with an impressively angled finish. It won Turkey a memorable match and a place in the quarterfinals at the Czech Republic’s expense.
But it lacked something. As the chance presented itself, there was only the ’keeper to beat and, though difficult, it was on, it seemed possible. Great goals are about the impossible. With achieving that comes immortality, which is also the problem with Ibrahimovic’s effort. In a month’s time, never mind next tournament, no one will remember either of these strikes.
Like great matches, unbelievable goals live forever. Maybe it’s because we want them to, because we can’t quite believe what we’ve just seen and so need to recall them in perpetuity.
Why Euro 2008 has lacked even one is a mystery. Caution, a deficit of players with flair (Ribery and possibly Wesley Sneijder are two exceptions), the general vagaries of football — there are a few possible reasons.
But, hopefully, there is another. Imagination. Maybe it just needs capturing. Maybe once Sergio Ramos conjures a scissor-kick from the touchline, or Roman Pavlyuchenko releases a cannonball, everyone will start searching for their own piece of glory. And then, if that happens, we really will have a tournament on our hands. As Danny Blanchflower, who managed a few himself, never said: the game’s not about winning or losing, it’s about scoring great goals.
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