Euro Cortado #5: "Messi" beats "Maradona"
Amazing Arda, persistent Pepe and Euro euphoria are in the spotlight in this morning's coffee break round-up of UEFA Euro 2024
The perfect blend of youth and experience - not only ideal for a team wanting to go deep into a major tournament, but the best description of Tuesday’s action at UEFA Euro 2024, as matchday one rounded off with another record-breaking day.
What did we learn on day five in Germany? To find out, grab your morning Euro Cortado… or perhaps you fancy a Turkish coffee and a pastel de nata?
Güler wins battle of the bright young things
What. A. Game. Three words accompanying, or being the entirety of, countless social media posts commenting on Turkey’s 3-1 win over Georgia in Dortmund. The biblical downpour did nothing to stop the passionate - sometimes aggressive - crowd being treated to mesmerising attacking football on a tournament debut for Georgia which so easily could have ended in a win for Willy Sagnol’s men.
But the day ultimately belonged to Turkey and, in particular, their hottest prospect, Real Madrid’s Arda Güler. So far, we have only been treated to flashes of brilliance from this summer’s expected young stars; Benjamin Šeško and Lamine Yamal to name a couple. But in the Group F opener, we had two young lynchpins going head-to-head in Güler and Georgia’s Khvicha Kvaratskhelia, and one truly shone.
While “Kvaradona” showed moments of the dribbling expertise that has made him so adored in Naples, the “Turkish Messi” stole the show. Güler neither controlled the game nor created plenty of opportunities, in fact, he only had one shot, but what a shot it was! From over 25 yards out, he found a pocket of space, set himself, and curled a gorgeous effort into the top corner for what turned out to be the winning goal, and made him the youngest debutant scorer in Euros history.
One strike of the ball, but a genuine announce-yourself-to-the-world moment for the 19-year-old, and for Turkey who now have a real chance of making it through to the knockout stage, three years on from their failures in Rome and Baku. Georgia’s best chance of victory may have already gone, but if that is not the case, then they will likely need a similar moment from Kvaratskhelia, on whom hope is firmly placed.
In praise of Pepe
The record Güler broke had stood for 20 years, but the extraordinary thing was the man he took it from lined-up to start the very next match. After the focus on youth, all the attention turned to Cristiano Ronaldo - as ever - with so much talk of the 39-year-old’s longevity, despite the fact that he had a 41-year-old teammate lining up beside him!
Tired of Ronaldo/Zidane-era Real Madrid winning all the time, I can’t say I was the world’s biggest Pepe fan, a defensive master of the dark arts who could most positively be described as a “marmite” player.
But now, I have nothing but praise for him, the oldest player to feature at the European Championships as of last night’s 2-1 win for Portugal over Czechia, in which Pepe played the full 90 minutes, positioned himself well, never looked to be struggling, was a building block for starting attacks and generally provided exactly the serene presence at the back which Portugal needed to come from a goal down to win late on.
How much life there is in the old dog yet will be thoroughly tested in the coming weeks, but if Portugal are to win the Euros, the 41-year-old will be key, perhaps more so than that 39-year-old youngster.
The tournament we deserve
Each team having played once is, in my opinion, the earliest time to reflect on how the tournament as a whole is progressing.
2.83 goals per game, around 30% of which have been scored from outside the area (with Güler and Lukáš Provod contributing yesterday); no 0-0 draws, minimal VAR interference, new teams and stars to fall in love with and excellent atmospheres inside and outside the ground. Safe to say it’s been all right so far!
After the controversies of Russia in 2018, the soullessness of 2020 (2021) and the downright outrage of Qatar 2022, it looks as if we fans are finally getting the proper international tournament they deserve, full of nothing but joy.
It would be mad to call Germany 2024 as an all-time great tournament so early - a couple of 0-0 draws and poor VAR calls in the next few days could easily spoil the mood - but we are off to the ideal start.
Let’s hope for more of the same, enjoy today’s offering!
Anthony Tomas is a football writer and commentator, who writes for Flashscore and World Soccer Magazine