Euro 2012 Review

Spain's demolition of Italy in Sunday's Euro 2012 final was an appropriate finish to what was a great tournament.

All the pre tournament talk was the fear of hooliganism and racism rearing its ugly head in Poland and Ukraine, but apart from one incident involving Poland and Russia fans, the fans enjoyed a relaxed atmosphere both in the stadiums and the fan parks.

On the pitch, the tournament got off to an entertaining start. Many thought that the first set of games would be dull affairs, but that went out of the window on the opening day of the tournament. Poland and Greece played out a 1-1 draw with a red card apiece and a missed penalty from the Greeks, while in the second game, Russia hit four past Czech Republic.

The goals continued to flow during the group stage, with a total of 50 goals scored across the 24 group games. The final set of group games also brought about high drama. Russia somehow failed to qualify from Group A, Holland ended a miserable campaign by finishing pointless in Group B, Group C was nail biting right to the end, with eventual finalists Spain and Italy holding off a spirited Croatia, while Group D saw England finish unbeaten and more surprisingly, top the group.

The quarter finals kicked off with a dominant display by Portugal in knocking out the Czechs. Ronaldo and co had 19 shots on goal, but one was enough to see them into the semis. Germany easily brushed aside surprise package Greece, beating them 4-2 in what was dubbed as the debt derby. Spain saw off a sorry French side thanks to two goals from Xabi Alonso, while England yet again felt the heartbreak of losing on a penalty shootout, this time losing to Italy.

It was a penalty shootout that decided the first semi final between Portugal and Spain. After a cagey 120 minutes with no goals, it was Cesc Fabregas who was the hero, scoring with the help of the post. Many people's pre tournament favourites Germany came up against Italy in the semi finals and one man stole the show. Mario Balotelli scored twice to set up a final with the Spanish.

And so to the final in Kiev. Many expected a cagey final but Spain, dubbed boring throughout the tournament, showed why they are the World and European champions by outclassing their opponents. Although the 4-0 scoreline was harsh on Italy, Spain were deserved champions.

Sadly, we will probably not experience another European Championships like this for a while. UEFA's decision to expand Euro 2016 in France from 16 to 24 teams will see the quality become diluted. With 53 teams entering qualifying, it means nearly half of the teams will qualify for the group stages. There are also question marks over how the group stage will work. 16 teams will qualify for the first knockout round, but 16 into 24 doesn't go. Presumably, UEFA will decide to have six groups of four, with the top two from each group and four of the best third-placed teams making it through to the knockout rounds. Again, this could see boring games, with teams knowing that they could finish third in a group of four and still qualify for the knockout rounds.