By Mike Martin ⋅ June 21, 2006 ⋅  Print This Post ⋅ Post a comment

World Cup Blog

The big nations had better get used to group stage clashes ahead of Euro 2008, writes Mike Martin.

It’s Argentina v Holland tonight. No, not a semi final, but an ordinary group stage clash. A bit of the edge has been lost as the draw made it the final match of the group, with both sides already safely through to the next round but it should still be a fascinating clash.

It’s a fallacy that this kind of big clash never happens in a group stage. They are rarer in a World Cup than a European Championship, but consider Argentina v England in 2002, or Germany v Spain in 1994. Big games between major nations are not at all uncommon in early rounds. Instead of moaning about not being seeded, the Dutch, to their credit, have just got on with winning matches.

It’s daft, of course, that Mexico are the seeds in Group D rather than Portugal, but so what? A good team should get through the opening group, regardless of who they play. In Euro 2008 the big tussles will be a regular item on the agenda from day one. With two ‘lesser’ nations, Austria and Switzerland, seeded as joint-hosts, there will only be two teams contending for the title given the so-called ‘privileged’ position of being first seeds. Say they are Portugal and Italy. That means England, Germany, France, Spain and others will all be in the thick of it. There’ll be more France v England’s and Germany v Holland’s in the most open European Championship in years.

Nothing new, but it will happen more and more in the World Cup. In 2010, hosts South Africa will knock one of the big teams down into the non-seeded pot. They may whinge and whine about not being given the privileged position they feel they deserve, but should instead follow the examples set by Portugal and Holland by just getting on with the job. It’s a truism that you won’t win the World Cup just by beating Ukraine and Tunisia.

Tags: Argentina, Austria, Holland, Switzerland

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