TIME EUROPE
June 19, 2000 VOL. 155 NO. 24
Goal Rush
Football fever grips Europe as the game's itinerant stars return home to shine on the national stage
By BILL SAPORITO
there is something unique about the 2000 version of the European football championships that kicked off last Saturday. It's not the teams — only Slovenia and Norway are new. Nor the venue. Belgium and the Netherlands are accustomed to mighty clashes. Nope, the novelty is that this European championship is so, so — European.
How's that again? When the Bosman ruling erased European soccer's borders, the composition of teams and the styles of play that once characterized each nation's domestic league began to change. Consider Chelsea, the winners of the English F.A. Cup, whose players are so polyglot they ought to field a translator. It means that should England encounter Norway later this month there will be plenty of familiar faces, as the Norwegians count nine Premiership players among their number. If the Netherlands plays Spain, many of the latter's fans will be shouting against their Barcelona heroes Frank de Boer, Philip Cocu and Patrick Kluivert.
This blending of players from so many countries into the Serie A, the Bundesliga, the Primera, the Premiership and elsewhere means that Euro 2000 has become a sort of retrofitted forum to watch national tactics in action. That makes it somewhat ironic then that co-hosts the Netherlands, who have long been football's mercenaries, are favorites to lift the trophy on July 2. The Dutch produce marvelous footballers but they tend to play better under somebody else's flag.
Dutch coach Frank Rijkaard has been pilloried for his side's indifferent warmup performances — they made Scotland look like Brazil — but what talent. In the midfield there's the bespectacled Edgar Davids, who has enough spare energy in his churning legs to light the stadium. The Netherlands' strike force counts Kluivert, the cool, lethal Dennis Bergkamp and his Arsenal teammate Marc Overmars, a whip of a left wing.
World champions France will bring the same team to Euro 2000, with one notable improvement — les Bleus have some attacking might in Real Madrid's mercurial Nicolas Anelka and an in-form Thierry Henry. Feeding them from the midfield is the incomparable Zinedine Zidane. Zizou is the caterer to the French banquet, serving up one delicious pass after another. Yet even France has to be careful in Group D, aka the Group of Death, since there are no Saudi Arabias to munch before the main course. The Czech team that roared through the qualifiers is a legitimate contender. Denmark is not.
Alas, footballers aren't the only ones who have breached the borders. The human sewage known as hooliganism is also flowing into the Low Countries, threatening to make a mess of the tourney's Euroslogan: "Football without frontiers." [see Viewpoint.] The lethal clashes between English and Turkish supporters earlier this year have the authorities on edge. Yet the match everyone fears most is Germany-England, to be played in the gritty Belgian town of Charleroi. Although both countries have detained known hooligans, the town will be teeming with fans, many of whom won't have tickets. The venue, the Stade du Pays de Charleroi, only has 30,000 seats, and 20,000 are temporary. There has been criticism that these seats are at too steep an angle to handle an emergency. But the Belgian organizers refuse to change the venue. "We are very determined that it is not going to be moved," said Jan de Grave, Belgium's Euro 2000 spokesman. "The fire brigade has been doing exercises; Charleroi police have been doing exercises." Jail cells have been emptied to make room for visitors. How accommodating.
Given their recent form, though, an England-Germany game could sedate any crowd. German teams have never made great music on the pitch, but this one is as plodding as a tuba. Creaky 39-year-old sweeper Lothar Matthäus may be a marked man rather than a marker. The Germans won't beat themselves, though, and England may not be up to that task. Michael Owen looks sharp enough, but England may struggle to get the ball to midfielder David Beckham so that he can knife his famous crosses to the box.
The lack of heft in Group A means that both Romania and especially Portugal have a good shot to advance. Midfielder Rui Costa's runs with the ball can be more entertaining than a whole team of Germans, and in Luís Figo, Portugal has an out-and-out matchwinner. Romania has no such flash but it does have a dependable side.
Italy's Prime Minister Giuliano Amato wished coach Dino Zoff and his Azzurri good luck last week. Given the vicissitudes of soccer and politics in Italy, it's a coin toss as to which of those two will lose his job first. Italy's defense is as solid as ever behind skipper Paolo Maldini. But it lacks a dominating midfielder and the pair of Pippo Inzaghi and Alessandro Del Piero has yet to prove it can solve Juventus' scoring problems, never mind Italy's. Italy is still the class of Group B, though, and it should advance. So should co-host Belgium if the home field means anything.
Turkey's rise into élite football was underscored by Galatasaray's UEFA Cup victory. But Euro 2000 is still a big step up for this second time qualifier, and even superstriker Hakan Sukur may not be able to shoulder the load. On the other hand, Sweden's experience may be the key to its survival.
Group C features two countries that have been missing in action: Yugoslavia because of its horrific national strife, and Spain because of its horrific play. Yugoslavia had to go through Croatia to qualify, a huge success for them, but they've been dreadful since. With Serie A strikers Predrag Mijatovic (Fiorentina) and Darko Kovacevic (Juventus), the Yugoslavs should be able to find the net. If they can't, fullback Sinisa Mihajlovic's thunderous left-footed free kicks could be critical.
On the other hand, winning Euro 2000 would be fitting for Spain, given Spanish teams' success in European club competition this year. The problem is that Spain fits into soccer crowns the way Cinderella's stepsisters do glass slippers. Norway, as usual, threatens to dull down any match. Little Slovenia is the only true unknown. You can expect them to throw everything they have at their former countrymen, the Yugoslavs.
With bureau reports
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June 19, 2000
SPECIAL REPORT
e-Europe
TIME chronicles how the Old World is helping to shape the new economy
EUROPE
Voting under the Gun
Municipal elections in Montenegro turn into a mini-referendum on the Yugoslav republic's future
Goal Rush
Football fever grips Europe as the game's itinerant stars return home to shine on the national stage
Just Arrived
Alongside the familiar faces, members of football's next generation will also display their skills at Euro 2000
The Empire Strikes Back
Soccer violence continues to be England's ugliest export
BUSINESS
Turbulence Ahead
The continuing controversy over Milan's Malpensa Airport clips the wings of state-run carrier Alitalia
Brussels Decrees An E-VAT
The European Commission wants to tax content sold by foreign firms on the Web — but can it?
THE ARTS
Shock of the Nouveau
Streams of visitors to a new exhibition of sensual decorative art indicate that the form may be making one of its regular comebacks
DEPARTMENTS
Olympic Monitor
Techwatch
To Our Readers
World Watch
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