Italy's Mario Balotelli had stated that if he was subject to racist abuse that he would 'walk off' of the field, saying 'If [racism] does happen i will leave the pitch and go home'. He also made an over elaborate statement saying that if anyone was to throw a banana at him, he would 'kill' them. Extraordinary that a footballer can almost get away with murder threats to anyone visiting Ukraine and Poland which shows how immature this boy is and how much he needs to grow up. English players Alex Oxlade-Chamberlain and Theo Walcott traveled to the Euros without their families support as they stayed at home in fear of the racist abuse which may greet them upon arrival. An extremely poor start to the European Championships, however footballing matters have some what balanced out the argument to a degree with the dramatic games that have been put on show. 
The Championships give players a chance to impress suiters if they're looking to move onto bigger and better things, or for older players to prove to critics that they still have what it takes to play at the top level. The involvement of Alex-Oxlade Chamberlain was welcomed very much so by the English fans and he showed some impressive bursts of energy in the opening game of their group against France. Of course, the boy is only eighteen years of age, but under the management of Arsene Wenger at Arsenal he has the perfect platform to develop into one of the best players in English football in my opinion. The twenty two year old selected to fill the left back role in the Spanish team, Jordi Alba, has also impressed me very much during these three weeks. His ability to get up and down the wing to help out with attacks and also defend is a credit to his great fitness levels, and he also shows great signs of pace. It seems like his calm and direct performances have impressed others as well, as he is on th verge of an 11 million euro switch to Barcelona. Despite the Russians not qualifying to the later stages of the tournament, one wonderkid has left his impression on the championships and many fantasy football players. The twenty one eyar old CSKA Moskva player scored three goals in the group stages and outshined the likes of Kerzhakov and Pavlyuchenko in the Russian forward line. After Russia's exit, he has been heavily linked to join the building process at Arsenal, who have already purchased the German forward Podolski, and Oliveir Giroud from Montpellier. 
However there have been players who have been on the scene for a long time now, also known as 'the old guard'. Steven Gerrard has been one of England's most influential players over the past decade, and Euro 2012 saw him captain his country for his second major international tournament, after leading the three lions in South Africa at the World Cup. After a particular unimpressive tournament from the English, Gerrard was one of few to stand out with his contribution and attitude. He came up with 3 assists from fantastic deliveries and scored a penalty in the shoot out against Italy in the Quater Final. Gerrard also installed a certain degree of harmony in a squad which was surrounded by controversy before the games due to the ommision of Rio Ferdinand, described by Roy Hodgson as being becasue of 'purely footballing reasons'. Andrea Pirlo has also showed that he has still got what it takes after many fantastic performances so far. With age he has lost pace, and so the help of De Rossi in midfield has brought the best out of the player who was released by AC Milan because they thought he had 'lost his legs'. Against England in the Quater Final he dominated the midfield and created many goal scoring chances with his strikers unable to convert. However i feel his ability and composure was sumed up beautifully during the penalty shoot out, where he had the audacity to chip the ball down the middle of the goal, leaving Joe Hart red faced. 
These championships have also cropped up some big upsets. In Group A, Russia were expected to qualify comfortably in what has been described as 'the easiest group'. However, after drawing to Poland and being beat by Greece they had to settle for thrid place and the first plane home. They would have gone home bitterly dissapointed after many had tipped them to be dark horses in the competition due to their quite impressive strike force, which included Kerzhakov, Pavlyuchenko and Pogrebnyak, who had a huge impact during the end of the seasons at Fulham. The biggest shock in my opinion was one that nobody had expected, with the Netherlands being sent packing as they went out as bottom of Group B with no points. I would have expected them to be up there to win the tournament, but extremely dissapointing displays from Robin van Persie and Wesley Sneijder caused their exit in my opinion. After Pieters had to pull out the tournament and with van Bronkhurst retired from international football, Jetro Willems had to fill in at left back. The inexperienced full back showed his vulnerablity as many teams exploited the wings and got most of their joy from that area, especially Germany who were ruthless. Holland's tournament has been some what sumed up with the resignation of coach van Marwijk despite having four years left on his deal.
The tournament has thrown up many shocks, incredible drama, and huge controversy. After all though, that is football, and it will never change. I'll leave you with a piece of magic.
Dan.
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