Euro yang Mengecewakan

Euro 2008 baru saja berakhir. Jutaan cerita mewarnai pagelaran kali ini. Memang sesuai dengan semboyan Euro kali ini, Espect Your Emotions, berbagai emosi selalu timbul, baik emosi sedih, seangn, tawa, bahagia, lesu, dan lain sebagainya. Bagaimana seorang Alexandrei Frei yang menangis setelah kakinya cedera saat melawan Ceko, merasa sedih tak dapat melanjutkan “tugas” membela negaranya. Atau bagaimana ekspresi bahagia para pemain Turki yang sanggup melakukan come back luar biasa saat menaklukkan Republik Ceko 3-2. Yang jelas berbagai emosi tersaji dengan jelas dalam Euro kali ini....

So, apa yang salah dengan Euro kali ini? Hmmm... pertama karena saya tak bisa menyaksikan langsung di Austria-Swiss. Sebenernya udah rencana sih, namun apa daya tangan tak sampai. Semua pertandingan Euro kali ini saya saksikan di rumah saya tepatnya di kasur yang empuk dengan selimut. Jika mengantuk tinggal memejamkan mata, saat mata terbuka pertandingan telah usai.. hehe...

Sebenarnya ada acara nonton bareng yang tadinya hendak aku datangi. Pertama, tanggal 13 Juni di Gasibu. Menampilkan Demian yang memindahkan bola raksasa dari Jakarta ke Bandung. Sudah niat hendak menonton, sudah mengajak teman, tidak jadi karena miscommunication. Kedua saat partai puncak. Ada nonton bareng di Paskal Hyper Square bersama anak-anak SMAN 5 Bandung angkatan v’06. Yah teu jadi deui tapi akhirnya mah... di imah deui, di imah deui,, heheehe..

Hal mengecewakan lainnya adalah, saat Euro bertepatan dengan jadwal ujian semester. Ini nih parahnya di Indonesia. Di Arab Saudi saja, saat ada Piala Dunia semua ujian ditangguhkan! Hal yang sayangnya tak dilakukan di Indonesia. Ujian kok bisa mengganggu Euro?? Kacau kan. Mundurkan kenapa sih.... Jadinya yah, nontonya ga full, diselingi belajar.. hiks...hiks..

And then setelah ujian masih ada persiapan buat tugas pameran kebudayaan. Dan saat menyiapkan stand bertepatan dengan partai penentuan Swedia vs Rusia! Waduh, jagoan saya yeuh Swedia si Zlatan Ibrahimovic piraku teu nonton.. +_+ huh kesel banget deh.. mana Swedianya kalah lagi.. Dan aku tuh dapatnya kebudayaan Betawi. Jadi bahan ejekan orang-orang, masa anak Viking bawain budaya Jakarta?? Hmm.. kata siapa Jakarta punya The Jak? Viking Jakarta juga ada!! Kesel sayah..!! Untung kelompok sayah bisa dapat juara dua...

Akhirnya... eit masih ada ujian praktek yang hanya lima menit... hahaha. .. di fikom tuh emang aya-aya wae. Huh, gak bisa tenang nih nonton Euro nya.. Baru benar-benar tenang tuh pas semifinal.. Jagoan saya Turki, dan saya rasa Turki lebih layak memenangi turnamen ini dilihat dari perjuangan mereka yang tak pernah kenal lelah. Saat semifinal melawan Jerman mereka tampil seadanya, hanya memiliki 15 pemain. Diprediksi Turki akan “dibantai” oleh Jerman. Kenyataannya Turki sangat merepotkan Jerman, Jerman dipaksa bekerja keras hingga injury time.. Yah seandainya Turki bisa tampil lengkap saat itu..

Seaindainya begitu.. Turki vs Spanyol di final saya rasa Spanyol akan sulit untuk meredam semangat para pemain Turki. Yah mau bagaimana lagi, memang Euro kali ini Espect your Emotions, terutama emosi kekecewaan dalam diri saya. Akhirul kata, congratz untuk La Furia Roja, Spanyol yang sukses mengulang sukses 44 tahun silam...


Pesta Kemenangan Spanyol


Best goal Euro 2008.. wesley sneijder..netherland vs france

UEFA EURO 2008™ Team of the Tournament
Goalkeepers: Gianluigi Buffon (Italy), Iker Casillas (Spain), Edwin van der Sar (Netherlands).

Defenders: Bosingwa (Portugal), Philipp Lahm (Germany), Carlos Marchena (Spain), Pepe (Portugal), Carles Puyol (Spain), Yuri Zhirkov (Russia).

Midfielders: Hamit Altıntop (Turkey), Luka Modrić (Croatia), Marcos Senna (Spain), Xavi Hernández (Spain), Konstantin Zyryanov (Russia), Michael Ballack (Germany), Cesc Fàbregas (Spain), Andrés Iniesta (Spain), Lukas Podolski (Germany), Wesley Sneijder (Netherlands).

Forwards: Andrei Arshavin (Russia), Roman Pavlyuchenko (Russia), Fernando Torres (Spain), David Villa (Spain).



Hamit Altintop - satu-satunya pemain Turki di Team of the Tournament
Raih prestasi di lain waktu, Turkey!

A to Z Euro 2008 at euro2008.uefa.com

euro2008.com casts its mind back over the past month, devouring the feast of football from Arshavin to Zidane, with detours via kidney transplants, Turkish fightbacks and naked walks in the park.

Arshavin – Without him Russia were struggling; with him they became world-beaters. Suspended for the first two games the man known as 'Shava' burst into their third game like a terrier let off its leash. Unknown even to the likes of Xavi Hernández before the tournament, everybody knows him now.

Bob Marley – Not an obvious reggae aficionado, Leo Beenhakker summed up the mood in the Poland camp when he said: "When I worked with Trinidad and Tobago during the last World Cup I woke up every morning to the sound of Bob Marley but now I wake up every day suffering from a headache!"

Co-hosts – Austria and Switzerland may have bowed out after the group stage, but neither that nor the inclement weather could dampen the mood at the eight venues and beyond. Indeed, by the end of the tournament, some four million people had visited the UEFA EURO 2008™ Fan Zones.

Drama – Turkey were a watchword for late excitement throughout as they mounted comeback after comeback before Philipp Lahm's goal finally ended their challenge. But Fatih Terim's side did not have a monopoly on being fashionably late and of the 77 goals scored during the finals, 18 came in the final five minutes.

Efficiency – Germany had three shots on goal in their 3-2 semi-final win against Turkey and scored with all of them. Had their opponents done likewise, Terim's men would have run out 11-3 victors.

Feel the Rush – Enrique Iglesias's Can You Hear Me? may have been the official tournament song, but the mascots' music, Feel the Rush by Shaggy, perhaps induced the most fervent foot-tapping. Just.

Golden Generation – Bulgaria, Croatia, France, Romania. Most teams have had one period when an exceptionally gifted group of players came to the fore – but two? In the mid-1990s Portugal were bristling with talent and while the UEFA EURO 2000™ semi-finals was the best they could manage, a new generation spearheaded by Cristiano Ronaldo has raised Lusophiles' expectations once more.

Hat-trick – David Villa's treble against Russia in Spain's opening game made him only the seventh player in finals history to score three in a game. Villa was following in the footsteps of Patrick Kluivert, Sérgio Conceição, Marco van Basten, Michel Platini (twice), Klaus Allofs and Dieter Müller.

Injuries – Save for injuries to Franck Ribéry, Alexander Frei and half of the Turkey squad, there were thankfully few serious problems at the EURO. Before the finals was different. Daniel Pudil was ruled out when he broke his hand as he celebrated SK Slavia Praha's league triumph, while Romania's Ovidiu Petre was forced to withdraw after colliding with a cameraman while playing volleyball.

Juan Carlos – Having witnessed Spain's quarter-final victory against Italy, the king was asked if he felt his side were favourites for the semi-final. "Yes," he replied, "50-50."

Klasnić – Not many people are up and running within 15 months of undergoing two kidney transplants. Still less are playing football. None, before Ivan Klasnić have capped their recovery with a goal at a UEFA European Championship.

Lifeguard – Those who believed the only thing Semih Şentürk had in common with David Hasselhoff was his red shorts were forced to think again in Austria and Switzerland. Not content with the goal that revived Turkey's hopes in the group stage, Semih reprised his 'lifeguard' role with the 122nd-minute equaliser against Croatia. He almost did it again in the semi-finals only for Philipp Lahm to drown out Turkish celebrations.

Mascots – Four years ago a mascot called Kinas caught the eye with his halfway-line acrobatics. This time around there were two of them, they had bigger hair and their dance routines were rehearsed. Trix and Flix have laid down a sizeable gauntlet for the 2012 mascots.

Nihat Kahveci – With three minutes of their decisive group game against the Czech Republic left, Turkey were heading out. Then Nihat capitalised on Petr Čech's fumble to apparently set up extra time. Yet the No8 had other ideas and hit an unstoppable winner with a minute to go.

Oranje – The Netherlands won a place in Bernese hearts during the tournament, but then they did not really have a choice. Over 100,000 Oranje fans descended on the Swiss federal capital to watch the Netherlands-France game and help double Berne's population.

Portuguese arrival – When Luiz Felipe Scolari's squad arrived on 1 June they received a memorable welcome. A motorcade of 600 Portuguese living in Switzerland followed the team bus to their training base, while others lined the streets waving flags. Another 10,000 fans were waiting to greet the players in Neuchatel.

Quarter-finals – Spain's first competitive win against Italy in 88 years; Germany prevailing in a five-goal thriller; Arshavin helping Russia stun the Netherlands; and that Croatia-Turkey game. Astonishing.

Reina Snr – Pepe's dad Manuel certainly won the award for the finals' best automotive metaphor as he ran the rule over Luis Aragonés. "The human condition requires you to be greedy – always hungry to better yourself and achieve more," he said. "That's what Luis is and it's the perfect petrol for the engine of a football coach. He'll never say, 'This success is enough' or 'I've lost my drive'."

Schweinsteiginho – Germany's Bastian Schweinsteiger scored, made an assist and picked up yellow and red cards at UEFA EURO 2008™. The only other player to have achieved this feat at a EURO is Denmark's Klaus Berggreen in 1984. Schweinsteiger ended the tournament strongly, however. Why? Because Angela Merkel told him to. "If the chancellor asks you to do something, you have to obey," he explained.

Thunder – June was the wettest month many could remember in Austria and Switzerland, forcing organisers to relay the St. Jakob-Park pitch in Basel ahead of the quarter-finals. It was arguably worse in Vienna, however, and the game between Spain and Russia was played to a background more akin to Mary Shelley's Frankenstein than a football match.

Underachievers – At UEFA EURO 2004™ a hotly-tipped France side meekly bowed out with a 1-0 quarter-final defeat by Greece. This year an ageing squad failed to get out of the group stage, registering a solitary point as they finished at the foot of their section.

Vastic – At 38 years and 257 days, Ivica Vastic became the oldest player to score in a UEFA European Championship when he converted a late penalty against Poland. The 35-year-old pair of Jan Koller and Christian Panucci also struck to go second and third on the list.

Walk in the park – Beenhakker again, this time on the eve of Poland's opener against Germany, saying: "We won't be doing different things just because we are at the EUROs now. It's not like we will walk around the park naked or something. We have our normal programme – and then we will go [singing] tra-la-la to the stadium. We will play 'tra-la-la' but I don't know if we will be still 'tra-la-la' after the game."

X-factor – That something, lamented Croatia coach Slaven Bilić, which Turkey possessed in spades.

Yellow or mustard? – The great debate about the colour of Spain's away jersey was decided, once and for all, by Aragonés. "I don't like this new colour, personally," he said. "But so long as I don't have to wear it, the players can. Anyway, it's not yellow, it's mustard."

Zidane – UEFA EURO 2008™ was the first major tournament since 1994 without modern-day legend Zinédine Zidane. Yet there were individual performances which lit up the finals in his absence – Arshavin for starters...