The Wisdom of Hindsight Euro 2024

SPAIN WERE THE STAND-OUT SIDE AT EURO 2024, BUT WHO FORESAW IT?

We all know La Roja deserved to win the Euros. In truth, nobody came close to stopping them lifting the trophy. They began Euro 2024 with aplomb, sinking Croatia 3-0, and they never let up in their power play.

A Spanish victory should therefore have been obvious to football fans like us who closely follow the Beautiful Game. But, as I recall, Spain were not the pre-tournament favourites. That was England, followed by Germany and France.

How did we all miss the elephant in the room? Was it Spain's 2-0 qualifying loss to Scotland in March 2023, or their 1-0 friendly loss to Colombia in London in March this year that made us dismiss Luis De La Fuente's team as a potential champion?

I was at the latter game and was impressed by Spain's fluidity in the first half, how they circulated the ball telepathically. But then after the break there was a piece of Colombian magic from Luis Diaz, Daniel Munoz knocked it past David Raya and La Roja lost.

A Miss is as Good as a Mile

Colombia are a good team, as they proved by reaching the Copa America final the same day as Spain won in Berlin, so we should be cut some slack for not realising the Spanish would run over the opposition in Germany.

A Shot in the Dark about France

Looking back at the predictions in World Soccer, a magazine I have enjoyed for years and whose writers I have spent time with the press box, all seven of their self-proclaimed 'experts' last month failed to name Spain as the winner of the Euros and none of them named Rodri as the player of the tournament. Three tipped England, two France and two Germany to win it, as it happens. One of them even thought Spain might go out in the first round.

Two of them like me thought Hungary would make waves based on their unbeaten run heading to Germany. I was as surprised as anyone when they lost their first two games. On the plus side, two of the seven correctly predicted Austria would be the surprise team, although another chose the Czech Republic.

Turkey Did Better than Expected

Four Four Two magazine was even worse, tipping Turkey for a group stage exit, Scotland for the knockout stages, Hungary for the last 16, France and Portugal for the final and Spain for another boring display and early defeat.

I do not blame any of them for these guesses, which is what predictions always are. Analyse a football match all you want after the event but do not expect to understand it perfectly beforehand.

This uncertainty is why I never bet, because I understand how predictable football is and I like the fact it is. Who wants it to be a foregone conclusion? I love last minute goals, cup shocks and David beating Goliath.

Maybe their editors thought it would be a good idea to prove their journalistic credentials through accurate predictions, but that was a fools' errand. Next time I hope they will not stick their heads above the parapet. These journalists are all good football students but it should be common knowledge that we cannot know the future.

Let us all stop asking each other to predict games. We will enjoy and understand football better if we do.