Eamonn Fitzgerald's Rainy Day

Rainy Day's eyes and ears on the Aegean, Stavros Petrolekas, takes issue with our Friday post "Catenaccio, the Greek way". Here's an excerpt he singled out for reproach:

"... Watching the Greek squad extinguish Czech creativity with cynical fouls and a penalty area packed with Doric columns was a grim reminder of how football can fall victim to tacticians. Catenaccio, like Dracula, is a manifestation of the undead and, like Dracula, it drains the life blood from its victims. Unless Portugal can drive a stake through its heart on Sunday, the Greek version of catenaccio, orchestrated by Otto Rehhagel, could become the leitmotiv of the 2006 World Cup."

And here's his take on it:

"Eat your words Eamonn. The Greeks were in the final, not the Czechs. Tenacity and persistency is what I would call their game characteristic, sprinkled with luck, yes. But certainly not, catenaccio. And they overran the Portuguese, who tried but couldn't even get their catenaccio act together.

So stop this moaning about cynical fouls, creativity vs tactics, driving stakes through evil doers and saving free-flowing football from extinction. It's a masquerade for sour grapes. And, throughout Europe tonight, only the French are grumbling at our victory."

Eat my words? OK, here goes. My position is straightforward. Being neither Greek nor Portuguese, English nor German, I was not caught up in the national fervour of Euro 2004 and this, no doubt, has coloured my perceptions. Had Ireland been in the final, though, you'd hear me humming a different tune right now. Naturally, I'd want the lads in green to win and I'd be as hoarse as any happy supporter today if they'd upset the applecart in the manner Greece did. For the record, however, I want to say that I was a persistent critic of Jack Charlton in his time as the Republic's manager. Sure, he put Ireland on the world stage, in a manner eerily reminiscent of what Otto Rehhagel has done for Greece, but all those 1-1 and 1-0 games were fairly dreadful stuff, if you could stand back and look at them impartially. Kick it into the box and hope that the big lad up front (Tony Cascarino) would knock it into the net. That was the formula. Nothing more, nothing less. Sorry, not my idea of entertainment, Jack.

And that's the key word for me when it comes to football — entertainment. Whether I'm handing over the euros and taking my place in the stand or whether I'm handing over my attention and taking my place on the sofa, I'm looking for some artistry, something subtle, something sublime. For me, football is a game; it's not work. Organisation, technique and discipline are part of football, but so is innovation and under Rehhagel there's been none. "I could have done this with any team," he says. Oh, oh. No, I don't begrudge the Greeks their win, but I know lots of spectators and viewers who are unhappy that tactics are triumphing over talent. And I know that lots of them will be switching off if the truly talented teams, such as the Czech Republic, continue to be driven out of tournaments by the tacticians.

Yes, Greece won and there will be a hell of a party tonight in Athens. I hope everyone has a great night, a great week, in fact. When the dust has settled and Euro 2004 is put in its sporting perspective, we'll be in a better position to assess its relevance and impact. Fourteen years ago, the 1990 World Cup took place in Italy and here's the official FIFA synopsis:

"A disappointing FIFA World Cup? with too much dull defensive football and matches won on penalty kicks. The final itself between West Germany and Argentina was the least inspiring in the history of the competition and ironically decided by a late penalty converted by West Germany's Andreas Brehme. Argentina became the first team not to score in the final — and also the first team to have not one, but two players sent off in the final."

After that awful game and that grim tournament, FIFA responded with a number of rule changes. The offside law was modified and the tackle from behind was outlawed. All this was done to encourage attacking football. Fourteen years later, we're at a turning point. Otto Rehhagel and likeminded coaches are moving the game backwards. In their version of football, the number one priority is not to concede a goal; the number two priority is to create one from a set piece. For the rest of the game, the strategy is to stifle and frustrate. That's what they do to the opposition and that's what they're doing to those of us who want to see a beautiful game.

Stavros ends by saying, "Now, when do we play Brazil (if you catch my definitely non-catenaccio drift)????" Soon, I hope, Stavros, soon. Watch out, though. That other Ronaldo might prove a little trickier than the Portuguese one. Meanwhile, I look forward to your response to this posting and I'd like to hear what you have to say about the bigger football picture in which the "small" countries are catching up with the "big", and globalization is leading to a levelling of the playing field, as it were.