In the quick span of five days, the first round of group games at Euro 2016 have raced past in a flash. With a much larger field and new faces on show, the tournament has so far shown much promise. We've seen images of great goals, also some unsavoury ones of fan clashes outside of the pitch. Here's an attempt at understanding the predominant themes that have been in play through this first round.
#1 We likely won't have high scoring encounters, but the games will be entertaining
First up, it's Europe; European teams generally defend better than their South American or Asian counterparts and as such keep the goal count low. Besides that, this edition of the Euros sees only 8 teams eliminated after the group stage, with the prize of qualification awaiting four of the best third-placed teams.
Teams will, therefore, be looking to give themselves every possible chance to achieve precisely that. With things like goal difference likely to come into play, teams are going to be stingy when it comes to conceding and may not over-commit in attack to avoid the risk of getting caught out.
#2 Two goals will be a premium
Only five teams scored twice in this opening round - France, Wales, Germany, Italy, Hungary - and they all won. As mentioned above with the places up for grabs, the battles have been tactical, and scoring two goals has proven enough to put the game beyond reach. Expect this trend to continue.
There have been 22 goals scored so far, roughly 1.8 goals a game. That's a goal every 49 minutes, round about perfect, one each half. What's more revealing is that 16 of the 22 goals have come in the second half, including seven in the last 15 minutes, showing that almost every game has been in the balance right till the very end, with it being difficult to predict which way the game would swing.
That's helped keep all the games interesting .
#3 Take your chances when you're dominant, else...
Yes, it's an old adage, and there's nothing new about it in football, but made all the more relevant because the team's at this year's edition aren't too far apart. Despite being a few elite teams present in the competition, the overall pool is very good and any team has a chance of pegging back some of their more fancied opponents.
England, Portugal and Republic of Ireland all found out what happens when you don't kill the game off, while Spain and Switzerland were almost made to pay for their wastefulness too.
#4 Germany and Spain are not the same top teams
It was surprising to see so many plaudits written about the German and Spanish teams coming into the tournament. They are good, no doubt, but definitely a notch below their best teams from earlier in this decade. Both countries are going through a transient phase, Germany especially, after the retirement of stalwarts such as Philip Lahm and Miroslav Klose. Germany beat Ukraine 2-0, but the scoreline was flattering.
The second goal came in the last minute of the game on a breakaway, and Ukraine would have left the game feeling how they didn't score at least two goals in that one. New captain Manuel Neuer made some fine saves, one especially good one at full stretch to preserve the points after central defender Skhodran Mustafi had given them the lead.
Spain too are looking to bounce back from the horror of their World Cup defence with a bunch of new players. Spain too had to rely on a defender, Gerard Pique, for the decisive goal, while the Czechs had a few chances themselves and tested David de Gea on three occasions. These two teams will have to get better and fast.
#5 The season of counter-attacking continues
Defending stoutly before breaking at pace, catching the opponent out, the likes of Leicester City and Atletico Madrid have treated us to some counter-attacking football last season.
Here we expected to see a lot more of that and we haven't been disappointed. Italy did it to perfection to scalp Belgium, Hungary did it to Austria yesterday. With the games tighter, and the goals fewer, this brand of counter-attacking is going to provide some great viewing as the competition goes on.
Over to Matchday 2!!!
