Now that the Euros have concluded, we look back upon a few hiccups on what has otherwise was a smooth tournament. There were a few moments that could have boiled over into something big, but thanks to some decent security work and cover, whilst others were scandalous in their own way.
However, big tournaments always have some of those “special” moments that make them stand out from the rest, and here is what happened in these Euros that got us all talking:
#1 Joachim Loew’s got a sniff in the box
In what was probably the most unsavoury and unhygienic moments ever seen on a football pitch, Germany’s national football manager, Joachim Low was caught on camera sniffing his private parts. As absurd and gross as it sounds, during Germany's group stage match versus Ukraine, Jogi – as he is fondly called in Germany, not so conspicuously put his hand into his trousers only to take it out and give it a nice sniff.
The incident was caught on camera and went viral on the internet, as is the norm. Loew had to come out and apologize for the incident. Ironically, he has been caught before taking a sniff of his armpits as well as eating his own nose boogers. Talk about nasty.
#2 David de Gea text scandal
Another controversy that popped up just before Spain played their first game of the tournament was the whole De Gea party implication scandal that threatened to blow over. The Manchester United star was named by an unnamed witness – called TP3 as the one who organized a “non-consensual” tabooed meeting between two footballers in a 5-star penthouse back in 2012.
De Gea came out saying the whole fiasco was baseless and false. He also claimed to not be affected by the entire scandal and was focussed on winning games with the national side. The controversy eventually faded out but there was one point when it seemed too strong to ignore.
#3 Russian and England fans
The Russian brought out the best out of the hooligans, and how! Following England and Russia’s 1-1 draw in their group encounter at the Stade Velodrome in Marseille, all hell broke lose when Russian Ultras started attacking English fans right inside the stadium. The notorious Russian football fans, who have been the main reason for plenty of stadium bans around their country, were heavily criticized all over and received a “suspended disqualification” from UEFA.
The fight was the biggest talking point in the tournament, which was otherwise free of security lapses. The Russian football federation condemned the actions and security was tightened in Marseille following the incident.
#4 Croatian political tensions flares on the pitch:
When Croatia played the Czech Republic in their group encounter, the game had to be stopped following supporters throwing flares onto the pitch. The reason behind this was an internal conflict between fans and the Croatian FA, but the allowance of such dangerous articles is still unacceptable.
Croatian players tried their best to calm fans down and the match continued after a pause for a few minutes.
#5 Cristiano Ronaldo reaction to Iceland’s celebration
France may have been the host nation, but the unofficial face of the tournament was undoubtedly Cristiano Ronaldo. The great man gave everyone ample entertainment for a lifetime with both his performances on the pitch and his antics off it.
First, following minnows Iceland’s draw versus Portugal in the group, Ronaldo gave an interview claiming that Iceland had celebrated inappopriately and as if they had won the tournament. Then, before his team’s crunch game versus Hungary, Ronaldo grabbed an approaching reporter’s microphone and threw it into a nearby lake as he did not wish to answer questions from that particular channel owing to previous bad encounters.
Throughout, Ronaldo was himself at his emotional best and it gave the tournament some extra spice. So, with that, another good Euros passed us by with plenty of entertainment on and off the pitch! Time to turn our attentions back to the domestic arena with plenty of brilliance to be expected.
