Euro 2016

After all the suffering France had another reason to stick together: the European Championship that was held in the country. And this Euro started a new era...

The beginning of a new era

For the first time in history, 24 teams would compete in a Euro. Prior to the tournament, I had malicious joy about the fact that the Netherlands didn't qualify. Karma is always hitting the right ones!

France started the tournament successfully with a close win. The next day Russia played against England. As expected, the latter took the lead, but Russia managed to score a goal in the last minute, ending the match with a draw. What was special about their team was that a German-Russian played for them.

No day passed without at least a team playing we cared about. Germany played against Ukraine and won easily. Spain that still had this title to defend followed next. For eight years, we have been supporting Spain but almost all of the players from that time had already retired. The most interesting question concerning the new era was: Who would take the jersey of the legend number 7? It wasn't easy to follow his footsteps since he had made the jersey with said number his own. My sister had to deal with the fact that they started a new goalkeeper who she didn't have faith in. Whenever the former captain was shown she reminisced the old times. The match was in danger of being deadlocked until Spain could score a goal and secured winning.

In France' second match my sister noticed how multicultural their team is. I haven't seen the match but it made me pay attention to France. She also made fun of the Albanians' names, especially Lila. (Lila is German for purple) Earlier that day, Russia had played against Slovakia and lost.

For the second time in a row Germany faced Poland in a Euro. However, the outcome was a different one than four years ago: A goalless draw.

Spain's second match was against Turkey, with a surprising twist. I was pleasantly surprised by the new number 7 who scored twice in the match. He was a worthy successor of the legend number 7, even though he never would be able to replace him, of course. In the end he would be Spain's best scorer in the tournament just like him. After two wins, Spain had already advanced to the round of sixteen, the first in the history of the tournament.

Bizarre things happened in the match France vs. Switzerland. The jerseys of Swiss players had to be changed multiple times as they ripped apart. That probably put off the players so much that no side could score a goal.

Russia lost to Wales and was certainly eliminated. With a third place they could have qualified for the knockout stage but they finished bottom of the group with one point. The most memorable moment of the match was when the Russian players didn't know who should take the captain's armband.

Germany won against Northern Ireland with one goal but that was enough to finish as group winner despite tying with Poland thanks to goal difference. Spain scored a fast goal, but taking the lead early isn't always an advantage. Croatia could go level before scoring the winning goal. Shortly before that, spectators had thrown fireworks on the pitch, interrupting the match. Spain finished second in the group after the loss.

Iceland got a lot of attention and became a fan favourite. Portugal only qualified to the round of 16 thanks to the new rule. Before the knockout stage me and my family went on holiday so we missed the last few group stage matches, but we didn't care about them anyway.

Maybe it wasn't so bad that Russia had to leave the tournament. If they had finished third of their group they would have played against Germany and that's what I wanted the least. Instead, our opponent was Slovakia who we defeated. But my sister and me were on the horns of a dilemma since we would face either Italy or Spain in the quarter final. Italy was the most feared opponent of Germany, but I didn't want us to play against Spain. I didn't want them to lose, though.

I didn't have to deal with this question any longer after the match. Spain lost, and while I was slightly sad I was also relieved that they didn't have to play against Germany. At least they had reached the knockout stage this time, even though they would have to give up their title at the end of the tournament.

Iceland did the impossible and defeated England. A video of their commentator's reaction went viral. They turned to favourites after the match but they had already conquered the viewers' hearts before. We returned home in time for the quarter finals.

I didn't watch the quarter final as I still didn't like our team that much and I secretly hoped that Italy would beat us once more. The motorcade after the match confirmed otherwise. We would face France in the semi final.

I didn't watch this match either but my family's reaction said it all. Most people in Germany were on Portugal's side. However, I was rooting for France - especially since I didn't like the Portuguese team.

But as always the team I didn't support won. My sister and I couldn't believe it when Portugal scored and ended up winning. They didn't deserve to win, without the new rule they wouldn't even have reached the knockout stage. For me they are one of the most random winners alongside Greece. But, there's one thing you can say for sure: the title stayed on the Iberian peninsula.