UEFA president Michel Platini yesterday predicted that the finale of Euro 2012 will be a re-run of the last European Championship showdown four years ago between Spain and Germany.
Asked for his predictions of which teams would make it to Kiev on July 1, Platini told reporters simply: “Spain, Germany.”
Spain won the last encounter 1-0 in Vienna through a Fernando Torres goal and Germany are out for revenge this time round – and for their 2010 World Cup semi-final defeat to La Roja.
Platini said earlier that he liked the way the team played.
“Spain have got a style, a system where tiredness isn’t a problem. They make the ball do the work. The ball’s tired. Them, less so.”
The former France captain, meanwhile, said he was surprised at the poor performance of the Netherlands, who were beaten by Spain in the final of the last World Cup in South Africa two years ago.
“With the Dutch out, that means the Euro is a harder tournament than the World Cup. I was disappointed by the Dutch,” he said.
“And Russia’s exit was surprising bad news, too.”
Platini said he had predicted before the tournament began that England and Germany would make it through the group stages and was looking forward to seeing the Mannschaft in action when they take on Greece in Gdansk on Friday.
England play their final Group D match today against Ukraine.
Meanwhile, Platini is convinced that having five match officials at Euro 2012 has led to more goals being scored, as before yesterday’s Group C matches not a single nil-nil draw had been played.
“How is that you’re seeing more goals scored in these championships? I think you know the answer: five officials makes things easier,” Platini said.
“With extra officials you’re aware of more things: the fear of getting caught is there. There’s no more shirt-pulling, players know that the referee is there and they can’t commit fouls all the time,” he added.
“With five, officials see everything. They don’t take decisions without being fully aware.
“There’s also a uniformity of refereeing, for example, they don’t call unintentional handballs. That uniformity has led to more flowing football.”