Euro 2008 begins

Well I've been lucky so far this year healthwise, but I'm ill now. Normally I'm one of those people who gets ill quite frequently, but I've escaped it the last eight or nine months. Yesterday I got a bit of a sore throat and today I'm a bit bunged up, but I'll live.

I thought the topic of today's post would centre around Euro 2008, which kicks off today, or rather the milestones in my life presented by past international football tournaments. I know I said in a recent post that I didn't care about England not being in it, but today I have to say that I'm a bit sad about it. Just seeing all the hype in the news (though nowhere near the hype it would have been if England had pulled their weight) brings back memories of how excited I've been in the past at the prospect of big footy contests.

So it's time for another one of those posts which looks back on the past.

Euro 96 - this was the first footy tournament which I followed properly. We had just moved house, and I remember watching all the games in our new sitting room. I clearly remember watching England v Scotland and Gazza's goal; the penalties against Spain; and my first bout of football heartache when Germany beat us in the shootout. Fantastic memories.

France 98 - I remember saying to my mum when New Years Eve turned to New Years Day, 'wow, there's a world cup this year'. I'd never experienced one before (as England didn't qualify for USA 94 and all the games in that world cup were played after my bedtime anyway) and I was totally captivated when France 98 began. It was the first time I'd seen a lot of the players who were playing for the other countries, and it was those players who would become the key players for the next ten years. Zidane, Ronaldo (Brazilian), Davids, Seedorf, Batistuta are all names which stick out. It makes me strangely emotional thinking back to France 98; it's funny how sporting event can induce such feelings.

Euro 2000 - not many fond memories of this one. England were shite. France dominated. At least most of France's good players shortly moved to Arsenal and led to some glory years :-)

Japan/Korea 2002 - the first cup where alcohol was involved. I watched England's first game, v Sweden, at the tennis club early in the morning with all my mates and then went to a barbecue that afternoon for the Queen's Jubilee. Also went to the bookies that pm with the boys, what a laugh. I had an exam on the day of England v Brazil, and went into it knowing that Ronaldinho had just scored that goal. Unlucky England, they did well.

Euro 2004 - England should definitely have won this. If they'd just beaten Portugal, it would have been such an easy draw. Greece won in the end, what the...? Anyhow, I remember this tournament more for the accident I had after England v Portugal than anything else. I was hit by a drunken woman driver while I was on a pavement, and broke my wrist/hand. At that time I was set on joining the Army, and the next week I was scheduled to go to the fitness tests. The injury meant I could not do it, and my bursary from the Army to see me through uni went up in smoke. If this had not happened, who knows where I would have been now...

Germany 2006 - England were bad and boring, but I have fond memories of watching this World Cup with my housemates at uni, drinking ourselves silly from 2pm everyday when the first game would start. We'd sit there on the couch all day, watch all three games, then go out in the evening. The next morning we'd have a kickabout in the park, then report back to the front room for 2pm. The girls we lived with had to wait until gone 10pm to watch any TV. Brilliant.

It's a shame I won't be able to look back on Euro 2008 with any memories like these, but at least I won't have to see Wayne Rooney's ugly face all over the papers every day.

-J