Latest News

Germany commemorates end to effective Euros in spite of no fairy tale for hosts

German organisers of the Euro 2024 competition will breathe a sigh of relief after Sunday's last between Spain and England, having delivered an occasion without significant issues however having failed to reproduce the success of the 2006 World Cup on home soil.

The Euros have been Germany's greatest worldwide sports occasion because the 2006 World Cup which at the time activated a massive wave of home interest, filled fan zones nationwide and has actually since ended up being called the summer season fairy tale.

While this year's Euros went off without significant hitches on both the operational and security level, it has actually come no place near matching the success of the World Cup 18 years earlier.

The German nationwide group went out in the quarter-finals without ever striking top form, leaving the hosts with about 2 weeks of subdued enthusiasm from the home fans. In the 2006 World Cup Germany reached the semi-finals and then won their third-place playoff against Portugal.

Transportation in between the 10 cities hosting matches was also a far cry from the impressive efficiency of 2006, with hold-ups striking fans and even teams, consisting of the Dutch team who had to scrap plans for a train journey ahead of their semi-final against England and ultimately showed up four hours behind prepared by plane.

Fans required to social media to complain about these interruptions and the transportation minister stated the national rail operator's efficiency had actually not met Germany's requirements throughout the event.

The Euros have actually put Germany's vaunted performance under worldwide analysis as the nation has a hard time to modernise its aging rail facilities and boost punctuality.

Amongst those captured up in train hold-ups was competition director and 2014 World Cup winner Philipp Lahm, whose appointment a few years earlier was invited, bringing a respected previous player to the function.

NO BECKENBAUER

But in contrast to the late Franz Beckenbauer, who went to matches utilizing a helicopter in 2006 and rapidly became the face of the organisation, Lahm has actually been rarely seen or heard, choosing to operate behind the scenes.

The weather did not always play along, either, with summer storms and heavy rain throughout the event, another contrast to the month of blue skies throughout the warm summer season of 2006.

Fan zones needed to be shut on event due to the storms, however organisers still expect a total of 6 million people to have actually visited them by the end of Sunday.

For me the entire tournament showed that sport stands for neighborhood and social spirit. Sport and football have nothing to do with isolation, said German FA chief Bernd Neuendorf.

No place was that more apparent than in the low-key and friendly policing, with security having been a concern with potential hazards from Islamist militants, hooligans, violent individuals and cyberattacks, as recognized by the country's interior ministry.

But German security, consisting of 22,000 policemans, with a very low-visibility existence apart from at some high-risk video games, seek to have gotten the job done satisfactorily.

The competition's format with 16 of the 24 teams advancing past the group stage might have been criticised again however it did offer tense matches up until the last group game.

Organisers hope that enjoyment will perform to the final in Berlin on Sunday to cap a solid competition operation.

(source: Reuters)