Looking at the history of world football, there is probably no more magical script than the Greek myth of Euro 04. Greece, as a second-rate European team, defeated strong teams one after another in that European Championship and finally reached the top, which everyone did not expect. Although since then, the aura of Greek mythology has faded rapidly, and the level of Greek football has gradually fallen to the third rate in Europe, the influence of Greek mythology has been all over European football.
Moreover, Greek mythology also led a trend in the European Championship, and this trend continues to this day. If Euro 2024 is still the case, then we can even make a bold guess about who will win the eventual winners, Portugal, Spain, Italy, or Croatia?
Okay, so let's go back to Greek mythology. In Greek mythology, we may be most concerned with Greece's experience of winning the championship as a dark horse, but few people pay attention to the region where Greece is located. The territory of Europe can be roughly divided into Northern Europe, Western Europe, Central Europe, Southern Europe, and Eastern Europe. Greece, located in the Balkans, belongs to southern Europe.
And it was Greek mythology that ushered in a great era when southern European teams were at the helm at the European Championship. In Euro 08 and '12, Spain in the Iberian Peninsula won the championship, and in Euro '16, another team in the Iberian Peninsula, Portugal won the title. Both teams are southern European teams. And in the 2021 European Championship, Italy, which won the championship, is located in the Apennine Peninsula and is also a southern European team.
That is, starting with Greek mythology, the European Cup has been monopolized by southern European teams for almost two decades. During this period, the teams of England, France, Germany, the Netherlands, and Denmark seemed to have collectively lost their voices.
To be honest, except for Spain in 08 and 12, which was indeed the strongest team in the world at that time, the other three European Championship champions Greece, Portugal, and Italy were not the strongest teams of their time. Needless to say, Greece is a second-rate team; Portugal in 16 years can only be said to be a quasi-first-class team, and it is still worse than France and Germany, in fact, they won the championship at that time, although it was not an underdog, but it was quite unexpected; and Italy in 21 years, how to say it? It is a small peak in the trough. Before that, after that, they couldn't even make it to the World Cup.
Since there are as many as 3 examples of non-strongest teams winning championships, it has to be shown that this trend has a certain metaphysical color. Maybe it's a coincidence, but it's the coincidences that are the most interesting and gimmicky.
Okay, let's focus on Euro 2024. Although Germany is the host, with their recent decline, I am afraid that they may not be the favorites. If the trend in southern Europe is still surging, maybe this time, it will be Croatia's turn? After all, there is no strong team in southern Europe that has won the European Cup, and it seems that only Croatia is the only team, right? Of course, Croatia is also at a relative trough, the golden generation is gradually withdrawing, and it is difficult for newcomers to reproduce the glory of the past few years. But this trend may help them.
In fact, Portugal won the championship for the second time, and it was not impossible. The current strength of Portugal is definitely first-class in Europe, and its strength on paper can even rank among the top three in Europe. Although they were in a relatively easy group in the European preliminaries, their strength does not seem to be something that any strong team can have. Therefore, Portugal must be one of the favourites to win Euro 2024.
Of course, if this trend is interrupted, it may depend on France and England. At present, there are only these two teams in European football, and they have enough strength to reverse the inherent trend. Perhaps, the main theme of Euro 2024 is that the south wind fights the whirlwind.