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When the convoluted UEFA Nations League was first announced a number of years ago, few would blame you if you were sceptical of the idea. The gist of it was to simply replace friendly matches with competitive fixtures to give some life to the otherwise drab international breaks. In other words, it sounded like a complete money grab.
When the tournament started, the questions on everyone’s minds were mainly how seriously would the teams take it and would anyone care?
All you had to do to get those answers was to watch the second half of Sunday’s England vs. Croatia match. The atmosphere inside Wembley Stadium as England pushed for a winner was incredible, as was the celebration when they got it. The fans care, the players care, the teams care.
With the group stage of the inaugural tournament nearly complete, it’s hard to say anything but that it has been a resounding success. France has gotten a chance to add depth to their young World Cup winning squad. England have been able to integrate new young talent into the squad and show that their trip to the World Cup semi-finals wasn’t a fluke. Germany learned that their World Cup problems run much deeper than we thought. And as a bonus, the games have been great.
The idea behind the league was to group the teams into leagues so games would be between evenly-matched teams. To ensure that happens, the top teams in each group are promoted while the bottom teams in each group are relegated.
That angle has added tons of drama to this competition. England and Croatia both could have won their group or been relegated in their match. The Holland match against France presented the Dutch with a chance to relegate Germany to League B.
With World Cup finalists France and Croatia failing to win their groups — while Spain, Germany and Belgium also missed out — the Final Four in June will take place without several top teams. Instead, the surprise line-up of finalists includes Portugal, England, Holland and Switzerland.
Can Portugal forward Cristiano Ronaldo win another trophy? That’s if he plays, of course. The Juventus forward, who will be 34 in February, has been absent from international duty since the World Cup. It seems unfathomable to see him pass up on the opportunity to showcase his abs after scoring the winning goal in the final, though.
Will Harry Kane-led England capture its first international title since the World Cup in 1966? The debate over whether winning the Nations League would genuinely end the title drought will ramp up in the coming months but coach Gareth Southgate will view it as another important step for a young team which also reached the World Cup semi-finals.
Is this the start of a new, exciting era for the Dutch after the dark days when they failed to qualify for the 2016 European Championship and the 2018 World Cup? Highly rated youngsters Frenkie de Jong and Matthijs de Ligt are key members of the team and Memphis Depay is seemingly finally fulfilling his potential.
Can Switzerland, which hasn’t reached the quarterfinals of a major tournament since 1954, continue to upset the odds after ousting Belgium in group play? The Swiss will be the outsiders but with the likes of Xherdan Shaqiri, can’t be discounted.
Whatever happens, the Nations League has been the rarest of delicacies in this world of money-grabbing, business profit taking precedence over grassroots and fans, European Super Leagues, playing domestic league games in foreign countries (just to name a few) … a great idea!
So well done UEFA, for once. If nothing else, it gives us another few months of being able to proclaim ‘The Nations League is coming home!’ before our inevitable hammering by Switzerland. And, it gave us yet another chance to laugh at the Germans after their World Cup humiliation.
The gift that keeps on giving!
