Target On: Euro 2012

Italy:  it is as if the talk of Lionel Messi and Cristiano Ronaldo over the last five years has overshadowed some of the truly great players that continue to grace European championships. So it is for a classy player like Andrea Pirlo. For so long the lynchpin of the AC Milan side that won two leagues and two Champions League trophies under his guidance, not to mention one of the core leaders during the improbable 2006 World Cup win for the Azzurri in Germany, people had seen him fall of their radar. He was still a legend, but his play suffered and it wasn´t until leading his new club Juventus to a much deserved scudetto that eyes were opened and the midfield maestro seemed re-Juve-nated; I couldn´t help it. Still, did anyone believe that he could do the same for Prandelli´s Italy? After masterful performances at the Euros so far, he is not only the toast of the foreign press, but he has people believing at home that Italy can surpass at first the Germans and then the winner of either Portugal or Spain for their first European Championship since 1968.

England: usually a loss for England in a major tournament brings out the hatchet men and certainly there is some criticism being handed out at Wayne Rooney for not showing up for country as much as he has for his club Manchester United, that from former coach Fabio Capello when the Italian heard about the comments from Rooney that the atmosphere under Roy Hodgson was much better than under Capello. There has been some talk about team selection, the disappearance of Oxlaide-Chamberlain and Phil Jones, but for the most part Hodgson has impressed the locals in his first major tournament. It´s strange because England were dreadful; a slightly better version of Giovanni Trappatoni´s Ireland. I guess England is the Old Italy and everyone seems happy about that.

Spain: it is interesting to read the Madrid dailies and see the sort of coverage that these Euros are illuminating about the culture of journalism or more likely of favoritism on Marca or As. There is a very real sense from the articles that they believe Real Madrid, José Mourinho and Florentino Perez are right behind the curtains pulling the strings of these Euros. There are conspiracies galore but one of the key ones belongs to Portugal. They are complaining about referee selection and somehow blaming Angel Maria Villar for it. It´s the usual Real Madrid complaint asn´t it, about the RFEF President´s affinity to Barcelona influencing refereeing decisions that go the blaugrana's way, but does this tired polemic have a place in these Euros? No. On another note, Germany are getting as much coverage as any other team excluding the Portuguese. Any guesses as to why, or why some of the Barcelona based players on La Roja are getting criticized at all? It is surprising that there is more cheer-leading for La Roja in the Barcelona papers and how even in this tournament, Real Madrid players like Cristiano Ronaldo and the merengue Germans (Ozil and Khedira) are receiving as much adulation if not more than the Barcelona contingent in Spain. I may be wrong but that's just my impression of the coverage in general.