Euro 2024: Judicial problems, an ugly shirt, a Zamora… how is this Euro Cup reminiscent of 2008?

It may be nonsense, but… These days in Donaueschingenwhere it is suddenly hot as hell and where it suddenly starts to rain as if the world was going to end, these days, well, in Donaueschingen they look for, although with a small mouth, the similarities between this Euro Cup and the one in 2008. And it goes down to detail. For example. The goalkeeper of that unforgettable team was Iker Casillas, who scored 32 goals in 36 games (0.89) in the 2007/2008 season to win the Zamora Trophy. Spain had not attended any other final phase with a goalkeeper in possession of that title until today. Unai Simon It is Zamora in La Liga with 33 goals in 36 games (0.91). Almost identical numbers. Another detail: the brand that has been dressing the national team for who knows how long, Adidas, designed a second golden kit for 2008 that left everyone stunned, a very similar reaction, almost identical, to those who turned on the television last Monday to see the yellow kit that Spain will wear in 2024. Coincidences? Who knows…

Beyond the anecdotes, there are comparable situations between that Euro Cup in Austria and Switzerland and this one in Germany. There are 16 years of difference, but the problems at the top (Villar then and Rocha now), the lack of popular support for the coach (Luis then and From the source now), or the poor connection, at the start of the tournament, between the players and the general public are reminiscent of 2008. Fernando Torres and David Villatwo of the stars of that championship that ended 44 years of hardship, recall for EL MUNDO this part, the sporting part, which was the one they experienced first hand. But first, the offices.

In 2008, Angel Maria Villarwho had already been presiding over the Federation for 20 years, had a dispute with the Government of Shoemaker on account of whether or not to hold the elections before the Olympic Games. In 2024, Pedro Rocha promotes a hidden struggle, carried out between agreements that are not fulfilled and strange movements, with the Government of Sánchez on account of being able to stand for election or not. In both cases, the Federation threatens the Executive to call daddy UEFA and FIFA and have them punish Spain without playing in the Euro Cups and World Cups and, if that were not enough, leave it without the 2030 World Cup.

In 2008, Luis Aragones He arrived at the tournament with half the country (football) against him and with the other half directly oblivious to what was coming. In 2024, Luis de la Fuente He had the entire country in this second situation, as if things were not the case with the majority of the fans. In 2008, the players who later became eternal stars were projects or realities in their early stages. For example, if the Champions League serves to quantify the level, Spain went to Euro 2008 with five players who had won six titles: Iker (2) and then Xavi, Puyol, Iniesta and Xabi Alonso. In this 2024 tournament, there are fewer champion players (Carvajal, Nacho, Joselu and Rodrigo), although of course, only the Madridistas have 13 titles. But, in short, Villa was not what it later became, Xavi and Iniesta They did not dominate the world as they did later, and today you can sense that same germ, with another type of football, in players like Nico, Lamine, Pedri, Gavi (which is not here but will return), Fabiansomewhat more mature at 28 years old, just like Xavi could be in 2008…

«They are different teams, each with their peculiarities, but they can be compared in the hunger of the two groups. We wanted to show that we were a good team, and I think they did too.», explains David Villa, the top scorer in the history of the national team, to this newspaper. Yours is a good example. When he arrived at the tournament in Austria and Switzerland, he added 14 goals in 31 games, far from 59 goals that today keep him at the altar of scoring in Spain. «I do see some similarities. We arrived at that tournament and people didn’t believe. We had no credit, neither the coach nor the players, a bit like what happens today. Later, as we progressed, it is true that the country became excited, as is happening,” says Fernando Torres, who that year, 2007/2008, had signed his best scoring season with 24 goals in his first year at Liverpool. I am anointing.

There are even two comparable figures. In 2008, Marchena They called him the father because of his ascendancy over the group, just as today everyone looks at Navas as an almost spiritual reference. And two similar starts. Spain thrashed Russia (4-1) in its debut in that Euro Cup and did the same with Croatia in this one. They suffered, but offered a very good image, to beat Sweden and Italy in the second games and were able to rest the starters in the inconsequential third game, against Greece in 2008 and against Albania the other day. «Good dynamics are always similar. This team is in one of those dynamics, as we were at the time, and that is very important in a short tournament like a European Championship. “I am an optimist,” continues El Guaje.

El Niño Torres intercedes again, today a 40-year-old guy who will be the coach of the Atlético reserve team after being successful in the Juvenil A. «The players who made it to that Euro Cup, just like those who are now, were in a process of growth., and the fact of winning allowed us to do so, so these victories will also give them that point of balance that brings them closer to winning. Villa and Torres, Torres and Villa also agree that the environment is essential. “We had a very strong human group, we were all going in the same direction and behind the coach. It seems that now it is the same, and that is good,” Villa closes.