Euro 2012 The Next Big Thing (Game Theory)
Jul 2nd 2012, 13:27 by P.L.

I should not post the thread here, since I am really busy solving practice problems to prepare for my upcoming exam. Doing 30-50 math finance problems per day are stressful, so I need to take a break sometime. I think I have to share this article with you, because Spain has done a great job in Euro 2012. It has maturely incorporated the defense techniques of Real Madrid with the attacking techniques of Barcelona in this year's Euro Cup. I am proud of Spain's achievements: 2008 Euro Cup Champion, 2010 World Cup Champion, and 2012 Euro Cup Champion in these years. Although Spain's brain Xavi is over 30 years old and has not confirmed to participate in 2014 World Cup, a few young skillful players, such as Pedro, David Silva have shined in this year's Euro Cup.  Therefore, we can expect Spain will have a prosperous future in 2014 World Cup. You guys are welcome to comment game theories implied in the article under the main thread.

The article was taken from The Economist at http://www.economist.com/blogs/gametheory/2012/07/euro-2012

ONLY four years ago, Spain’s national football team were considered the great underachievers of the game. That changed in 2008, when they won the European championship, their first trophy for 44 years. Now the thought is absurd. When the Spanish swept aside Italy by four goals to nil to retain their title in Kiev on July 1st (pictured), the list of overachievement spilled off the bottom of the page.

No other country has won two European titles in a row, let alone carry off a World Cup in between, as Spain did in 2010. No one else has scored four goals in a European final. And putting four past an Italian defence is a feat in itself (even if these Italians had to play a man short for half an hour: a player was injured after the coach had made his three permitted substitutions). The last team to do so in an important tournament were Brazil’s brilliant World Cup winners of 1970, in that year’s final.

In “La Roja”, a history of Spanish football published just before this year’s tournament (and reviewed here), Jimmy Burns says he “would like to believe that…the dynasty of La Roja could last a decade or more.” That is still a tall order: rebuilding and renewing winning teams is as hard at international as at club level, and the Spanish have not yet had to do it. Eight players who appeared in Kiev were also in the winning team of 2008. And defending the World Cup will be especially difficult, given that the hosts in 2014 will be Brazil, winners five times. But the Spanish are already halfway to realising Mr Burns’s dream.

But if the Spanish have become Europe’s footballing superpower, which country has inherited its old mantle of underachievement? With no claim to scientific accuracy, Game Theory presents four possible pretenders to the unwanted crown.




Start with the obvious, to an Englishman, anyway. The English have won only one major tournament ever, the World Cup on home soil in 1966 (see chart), and have not even reached a semi-final since 1996 (again, at home). England has more people than Spain, a bigger economy and a league of similar quality: shouldn’t the country that gave birth to the game have a team as good as Spain’s? But as Simon Kuper and Stefan Szymanski pointed out in “Why England Lose” (first published in 2009 and reviewed here), “England are a good team that does better than most”. They win matches (and tournaments) about as often (and as infrequently) as you would expect given the country's size, wealth and experience in international football. English fans at last seem to understand this. At Euro 2012, in which England were deservedly knocked out by Italy in the quarter-finals, the expectations of both press and public were roughly in line with the team’s capabilities.

A second candidate is Turkey, a team that did not even qualify for Euro 2012. Twice in the past decade, in 2002 and 2008, when the Turks reached the semi-finals of first the World Cup and then the European championship, it seemed that a new power was on the rise: young, populous and football-mad. Yet there has been precious little since.

A third option is Russia, whose only tournament victory came when the Soviet Union won the first European championship in 1960. The country has lots of people and plenty of rich men with money to spend on football (notably, on clubs in England) and some decent players. This time Russia started the tournament strongly, beating the Czech Republic 4-1, but faded fast, losing to unfancied Greece. Perhaps things will change by 2018, when the Russians are due to host the World Cup. But don’t count on it.

The last choice is the most surprising: Germany. The Germans, of course, are a mighty footballing force. For them anything less than a semi-final is a catastrophe. The trouble is that they haven’t gone on to win a tournament for a long time: 16 years, or eight competitions. Meanwhile, France, Italy and Spain have all picked up World Cups, European titles or both. The Germans seemed to have a great chance this time, with a side full of fine, young players, until they were floored by two first-half Italian goals in their semi-final. It is difficult to believe that this brilliant generation of Germans will not be World or European champions, putting an end to years of disappointment. But at each tournament there can only be one winner. And for now, that winner always seems to be Spain.