Reason #2: Football is not all about money anymore
During the 2015/16 football season and Euro 2016, the world witnessed something nobody has expected. Even though most of the people claim that football nowadays is all about money, this statement has absolutely been proven wrong. Champions in Premiership became Leicester with a $62 million squad as the most expensive ever Premiership team, Manchester City ($411 million) finished 4th on the tables. That was a huge surprise to many, but as the story repeated itself a month later in France, it now becomes clear that the money do not play such a factor as they used to do before. Some of the cheapest teams such as Iceland, Poland, and Wales outplayed many European giants whose squads are worth much more than theirs:
|
Team
|
Cost ($ million)
|
Stage reached
|
|
Belgium
|
319
|
Quarter-finals
|
|
Germany
|
265
|
Semi-finals
|
|
England
|
190
|
Round of 16
|
|
France
|
183
|
Finalists
|
|
Spain
|
178
|
Round of 16
|
|
Portugal
|
160
|
Champions
|
|
Italy
|
154
|
Quarter-finals
|
|
Wales
|
136
*Note: Gareth Bale – 100m
|
Semi-finals
|
|
Croatia
|
135
|
Round
of 16
|
|
Switzerland
|
103
|
Round of 16
|
|
Turkey
|
69
|
Groups
|
|
Rep.
of Ireland
|
48
|
Round of 16
|
|
Russia
|
47
|
Groups
|
|
Czech
Rep.
|
40
|
Groups
|
|
Sweden
|
39
|
Groups
|
|
Slovakia
|
28
|
Round of 16
|
|
Austria
|
24
|
Groups
|
|
Iceland
|
19
|
Quarter- finals
|
|
N.
Ireland
|
16
|
Round of 16
|
|
Poland
|
14
|
Quarter-finals
|
|
Romania
|
13
|
Groups
|
|
Hungary
|
12
|
Round of 16
|
|
Albania
|
9
|
Groups
|
|
Ukraine
|
6
|
Groups
|
Several things to find out in this table:
- The squad of the champions, Portugal, is worth nearly twice less as the Belgium's team. This did not help the Belgians overcome the quarter-finals where they were defeated by Wales (whose squad would worth $36 million if Bale was not counted)
- Iceland eliminated England in the round of 16. Note the English team is exactly 10 times as expensive as Iceland's squad. The final result 2:1, however, shows enough.
- Note squads such as Poland ($14m), Iceland ($19m), Wales, got further in the tournament than the teams of England, Spain, Croatia, and Switzerland, all above $100 million.
Conclusion:
Football has reached a new level, where money is no more the huge factor it used to be. This has been proved by cheap squads outplaying the giants in Euro 2016 as well as in other European competitions. The reason probably is that the quality of the football players has increased drastically over the last years. And this did not happen in e.g Portugal or Wales only. It has happened in every single country. With that the rivalry among the players and the teams has increased accordingly. The outcome was that at Euro 2016, 69% of the matches were tied or won by only 1 goal difference.
And isn't that rivalry just amazing for the spectators?
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