Quotes of the Day

There's an expression for it in sport: the rebuilding years. The years when some of your veteran players have lost a step, and your up-and comers haven't quite stepped up. Consider the erstwhile big guns who got kicked out of Euro 2004 before the party really got hot, and who now must figure out how to get their goal production lines going again. France, the reigning European champs. Italy, whose squad is in chaos, and whose outgoing coach is in denial. Germany, who couldn't even qualify for the quarter-finals, let alone repeat their World Cup 2002 runner-up performance. England, with a dynamic young striker but a knack for agonizing defeats. And of course Spain, which overtook the Netherlands for futility with its most recent el floppo. Among the eight teams that reached the quarter-finals of this utterly unpredictable, refreshingly enjoyable tournament, the only one aside from France to have claimed a major title in the last 12 years was ... Denmark, accidental winners in 1992. And France did not last long. En route to the semis, Greece dismissed the French 1-0, sending greats like Zinédine Zidane and Thierry Henry heading for the exits and Athens heading for delirium.

Of the giants, only the Dutch bucked the trend. And then only just. When their two-hour quarter-final clash against Sweden finished goalless, the Dutch had to face their worst nightmare: a penalty shoot-out, or as the Dutch usually do it, the penalty check out. In both Euro 2000 and World Cup 1998, they were eliminated after losing shoot-outs in the semis. This time, they were better prepared, eventually beating the Swedes 5-4. As Dutch veteran Frank de Boer told Time in an interview before Euro 2004: "We have trained for [penalties] — how to react, how to stay calm."

The Portuguese, too, went through on penalties, beating an outplayed and outraged England 6-5. The English screamed that Swiss ref Urs Meier denied them a winning goal in regular time, but like the Netherlands they have only themselves to blame for their spot failures in the World and European Cups. The big surprise was the poor penalty form of their celebrity captain David Beckham, who missed two PKs at Euro 2004 when his supposed dead-ball superiority deserted him.

But in order to progress, Portugal, the tournament's home team, had to bench some of their "golden generation" and lean on players like Deco who helped Porto to the Champions League title. Certainly, the country thoroughly enjoyed the strategy, almost as much as visitors enjoyed sun-soaked Portugal. After Portugal buried England, the traffic in Lisbon was at a standstill late into the night, as fans poured out on the streets waving flags and honking horns. The following morning, small children on their way to school sported Portuguese scarves wrapped around their waists like belts, while their mothers draped Portuguese flags around their shoulders.

Onlookers may have lamented the toppling of some of Europe's once-great teams, but the quality of football at Euro 2004 demanded nothing less. In the group stage, the tournament offered up some magical moments: Italy's nuanced attacks against Sweden. France's last-minute stunner to sink the English. Portugal's enthralling clash with Spain. The Czech Republic overrunning the Dutch. It also saw some teams suffer intriguing identity crises. A highly organized defense turned the Greeks — who can make Italians seem calm by comparison — into a version of Germany. A penchant for defending deep saw England resemble Norway, with similar success. Spain, unfortunately, looked just like Spain. Euro 2004 also offered up some bright spots: a crop of youngsters came of age in Portugal, and they will doubtless be pivotal in their countries' future teams. For the best of them — England's cracking newcomer Wayne Rooney — Euro 2004 was both a triumph and a test. After England's last group match, Rooney was the tournament's leading goal scorer, drawing lavish praise and comparisons to Pelé. But a little over 20 minutes into the nail-biter against Portugal, Rooney's tournament was over, courtesy of a broken fifth metatarsal in his right foot. For England, this was déjà vu all over again. Beckham broke his second left metatarsal prior to World Cup 2002, prompting a flurry of country-wide prayer for a speedy recovery. Now, the English must seek divine intervention to help them develop more depth in attack. Italy could use some help in developing its sportsmanship. The Italians were second best in everything except whining, repeating their recent performances. At World Cup 2002, the Azzurri had turned bleating into an art form as they blamed an Ecuadorean ref for their last-16 exit from South Korea. In Portugal, they outdid themselves, blaming the heat, a conspiracy by Denmark and Sweden to end in a draw, and even too much television coverage for their misfortunes — which included striker Francesco Totti earning a three-match ban for spitting at an opponent.

There was at least one positive in the Italian campaign, however; the attacking play of A.S. Roma forward Antonio Cassano, who moved around the park with deft determination in the 186 minutes he was on the pitch, and scored two goals, including a confident header against Sweden. Cassano was a favorite of Italian coach Giovanni Trapattoni, a fact that probably won't be of much use to him in the future. Trap was shown the door and replaced by Marcello Lippi, the outgoing manager of Turin giants Juventus.

With the start of the European qualifying rounds for World Cup 2006 following just six weeks after this tournament, European football supporters have plenty to look forward to. Newcomer Cristiano Ronaldo continues to deploy his seemingly boundless energy on the Portuguese wings. The Dutch also have a bright future ahead — more sparkling enterprise from Arjen Robben, their 20-year-old forward who has been snapped up by Chelsea in England's Premier League. The Czech Republic — the all-hair team — with its strike force of Milan Baros and Marek Heinz, should be contenders in tournaments to come. And who else will be quietly rearming while the attention of the football world is elsewhere? World Cup 2006's host nation Germany, whose youthful players, in particular midfielder Bastian Schweinsteiger, looked full of running and promise even as their team were thumped out of Portugal by the Czech Republic's reserve squad. As the Portuguese will attest, even if it takes some time to kick in, home pride can be a powerful thing.

• JENNIE JAMES | Lisbon
• It's back to the drawing board for European football's big guns