10 Things Euro 2016 And The England Football Team Taught Me

Ever wondered why England was dumped out of Euro 2016 so early in the tournament? Same here! Luckily, I managed to harvest some seeds of wisdom from the experience. But with all their impressive qualification record and a talented team selected on the basis of merit, one is bound to wonder.

Wonder because their impeccable qualification campaign had built excitement, and even I the occasional football observer was delighted for them. Fans were not only excited but expectant and full of high hopes. After all ,it's been almost 50 years since The Three Lions earned their world cup glory.

Not that fans expected them to win, al though some secretly fancied the idea. But that would be too much asking. After all, this is England team we are talking about. And the country was featuring a young squad, perhaps the youngest featured team in their history.

But at least The Three Lions were expected to reach the knockout stages. In their first match, they played well, wielded high possession, and dominated the game. Nature was good in rewarding them an early goal. They held off the opposition working tirelessly, and were almost getting used to the idea of taking away 3 points from their first game when Russia equalised in injury time. Oh what an agony I felt, as 3 points turned to 1.

The Three Lions showed little mercy to their brethren in their second game, beating the Dragon who after a long sleep had waken to qualify for Euro 2016. The score, 2-1 to England. The result was no surprise. Wales were the under dogs. England was expected to win.

Playing against Iceland in their last group stage match was almost like being handed an automatic ticket to the elimination phase. So what went wrong? England took the lead with a goal in the first half and within minutes Iceland equalised. It did not take long for Iceland to net a second goal.

The Three Lions battled to re-establish their lead but it was not to be. The underdogs had stolen the crown. A nation the size of Leicester had stolen the glory from a much deserved team. Much deserved because Iceland was an inexperience team, much deserved because England had a greater ball possession rate and much deserved because England dominated most of the time.

It was a bitter disappointment, as dejected fans watched their crown snatched from them. And their lions turned into sheep in a most unkind circumstance. I also felt the pain but it forced me to question what had happen. So here are 10 things I leant from the Euro 2016 and the England team.

• That skills and good performance does not always equal success
• That you can only prepare and hope things go your way
• That you don't under any circumstance under estimate your opponent no matter how small or inexperience they are. Remember the story of David and Goliath in the Bible?
• That you respect every opponent because you don't know what they've got.
• That it's not enough to have ability, you need staying power.
• That you don't only need staying power but the ability and quality to finish
• That it's better to be hopeful rather than expectant in certain situations even if you've done your home work
• That there is always an appointed time
• That skill and opportunity does not mean automatic success, there are other factors
• That it's a huge mistake to place confidence in abilities

But regardless of Euro 2016 results, we are always hopeful, and we are always confident that The Three Lions would rise again. After all, they are lions! Aren't they? What about you? Did you learn any thing from Euro 2016 games?