UEFA breaks Russian hearts

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Euro 2012 is poorer with the exit of Russia who thrilled fans and neutrals alike with a 4-1 destruction of the Czech Republic on the first day of the tournament.

Russia’s ouster has got as much to do with their anaemic display against Greece as with Uefa’s baffling tie-breaker rules.

Few would have thought that Dick Advocaat’s side were on the brink ahead of the final round of matches in Group A. But an opportunistic goal from Greek captain, Giorgos Karagounis, on the stroke of half-time condemned the Russians to an early flight home.

Greece and Russia finished with four points each, but the Euro 2004 champions progressed on account of their better head-to-head record against Arshavin and Co. After starting the tournament with a bang, Russia ended on a whimper despite enjoying a +2 overall goal difference to Greece’s zero.

Uefa’s bizarre tie-breaker method has complicated a sport that prides itself for its easy-to-understand rules. The governing body of European football jettisoned the time-tested overall goal difference in a group for the head-to-head record if two teams are level on points and goal difference for the teams concerned if three sides finish with same points.

The results aren’t what Uefa would have envisaged, and it ended up with egg on the face.

In La Liga head-to-head record is taken into account to separate two sides with equal points to prevent a top team from boosting their goal difference by thrashing a minnow but such a formula is unwarranted in the Euros where only good teams reach the finals.

With the exception of the Republic of Ireland and Sweden, all other teams had a chance of advancing to the quarter-finals ahead of the final round of matches at Euro 2012.

The situation in Group C provided proof that Uefa’s formula is disastrous. Even if Italy had beaten Ireland 10-0 in their final group match, they would have crashed out in the event of a 2-2 draw between Spain and Croatia. Luckily for Uefa, Spain and Croatia banished the biscotto theories sprouting from Italy by not going for a contrived result.

Leaving one team’s fate in the hands of an outcome elsewhere can’t be a good advertisement for football. If anything, Uefa’s method only succeeded in encouraging negative football.

Had Uefa designed its tie-breaker to avoid fixing, there was a salivating prospect for Spain and Ukraine to turn the theory on its head.