Amr Obaid (Cairo)
Eight coaches have led their teams to the quarter-finals of Euro 2024, and so the “Eight Knights” are now ranked among the best in the “Old Continent.” Until further notice, only four names will be revealed that will be able to continue the road to the semi-finals, and after that, each event will have its own story.
During the round of 16 matches, the superiority of the national coach became clear in general, as there are 6 national coaches with their national teams in the quarter-finals, at a rate of 75%, and 3 of them succeeded in defeating foreigners, after De la Fuente with Spain defeated Willy Sagnol, Georgia coach, Deschamps with France defeated Todisco, Belgium coach, and Southgate with England defeated Francesco Calzona, Slovakia coach, while a national coach defeated his counterpart in 3 battles, the German Nagelsmann against the Danish Holmand, as did the Swiss Yakin with the Italian Spalletti, and the Dutchman Koeman with the Romanian Lordanescu, and the only exceptions to this are the Portuguese Martinez, Portugal coach, and the Italian Montella, Turkey coach.
It was also eye-catching that 5 coaches won seats in the quarter-finals, with a percentage of 62.5%, at the expense of older competitors. Nagelsmann, 36, defeated Kasper Holmand, who is 16 years older than him, and Roberto Martinez, 50, overcame the obstacle of Matjaz Kek, 62. However, the truth is that the “sailors” crossed the “Slovenian Strait” with great difficulty via penalty kicks, as did Southgate, 53, against Calzona, 55, with a very small age difference between them.
Switzerland’s surprise is still present in the tournament, even with the recognition of Italy’s poor condition, which is credited to the 49-year-old Murat Yakin, the coach of the “Nati” during his confrontation with the “veteran” Spalletti, the 65-year-old captain of the “Azzurri”, as Montella (50 years old) snatched the ticket to qualify from the clutches of the “old” Rangnick (66) in a strong match between Turkey and Austria.
On the other hand, De la Fuente, 63, won by a large score against Willy Sagnol (47), as did the Dutchman Koeman (61) against the Romanian Lordanescu (46), and the young “inexperienced” Todisco, 38, was unable to lead Belgium’s talents to overcome the experience of the “experienced” French coach, Deschamps (55).
In terms of the length of time in charge, those with the shortest and most recent tenures have managed to impose their say on 5 seats in the last 8, starting with Montella, who took over the leadership duties only 9 months ago with Turkey, to outperform Rangnick, who has been contracted with Austria for two years, then Nagelsmann, who is barely in his first year with the “machines” and has overcome the obstacle of Holmand, the Denmark coach for more than 3 years, passing through Martinez, the Portugal coach for a year and 5 months, who has overcome Kek, who has been with Slovenia for 5 years and 7 months.
After a year and 6 months, De la Fuente led “La Roja” to a big win over the Georgian national team, which Sagnol has been coaching for 3 years and 4 months, and Koeman did the same with “the Orange” against Romania, noting that the latter’s coach, Lordanescu, has been in his position for about two and a half years. The “trio” of Deschamps, Southgate and Yakin are the most stable in the “Top 8” list, as the coach of “Les Bleus” began his reign about 12 years ago, compared to 7 years and 9 months for the captain of the “Three Lions”, then two years for the Swiss “surprise”.
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