Euro 2008 has been a wonderful mix of attacking enterprise and shrewd management, producing intriguing games that have restored many fans' faith in international football.

The matches have been played in full stadiums – albeit at grounds that would be considered small in many of Europe's top leagues – with friendly atmospheres, and sportsmanship high on the agenda after a Premier League season where intimidation of referees became a worrying norm.

On the pitch, viewers forced to choose a new favourite because of the home nations' absence have been given a glimpse into how football should be played at the highest level.

Retaining possession and attacking at pace have been mainstays of the successful teams with finalists Spain shedding their under-achievers tag with their calm build-up and devastating finishing.

Russia and Holland were at times electric, both putting in a pair of performances that took the breath away, until they were washed away in the thunderstorms that have merely added to the atmosphere.

The fact that Holland and Russia produced the most exhilarating football yet later floundered showed the depth of quality in the tournament.

Poor matches can be counted on one hand, goals have been flying in at a rate of more than two a match. and discipline on the pitch has been refreshing.

Each of the 16 nations has added something.

The group stages were tight and tense, the games coming one after another for the first 11 days, ensuring the teams and the tournament built sufficient momentum to take into the knockout stages.

Teams forced to play three times in eight days were hardly able to draw breath, neither was the armchair viewer with two games a night every night.

The only thing that could have been better advised was the splitting of the draw into two, meaning it was likely that teams who met in the group stages could meet again in the semi-finals, as happened with Spain and Russia on Thursday night.

But otherwise you could have the scenario where two teams from the same group meet in the final, as happened in Portugal four years ago when the hosts met Greece in the opening game and then again in the final.

Aside from that, the organisation of the tournament has got the spectacle it deserved.

So after three weeks of football heaven, what is UEFA's next move?

To change the format, of course.

Not content with 16 elite countries, UEFA in their wisdom – and perhaps because revenue is up 53 per cent on four years ago – are looking at expanding the tournament to 24 teams for 2012.

That will mean six groups of four, more games to be played, an extra week of action, and, more frustratingly, weaker nations involved diminishing the quality on offer.

England will, of course, have a better chance to qualify, but so will Latvia, Iceland, Norway and Bosnia.

But because the tournament will have six groups, the four highest third-place teams will qualify, swelling the knockout stage to an additional round of 16 – presenting England with an additional chance to get knocked out before the final.

Thirty-two countries contest a World Cup which never evolves at the same pace as a European Championships. Teams play only once a week and fixtures like Togo v Iran are squeezed in.

The destination of the 2012 championships also remains up in the air, with both Ukraine and Poland making UEFA nervous about the speed in which they are meeting the stadium criteria.

Capital cities Kiev and Warsaw are allegedly way behind schedule in building new stadia to host the major matches.

A joint bid from Scotland and Ireland waits in the wings, with Spain and Italy also on standby. UEFA have given Ukraine and Poland until September to reassure them they will be ready. A decision on the amount of teams to compete in 2012 will be made at the same time.

But whoever hosts in four years, they have a lot to live up to. Euro 2008 has been a fantastic tournament,suggesting the fewer teams involved the better the quality and the tighter the contest.

Why change it?


Yorkshire two games away from grabbing the SO Yorkshire's attempt to qualify for the knockout stages of the Twenty20 Cup, and continue their quest for the pot of gold at the end of the rainbow for the two sides who make it to the final at the Rose Bowl on July 26, has been successful.

The chance to go to India in October to compete in the inaugural Champions League is still within their grasp.

Darren Gough, Anthony McGrath and company need to win two more games to reach the final and the golden ticket to the sub-continent to battle it out for a £2.5m first prize as one of two representatives from England.

Of course, Yorkshire could lose at Durham next week, or in the semi-final, and find themselves as one of 16 English counties staying at home in October, and looking on ruefully as two counties fill their pockets and boost their wage budgets in India where £5m will be on offer.

The two counties which qualify for the lucrative Champions League will then lead the pack in trying to sign the big players for 2009 as the remainder of the chief executives up and down the country are left to scratch their heads in disbelief.

Disbelief may then turn to desperation as counties begin to pour money into their Twenty20 recruitment in a bid to catch the two teams who will be installed as favourites to qualify for the 2009 Champions League renewal.

Prize money will increase. It will no longer cascade down to the not-so-fortunates who miss out on reaching the promised land. The difference between success and failure in cricket has in the past only meant a matter of thousands. Now it could be millions as the rich get richer, and the poor get poorer. And by chasing, the 16 teams could neglect the heritage of the County Championship and the game's traditional values.

Hopefully, it will not come to that.

Hopefully, cricket has enough level-headed people in power to stop the game following the downward spiral of football which is now dominated by four clubs who have exclusive access to their own Champions League.

Hopefully, cricket has enough pragmatists to realise Twenty20 is not so much a game of experience, expertise and excessive cash, but of luck and unpredictable momentum swings.

What has been apparent in the last three weeks of Twenty20 is there are no certainties, anybody can beat anybody else.

While the game retains that air of unpredictability, the pot of gold will be just as attainable for the 16 counties who fail this year, when the quest begins again next year.golden ticket


Tigers duo parachute in with one aim – promotion


ANDY KEY and Neil Back begin a job this morning that has absolutely no margin for error.

For the new men in charge of Leeds Carnegie – Key as director of rugby, Back as head coach – the demand is promotion or bust.

If they do not win National One in their first season in charge it will be seen as a failure.

In the past four years, the team relegated from the Premiership has immediately bounced straight back, the task Key and Back are charged with.

Leeds did it two years ago when Stuart Lancaster succeeded Phil Davies with a shell of a side.

After a pre-season spent building a new squad, and a relatively stop-start opening few weeks of the season, Leeds finally bucked up their ideas and started living up to the billing of promotion favourites, eventually prevailing over Rotherham Titans in a thrilling championship climax.

Either side of the 2006-07 season was the relentless nature in which Harlequins in 2005-06 and Northampton in the campaign just gone, marched to the title.

They treated National One like touring dignitaries, passing through towns like Newbury and Launceston to showcase their talents. Each game seemed a nuisance, each team swatted away with consummate ease. Northampton won every game last season.

Fortunately for the new incumbents at Headingley Carnegie, two men who have a rich history of winning in almost 20 years at Leicester Tigers, they have the parachute payments after relegation and a squad largely unaffected by the drop.

It has been strengthened rather than weakened, leaving Leeds as favourites to win promotion.

But that does not mean Key and Back will have it easy.

While they are trying to acclimatise to their new roles, a National One strengthened by more teams turning professional will be keen to knock them out of their stride early on.

Plymouth Albion, Cornish Pirates, Exeter, Nottingham – who Leeds play first on Sunday, August 31 – will all fancy themselves to extend Leeds's stay in National One beyond the nine months of the season.

And let us not forget the Yorkshire contingent in National One.

Doncaster Knights took a step back in terms of position last season, but when it comes to player development they continue to make strides and will be there or thereabouts.

Rotherham will be an intriguing prospect next season. After their worst season for many a year, Craig West will be keen to produce a side full of resolve in his first full season in charge.

Errors dogged them last term, and while they may lack flair, if West can cut out the basic mistakes they will become hard to beat.

And then there is Otley, returning to the second tier after promotion last season. Avoiding the basement battle will be their priority, but in a division where there will be eight Yorkshire derbies, expect them to cause a few upsets.

It all adds up to a difficult first season for the new managerial duo of Key and Back, who will be under no illusions about what is expected of them and how tough it will be to deliver.