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Blatter lauds Euro 2004, expects 'fiesta' in 2006
FIFA chief lauded the excellent soccer Euro 2004 served up for a growing audience and said it augured well for the World Cup.
FIFA President Sepp Blatter on Saturday lauded the excellent soccer Euro 2004 served up for a growing worldwide audience and said it augured well for the 2006 World Cup in Germany.
"Can you imagine what the World Cup in two years time will be like when a 16-team competition without South America, Africa and Asia already does this?" Blatter said in an interview with the Associated Press. "It will be a real fiesta."
Traveling around Europe during the three-week tournament, Blatter said he saw enthusiasm everywhere, highlighted by big increases in television ratings and huge gatherings around giant TV screens in cities and villages.
What was an even bigger surprise was the interest outside of Europe for the tournament, especially in Asia.
UEFA said some games were seen by 50 million viewers in China, more than double the highest ratings in a European nation.
On the www.euro2004.com web-site, Japanese was the second most popular language behind English but ahead of French and German.
"It is incredible — in China, in Japan," Blatter said.
Blatter also applauded the quality of play and said the unpredictable nature of the competition — with rank outsider Greece in the final against host Portugal and all the big nations eliminated by the semi-final — was the wave of the future.
"There is no gap anymore," he said. "It was so interesting because of the 16 teams everybody can beat everybody. The teams have leveled upward."
He refused to read anything into the early elimination of the big five — Italy, England, Germany, Spain and France.
"The matches were really at the edge until the last minute," he said, noting Italy was eliminated without losing a match, and England went out in a penalty shootout against host Portugal.
"It is just a coincidence," he said, rejecting arguments that the top stars from the big leagues were too tired to give their best at the tournament.
"Everybody has fatigued players," he said. "All the teams have players in the big leagues."
