A tournament that put fun back into football

Almost universally, teams shrugged off the negative approaches which have typified the last three major tournaments, belatedly realising the best way to win a match is by scoring goals rather than keeping them out.

Of course, Scotland did not have the opportunity to be either attack-minded or ultra-defensive, an absence that was both a cause for regret and celebration.

For all that Euro 2008 was a joy to watch, some of the excitement that comes when Scotland – or for that matter England or Ireland – are involved in major tournaments was missing, even if it inevitably ends in some kind of heartbreaking defeat. For once, we could simply enjoy the football and revel in one last-gasp victory after another.

Germany and Russia were the great over-achievers, Spain at last fulfilled their potential, Portugal flattered but deceived, the Netherlands surprised and delighted but eventually disappointed, while France departed as the saddest of flops.

The group games vied with each other for sheer drama. There was the Netherlands' destruction of France, inspired by Wesley Sneijder; there was David Villa's one-man demolition of Russia to establish Spain as genuine contenders; there was Croatia's marvellous victory over Germany.

Then there was Turkey, teetering on the brink against Switzerland, the Czechs and Croatia before three times landing the latest of victory blows – only themselves to fall victim in identical circumstances to Germany in the semi-final.

Euro 2008 will also be remembered as the tournament of the midfielder: they have been the stars for once, not the strikers.

Spain epitomised this; Arsene Wenger described their midfield as "very versatile – they all look alike and all have the same skill, subtlety and technical quality".

Perhaps that was Spain's strength: their opponents didn't know who to mark as Xavi, David Silva, Cesc Fabregas and Andres Iniesta buzzed around, though there was no mistaking the imperious majesty of Marcos Senna in the holding role.

There are many people who believe Senna should not be playing in this tournament at all, for until two years ago he was Brazilian. The ease with which citizenship is now granted to talented South Americans is an issue that Fifa and Uefa must urgently address.

Would Spain have gone so far without Senna? Perhaps, because Luis Aragones certainly had midfield riches in abundance to choose from.

For the other finalists, Germany, their strength too was in midfield. Joachim Lw's master stroke was to play Lukas Podolski as a converted left-winger rather than an out-and-out forward, a move that paid off in spades while Michael Ballack and Bastian Schweinsteiger were the other dominant figures.

They were the good of Euro 2008, and there was very little bad or ugly: perhaps only a notorious section of far-right Croatia fans who sullied the tournament by raising a racist banner.

Apart from that exception Euro 2008 was a delight: the hosts were friendly – even the naturally-reserved Swiss – the fans good-humoured, the football overwhelmingly positive.

Of course some figures will have departed with their reputations diminished. Worryingly for Chelsea, that includes their new manager Luiz Felipe Scolari, whose Portugal side missed a big opportunity to repair the damage of the defeat on home territory in the final four years ago.

In 2004, despite having arguably the best defence in Europe, Portugal were unable to cope with Greece's set-pieces and again they were found lacking in the same area as Germany sought out their vulnerability.

It was a case of out with the old as France's adherence to experienced but old legs led to disaster, while Italy's reliance on Andrea Pirlo was cruelly exposed when he was suspended against Spain and Roberto Donadoni's risk-free strategy came to grief in the penalty shoot-out. The other disappointment was predictable, which was that hosts Austria and Switzerland would struggle to perform above their usual level.

Unfortunately that proved to be the case. Unfortunate because the overall atmosphere suffered: it was friendly and polite but quite noticeably not as ebullient as in the World Cup in Germany two years ago.

In two tournaments time England almost certainly will be involved, and probably a couple of the other home nations too, as Uefa is set to boost the number of finalists from 16 to 24.

The expansion is to be regretted, however, as it will disrupt the simple but effective balance of 16 teams. In the future, half the countries in Europe will make it to the finals, raising the spectre of dreary and predictable qualifying groups followed by an equally-unexciting group phase of the finals where only the worst eight countries drop out.

Perhaps Euro 2008 will also be remembered as one of the last European Championships where a smaller number of participants promoted a quality and simplicity that gave rise to a joyful expression of the greatest game.

Austrian and Swiss officials, meanwhile, said yesterday that they were confident Euro 2008 would bring a long-term boost to local interest in the sport despite the early exit of both co-host teams.

The presidents of the two national football associations said the performance of the home sides and some bad weather had been the tournament's only negative points. "From the Swiss point of view, we are of course not satisfied with the performance of the national team," said Swiss FA president Ralph Zloczower whose team were eliminated after just two games, and just five days into the tournament..

"We had the target of reaching at least the quarter-final and we didn't make it. But interest remained high throughout the tournament and the atmosphere in the fanzones could not have been better."

Austrian FA president Friedrich Stickler said that his country's reputation for being interested only in Alpine skiing was exaggerated.

"The Austrians do love their football and they already did before the Euro," he said. "But now you can tell that people are getting even more enthusiastic with far more people taking an interest.

"We already have 400,000 registered footballers and we have been preparing clubs for the fact that many more boys and girls will be coming to them after the tournament wanting to play football."

Zloczower said the Swiss FA had already seen the first signs of a boom thanks to the success of Euro 2008.

"The number of our members has already shot up this year and there will be even more men, women and children wanting to play.

"Our main problem is having enough pitches and infrastructure to cope with the demand but I'm confident we will make good progress there too."