Euro 2000 maybe fading into the memory banks, but before it disappears it's worth recapping the tournament's pluses and minuses and, where applicable, what Japan and South Korea might learn for the 2002 World Cup. So here then is the Good, the Bad and the Ugly rundown of Euro 2000.

The Good

Cohosting -- While there are relatively few parallels that can be drawn between the two countries involved in Euro 2000 (the Netherlands and Belgium) and the two involved in the 2002 World Cup (South Korea and Cloud Cuckoo Land), Euro 2000 put the lie to FIFA president Sepp Blatter's assertion that cohosting will be a short-lived phenomenon.

Euro 2000 showed that countries that are too small to host major events on their own can combine admirably with their neighbors and stage a strong, unified tournament. Whether you were attending a match in Belgium or the Netherlands, you felt like it was one tournament. Admittedly, the almost non-existent border controls and the similarities between the two Euro 2000 cohosts made that a lot easier, but with regards to the practicalities of the tournament South Korea and Japan can do likewise.

The major difference for 2002 is that while the Belgians and the Dutch emphasized their similarities, Japan and South Korean officials have said they will concentrate on highlighting their two countries' unique aspects.

The other major difference for 2002 will be the inconvenient travel between the two countries. This still has the potential to cause a lot of grief as teams are forced to change countries after the first round and it is incumbent on the organizers and the respective governments of the two countries to make this as smooth as possible.

Cohosting is here to stay and will no doubt be seen again in other major events.

Stadiums -- Not all the stadiums were new, but only one (King Baudouin Stadium in Brussels) had a running track around it. More than half the 2002 stadiums will have running tracks, including the venue of the final, International Stadium Yokohama.

Let's make one thing clear, International Stadium Yokohama is a pretty rotten soccer stadium. Yes, it's new and the design of the stands is pleasant to the eye, but the roof offers little protection when it rains and the pitch is about 10 km away from the nearest spectator thanks to the running track. There won't be any hooligan pitch invasions in 2002 because any hooligan who makes it as far as the pitch will be too knackered to do any invading by the time he gets there.

Japan has let the World Cup down by its hasty decision to select Yokohama as the venue for the final. The World Cup final would be best served by a soccer-only stadium such as the new Saitama Stadium. Both stadiums are a little short on capacity (70,000 for Yokohama, 64,000 at Saitama), but as the Euro 2000 stadiums proved, you don't have to be big to be good.

The atmosphere at the 50,000 capacity "De Kuip" stadium in Rotterdam and the similarly sized Amsterdam Arena (both of which have moats to prevent fan invasions) was just fantastic and even in the seats at the top of the stands you retained a feeling that you were close to the action.

The fans -- Not all the fans, of course, but the Dutch, the French and the Italians were all class acts. Every Dutch person on the planet wore orange on match days and the atmosphere at Holland's home games was awesome. The French were relatively quiet at times, but after France scored its late equalizer in the final, there was only going to be one winner. The French fans went potty and didn't let up until David Trezeguet scored the inevitable winner in extra time.

The Italians deserve more than an honorable mention. They were easily the most sporting fans on show at Euro 2000, applauding the opposition's national anthems (despite having their own booed) and the opposing teams -- even after they'd lost the final. The Italian defense -- People (mainly midfielders) often overlook the fact that soccer is as much about defending as it is about attacking. Many don't like to see defensive teams, but there is something dramatic about a team defending against the odds. The Italian defense was magnificent throughout the tournament, but no more so than during the dramatic semifinal against Holland at Amsterdam after Gianluca Zambrotta was sent off in the first half. Mark Iuliano, Alessandro Nesta and Fabio Cannavaro put on a superb demonstration of how to defend with courage and heart in the face of greater odds.

They were great in the final, too, for 93 minutes. Then they had a little slip and cost me $800. Bastards.

Extra trains -- Why is it that when you travel by train to games in Japan, the train companies aren't able to put on extra trains to avoid congestion. Other countries put on extra trains and/or "soccer specials" to help fans get to the games. The public transport in Belgium and Holland was excellent. More lessons to be learned.

Banks -- Yes, I know, it's not a sporting topic, but it will be of significance to fans in 2002. With my European bank card, I could obtain French francs, Belgian francs, Dutch guilders or pounds at ATMs 24 hours a day. I know you can get cash on Visa cards in Japan, but wouldn't it be nice if the notoriously useless banks here actually tried to improve their service by making their cards compatible with overseas banks and actually opening the ATMs when the banks are closed?

Quality of the teams -- One of the reasons why some people refer to the World Cup as the European Championship plus Brazil is that there are no Mickey Mouse teams in the European Championship (except England and Germany).

Because of the scope of the World Cup, the weaker regions are granted a certain number of berths in the finals, leading to a diluting of the overall quality of the teams in the competition. That doesn't happen in the European Championship as it contains the confederation's best 16 teams -- and there are only 16 teams in the finals -- so every game is a big match. That's not necessarily a criticism of the World Cup, but it certainly makes the competition fiercer and more interesting.

The Bad

England and Germany -- Maybe they should reduce the number of teams even further. The English players put on a demonstration on just how far they still have to develop before they can rate alongside the Hollands and Italys of this world. Germany demonstrated just how far and how fast a team can sink in four years. Remember, Germany won the European Championship in 1996.

England seems to be in a permanent state of rebuilding; now Germany has joined the club. Both countries are prone to pride and arrogance and are slow to realize how bad they are. There's three players at Nagoya Grampus Eight currently in the same boat. It's a lesson worth learning. If their workrate reflected their salaries, these players and teams might start improving.

Belgian police -- I don't like criticizing the police, but can you imagine the French trying to stop the Parisians celebrating down the Champs Elysees after a victory? I don't think so. But the Belgian police stopped Belgium's fans celebrating in the Grand Place in the center of Brussels after their team beat Sweden 2-1 in the opening game.

It put a damper on the country and Belgium went on to lose its remaining two games, failing to score again and failing to advance to the quarterfinals.

The Ugly

English fans -- Kevin Keegan tried hard to pretend that the English fans weren't bringing his team down, but it was obvious that the violence was affecting the team and the country.

Reaching the finals of Euro 96 restored an incredible amount of pride in England as a country as well as a footballing nation. The ineptitude of the England team this time round and the moronic behavior of its fans gave the country a collective depression that still lingers.

Soccer is so big now that it has a galvanizing effect on countries and their people. The scenes in Paris after the World Cup and Euro 2000 wins were astonishing. A million French people don't even watch soccer on a normal weekend in France, yet that many came out in Paris alone to celebrate. Studies have shown that a country's productivity increases when teams win; when they're hit by a national disgrace, whether on the pitch or off it, the reverse appears to be true.

The problem with the English fans is not so much that they are murderous or ultra-violent, it's more that they are stupid. Burning or attacking flags from opposing nations and/or Turkey is bound to set off trouble.

In Belgium, many apparently innocent fans were deemed guilty by association by the Belgian authorities just because they were wearing England shirts and were in the vicinity of the morons. The Belgian authorities, like many countries before them, then refused to prosecute most troublemakers, preferring merely to deport them, along with the innocent. This merely deflects the problems back to Britain and it makes it more difficult for Britain to ban fans in the future.

Shove the morons in jail for two months and then give them 10 years probation and the problem may become a little more controllable. Maybe, but it would be a start.

Diving -- It hasn't gone away. The Italian attackers -- notably Francesco Totti -- were experts at it and it cheapened their achievements. Luckily, the refs were on the ball for the most part and Romania's Gheorghe Hagi ended his international career with a red card after a blatant dive in the box in the quarterfinals against, ironically, Italy.

England left back Phil Neville -- And you thought only England's fans were stupid.