But gradually countries on Europe’s periphery imported know-how from the core. Many peripheral countries, even England, hired managers from core nations. In 2004 Greece became the first peripheral nation in decades to win the European championship, under the German coach Otto Rehhagel. Greece’s chief goalscorer Angelos Charisteas gloated: “We have a German coach, and we play like a German team.”
The recession-hit Spaniards have become reigning world and European champions playing a Dutch-inspired passing game. David Winner, author of Brilliant Orange: The Neurotic Genius of Dutch Football, described the Holland versus Spain World Cup final of 2010 as “Jungian mirroring”.
“Holland’s path to the world title is blocked by the more authentic version of their better selves,” he wrote. “It is now Spain who play Dutch football.” The World blog FT ebook
If Greece goes...the FT’s first ebook examines the potential consequences of a Greek exit from the euro zone
Knowledge transfer from core to periphery continues at Euro 2012: Ireland has an Italian coach, Russia a Dutchman, while England opted for Roy Hodgson’s decades of continental experience. However, knowledge transfer now goes from periphery to core, too: the Germans have been learning from the Spaniards. That rarely happens in economic management.
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