Football, bloody hell.
“Football, bloody hell” said Sir Alex after Manchester United came back from 1-nil down in injury time to beat Bayern Munich to the 1999 Champions League 2-1.
Well, how many ‘bloody hell’s’ have we had in UEFA Euro 2020 in 2021?
June 12th saw Denmark play Finland in Copenhagen. Some probably don’t remember the score because the match was overshadowed by the horrific collapse of Christian Eriksen who, as we know now, went into cardiac arrest. Eriksen was only saved by the quick thinking and immediate attention of his fellow players, the referee and the medics when quick action was taken using a heart defibrillator to bring him back to life. Denmark's team doctor Morten Boese, stated that “he was gone” before he was resuscitated. As I reflect upon that day, I again witnessed how football isn’t just a sport, it’s a family. Not only were his own team hoping and praying for Eriksen, but the entire football world was. Club and country affiliations went out the window as the football world united to pray for him. What makes football remarkable is it’s global nature and how, in circumstances of life and death, you have support from Tranmere to Timbuktu and everywhere in-between.
Football, bloody hell.
June 23rd saw Spain vs. Croatia and Switzerland vs. France in the first two Round of 16 matches. The BBC dubbed the result of the day: ‘Two games, 14 goals, one giant-killing’ as Spain, surprisingly labelled tournament dark-horse, threw away a two goal lead in the last 10 minutes as Croatia took the match to extra time. Spain justifiably prevailed 5-3 to be the first nation into the quarter-finals. I love watching Spain play football. It’s pure joy to me. Yes, they were slated by many after their goalless draw with Sweden in their opening match. ‘Typical Spain’ they said; ‘Trying to walk the ball into the net’ they cringed; ‘All style, no substance’ they cried. Many football supporters have become jaded by directional punditry that says ‘if you play a certain way and don’t win, you’re not playing the right way.’ Bollocks I say. Football wasn’t labelled the beautiful game for no reason - it’s because football is meant to be poetic, to treat the crowd to pleasure that, as a blue collar sport, most don’t see or feel on a day to day basis. Football is meant to make us smile. Spain is also led by a man, Luis Enrique, who has recently experienced unthinkable tragedy in losing is 9 year-old daughter Xana, to bone cancer. Luis Enrique just wants to smile and in my heart, I want him to aswell.
The opposite of Spain was France. A team that has all the components to make football joyful. Wonderful ball playing defenders. Creative, driving midfielders. Majestic, mercurial strikers. However, France couldn’t put smiles on their own faces, let alone their supporters and the global audience. I don’t think I saw Kylian Mbappe smile the entire tournament. During the loss to Switzerland, I messaged my friend to say Mbappe just doesn’t look happy. Regardless, France was up 3-1 with 10 minutes to go and the Swiss, who were flat out on their feet’ managed to conjure enough energy and passion to bring the match back to 3-3. Football momentum can shift in an instant and a 2-goal lead with a certain amount of time left is a tricky proposition. When the match went to 3-2 the pendulum swung into the Swiss favor. They ended up winning 5-4 in penalty kicks with …. you guessed it, Mbappe missing the penultimate penalty. Even though France failed to live up to expectations, their ultimate downfall was due to careless coaching. With approximately 15 minutes left and up by 2, manager Didier Deschamps took off Antione Griezmann, arguably their best player through the tournament and someone who puts as much effort into defending as he does into attacking. A player that can calm the game down by holding the ball and playing smart passes. A player that can take the wind out of the opposition sails if they do feel a sense of momentum. A crucial mistake that had dire consequences.
Football, bloody hell.
Finally, we were treated to a Round of 16 encounter between England and Germany. Neither team had covered themselves in glory in the opening round robin matches however, England vs. Germany is well ….. it’s England vs. Germany. If you know, you know. It did not fail to deliver and I must say, tactically, England’s manager Gareth Southgate out-smarted his far more experienced counterpart and World Cup winner, Joachim Low. Starting with a defensively minded line-up, England’s plan was to nullify Germany’s attack while utilizing two outlet players in Raheem Sterling and Buyako Saka to counter-attack. The intention was to wait for the last third of the game to attempt shifting momentum through the introduction of the ultimate playground footballer Jack Grealish. What a stroke of genius as Grealish set-up two goals in the last 20 to end the curse of England not beating Germany in a major tournament since 1966. God Save the Queen.
FOOTBALL, BLOODY HELL.
Bring me more.
