It’s going to Rome or why Southgate should start playing the lottery
Seriously Gareth, put your shoes on and go buy a lottery ticket as soon as possible.
In the following article I’ll try to analyze what happened at Euro 2020 ( that took place in the summer of 2021 due to the Covid-19 pandemic ) all while trying to keep my sanity safe because it was in short supply at this tournament.
Let’s start with the first boo-boo: on 12th of June, Denmark’s playmaker Christian Eriksen collapsed on the pitch due to a cardiac arrest, minutes before half-time, during his team’s first match at the tournament against Finland.
After he arrived at the hospital and regained consciousness he reportedly said: “I’ve only just turned 29 years old” [1]. Now, all journalists on the planet cataloged this incident under “s#!t happens” and moved on but I, being a proud cynic, didn’t analyzed the incident as superficially as the rest of the world.
Of course, he was inundated with meaningless “get well soon” messages which can help when you’re in a bad mood but the lack of a proper investigation has made me realize the world of football has swept this incident under the rug and moved on, way too soon.
We should not forget that this incident comes after roughly two years in which professional footballers have played the game without a single break and with a final tournament at the end of that period. The fact this incident was the only one registered at the Euro and Copa America is a miracle in itself.
Sure, there was a break due to the Covid-19 lockdown in 2020, but top football players continued training hard as nobody knew exactly when football was going to be resumed.
The best evidence to the fact that all players were tired is the big, massive number of own-goals ( more precisely: 11 ) and the sluggish boring football displayed by most teams. It was almost like all top teams were emulating England’s “style” of play and, maybe, that’s why Southgate’s boys reached the final.
Maybe a little more consideration for the players’ health would be nice in the future. OK FIFA and UEFA? Good.
Mind you, why should Southgate play the lottery?
Now, returning to my initial statement, this was the second international tournament in a row where England reached the semi-final stage and it’s not thanks to talent or team-play.
Don’t get me wrong, Gareth Southgate has done a marvelous job trying to give England a style of football and some attitude but this team is still far, far away from the best teams in Europe.
At the 2018 World Cup, England finished second in a group also containing Belgium, Tunisia and Panama and still managed to land on the easier half of the knockout tree.
Don’t believe me? Try this for size: Uruguay, Portugal, France, Argentina, Brazil and Belgium were all stuck on the same side of the tree while Spain and England had to face Russia ( host but, surprisingly enough, not carried by the refs ), Croatia, Denmark, Sweden, Switzerland and Colombia.
England carried on like a champ until they met the only solid side they could have mathematically met ( Croatia ) and were eliminated. They went on to get beaten by Belgium one more time and finished 4th although they weren’t even the 8th best team of the tournament.
Still, ignorance is bliss, and they considered themselves favorites to win the upcoming Euro because they had a lot of young players in their squad. If I’d had a dollar for every time the Romanian Football Federation said that about our national team I’d be like Jeff Bezos right now.
Fast forward to present times and England found themselves in an even easier scenario compared with two years earlier, having won their group also containing Croatia, the Czech Republic and Scotland they found themselves sharing the knockout tree with Sweden, Ukraine, the Czech Republic, Wales, Denmark, the most depressing German side I’ve ever seen and a Netherlands team that was bound to crash at the first knockout round.
Meanwhile, on the other side of the knockout tree, Belgium, Portugal, Italy, Austria, France, Croatia and Spain were all battling for that spot in the final.
Looking back, a more balanced knockout tree would have done wonders for the excitement of this tournament but we can’t always have what we want.
It has to be said that Denmark was also a pretty decent team at this tournament but the referee thought otherwise, so we’ve had to suffer a Wembley final starring England and some other geezers, racism and out-of-this-world optimism turned to abuse at the favorites from just 120 minutes earlier. This is what football is all about…uhm…really?
It also has to be noted that English fans claimed danish players disrupted their team’s wall during the free-kick that led to Denmark’s goal, but complaining on refereeing after such a match is like opening the door of your car only to receive abuse from the guy trying to hotwire it, that you’re disturbing him. Classy act England.
In the end, England was stopped only in the final because it took until the final for them to actually meet a solid football team, and that team was Italy.
This Italy team looked great at times and although it didn’t have the names and talent past generations bolstered, they had a great team spirit and an adaptability that ultimately made them unstoppable at this Euro. Well done to them and, especially, to Roberto Mancini.
Ignorance is bliss part two, as English pundits and journalists remained in good spirits after the final, as they claimed England has a very young side so they should be a very strong team at the Qatar World Cup.
Yah boys, because Mbappe is like 90 years old.
Truth be told, from an objective spectator’s point of view that started to hate England and their fans only after this tournament, this team huffed and puffed against unimpressive teams throughout the tournament and displayed a depressing and sluggish style of football that will lead them to the final in Qatar only if they’re somehow teleported to that match.
Naivety is a cute trait for children to have but also sad and pathetic when adults show it so stop it guys, you’re creeping me out.
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