Before I write about the Starfield concert, before I write about my trip to New York City, before I write about more theology, about my job interview, about how disrespectful I am to my mom at times, etc., I thought that I really owed it to myself – as a little armchair football fan – to write about the European Championships taking place in Austria/Switzerland right now.
No, England is not in it. But to many Englishmen it’s actually a good thing: no longer do they have to sit in front of their teles listening to the stupid pundits and English media – excuse my language – wank over their mediocre England national team. This time around, they can actually watch as neutrals without having to pull hair out or be put at risk of suffering from heart attacks. And as a neutral, Monday is going to be very exciting, as Holland faces Italy.
There’s something very special about international tournaments.
Each team only gets to play a maximum of 6 games (if they reach the final).
That means every decision counts. That means coaches really need to strategize so that the players pace themselves, without going into exhaustion too early on in the tournament, especially when extra time is so common in the latter stages.
That means that every game counts and failure to meet expectations would mean that you will forever be remembered as a bottler. This means that mental toughness is key because there’s no turning back.
It’s a very special thing, these tournaments.
There’s great beauty about it.
As for who I would like to see do well, well, Holland and Italy are always the favourites, but I would definitely love to see the “lesser” teams like Croatia and Romania do well.
Although he probably won’t be getting many games, I hope this guy gets his chance to shine in what most probably is his last ever international tournament:
Alessandro del Piero!
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