Infantile taunts and sarcastic cheers of away fans. How we’ve missed you
SO Michel Platini was right not to worry, after all. When he concocted this bonkers plan, to stage one tournament across all four corners of the continent, many feared for the fans. How could they possibly afford to follow their team through Euro 2020?
Well, it turns out not even a deadly pandemic will stop some. Disclaimer: we probably shouldn’t endorse fans criss- crossing Europe during these troubling times. But that doesn’t mean we can’t enjoy those who already have. It’s been so long.
Even when stadiums re-opened for the final weeks of the domestic season, away goals were met with deadly silence. So how good it sounds to have some travelling support again. How wonderfully petty it was to hear hundreds (maybe thousands) of Turks trying to boo and whistle Italy’s big night of redemption. How cathartic it felt to see a gaggle of pasty Welshmen, baking in the Baku sun, pleading to drink another beer, to not go home.
And how special it was to hear the call-and-response between Finland and Denmark fans in honour of Christian Eriksen after he was rushed to hospital.
If this season has proven two things, it’s these: the intoxicating atmosphere of football can never be replicated by some nerd sitting in a studio armed with a tray of buttons. And no stadium sounds better without a tiny pocket of opposition. These opening few days have been the perfect appetiser for better days around the corner. Bring on the infantile taunts and sarcastic cheers of proper away support. How we’ve missed you. n LOOK, I know it’s hot. I know these are different times. But we need to talk about the burning issue of the Euros so far: the goalkeeping kits. On Friday, England and Scotland face off at a major tournament for the first time since Euro 96. Everyone knows that match — and that tournament — lives on in the memory in part thanks to the baggy, kaleidoscopes of colour worn by David Seaman.
And yet, over the first couple of days, my scientific calculations found around 50 per cent of goalkeepers have worn short-sleeve shirts. That is sporting sartorial sacrilege. Absolutely nothing can excuse it, in the same way nothing can justify an amateur wicketkeeper wearing short-sleeves, or Italy wearing all white against Turkey during the opener in their own capital city. Have a word, Mr Ceferin. n EARLY indications suggest fatigue could prove decisive. One of Turkey’s players had hands on knees inside the first 45 minutes of their opening game. Pity the bloke who has to remind them they have a couple more to come.
At least the suits should be OK. Before that curtain- raiser, it appeared one man’s sole job was to take the ball off a plinth and carry it six yards to the miniature Volkswagen (other toy cars are available), which carried it to the centre circle. Good to see key workers allowed into these strictly-controlled bubbles.