I have always seen these final stages of the World Cup or the European Championship as a reflection of classical theatre, with its three distinct parts: introduction, climax and conclusion, with their subsequent intermissions. The introduction, of course, is the group stage, in which all the teams compete, show their profiles, sing their roles and prepare us to watch the rest of the play knowing who each one is and what can be expected of him or her. The climax is the round of 16 and the quarterfinals, in which the plot, now free of secondary characters, develops its dramatic fullness. The conclusion comes with the semi-finals and final, when it is finally revealed what we have come to see: who is the murderer, if we are talking about Agatha Christie, or who is the champion in the case of football.
Now we enter the second act, in which some of the secondary actors who appeared in the first have already left after reciting their roles. 24 started, only 16 remain, now faced in a determined trajectory according to two tables in which a decompensation is perceived as a result of the fact that France has not fulfilled what was expected, it has been second and has come to the table of Germany, Portugal and Spain, leaving a placid atmosphere for England and Italy on the other side.
It was one of the surprises that the plot had in store for us, but not the only one. Let’s say that the play is going well, because things happen that startle the spectator and arouse comments. England are not playing at all and despite that they win their group, which makes Southgate’s figure more irritating. France is not exciting either, with Deschamps in the role of a pessimist, and it can be said that the most striking thing about their first three games has been the broken nose of Mbappé, who reappeared on the third day wearing a black mask. Fans of French history will have been reminded of the famous and mysterious story of the masked prisoner of the Bastille, a contemporary of Louis XIV and according to Dumas his twin brother, which will be the reason for his lifelong confinement.
More things happen. It happens that Germany tries to play without a regular nine and it doesn’t look like Germany. It happens that Spain nails it, with Lamine, Fabián and Nico dazzling. It happens that Cristiano becomes desperate to score in his sixth European Championship, polarizing his team’s football for the worse. It happens that Georgia, a debutant in the finals, moves forward precisely thanks to beating Portugal thanks to a prodigious goalkeeper, Mamardashvili, and two wonderful forwards, Mikautadze and Kvaratskhelia. It happens that in Austria there is talk again about Wunderteam after almost a century. And it happens that Italy once again perfectly fulfills its role as villain by treacherously murdering Croatia, when the curtain of the first act was already falling. Depriving us of the endearing presence of Modric.
Yes, things happen to comment on during the intermission and now we can attend with the greatest interest the crux of the play. The plot is good, the characters are well defined.
But the scenery is failing us, which is the least we would have expected from Germany, which provides it. The special correspondents complain about the numerous works on the motorways and the delays of the trains, but that is something behind the scenes that does not reach us as television viewers. But we do notice that quite a few pitches are not good. We have seen them slippery. Or poorly watered, with the result of slowing down the ball when the player is driving it quickly, and we have seen them uneven, losing fillets between the studs of the footballers. Pitch like this was common half a century ago, but now they are unusual in top-level football.
And we are witnessing a lack of control in the handling of the fans on the pitch. There are many fools who rush onto the pitch to get a photo with their idol (one fool threw himself down the tunnel stairs to get in touch with Cristiano and ended up in hospital). Flares abound. And the foolish fashion of throwing plastic cups at every corner-kick taker has spread.
UEFA is doing a lot to ensure that these things are not seen on TV, but it is not doing anything to prevent them from happening. It entrusts security inside the stadiums to a few stewards hired for this purpose, poorly paid and less educated, who enlist for a bitch, to go to soccer baracalofi and by feeling the back of a figure with luck. Without attention, without preparation, without authority, they are a piece of cake for the mentally ill and hooligans of any kind.
Players who agree to be photographed with an intruder will have to be severely fined, because of the effect it has as a draw. Glasses will have to be banned from being taken from the gallery to the vomitorium. Registration at the entrance will have to be tightened and federations whose fans are incorrect (those in the Carpathian region have shown their conflicts here) will have to be severely sanctioned, restricting their entry for future occasions. But above all, it will take will to prevent these things from happening, not just to prevent them from being shown on TV.
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