Euro Cup: And in January the African Cup arrives | Soccer | Sports

Nicolo Barella celebrates with his teammates the qualification for the 2024 Euro Cup. CHRISTOPHER NEUNDORF (EFE)

Last Monday I had the idea of ​​watching the Ukraine-Italy match that decided the classification of group C for one of the contending teams. I suppose I was guided by my interest in football, the possibility of seeing Italy, current champion of the Euro Cup, pushed to the competitive limit, enjoying a Ukraine transferred to Leverkusen, but Ukraine and in which some players like Mudryk, Dovbyk or Tsygankov has put it in our current showcase. The broadcast was on UEFA TV and the narration was like those of the 90s. After a few minutes I discovered that the real reason for my curiosity was none other than being able to watch an excellent match from a competitive point of view, without having to carry out analysis. of types of game and things like that, enjoying the tension of what was being played there and continuing the game with the peace of mind of knowing that if one or the other won, I would continue sleeping with the same peace of mind. Notice that I dispassionately analyzed that dubious ruling at the end of the game and there I discovered that the referee was Gil Manzano. And it also seemed to me that it wasn’t a penalty, but don’t believe that I looked at the different replays with the interest of finding it. And since everything was the same for the commentator, my Ukraine-Italy ended without disputes and only with the joy, and a certain release of pressure, of the Italian players.

Because it is clear that when there is nothing at stake in the match you are watching, it creates an excellent scenario to follow the game, have fun with the positive actions and be very understanding of the mistakes. That distance gives it equanimity, but it also takes away emotion and that is why we usually end up taking sides with one of the contenders, even if we do not do anything in the match nor do we know much about the contenders.

That’s just the opposite when we have our team at play, whatever colors they wear, and we take everything that happens on the field as something personal. For example, those injuries that occur in this period of national teams and that we immediately transfer to the local competition and how it affects my team or weakens my most direct rival. The case of Camavinga’s injury and the later and more serious one of Gavi, although we have forgotten that of Yeremi Pino because as he was training with his club it seems less interesting and does not add up to what the previous two have in common and that has fact that everyone has turned to the global football calendar and agreed that it is saturated and that something should be done with it. What no one says is where to cut off this football marathon because whoever else has an interest in some point of that eternal rope; so we all look elsewhere to free our consciences and that this Friday the show returns in the national leagues, and next week in the European competition, the one that brings in so much money, and when we get closer to June we will start sniffing around the Euro Cup with the scent of being magnificent (and Yeremi and Gavi are in the gym finishing their recovery, but they are no longer current).

And, above all, keep the ball rolling. Because what we football players don’t usually do, that is, where we would cut our part so that everything is balanced and better since we are willing to give up, is almost always money, so that everything acquires the rationality that we demand. . If we look at these hyper-professionalized American sports we will see that their calendars are super tight, but that the rest and preparation times for the competition are long and allow us to combine the beach with recovering from injuries that carry over into the season.

Because I’m already letting you know, I learned this during my time at Olympique de Marseille, that in January comes the CAN, African Cup of Nations, the African Euro, which will occupy the players called up by their national teams throughout January and until mid- February those who reach the last steps of the competition. And it is on the FIFA calendar and some may discover that some of their best players are leaving as if the competition had fallen from the sky yesterday.

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2023-11-24 04:15:00
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