UEFA EURO 2020 - THE JOY IN NEUTRALITY

It has been a hectic five days since the EURO 2020 kicked off. The highlights reel is vast and varied with the fans being back in the stadium adding an emotional connect that has been dearly missed over the last year. Over four hours of international football day in, day out is a steady stream of sporting high, a rarity and a blessing. In a piece that is more emotional rather than analytical, I talk about the allure of international football and how being a neutral is an experience that allows you to extract the most out of it all.

Now, there is a level of emotional investment when you have a singular club that you support. The anxiety, the stakes, the lows, everything is exacerbated. Everything circles back to your club because in the end the club is what matters. Enter – International tournaments. Especially when you belong to a country that is not participating in the said tournament. There is a freedom, a beautiful “disconnect” that allows you to appreciate every goal, every play, every move. Why? Because nothing personal is being hinged on any result. Yes you could be rooting for one side, but in the end even if they go down you simply enjoy them trying to scramble back rather than slipping into despair and disappointment. It very simply is a win-win situation, no matter which way you spin it.

Then we have another huge privilege – experiencing new players. Most of us do not have time to delve into multiple leagues and teams, thus we stay restricted to mostly a small pool of players that we watch and enjoy weekly. The EUROS multiply that catalogue exponentially. From young and rising to hardened veterans, they serve the whole variety on a platter for you to witness. And oh what a platter it is. An undertone of undying nationalism with mismatches, groups of death and unexpected upsets aplenty, you can soak in the best and worst of every player. Some relish the big stage, the international pressure, the crushing responsibility and find themselves thriving. Reborn sometimes as literal new players, putting in performances never seen before. Others? Outside of their usual club systems and environments, they wither away. They either get worse or they completely vanish. International football exposing the flaws in their games as the protective layer of league football and set team partnerships is peeled away.

All-in-all, International football is an experience. It is continuous, it is captivating and it rightfully consumes all of your days. You enjoy football in a manner in which you never have before. You get soaked into a culture which comes around every four years. Most importantly, you make memories. It is a gift that these tournaments give you, the pleasure of remembering it all. Even when years have passed by, you can still look back and feel the highs and lows of the years that have passed by.