Cyprus Mail
CM Regular ColumnistOpinion

Football is geometry in motion

euro 2020 group d england v scotland
The draw between England and Scotland was probably the best outcome for the UK nations but a goalless draw was very disappointing.

The European Championship 2020 is being played in 2021 for obvious reasons but better late than never. They did not augur well when Christian Eriksen of Denmark suffered a cardiac arrest in the match against Finland, which Denmark apparently agreed to continue after a two-hour break once it became clear that Eriksen was on the mend.

A cardiac arrest is not the same as a heart attack that is normally the result of a blockage of an artery and which usually affects people over the age of forty. A cardiac arrest can happen at any age. It occurs when the electrical activity that enables the heart to beat rhythmically, starts to fibrillate and may stop unless defibrillated immediately. Fortunately for Eriksen he was administered immediate defibrillation and it saved his life.

That was a dramatic opening match of the tournament for Denmark. More footballing drama was billed for the game between England and Scotland last Friday that, in the event, turned out to be a zero-goal damp squib.

A draw result between England and Scotland was probably the best outcome for the UK nations but a goalless draw was very disappointing. Football is about scoring goals and no goals as the old song goes, is like a pub with no beer. There was plenty of beer drunk for the match at Wembley but no goals – how very boring!

Actually, there have not been many goals in this Championship generally. Apart from the three goals the Italians scored against Turkey thus far there has been a dearth of goals in this championship.

Goals or not, an England-Scotland encounter at Wembley is a unique football occasion between historic rivals whose love-hate relationship and the humour that goes with it is always a cause for celebration. In a funny way it is what keeps the kingdom united. The English, the Scots, the Welsh and the Irish have something in common as a people which is as

elusive as it is palpable. Difficult to put in words but what they have in common is probably responsible for the creation of states like the USA, Canada and Australia.

For historical reasons, the four nations of the UK; England, Scotland, Wales and Northern Ireland known as the British associations, are recognised as separate entities by the Federation Internationale de Football Association (FIFA) as exceptions to the general rule that football associations of countries are those of independent states recognised by the international community.

But the representation of British football in international competitions by all four nations of the UK is a mixed blessing as it means that great footballers are sometimes wasted in the smaller nations of the UK.  Take George Best who with Pele, Maradona, Ronaldo and Messi was one of the greatest footballers in the world; and yet he was not able to shine internationally. He shone at Manchester United but he was from Northern Ireland and the province never made the big stage internationally. Gareth Bale of Wales is probably the exception that proves the rule but we shall have to wait and see.

If the four nations had one football association and Britain were represented by Team GB as it is in athletics she would probably do a lot better than the four nations competing separately have done hitherto. But at the moment, all three nations of the UK are in with a chance and, statistically at least, that increases the chances of a UK nation winning the championship.

Wales is already virtually through to the knockdown stage after defeating Turkey convincingly last week. Turkey were pathetic against Italy and lacklustre against Wales and a great disappointment for their passionate fans in Turkey, Azerbaijan and among Turkish Cypriots in Cyprus.

Talking of passionate fans, for the passion Scots bring to the game even the chance to beat England at Wembley, win or lose, is enough, and in the end they celebrated a goalless draw as if they won the World Cup.

There was a time when Scotland had a chance to play against England every year in the British Home Championship and it was great fun. A tartan invasion of London was an annual event that added colour to London life as much as the Notting Hill Carnival still does every year – except 2020-2021.

Unfortunately, the Championship was abandoned in 1984 for no good reason and without proper consideration of the adverse effect on national team performance. The problems England has had internationally derive in part from lack of team spirit. Unlike football clubs, national teams do not spend a lot of time playing together as a team. They are selected by a manager cum coach and asked to gel as a team in international matches that are few and far between, which is no way to build the esprit des corps essential to success in international football competitions. I don’t know how other countries do it, as they must face the same problem but some national teams gel better than others and the national team likely to win Euro 2020 is the team that gels best and that team in my non-expert opinion is Italy.

Germany is a shadow of her former self and France has the same problem as England – great players that have not had enough time to bond as a team, although I think Kylian Mbappe might in the end do it again for France on his own.

I also fancy the Czech Republic because of the beautiful goal they scored against Scotland. In years to come, commentators will revisit the goal scored by Patrik Schick from the centre of the park as the goal of the tournament.

Goalkeepers have been encouraged by modern coaches to play a more active role in matches than just minding their goal and so it was that the hapless Scottish goalkeeper was caught loitering too far up the park to catch a brilliantly struck ball lobbed perfectly to bounce passed the goal line and into the back of the net.

Football is not just a game as veteran footballer Eric Cantona says ironically in a television commercial – it is geometry in motion.

 

Alper Ali Riza is a queen’s counsel in the UK and a retired part-time judge

 

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