The Euro Cup and the Copa America keep us awake, emotionally and on a timely basis, tournaments separated by an ocean and animated by different cultural backgrounds. In times of uniformity, indigenous signs survive: European football is more academic, neat and fast-paced; South American football is more cunning and violent. With one boring point in common, the difficulty of finding clarity in the paths to the goal. The clairvoyant glance is missing, the flashing associations of the forgotten wall, someone eliminating someone. And yet, we remain glued to the screen.
Contrary to what the evil prophets said, television, far from condemning football, strengthened it in many ways. It publicised it to the point of creating an addiction; it enriched it as a main source of income; it made it less violent because, by showing it, it denounced; and it even became a school: children can watch, admire and imitate.
In Spain, I saw how matches began to be shown once a week on a single channel. Then came pay-TV with its multiplier effect on football, and not just national football. The wonderful productions revealed intimate details with close-ups and replays from different angles allowed us to admire a goal, stir up controversy or see the face of the coach when his team was scored on.
Today, television is already part of the game. Its images are indispensable for co-referees using the VAR. But there is a more interesting confusion. Television executives do not know very well what to do with football, terrified because ninety minutes seem like an eternity to young people and because during the match they need to diversify their attention with a parallel reality: searching for data, networks, online games… To try to reach their interest, they want to lighten football by making it more entertaining. Commentators who speak quickly, programs presented by supposed comedians, repetitions of gross mistakes to laugh at. The premise is: “we must entertain.” The problem is that, without leaving the telephone, there are hundreds of entertainments that compete with football. That battle is lost. The weight of the past is too great to pretend to make football a modern game.
But what if we were able to interpret what people are looking for when they watch football? For 150 years, football has been weaving a culture that involves feelings. The heart-shaped shield is incorporated into our identity from early childhood to accompany us throughout our lives. In addition, wild football satisfies the animal secret that exists in every human being. It is an effective vehicle for discharging our base instincts. When people turn on the TV, they do not do so to be entertained, but to be moved. And they only feel respected if the broadcast does not underestimate this dramatic love. This will also happen to young people, when they stop being young and continue adding links to the long sentimental chain.
The final phase of the two great footballing continents is here. The furious South American battles (no one who hasn’t experienced it can imagine how difficult that football is) and the methodical European clashes. This article doesn’t know what happened last night, but in the lead-up, the headlines were taken by Nico Williams and Lamine Yamal, two boys who are still untamed, who are putting all the nerve of their creativity at the service of imbalance. Two Martians in a football so predictable that they have all of Europe with their eyes wide open. By the way, the two of them have ten million followers on Instagram alone. The youngsters don’t seem very disinterested. There is no better solution than to get excited about good play so that football remains unbeatable.
You can follow Morning Express Sports onFacebook andXor sign up here to receiveour weekly newsletter.
.
.
_
