EURO 2020 In Retrospect

Football, as is commonly believed, has a funny way of uniting people from all spheres of life, regardless of their skin colour, ethnicity or nationality.  I would definitely agree with this as I sat in a living room, watching the EURO 2020 finals with four people; of whom I only knew one. There were two South Africans, an Irish, an Asian and some other guy whose ethnicity I couldn’t quite comprehend. Here’s the part where I state that I am most definitely Nigerian. Now, you would most likely pause for a moment and ask how I even met these people, and I’d tell you “Football happened!”

If we go back in time, England seemed to have a solid team, much to the amazement of everyone watching the games. It almost felt surreal that the English team qualified for the finals. There was jubilation everywhere, placards, advertisements and people chanting the words, “It’s coming home” as entire England celebrated a victory that wasn’t certain. I guess as humans, we all have a propensity for celebrating big gains. In my opinion, qualifying for the EURO 2020 finals was a big enough gain to celebrate. I remember going out to get groceries with my friend on the match day, and how strange we felt, seeing almost everyone wearing English jerseys, walking in groups and full of smiles, whilst we were decked in normal shopping clothes.

It is safe to say that the English fans were in unity for a short while, basking in the thrill of possibly winning the game, hosting barbeques and flying the English flags outside of their homes. There were of course people like me, who would argue that the Italians were a formidable opponent. After all, they also played, won other games, and qualified for the finals. I remember telling my friends that I supported Italy, simply because I had an Italian friend who I really liked but I was secretly rooting for England. Well, I guess my true loyalties showed whenever England missed an opportunity to score a goal, or when fouls were committed against England’s players, like the case of Giorgio Chiellini and England’s Bukayo Saka. I would scream in disappointment and wait for a yellow card to be awarded to the offenders or hope that a better opportunity would present itself and England will score again. I imagined that every single supporter of the English team experienced the same emotions.

Fast forward to the penalties, both teams had played wonderfully well and there was to be but one winner. I was invested in the game but probably not as much as my friend, who cried when England lost. She explained that she was emotionally invested in the game, and couldn’t bear the loss. All five of us, who watched the game dealt with the loss differently, except the Irish guy who made it no secret that he favoured the Italians. I went on to hug my friend while the guys did their thing and licked their wounds in solitude.

Perhaps my friend also experienced the deep-seated fear that had settled in my belly, after realising that the three people who missed the penalty shots were Black skinned. Of course, our fears would be validated, as we watched the news the next day with sadness, seeing and hearing of the horrors that happened after the match; the stabbings, defacing of Rashford’s painting, and the increased use of racist slurs on the internet. A small part of me started to wonder how a sport that boasts of unification, was instantly converted to a source of hate and vile misconduct. I guess no one would ever be able to come up with a suitable answer, but we can all reflect on the happenings of EURO 2020, and agree that while football does indeed bring people together with one hand, it can also tear down relationships and established structures with the other if not carefully managed.