by Luciano Onnis
The great football and media circus pitches its tents Germany for a month of great entertainment with Euro 2024, the European championship which sees the participation of 24 EU countries intending to compete for the title of best national team of the old continent.
Since Friday June 14th to July 14ththe day of the final in Berlin, will be a daily (or almost) alternation of great events (51 games), with nine cities that will open their renovated stadiums – which are always kept in perfect working order, unlike Italy – to the army of fans who will accompany their national team on their summer football adventure, including football, tourism and. . beer.
There will, obviously, be the most successful and truly strongest teams, divided into six groups lined up at the start of the round of 16. The top two in each group will be admitted to the quarterfinals, from which the four semi-finalists will emerge who will aim for the final in Berlin on 14 July. There will also be England and Scotland, who now have little to do with Europe and it is not clear why they should participate in an event called “European football championships”.
It’s easy to object that it’s a sporting event and that sport goes beyond all barriers, but in any case, you’re either in or out. In this case inside, and that’s fine because English football is always a spectacle (after all, it was invented by them) and for football lovers it’s a pleasure to follow it.
His Majesty’s players will be among the favorites of the competition, together with Spain, France and obviously Germany. The hosts have all the odds in their favour, if only for the pitch factor and the inevitable attention from the referees. The Germans have returned from a few years of obfuscation (eliminated from the World Cup and massacred at Euro 2020) and are no longer the panzers of the past, but remain among the powers of European and world football. And Italy, the defending champion?
Frankly, it doesn’t seem to be able to hold its own against the big names in the tournament, with the hope that a resounding denial will come. The new technician Luciano Spalletti, who has been at the helm of the national team for less than a year after the Scudetto won with Napoli, has to deal with a staff that is not excellent and without leaders to act as a driving force. It will be tough already from the round of 16. In the Azzurri group there are the very fearsome Spain and the unknowns Croatia and Albania, very capable of unexpected exploits. It will be vital for the Italian team not to fail the first match against the Balkan national team and thus avoid having to play in deep water against Spain and Croatia. Four years ago the Azzurri unexpectedly won the European Championships despite not being the strongest team. A series of favorable concomitances and some decisive strokes of luck helped significantly towards the fulfillment of the miracle. Will it happen again? We will see it in the next few days. Sardinia Post is ready for the kick-off: it will follow the sporting competition with constant updates and the reports of the various matches published on the site as early as 14 June. Follow the Europeans with us.
