Given Brexit, it’s arguable that England has not suffered a more symbolic defeat since the Norman Conquest than the one Italy handed it today.
Two soccer-mad nations faced each other, and one blinked. Italy bested England in the final of the Euro 2020 soccer tournament Sunday in London. The winner was determined by a penalty shootout following extra time that kept the score even at 1 each.
Italy won the shoutout 3-2 after England’s final shot was blocked.
(NBC News, July 11, 2021)
If you didn’t watch, you clearly have no interest in the how or why England lost. Therefore, I see no point in elaborating,
But the flak I took for warning England fans about approaching this final with uncharacteristic bravado was cruel and unusual. Mind you, much of it seemed fueled by a mixture of free pints and mass delirium.
Here, for the record, is the sober note I sounded on the BBC, The Guardian, the Daily Mail, and a few other news sites on Friday:
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I would love to see England win. But, with all the talk of knighthoods and even allusions to ‘Top Gun”, I fear there’s just too much counting of chickens before they’re hatched. We’re just setting ourselves up for a big let-down … and it will serve us right for being such premature jerks, especially after getting away with diving into this final the way we did.
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And here is what I returned to share today:
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Well, my fellow England fans, you can’t say I didn’t warn about counting chickens… Knighthoods? National holiday? No. 10 Shrouded in St George’s flags? And all that after diving into this final? And don’t get me started on that green-strobe light offense… Now what, hooligans’ revenge?
Apropos of which, what’s with our players making a show of taking off their runner-up medals as soon as they’re placed around their necks. Poor sportsmanship!
Congrats, Italy!
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Mind you, even the Scots and Welsh tried to warn the English that they were losing the plot with talk of victory parades. But the way the prime minister covered No. 10 in St George’s flags really took the cake. Because this smacked of the juvenile commando raids my friends and I went on in boarding school to cover the girl’s dormitory in toilet paper.
Anyway, lesson learned, hopefully.
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