By Kehinde Okeowo
In the words of one of the greatest footballers in history, Diego Maradona, “football isn’t a game, nor a sport, it’s a religion”. With over 3 billion followers scattered all over the universe and numerous stadia serving as theaters of worship where players conduct sermons through their artistic display, football indeed has left just the realm of entertainment and has truly become a religion.
England without a doubt is the home of some of the most passionate football lovers. According to football historians, the sport originated there and fans of the game all over the globe consider the country as the home of football. This explains why the English men and women were chanting football is coming home during their EURO 2020 final against the Azuuri of Italy at the Wembley stadium in London recently.
But, just like other human endeavors, football can be cruel at times. Despite the vigorous chanting by the English fans and the rendition of their anthem, “‘God Save the Queen” before the match began, England lost in the end via a penalty shootout and football went to Rome in Italy rather than find an abode in its home in England.
After 55 years of anxious and painful wait to get to the final of any major football competition, since Bobby Moore lifted the world cup in 1966, after England defeated West Germany, anyone would understand the frustration, anger and outpour of emotion that greeted the defeat of England in this year’s European Championship final.
Penalty is indeed a lottery, it is unpredictable and sometimes a game of chance or luck, therefore, losers should normally take consolation in the fact that they gave their all and on another day, it could have been their day. In any case, England has already crossed a huddle they have been unable to jump for several decades.
Again, the coach of the team and ex-England international, Gareth Southgate, who has taken the team to semi-final of the world cup and now final of European championship has apologized and taken responsibility during the press conference that followed the game. So, football pundits and hurting English fans must take solace in his achievements and let the sleeping dog lie.
A closer look at the penalty shootout however, shows the English coach made two fatal errors during the penalty kick. The average age of players he selected to take the kicks in front of a full capacity Wembley stadium is 24 years while his Italian counterpart, Roberto Mancini, picked an average age of 29 years.
This means while Southgate did not consider age as a factor in the shootout, his counterpart went for experience which became crucial at a stage in the game. Given the fact that the English players were playing at home, it is logical that players who are matured enough to handle such pressure should have been selected.
Marcus Rashford, 23, Jadon Sancho, 21 and Bukayo Saka, who is 19 years old were the last three English penalty takers. All of these players are younger than Domenico Berardi, who is 26 years old and the youngest of the Italian penalty takers. It is therefore, another error that the English coach allowed the least experienced players to play penalties one after the other. He should have allowed interplay between inexperienced and experienced players to boost the confidence of the younger players.
Age and experience is not a guarantee that a player will score or lose a penalty kick, but it comes handy when players are under pressure as it is often the case when players are taken penalty kicks or faced with a task that requires mental alertness or toughness in a football match. That the English gaffer did not consider this during the shootout leaves much to be desired, as these decisions are the thin lines between winning and losing.
