Happy football world | soccer

Some people could take a lesson from the World Cup Down Under: happy fans, fair play and the best entertainment. comment.

It wasn’t Philipp Lahm’s job to watch the Women’s World Cup finals in Australia and New Zealand on the pitch. After all, the organization’s president for the 2024 European Men’s Championship in Germany has enough to do. He recently revealed that at one of his organisation’s summer camps, he noticed how children were looking at their mobile phones at lunchtime. They wanted to know how the German women played their third group match against South Korea – and as we all know, the match did not end well.

The crash landing completed the disastrous picture for the German teams, which caused some concern for Lahm at home. However, the former national team captain was smart enough to pay close attention to the broadcast from the other side of the world. In a women’s tournament, like the men’s tournament in Qatar, it flourished because of the rebellion of outsiders; But otherwise it accounted for the greatest possible contrast. He saw his ideal: people from different cultures getting together, traveling around the country, partying together, and watching football. Applying this simple formula to success is becoming increasingly difficult in the over-commercialized business run by men. The head of the Olympic Committee admitted in an article: “What we have observed in Australia and New Zealand is sport in the original sense.”

Sure, everyone wants to win among women, but not at any cost. The spirit of sportsmanship must not be trampled upon, it is (still) on the mark. This goes from the field to the stands. Or the other way? The stadium’s record number of nearly two million visitors formed a mixed crowd of men, women and children who gave the tournament a happy, relaxed atmosphere – and saw football as just one unified event of good entertainment. Certainly women’s football should retain this unique selling point, even if it emulates men’s football in many other areas.

The World Cup serves as a role model

There were no alcoholic, aggressive or even violent supporters. The idea of ​​fair play that is not only invoked, but also enforced, is evident in the fact that players, coaches and trainers always act like perfect losers. Pushing and yelling – and then verbal retaliation – is unacceptable. Heroes never thought to publicly complain about injustice, unfairness, or even be neutral. There was no reason to complain to referees from around the world (except the main referee from Germany), and the VAR process including explanations worked surprisingly smoothly.

If some of these values ​​are reflected in next summer’s European M Championship, a lot will be achieved. Lahm knows how difficult it is, especially since German footballers missed a great opportunity to set an example. However, this Women’s World Cup was a tournament that the upcoming Men’s European Championship can emulate in many ways.