The Beautiful Game: A timely football balm for COVID wounds

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Euro 2020 is alive and kicking in 2021. There is nothing more universal in this diverse world than football. The timing  for a healing touch from the Beautiful Game to a world in the throes of COVID-19 cannot have been better.

Ever  since  football  resumed  after  the  first  wave  of  the  pandemic,  stadiums  across  Europe  were  eerily  silent in the absence of fans who are as integral to the sport as the ball. It is a sign of hope to the wider world that fans will be able to attend all the matches across 11 host cities in Euro 2020.

With Copa America slated to  click  into  top  gear  in  a  couple  of  days  showcasing  the  mercurial  talents  of  Lionel  Messi  and  Neymar,  binge  watching  will  become  the  order  of  the  day  for  the devotees of the sport.

Italy and Turkey set the ball rolling at Stadio Olimpico in the Eternal City of Rome on Friday. If the appetizer  was  anything  to  go  by,  the  feast  should  be  nothing   short  of  sumptuous.

The Azzurri  melded  classic  Italian  defensive  nous  to  sleek  movement  of  modern-day football to thump Turkey 3-0. Italy, under the immaculately dressed Roberto Mancini, is a team of  fighters,  not  a  collection  of  stars.  Having  failed  to  qualify for the 2018 Fifa World Cup, the aristocrats of football  are  back  with  a  verve,  not  something  one  would normally associate with Italy.

Personally,  the  moment  of  the  game  was  the  last-gasp  block  Italian  captain  Giorgio  Chiellini  made  to  deny  Turkey’s  Burak  Yilmaz  in  the  dying  minutes.  It  was  vintage  Italy.  Defence  is  not  a  dirty  job  for  the  Azzurri; it is an art.Indian fans tend to follow teams that have a chance of going all the way.

Euro 2020 is an open tournament with  more  than  five  teams  in  the  title  hunt.  Smart  money would be on France which looks invincible on paper. The reigning World Champion has so much all-round wealth that its team sheet is enough to scare opponents.

Cristiano Ronaldo’s Portugal is also brimming with  top-class  players.  I  cannot  wait  for  France  vs  Portugal on July 11, can you?