Mbappé’s mask could very well be the cover that explains the route of the Euro Cup until the round of 16 matches that begin on Saturday with Italy-Switzerland. Until now, the tournament has been an exercise in calculating the favorites and an act of vindication of the teams that did not appear in the forecasts. Spain would be the winner if the championship ended today after being the only one that has won its three games, has not conceded a single goal and also boasts the two players of the moment, Nico Williams and Lamine Yamal.
There is no better technical gesture than the Barça player’s (16 years old) oriented control in the time he played against Albania, or the extraordinary goal by Real Madrid’s Güler (19) against the surprising Georgia for the back page of a tournament that is still awaiting the response of veterans like Cristiano (39) and Kross (34) after turning the page with Modric (38).
The format of the Euro Cup has not exactly favoured competitiveness but rather participation (24 teams), or even massification, to the point that it has not been a tournament that rewarded consistency – as if it were a League – nor the emotion, typical of the Cup, the Europa League or the Champions League. It has been an elongated hybrid with a round of 16 (16 contenders) that has allowed the qualification of four of the six teams that finished third in the group stage – the only two eliminated are Croatia and Hungary.
The Spanish team is following the same path as Germany, Portugal and France. The victory – presumably – has penalised Spain more than the defeat against the Netherlands, which was beaten by Austria and now faces Romania. The speculations of the third match day have not only fuelled the media’s live broadcasts but have also created artificial suspense and a self-serving debate about the fate of favourites such as England or even Belgium. The criticism of Southgate has been as vehement as the complaints of De Bruyne.
The old debate between playing and winning is still alive if we look at the bizarre final draw. There remain the important candidates and, of course, the hosts, indispensable for the health of the tournament and to keep the flame of social mobilization alive, one of the great news of the Euro. There are many people in the stadiums and in the streets of a country that in any case is no longer the same one that popularized the summer —or fairy tale— of the 2006 World Cup.
Social and cultural success, and even fun, have helped to maintain sporting expectations after many minutes of calm and little notoriety on the pitches in Germany. The VAR has not overacted, there are only two expulsions, the discussions with the referees have been limited because only the captains are allowed as interlocutors and the controversies have been few, concrete and assumed, as happened with Croatia when it conceded the equalising goal against Italy in the 98th minute. The old Italy does not change even in Germany. The Eurocup is ultimately experiencing a camouflage that is expressed in Mbappé’s mask.
There is much more information and much more data, also many more games and more life, to certify that football, in addition to sport – as has been seen with Austria – is also politics – just look at Ukraine, Albania and the debutant Georgia. . The truth will only be known when Mbappé, the icon of France and already a Madrid player, the same one who during the Spanish football government has been more significant for his statement about the elections to be held in his country than for his game, is carried by a victory as important or more than those that Messi or Vinicius can achieve in the Copa América.
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