Anthony McIntyre ⚽ Just finished watching the England-Germany final of the Euros 22. 

It made me think that Peter Anderson has a point when he tackled the deficit in skill between the men's and women's games, arguing that the women have a lot of ground to make up. I have seen more polished performances in Sunday morning soccer in Colne and Southampton than was on offer in this evening's final at the Wembley Arena.

Having last night headed to the bar with my son to watch the Liverpool-Manchester City game in the Community Shield, where we had a few beers, I realised soon into this evening's match, which he had the savvy not to watch, that beer would be a good idea as it would serve as an anesthetic against the dullness. 

That it went to extra time meant that it is two hours of my life I shall never get back rather than ninety minutes. If soccer is visualised as poetry, this was drivel. If the Lionesses were expected to roar what we got was a meow. What made it watchable was the needle in the game: both sides clearly didn't like each other. Lena Oberdorf has been more than willing to put herself about throughout this tournament yet it was the English pairing of Georgia Stanway and Ellen White who were on the receiving end of yellow for what were pretty innocuous challenges. Not once after a clash, unlike the men's game, did I see someone go over to assist the downed player from the opposing team.

The game in brief can be - apart from a super England first goal - summed up as sloppy, chaotic, poorly timed passes, inexcusably sliced balls and wild lunges. From the get-go Germany seemed up against it with Popp, expected to Stuka the English defence, injured during the warm up - memories of Sami Khedira who suffered the same fate in the 2014 World Cup final. Being a game of four halves rather than just two the misery was prolonged. Even when Chloe Kelly pulled off her shirt upon scoring what proved to the winning goal in extra time, I noticed her abs rather than any higher. That's probably an age thing. As an old friend in Drogheda is fond of quipping, we are at the age where we are stiff in all the wrong places.

I like women's soccer. Not as much as I do the men's game. It can be flowing and generally less disrupted by fouls and Neymar style posturing. When myself and my son inadvertently ended up at a women's cup final clash in the Aviva, Raheny United and Castlebar Celtic, it generated a lasting memory of just how good the women's game can be. It is impossible to forget that one of the best ever goals came from the foot of Stephanie Roach. But apart from one sublime moment courtesy of Ella Toone, today's game had none of that. If anything, it was more ab-delivery than ad-deliver for the sport.

It also struck me that unlike the men's game the England side would have been immensely pleasing to the eye of the KKK and those degenerates who abused black English players following last year's Euros final defeat to Italy. Everyone in it was white. Germany at least had a black player in Nicole Anyomi who came on as substitute. I don’t know the reason for this and don’t allege racism is a factor but are there really not the same proportion of black women attracted to the beautiful game as there are black men?

And to think that I put aside a good Scandinoir novel to watch tonight's outing. A fool and his Kindle are easily parted. 

⏩ Follow on Twitter @AnthonyMcIntyre.

Meow

Anthony McIntyre ⚽ Just finished watching the England-Germany final of the Euros 22. 

It made me think that Peter Anderson has a point when he tackled the deficit in skill between the men's and women's games, arguing that the women have a lot of ground to make up. I have seen more polished performances in Sunday morning soccer in Colne and Southampton than was on offer in this evening's final at the Wembley Arena.

Having last night headed to the bar with my son to watch the Liverpool-Manchester City game in the Community Shield, where we had a few beers, I realised soon into this evening's match, which he had the savvy not to watch, that beer would be a good idea as it would serve as an anesthetic against the dullness. 

That it went to extra time meant that it is two hours of my life I shall never get back rather than ninety minutes. If soccer is visualised as poetry, this was drivel. If the Lionesses were expected to roar what we got was a meow. What made it watchable was the needle in the game: both sides clearly didn't like each other. Lena Oberdorf has been more than willing to put herself about throughout this tournament yet it was the English pairing of Georgia Stanway and Ellen White who were on the receiving end of yellow for what were pretty innocuous challenges. Not once after a clash, unlike the men's game, did I see someone go over to assist the downed player from the opposing team.

The game in brief can be - apart from a super England first goal - summed up as sloppy, chaotic, poorly timed passes, inexcusably sliced balls and wild lunges. From the get-go Germany seemed up against it with Popp, expected to Stuka the English defence, injured during the warm up - memories of Sami Khedira who suffered the same fate in the 2014 World Cup final. Being a game of four halves rather than just two the misery was prolonged. Even when Chloe Kelly pulled off her shirt upon scoring what proved to the winning goal in extra time, I noticed her abs rather than any higher. That's probably an age thing. As an old friend in Drogheda is fond of quipping, we are at the age where we are stiff in all the wrong places.

I like women's soccer. Not as much as I do the men's game. It can be flowing and generally less disrupted by fouls and Neymar style posturing. When myself and my son inadvertently ended up at a women's cup final clash in the Aviva, Raheny United and Castlebar Celtic, it generated a lasting memory of just how good the women's game can be. It is impossible to forget that one of the best ever goals came from the foot of Stephanie Roach. But apart from one sublime moment courtesy of Ella Toone, today's game had none of that. If anything, it was more ab-delivery than ad-deliver for the sport.

It also struck me that unlike the men's game the England side would have been immensely pleasing to the eye of the KKK and those degenerates who abused black English players following last year's Euros final defeat to Italy. Everyone in it was white. Germany at least had a black player in Nicole Anyomi who came on as substitute. I don’t know the reason for this and don’t allege racism is a factor but are there really not the same proportion of black women attracted to the beautiful game as there are black men?

And to think that I put aside a good Scandinoir novel to watch tonight's outing. A fool and his Kindle are easily parted. 

⏩ Follow on Twitter @AnthonyMcIntyre.

10 comments:

  1. Having watched yesterday's man game and then today's women's game my abiding memories will be they are all a bunch of big girls blouses....

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    Replies
    1. Harry Maguire doesn't take his shirt off because he doesn't want fans to see his bra

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    2. Maguire doesn't wear a bra. He tried to once but it ended up around his bollocks with Ronaldo rolling his eyes beside him.

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  2. Replies
    1. I reckon that England side could hammer the current Man Utd lot!!

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  3. I've said it before, the woman's game would benefit enormously if they pitches were smaller along with the size of the goals. But the wokewankeratti would burn anyone at the stake who dared point this out.

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    Replies
    1. Why, Steve? By the same logic similar modifications should be made to athletics tracks in women's competitions. The trajectory that women's international football at any rate will hopefully prove transformative for women's wider participation in sport and society. And I was delighted that the Lionesses won!

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    2. Coming up to the 1994 World Cup in America there were suggestions for bigger goal areas so that the task of scoring would be easier and placate a public that wants more gratification than soccer provides in terms of goals. Someone counter-suggested that they should just use smaller goalies. I think women acquit themselves quite well in the conditions they compete in. Just that last night's game left a lot to be desired - not in terms of commitment but in skill.
      I had no particular dog in the fight and didn't really mind who won so long as the soccer was good. Unfortunately, it was not.

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    3. Barry,

      I'm speaking as someone who regularly trains kids in futsal and soccer. A smaller pitch for the females would lead to greater skill development. Just look at the scrappy goals, the punts over the head of a smaller keeper and the lack of physicality. It's not pretty. And women are smaller than men. I don't give a fuck what anyone says.

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