This Is What I Live For

During the course of a league campaign, those who do not appreciate the excitement of nation vs. nation competition lament the constant interruptions in the club calendar. They say things like, “International football is a waste of time.” Or, “Why should we care about Andorra? My local pub team are better.” Greed has added fixtures not just to club football but also to the international calendar. I don’t give a fuck what Sepp Blatter or anyone else say, they play more football because there’s more money to be made.

From the standpoint of the fan who can’t be arsed, I understand the apathy for the international game. Many of the matches are boring and only increase the chances of porcelain doll sicknote type players to injure themselves in “meaningless friendlies”. But there are also football junkies who love to watch the game played by a collection of the world’s best players, especially if there’s a pot to raise at the end.

A gathering of the world’s best players is more than just a way to spend four weeks in the summer. It is a chance to see the stars of the football world make history. It’s a time for heroes and it can also be a time for villains. It’s a time for Pele and Gerd Müller. It’s a time for Gentile and Materazzi. It’s a time for Gordon Banks and Rene Higuita. It's a time for Roger Milla. It’s a time for Zidane and Maradona. It’s a time for Jairzinho, Cannighia, and Gazza. It’s a time for Serginho, and Baggio, and Waddle, and Southgate.

I understand the blind allegiance to your club. You’re gutted when they lose and ecstatic when they win. You plan your weekends - your life - around your club’s fixture list. You travel the length and width of the country to support your boys. And if you’re lucky enough to support a really good side, you travel the continent to sing in unison with 100’s or 1000’s of fellow supporters. You march behind the club you’ve supported since you can remember. You travel with pride. You travel with trepidation. You travel with joy. You travel for football.

I live to watch the very best against the very best as millions of their fellow countrymen watch with me. Some watch in pubs, some at the stadia, some at home, some watch wherever they can - on the streets, through shop windows, anywhere. We all watch for that one moment (several if we’re lucky) of brilliance, that moment that you envisioned as a boy and still do as a grown man, that overhead volley, that goal line clearance, that full pitch run to round the keeper, that great football moment.

I cringe when people speak of the abolishment of the international game. We should preserve the spectacle that is international football. As much as I hate that cont Cristiano Ronaldo, I can hardly wait to see him and his Portugal side take on Turkey. I can hardly wait to see the Swiss defence get cunted by old man Koller. I can hardly wait to see if Spain finally deliver. I can hardly wait to see if France can win in spite of Four Eyes. And what will the Germans bring to the party? Will Italy, Holland, Switzerland, or Austria make headlines? Can Greece repeat? Which players will raise their valuation this month? Will Filipao win both the World Cup and the European Cup? These are questions that interest me. The EPL, La Liga, Ligue 1, Serie A, etc can wait a while. I want to see history made.