Euro2004

[angledge]

The Euro2004 football championships started last Saturday. I have watched more TV since Saturday than I did in the previous nine months in this country. And, after watching a half-dozen matches, I have concluded that, for the European nations that have joined together in the EU & can no longer act militarily against one another, football has become a war substitute.

• The best game of the championship so far was Sunday's brilliant match between France & England. Now, surely those two countries have a lot of history, but living in Scotland added another angle. Since Scotland's team did not qualify for Euro2004, they have to content themselves with cheering on any & all of England's opponents. Hating England is a mass participation sport for many Scottish football fans. Naturally, they were overjoyed when England blew a 1-0 lead in injury time & ending up losing 2-1.
  
• Ruud Van Nistelrooy, star striker for the Netherlands, invoked 60-year-old memories of the Germans' occupation of their smaller neighbor during World War II by saying that yesterday's match versus Germany was "not just about football history, it is about real history and what went on 60 years ago."
  
• And in preparation for tomorrow's match with England, Switzerland has decided to give voodoo a try. A cutout figure of England's team captain, David Beckham, has been printed in dozens of Swiss newspapers & football fans are being urged to stick "nails, needles, and staples" into the effigies. WTF??