Why is European football always attractive to audiences?

Vietnamese football fans are excited about both futsal (competing for a ticket to the World Cup finals with the Lebanese team) and men's football (2nd qualifying round of the World Cup in Asia) at the same time as European football (EURO 2020 - delayed by 1 year due to Covid-19) and South American football (Copa America 2021).

Of course, the love of football of Vietnamese fans is first and foremost for the Vietnamese football teams and has been rewarded: The Vietnamese Futsal team entered the World Cup finals for the second time and the Vietnamese men's team also entered the third round for the first time, the final round to advance to the 2022 World Cup in Asia!

Highlights of Ukraine 0-4 England in the quarter-finals of EURO 2020. Photo: bongdaplus

While the draw for the third round has just been completed, international football has returned to be the “main dish” for Vietnamese fans. There is a remarkable observation: Why are Vietnamese fans more interested in European football matches than South American football, even though these two regions are full of world football stars?

If Europe has the famous star Ronaldo (Portugal), South America has Messi (Argentina) or Neymar (Brazil) and the confrontation between the top teams of these two continents is always considered a classic. This time is completely different, Messi plays extremely well for the Argentia team, and Neymar, if he is in the starting lineup, Brazil will win with any lineup! EURO matches usually take place late at night for Vietnamese people, but Copa America takes place early in the morning, very suitable, why are both the press and fans not interested in following the Samba dances?

Messi celebrates after scoring from a stunning free kick. Photo: Reuters

Is it true that the media coverage of American football and Copa America, from domestic tournaments to regional tournaments, is so lackluster that it fails to attract audiences? Meanwhile, European football is considered the birthplace of the king of football and the place that always knows how to “resist” the style of football of the South American school of embroidered and brocaded football, which has always been attractive since ancient times, along with continuous and widespread media coverage that has made fans familiar and close like… family?

South American football, with Brazil and Argentina at its peak, both developed on the basis of street football, showcasing individual talent in a sublimated, spreading collective. Meanwhile, European football produces talent on the basis of systematic, scientific training and coaching, using intelligence to stifle the creativity of opponents. Europeans have been practicing total football for over 50 years, starting from the Netherlands and spreading to other teams, each with its own dynamic and effective style. When Europeans implemented their football philosophy, with the unpredictable tiki-taka style of play, interestingly, the top student of European football teachers was a South American who came to Europe to be trained in football from a young age, that was Messi!

Moreover, for many years in a row, South American football has only revolved around the talents of Brazil or Argentina, and occasionally Uruguay or Paraguay. Meanwhile, European football has shown a constant change of position: Not only Italy or Germany but also France, Spain, and Portugal, England, Croatia, and Denmark cannot be underestimated because they can "rise up" at any time and embarrass the team above them.

If you watch European football matches carefully, you can see many interesting things about tactics and the role of the coach that insiders will learn a lot from. For example, at EURO 2020, the Italian team showed a completely different face compared to the tradition of classic concrete defense, breaking the game, suffocating the opponent like the way defender Gentile "killed" Maradona in Espana 1982.

The current Italian team has 3 central defenders and a 5 or 4 man midfield, actively blocking the opponent from the middle of the field and the energetic, creative work of the organizing midfielder like Verati. The Italian strikers can all score. It is interesting to see how the Italians organize free kicks: One group of 3 players stands in front of the opponent's wall, another group of 3 stands behind that wall and when the teammate prepares to kick the free kick, immediately both virtual walls run tactically to confuse the opponent's goalkeeper's judgment.

Not yet, Verati kicked a free kick diagonally from the wing with a short pass in front of the defender to form the outer wall, so that the striker could run and cut the ball into the far corner of the goal to score, leaving many people amazed and admiring. The beauty of this "trick" is that you know it, you are on guard but you cannot resist it and anyone can learn how to kick this free kick, but whether or not you can execute it is another matter...

In Vietnam, the image of star Cong Vinh (CV9) when preparing to take a free kick often "poses" very beautifully and every time scoring a goal often makes a unique celebration gesture, perhaps learned from European and world star Ronaldo (CR7). And certainly, coaches and players in many places in the world, including Vietnam, also learn many good things from world football.

At this EURO, the fighting spirit of the Hungarians and Swiss is evident; the Italians are good in every way, but the Austrians are no pushovers and will find a way to make their opponents miserable; the French have a great generation of players, but arrogance will be a bitter pill; don't underestimate those who got into the next round thanks to wildcards like Denmark and Ukraine because when they go through the "death and resurrection" period, they will "live very long"...

There may be many other interesting things that have not been said, but are those things what have kept all the attention focused on European football, which is really full of surprises and attractiveness until the last minute?

Chau Phu