The countdown to Euro 2024 is ticking. The qualifiers begin on 23 March with Kazakhstan against Slovenia. These will be the first international matches after the World Cup, which was attractive in sporting terms but controversial in Europe. Qatar benefits from football for its political goals. We should do the same.
The 2024 European Championship being in the heart of Europe offers the ideal opportunity to do so. Germany welcomes the continent and seeks to defend it with the common achievements that make it strong. The tournament obliges us to put football back in the spotlight. Fans want a purity and simplicity that goes back to the essentials: play, sport, fun, togetherness. One ball, one team, clear rules.
Football has been a unifying element in Europe for more than a century. It is a constant driver of equal opportunities, diversity and freedom. In times of polarisation and division in our societies, it is all the more important to strengthen this. Football provides many vivid political analogies: how does an individual behave in a group? What freedom does the game provide in the face of the imperative to conform to a tactic? How do rules shape our coexistence? If you’re talking about football, you’re talking about social sustainability. You don’t win anything on your own. Every child who plays football understands that.
That football works as a game was experienced in Qatar. The best teams had an identity. Argentina radiated joy and determination; you could tell they knew what they were running for: their teammates and their country. Appreciation comes from the respect of others and when everyone realises that their contribution is important, they fight.
For France, Olivier Giroud became a role model. In the final he was substituted before the break. It was the coach’s admission that he had chosen the wrong strategy. That is a blow for every athlete; he only accepts something like that when there is a bigger goal and he understands that it needs a new attempt. Afterwards Giroud acted in solidarity and rooted for the team from the bench. He had understood the coach’s decision. He also knows that in France, as in every European country, football has a social significance.
In such cases a football tournament leaves its mark on the nation, and the whole thing is amplified for a long time when the hosts are involved. So the responsibility for Germany is enormous, especially given their team were knocked out early in the past three tournaments. There was no lack of talent, but there was a lack of leadership, a lack of a “we” and a “why”. What does it mean to be a national player? What does football mean for our common good? These are important questions often forgotten.
The national team are different from a club team. There is three times as much money involved in the big clubs as there was 10 years ago. The national team, meanwhile, have to escape the logic of growth. It cannot be about higher bonuses. A player who earns an annual salary of €15m-€20m does not need €200,000 or €400,000.
A national player should know their duties. The child in the jersey and the volunteer in the amateur club want to see themselves represented by him or her. If he or she gives them something, he or she gets something back. I remember when millions of people celebrated us and also themselves in 2006. This attachment, in turn, creates an added value for the players that money cannot buy, that can protect you in this tough business in more difficult days. The love that Lionel Messi is now experiencing from Argentina will not exist for him in Paris.
My dream for 2024 would be for every player to internalise the enthusiasm of playing for their country, and also for Europe. An underdog is welcome to surprise, as Iceland did in 2016. Everyone remembers their primal scream. A tournament such as this can create a spirit of optimism. After the pandemic, Russia’s attack on Ukraine and the energy crisis, it would be good if we all rediscovered ourselves together.
Only if we, in all our diversity, stick together will we defy the crises and conflicts. Adaptation is needed, to the new challenges of climate change and geopolitics. Every football team, whether in the Champions League, the district league or in the workplace, is a piece in the mosaic.
The present is a Zeitenwende, a turning point. Europe has to reflect on itself. Perhaps many people hadn’t realised before now how fortunate it is that we can host a tournament in a democracy again. Every professional footballer should realise the advantages of our way of life. An audience of billions will watch as we come together and celebrate a great European festival that will strengthen faith in us.
