I don’t care much for football.* ⚽🚫👎🏾👎🏾

What can I say, it’s been the case for as long as I can remember. I know. Unheard of from someone from England. Nevertheless, it’s interesting to always watch and observe how it totally engulfs others when it’s on, especially in this country of mine.

Right now, as we speak – I’m half ‘watching’ the game (Euros 2024 Semi-finals. England vs Netherlands) with my brother as I write this. He’s eagerly watching each player’s move, his tenor voice reaching its highest pitch, all his bones wracked with anticipation, every time a goal is even close to being scored. It’s not necessarily a unique experience – probably, in fact mirrors what’s happening in several homes, courtyards and pubs across the country as they also watch the Euros this year too.

There are several dark sides to the game (think corruption, racism and violence), but when it uplifts the public, it does so like no other. Even when England recently qualified for the semi-finals, I felt the difference, the mist of optimism in the air. I, of course, initially had no clue what the source of this was (as someone who didn’t watch the match) but once I found out, it all made sense.

When you’re around people – the majority of who love football – it’s definitely easy to feel slightly left out, out of the loop – like you’re hearing the details of a party you weren’t invited to. People will recite team players and their stats from memory or ask the typical ‘Who do you support?’ and expect me to engage. However, there’s a maturity to being content in your dislike of things. The things you dislike or are passionate about will often not correlate with others, but that doesn’t mean there’s anything wrong with you. I personally, cannot convincingly fake interest when I know my heart isn’t truly in it, nor is my brain interested. It also doesn’t mean you need to go around making the extra effort to like said thing just because everyone else does. Life is too short for that.

*Or soccer, as my Northern American readers may be more familiar with calling it!

Photo by Peter Glaser on Unsplash