If football has a home, on Sunday night it was far from the shores of England as fans of the Three Lions licked their wounds once again after their nation’s devastating loss to Spain in the final of the European Championships.
Within minutes of the Spaniards securing a 2-1 victory in Berlin, last drinks were being called and supporters clad in white and red were drowning their sorrows, pondering how their hopes had been dashed once again.
A little over 13 hours earlier in Ealing, a suburb situated on the Piccadilly line on the way into London from Heathrow Airport, kids were running through the streets singing out that “Football was coming home”.
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Spain’s young star duo sink England! | 00:43
But when Mikel Oyarzabal scored in the 86th minute to reclaim the lead for Spain, 13 minutes after Cole Palmer had equalised in the final, the sobering truth became apparent. The home of football was in Spain, some 1200km away. Talk about an almighty hangover.
Adults stared bleakly into their pints. Kids were crying in bedrooms. When the Lionesses won the tournament at home two years ago, the nation celebrated. But the blokes? Bloody hell.
Not again, as Shreyes Trividi said at a house party about an hour after the whistle blew in the 94th minute as he contemplated the reality that a drought in major tournaments dating back to the 1966 World Cup triumph over West Germany continues.
“It feels like it will be another 60 more years of pain,” he told foxsports.com.au
“My youngest is crying upstairs in the bedroom, so yes, it will be shattering when I eventually go upstairs to pull him away from the pillow.”
It is a theme that carried across the country.
On Saturday at Wimbledon, Alex Sharp tracked down his boyhood hero Tony Adams, a former England and Arsenal captain who played at the top level for more than 20 years, for a selfie and a chat outside Wimbledon’s Centre Court. He had hoped it was a good omen.
Instead Sharp, who lives south of Tooting and was working at Wimbledon, was lamenting a late goal he described as particularly “rough”.
“England fans can moan about the first half, justifiably, and the ‘let’s stay steady’ approach, but they nearly nicked it,” he said.
“I’m absolutely gutted. But, in saying that, Spain are deserving champions by quite some distance. Tomorrow, I’m sure, when the dust has settled, most England fans would agree it wasn’t good enough across the entire Euros.”
That has been the theme of the last month. England was scarcely scintillating. They scored late against Serbia and drew with Denmark and Slovenia in the group stages to qualify for the knockout rounds.
They edged Slovakia in the Rd of 16, beat Switzerland on penalties and rallied late to oust the Dutch. And they were level until the final eight minutes of the final, having also finished runner-up at home four years ago.
But as an Aussie working abroad through this period, the negativity associated with England’s campaign has been astonishing to witness and difficult to comprehend.
The pattern was familiar. England would start slowly and fall behind as the anxiety for fans reached a crescendo, only to score late to draw level and then clutch a win from the brink – at least until Sunday night.
Some celebrations were wild. As a case in point, check out the footage from the Wembley Boxpark, where fans have endured and enjoyed a roller coaster of emotions. But they were alive. And they made the final. Surely that is cause for some pride.
But it was not long after each match before the talk turned to the topic of the month – England have got to SACK Gareth Southgate.
The formation was wrong. Stars were being played out of position. Southgate sucks. This will never work. So said the fans in the pubs. It is the same as it ever was.
But England kept progressing through the tournament and into the final. And on a day were summer seemed to finally arrive in London after a bleak few weeks, hope sprang eternal.
Venues across London were sold out, despite entry prices mirroring the year of the men’s last major tournament success. 66 quid? You must be joking. But the demand was that high and it seemed like everyone in England had a plan in place to watch the final.
Spanish champion Carlos Alcaraz, for example, was in a hurry to complete his engagements at Wimbledon prior to the final beginning and went about dismissing Novak Djokovic, who had ducked over to Germany to support Serbia prior to the tournament, rapidly.
Similarly to his semifinal win over Daniil Medvedev, when he declared Sunday was going to be a “very good day to be Spanish”, the dual-Wimbledon champion again played the pantomime villain when asked about the Euros to a chorus of boos. He was right, of course.
Up in Wimbledon village, the pubs were teeming with English fans bearing Union Jacks in the late evening sunshine.
The Dog and Fox where Nick Kyrgios, who appeared on the BBC wearing an English jumper, was spotted enjoying a few ales the night before a match with Spanish great Rafael Nadal at Wimbledon a few years ago, was jumping 30 minutes before kickoff.
Further down the high street Aussie Max Purcell, who was beaten in an epic Wimbledon doubles final alongside Jordan Thompson on Saturday and arrived for press holding a couple of stubbies, was instead stocking up on empanadas ahead of the final.
And down the hill and into the town of Wimbledon The Alexandra and The Hand And Racquet were also decked out in the red and white.
As the clock ticked towards kickoff, the streets emptied and the supermarkets closed as the trains heading south from Waterloo Station bore the message “Come on England”.
Back in Ealing, there was a sign at The New Inn declaring; “The pub is fully booked from 5pm this evening.” Up the road at The Castle, the same occurred. Talk about a man going thirsty.
But just as gaps opened in the English defence in the dying stages, so did an opening at The New Inn. Oyarzabal proved a party pooper. Bugger.
So, was it time to sack Southgate? Dipak Pankhania, who loved the way David Beckham went about his football, had been convinced it was the right move earlier in the tournament but was not so sure now.
“We are really disappointed in the result, but not massively surprised, because it happens a lot,” he said.
“Does he stay or go? I think he needs to stay now, actually, because he has got us to the finals now twice and no other manager has done that in my lifetime, not really, like Gareth have done. We have got to the playoffs before, but not really the finals. They are improving.”
Hope, after all, springs eternal. Perhaps football will come home when England, Northern Ireland, Ireland, Scotland and Wales host the Euros in 2028. At least the games will be played here, anyway.