Mon, 03 Jul 2000

The Euro 2000 spirits

Whatever the outcome of this morning's final, the Euro 2000 ranks among the best soccer tournaments ever staged measured by the spirit of competition, sportsmanship and fair-play it has promoted. The three-week competition featuring Europe's top 16 soccer teams provided, not only entertainment of the highest value, but also worthy lessons about sportsmanship that other countries, including Indonesia, could well emulate or adopt.

Like previous tournaments, the Euro 2000 had its share of drama, controversies and surprises. Pre-tournament favorites like England and Germany proved to be grossly overrated and were eclipsed by underdogs such as Turkey, Slovenia and Portugal.

Some teams crashed out of the tournament through a stroke of bad luck, such as a penalty shootout, or through goals conceded in the dying seconds. But that unpredictability is what made it so exciting to watch.

Hooliganism, particularly by English fans, was the only dark spot during the tournament. There were the inevitable red and yellow cards shown during some of the games, but their numbers were not large enough to undermine the overall tournament.

Conspicuously missing this time was the emergence of a new star, to the disappointment of club managers who went to the Netherlands and Belgium with thick checkbooks ready to sign up whoever that star might be. There were no outstanding players of the class of Franz Beckenbauer, Johan Cruyff, Paulo Rossi and Ruud Gullit, all European soccer legends of their time. The nearest any player in Euro 2000 came to reaching that status was France's Zinedine Zidane.

Euro 2000, with all its matches beamed to millions of people around the world, proved once again that soccer remains the most popular sport in the world. If the 1998 World Cup was billed as the greatest show on earth, then Euro 2000 ranks a close second.

Indonesia, no great soccer nation even by regional standards, caught the Euro 2000 mania like most of the rest of the world. All the matches of the tournament were broadcast live by turns by RCTI and SCTV, even the ones that were played at 2 a.m. Jakarta time. There were no shortage of tales of people reporting late for work, many red-eyed and sleepy, as well as reports of falling productivity and lighter traffic in the morning rush hour.

Euro 2000 also became a commercial venture. Newspapers and magazines published special editions to report on every aspect about the tournament. Restaurants, cafes and bars opened late and organized special programs or menus to encourage people to watch the games from their large TV screens. Gambling may be illegal in this country, but many offices organized bets of all sizes.

Euro 2000 was more popular than PON, the national games which were staged concurrently in Surabaya, East Java. While most people would be able to tell you that East Java emerged as the overall champion, few people know who won the soccer gold at PON.

Given this country's craze over Euro 2000, it is strange to see that soccer does not rank among the major national pastimes. When it comes to the world's most popular sport, Indonesia seems to be content with being a good spectator and save the costs of time, money and energy required to produce capable players. Euro 2000, for most people in this country was nothing more than thoroughly enjoyable entertainment.

This is rather sad indeed. For Euro 2000 also taught us some valuable lessons about the spirit of competition, sportsmanship and fair play. These are qualities that Indonesian youngsters should emulate to lift the nation's standing in the world soccer ranks some day. These are also qualities which the nation's leaders should develop to prepare Indonesia in the increasing global competition, in politics and the economy. The lost productivity at work and the loss of sleep over the last three weeks will not have been a waste if we also learned the lessons and values that Euro 2000 represented.