catenaccio

Over the course of the past few days I've had to try and explain to more than one person the appeal of football. This being the European championship, tonight's game (an unlikely Spanish penalty shoot-out victory over Italy) provides a useful example. Myself and most other right-thinking followers of the game simply ask for a free-flowing and entertaining style of passing play, maybe with the odd moment of individual brilliance added as extra seasoning. This as opposed to the dour catenaccio tactics employed by tonight's Italian side. Although this game really was awful to watch, the result gave hope because romance won out over dour pragmatism, and it's not very often you can say that, either in sport or in life.