Sport
Updated 6/15/2024 7:28 AM
This year’s European Football Championship started with a great football show in the form of Germany’s 5-1 victory over Scotland. What preceded it was a worse spectacle: the minimalistic opening ceremony drew harsh criticism from football fans.
The organizers of Euro 2024 in Germany chose an option for the opening ceremony without a spectacular show or performances by famous artists who would kick off the long-awaited European football championship.
Instead, they opted for a low-key and completely standard performance with flags and dancers. Compared to previous events, be it the African Cup of Nations or the Olympic Games, the prelude to the championship sounded very average.
According to foreign journalists, the early evening in Berlin took place in the atmosphere of a school assembly: we are over and let’s quickly go to football.
The show of the German organizers received even sharper criticism from the fans.
Organizer 1: “And what is planned for the opening ceremony?” Organizer 2: “Lots of people dancing to crappy, bland music and holding flags. Like always.” Organizer 1: “And do you think people will like it?” Organizer 2: “No.” Organizer 1: “Okay. Let’s do it.”
ORGANISER 1: “So what’s planned for the opening ceremony?”
ORGANISER 2: “A load of people dancing to sh*te, bland music while holding flags. Same as every time.”
ORGANISER 1 : “And you think people will enjoy that?”
ORGANISER 2: “No.”
ORGANISER 1: “Cool. Let’s go with that.”
— Paddy Power (@paddypower) June 14, 2024
This is one of the posts on social network X that captures the embarrassment of fans who were looking forward to a far more spectacular performance. Another audience member asks if it was the worst ceremony in history. And a third adds: “It was like watching Eurovision.”
A user with the nickname Big Jon Bass recalls the start of the continental championship in 1980: “It’s like having to dance around with a giant parachute.”
The whole event lasted only ten minutes. The most powerful moment came in its opening, when the Olympic Stadium in Berlin honored the memory of Franz Beckenbauer, who died earlier this year.
Widely regarded as one of the best in history, the former defender captained his country to triumph at the 1972 European Championship and the World Cup two years later. As a coach, he won the 1990 WC with the Germans.
