Every now and then, I watch the streaming services I subscribe to on Netflix or Globoplay, sports documentaries, not just about football.
“F1: Driving to Live”, about the most famous motorsport category, and “Sprint”, about the fastest men and women in athletics, bring great behind-the-scenes stories that follow the disputes.
A few days ago, the option chosen was ‘The Final: Chaos at Wembley’ (The Final: Attack On Wembley, in the original title), released this year, which recounts the decision of the 2020 Euro Cup, a championship only played in 2021 due to the pandemic of Covid.
The focus of the one hour and 22 minute film is the match between England and Italy, in London, on the iconic stage where the English men’s team won its only title, 55 years ago, the 1966 World Cup.
It was not the same Wembley, as the original was demolished, and the current, expanded and modernized one, took its place after being built over a five-year period, from 2003 to 2007.
This final, in the arena nicknamed “The House of Football”, mobilized the English Team fans in a way never before seen, who shouted at the top of their lungs, through the streets, the chorus of the song “Three Lions”, by Frank Sinner, released in 1996 : “Football is coming home”.
England is considered the place of origin of the modern version of football, which emerged in the late 19th century.
The singing was intense on the day of the final, July 11, 2021, a solid Sunday in the capital of England, and not only this chorus was heard. There was a curious phrase, in the middle of a song, in which defender Harry Maguire was mentioned, praised for having a “huge head”.
The narrative of the film directed by Kwabena Oppong and Robert Miller focuses on the hours before the confrontation on the field between the English and Italians.
It shows the arrival of thousands of fans (mostly men), from the early hours of the morning, to Olympic Way, a wide avenue, approximately 1 km long, that connects Wembley Park metro station to Wembley Stadium.
The game would start at 8pm local time, and there was plenty of time for the English to practice one of the “sports” they enjoy most: drinking beer (sold without restrictions by the shops that lined the street).
The film reports that there was also a high consumption of cocaine.
Alcohol and drugs cause unhealthy psychic effects in most people, such as unbridled euphoria, loss of perception, lack of self-control, aggressiveness.
The images seen on Olympic Way are striking, with people out of their normal state hanging from traffic lights, climbing lampposts and dancing on buses.
Beer cans and bottles flew through the air, with an obvious risk of injury to anyone there, before accumulating in piles of rubbish on the asphalt.
The worst, however, was to come. With the gates open, five hours before kick-off, thousands of fans without tickets decided to “have the right” to enter the stadium to see the possible historic achievement of the English team. In a word: invade.
From then on, what the film’s title implies: chaos. Adequate word, but there are others, and each person needs to see them to give their own definition. The expression “anything goes” fits well.
Bars torn down, doors forced and broken into, security guards challenged, cursed (including explicit xenophobia towards those of Arab origin) and supplanted by a horde of fanatics. Unbridled rush. People (innocent or not) on the ground, trampled on. It’s scary.
There would be no overcrowding, as the tickets sold (67 thousand) were far from the total capacity (90 thousand) – the limit was due precisely to security reasons –, but the organization, holed up in a center with cameras, was faced with the dilemma of stopping the gates, to block access to the bicões, risking people being crushed, or keep them open and continue the commotion.
Concern that, once the momentum was controlled at the start, remained until the end of the game. Thousands of fans, those prevented from entering, remained in front of the stadium. With the match being decided on penalties, the Wembley director was left to root against England, as the victory would certainly provoke another attempt at an unrestrained incursion into the arena, to see the champions.
To his relief, he gave Italy.
Euphoria gave way to sadness. And the revolt on social media, in a racist tone, against the English players (Marcus Rashford, Jadon Sancho and Bukayo Saka, black or brown) who wasted their penalties. Rashford had a mural in his honor vandalized.
All of this can be concluded from the complete lack of preparation of those involved (the English federation and the police, primarily) in an event that was previously known could be problematic. It was lucky that no one died – there were injuries, none seriously.
It is also clear how the English people (or at least part of them) can be, in addition to being irascible, intolerant towards non-whites and non-British people.
‘The Final: Chaos at Wembley’ is a film that exemplifies how football can, on some occasions, be extremely dangerous for its attendees. And it exposes how human beings, under certain influences, cease to be human.
