It was, indeed, an incredible Sunday as people enjoyed some fabulous competitions around the world of sports. There were myriad victory gestures, captivating moments, bonhomies and some moist eyes. Therefore, it was a weekend worth every penny for sports lovers across the globe. So, what if Matteo Berrettini could not get past the clinical Novak Djokovic, his fellow compatriots got the better of Southgate’s boys in the Euro cup final. Also, after a long and painful wait, Lionel Messi’s Argentina finally lifted the Copa America by beating Brazil in another excruciating finale. In the end, it was the sports that won on Sunday as there was no animosity between any team after the contest and they parted ways with hugs and kisses, Messi-Neymar’s hug after the final is the one for posterity.
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Messi’s Gain But Neymar’s Pain
Image Credit: John Tinju/Twitter
Let us begin with the Copa America final, involving two of the soccer giants: Brazil and Argentina. The Maracana Stadium, the venue of the final, turned into a volcano of emotions and happiness even with the limited crowd capacity. Both Argentina and Brazil would have felt the heat in equal measures, considering the enormity of the situation. However, the men in white and blue blazers were in an unenviable position as they had to defy history and statistics to triumph. Thanks to Di Maria’s agility and athleticism, Argentina ended the 28-year wait. The scorecard might have displayed 1-0 in favour of Argentina, but it cannot sum up the pain, agony and anxiety involved among the players of both teams. The victory meant Messi was finally able to secure something of note for his national team, but for Brazil and Neymar the defeat puts a full stop to their unconquered streak stretching over 2,500 days.
Italian Ecstasy And English Gloom
In miles apart and another part of the world, another contest was turning everyone insomniac. This mouth-watering final took place in Wembley, UK, to decide the ultimate European champion. Both England and Italy had their inner demons to tackle. Italy had last won a Euro cup in 1968, close to five decades back. But they won the FIFA world cup in 2006, however, the joy was short-lived as they failed to qualify for the tournament in Russia 2 years back. As for England, they have had so many heartaches in the past and are yet to win a Euro Cup. As per record books, they were semi-finalists in 1968 and 1996 and yet to win a major tournament. So, for them, this was the best chance to succeed in a major tournament. Unfortunately, in a sea-sawing fortune for England, the trophy that was well within their reach started to slip towards Italy, when the latter hit an equaliser in the second half of full time. With the Scoreline reading 1-1, the match went to the penalties and it was yet another misery for Gareth Southgate’s men. They missed three times against the Italian goalkeeper and the final score was 3-2 in favour of the Italians. The disappointment was writ large on the faces of Marcus Rashford, Jadon Sancho and Bukayo Saka for not finding the net during the penalty shootouts.
Djoker’s Delight
Apart from the football finals, there was another important clash happening at Wimbledon, involving Serbia’s Novak Djokovic and Italy’s Matteo Berrettini. The 25-year-old Italian had nothing to lose as it was his maiden appearance at the Wimbledon and taking on the likes of Djokovic in a tournament of this magnitude was itself a great accomplishment on his part. But Djokovic had plenty at stake: to equalise with Federer and Nadal in terms of number of Slams, to make it three Slams in a year etc. As the game started one saw a spirited display by Berrettini, but the Djoker had the last laugh before the rapturous crowd at the venue. Hence, the Serbian defeated the Italian youngster 6-7, (4-7), 6-4, 6-4, 6-3. As a result, Djokovic, now, has all three Grand Slams of 2021 and is on an even keel with Fedex and Rafa as far as the number of Grand Slam titles are concerned.
In The End
It was a perfect Sunday for the sports fanatics as they saw some shocking results, pulsating action and record-breaking performances. In these tough times, these serve the purpose of a soothing balm to relieve people of the negativities enveloping them.
