FOOTY FOR WOMEN... THE EUROS EXPLAINED. BY SANDRA HARRIS. ©


 

FOOTY FOR WOMEN … THE EUROS EXPLAINED.

BY SANDRA HARRIS. ©

Dear Reader,

Today I propose to tell you everything I know about football. Having no postage stamps to hand, I will use this document instead. This is a good time to talk about football, as a big tournament called the Euros is currently being held in cities across Europe. It’s kind of like the Eurovision, but without the sparkly dresses. Here comes the science, so pre-furrow your brows in mild bewilderment, ladies.

 Football is a game played on a grassy pitch by twenty-two men with round, medium-sized balls. Eleven men on each side go to make up a team. The referee is the man in charge of the game. Referees are frequently being advised by the fans to visit Specsavers in order to rectify their deficient eyesight. (‘Are ya effing blind, ref, or wha’?’) In recent years, VAR, or the much maligned Video Assistant Referee, has come into play to aid the more myopic of the referees.

The object of the game is to kick a ball into the goalpost of the opposing team. When this happens, it is called a goal. When a player scores a goal, he is free to celebrate by performing knee-slides, victory dances, or even a strip-tease for the benefit of the lady viewers.

If, however, the player is deemed to be offside, or in the wrong position, when the goal is scored, the goal may be declared null and void. In this instance, the player who performed the knee-slide/victory dance/strip-tease may now look and feel like a total pillock.

A foul is where a player deliberately tries to further their own game by hurting or bringing down another player. If you are touched even slightly by another player, it is common practice to drop to the ground in as dramatic a fashion as possible, crying and clutching the ‘injured’ body part and saying you’re afraid you’ll never walk again. This procedure is known as ‘diving’ and everyone in football does it.

It’s a cunning ploy designed to ensure that the referee gets cross with the team who fouled you, and he may then award you a free kick or a penalty, a one-on-one with the opposing goalkeeper. If you score a goal as a result of a ‘dive,’ the fans of the other team will hate you but so what? You’re in this for the money, not to be liked.

An own goal is where a player accidentally kicks the ball into their own net in the heat of the moment. This will occasion much mirth and merriment amongst the fans of the opposing team, but may cause your own team members to call you ‘a big stupid b**tard’ and tweak your nipples really hard in the showers after the game. In extreme cases, your team-mates might even sleep with your wife to get you back for ruining everyone’s lives forever with your stupid own goal.

Games are often preceded by the singing of each country’s national anthem. It is quite okay to mumble along here and only pretend to be singing, as an astonishing number of players don’t seem to know the words to their own nation’s most important song. Seeing the players pretending to sing always reminds me of the Christmas episode of FATHER TED, in which Ted urges Dougal to put on that piece of music that makes Fr. Jack stand up, and you know what happens next…

You will often observe an upswing in a team’s performance after the designated break period. This is because the manager, a surly, stern-looking individual who stands on the side-lines during the match and tries to look deadpan when their team scores, will have b*llocked the players royally in the dressing-room and threatened them with the loss of pizza privileges after the game.

A pundit is a grumpy old man, often a former footballer himself, whom we meet on the break. He sits on his a**e in a comfy studio miles away from the blood, sweat and tears of the actual game and says what players are doing wrong. Often, pundits will add bitterly that football isn’t like what it was ‘in their day,’ which, as ‘their day’ was a hundred years ago or more, is not at all a bad thing.

Fans are an important part of the beautiful game, or a game of two halves, as it is often known. They cheer on the players by singing encouraging chants, waving around their country’s flag or, in some instances, even draping their sweaty, semi-naked forms with said flag while wearing a funny hat or novelty wig. The cameras at the game will quite often zoom in on the more attractive of the female fans, especially if they are displaying big knockers in an array of tight T-shirts.

Speaking of attractiveness, the game is much more enjoyable and entertaining for the lady viewer if the players are easy on the eye. Hot players of the day include Manuel Neuer, Romelu Lukaku, Gareth Bale and Kasper Schmeichel, but it’s really about whatever you fancy yourself, of course.

Cristiano Ronaldo, however, remains the King of the Poseurs, with his perfect hair, immaculate gnashers and unfailing habit of baring his magnificent abdominals when he scores a goal, which happens at least once in every game, even games in which he technically is not down to play.

If you are lucky, ladies, you may get to sleep with one of these demi-gods once in your lifetime. Even if you don’t, well, you can still enjoy the beautiful game as a spectator. I hope my easy-to-read guide will aid your enjoyment of the 2020/1 Euros, the greatest show in Europe since Johnny Logan’s white-suited rendition of ‘What’s Another Year?’ They think it’s all over …? It is now. 

AUTHOR BIOGRAPHY OF SANDRA HARRIS.

 Sandra Harris is a Dublin-based novelist, poet, short story writer and film and book blogger. She has studied Creative Writing and Vampirology. She has published a number of e-books on the following topics: horror film reviews, multi-genre film reviews, women's fiction, erotic fiction, erotic horror fiction and erotic poetry. Several new books are currently in the pipeline. You can browse or buy any of Sandra's books by following the link below straight to her Amazon Author Page:

http://www.amazon.com/-/e/B015GDE5RO

Her debut romantic fiction novel, 'THIRTEEN STOPS,' is out now from Poolbeg Books:

https://www.amazon.com/Thirteen-Stops-Sandra-Harris-ebook/dp/B089DJMH64

The sequel, ‘THIRTEEN STOPS LATER,’ is out now from Poolbeg Books:

 https://www.amazon.com/dp/1781994234

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