Sum up your Euro 2024 experience : Finally, football is back. We hadn't had this since 2016: a tournament played in one country that loves the game, with plenty of travelling fans. There was very little off-the-pitch controversy, not much refereeing controversy, stuff generally worked well and the people were welcoming.
Could the football have been better? Yes, if your benchmark is the . No, if you understand that tournaments like these are all about games that hang in the balance until the final moments. You're here for the drama, for the color, for the fans .
.. not for the fancy patterns of play or tactics gurus.
In Spain, we also had a worthy winner, which is important. The fact that the other three semifinalists rode their luck and generally played subpar football was slightly annoying, but, hey, they didn't win. : It felt like Germany is the perfect host nation for a football tournament.
Easy to get to -- eight of the 24 competing teams share a border with Germany -- and easy to get around. Yes, some of the trains have been late, but they run virtually all night, so everyone can get practically anywhere in time for breakfast. Stadiums have been full, 99.
9% of fans have been well behaved, teams like , and have surprised us and shown why international football matters. And the fact that some big teams and star players have flopped is a good thing -- unlike the top end of the club game, where the same teams and players win all the time, a bit of vulnerability is great for t.