Football giveth, football taketh away. It is high irony that the sport so many of us extensively follow, exclusively write about and, above all, fully commit ourselves to as a source of joy and euphoria has the ability to rupture our emotional status quo within an instant. It could be the award of a penalty which appears unjust. The red card issued by a referee wishing to stamp his authority. The goal scored on a counter attack by a side that have had to withstand an attacking barrage for the last half an hour. Whatever the source, football has the power to rupture.<\/p>\n
And that rupture can be devastating. Events both within a particular match and outside of it have the ability to initiate an uncontrollable and rather complicated mixture of emotions that appear almost uncontrollably. Anger, jealousy, fear, sadness, disbelief. It goes on. Ask Barcelona fans to sum up Neymar’s transfer to PSG with one emotion. Equally, ask Juventus fans to sum up their recent Champions League final loss to Real Madrid in one word. It’s reductionist, and, frankly, it doesn’t make sense. One word just simply isn’t enough. When football turns on you, it turns on you with a full head of steam.<\/p>\n
You might be thinking, two paragraphs down into this article, that I am being very dramatic. At the end of the day, football is just a sport. It is not something that should rule our days, weeks, months or entire lives, since it is only a game. A game that is played for fun. To some extent, that is true. But football, for many, is also reality. It is their life. For fans, for players, and for everyone else connected to the sport.<\/p>\n
\nFor Ajax Amsterdam! #ajakop<\/a> #ajax<\/a> pic.twitter.com\/EH2iTLszWl<\/a><\/p>\n
— AjaxDaily (@ajaxdailydotcom) 16 maart 2017<\/a><\/p><\/blockquote>\n