Silly question, but how many people make a closed-door match? I opened a new tab in my notebook, the one for words that don’t mean what they say. It’s already thick.
On Saturday in Rijeka, Croatia played England in the Nations League. The match was scheduled behind closed doors, for disciplinary reasons. It was played in front of more than 6,000 children invited by the Croatian federation, as the rules allow. And in front of around a hundred England fans. I reread it three times on the 7:32 train. The number didn’t move.
So, to sum up my tab: a closed door, 6,000 children behind it, and around a hundred English adults too. I’m told it’s always been like this, fine, but what does that mean? At how many children do closed doors become open doors? I checked, and actually I found no answer anywhere in what I read.
The match itself had no door at all. Thomas Tuchel’s England won 0-7. Harry Kane scored twice, Bukayo Saka twice, Anthony Gordon, Jude Bellingham and Morgan Rogers once each. Bellingham also gave three assists. Seven goals in front of 6,000 children: I noted that this was a lot of goals for an audience that has to go to bed early, then crossed it out, because I don’t know the kick-off time.
I put the question to Freddy, who coaches grown men who play on Sundays.
At my place, when there’s nobody at the side of the pitch, it’s a normal Sunday. Six thousand children, I wouldn’t even know where to park the parents.
I also learned that the BBC talks of perhaps England’s most impressive performance under Tuchel, according to VoetbalPrimeur.be. I copied it under the word “closed”, then drew an arrow. I don’t know yet to what.
Anyway, I still have a lot to learn. But the tab is open.
It’s true, we checked: RMC Sport.
