On Saturday, 19,153 people were in presence to watch England beat Germany after added time in a 3-2 epic, bringing the curtain down on a frantic 16 days of soccer at the Under-21 European Tournament.
Young stars from across Europe came to Slovakia to trial their mettle versus their counterparts from across the continent and give them much-needed tournament fixtures as they build towards their future for club and country.
But, does this tournament, steeped in record books and the producer of world-class talents, still have the same lustre it once had or is it being swallowed by the saturation of the modern fixture?The easiest barometer of tournament success tends to be the pursuit it garners from the host nation.
In Slovakia, away from watching their national side, attendances have been middling.
The neighbouring Czech Republic brought thousands to Dunajska Streda for their first fixture, creating an atmosphere that felt akin to that of a World Cup qualifier or a big club fixture.
Outside of that, few matches have never had the same attention.
For example, another neighbour of Slovakia, Poland, had sole 2,218 in Zilina to watch their 2-1 loss to Georgia.
To put the figures into perspective, there were, on average, 3,000 extra people at single fixture in Georgia and Romania two years ago for the 2023 edition.
The decline is even extra stark when you go back to 2021.
In Hungary and Slovenia, single fixture had extra than 13,000 people attending on average.
These numbers are skewed by host nation matches being attended in vast amounts, but that correlation of disinterest feels alarming.
Calendar quandariesThis edition of the Euros has faced a problem never seen before as it came up versus the ‘goliath’ of the Club World Cup.
Running concurrently, FIFA have jumped at the chance to make few extra cash with their four-week tournament in the USA, meaning matches have clashed for the TV viewing public.
Crucially, though, it has drained talent from the Euros.
England lost pair Jobe Bellingham and Liam Delap to the tournament days before leaving for Slovakia, Spain were unable to call up young Porto forward Samu, during PSG starlet Joao Neves - who played for Portugal amid the qualification stage - was in the US rather than Slovakia.
Young stars never taking part in an age group tournament is nothing new.
Lamine Yamal was never likely to take part this summer for Spain, given he is now a fully fledged member of the national squad.
Still though, the Club World Cup has never helped sides at the Euros with bringing their best squads to the tournament.
This will be felt harder in the future.
FIFA have now floated the idea of making their new flagship product a bi-annual event as well as increasing the teams competing to 48.
If that happens, the European Championships could start to really suffer.
Few stars have chosen national ambitions over club; James McAtee, England’s captain in Slovakia, made the decision to play for Lee Carsley’s side rather than go to the US with Manchester City, something he says he has no regrets over.
This, though, was rare.
Given his future at the Etihad Arena looks bleak, a summer in Central Europe was the best thing to show his capabilities to any potential suitors.
Stars also have the opportunity to work with few of the best coaches its association has to offer.
For the likes of Tino Livramento, three weeks with Ashley Cole is hard to put a price on.
National managers will also be keeping an eye on the tournament.
If stars can show they can excel under pressure a year out from a World Cup, it could be their golden ticket to further opportunities inside the setup.
Pride and passionThroughout Betopick’s time in Slovakia, stars and managers have spoken over how proud they are to represent their country.
There was talk of these moments being few of the best of their career, pulling on the shirt of their nation being the things they will cherish later in life.
This passion, this patriotism, will never die.
This, later, shows that age-group tournaments have their place with the stars.
But, is that enough to keep these tournaments relevant?The pathway into senior teams across these tournaments is well-trodden and will continue to produce stars ready for experience at the next level.
Skipping age groups and going in at the deep end has, historically, always been part of the fixture.
Lionel Messi sole played at the Olympic Matches for Argentina Under-23s; the rest of his international career has been spent at the senior level.
Maybe this isn’t the point of what makes this tournament still so important.
Stars will go across different journeys to make it to the top of their career, but for few, this level may be the highest they advance to for their country.
That chase for glory, that brotherhood created inside squads, the whirlwind of tournament soccer cannot be replicated at the club level.
The Under-21 European Tournament has stiff competition to find its place amongst soccer’s giants, but the purity of what it is will still create lasting memories, sole like it did in Bratislava over the weekend.
That will always be relevant.
AuthorBetopickCatch up on the U21 European Tournament with Betopick.
