Like every year, you’re not going to cut it. Your partner, his friends and your son find themselves on the sofa watching the Champions League. And you, as usual, complain. What do they all find at this match? How can they stay glued to the screen for hours watching players chase a ball? And above all: how will you survive this evening? Amélie Boukhobza, clinical psychologist, gives us some answers.
“We can decide to watch this match differently”
For them, it is an unmissable event. For you, it’s an evening where the television is monopolized, where discussions go on loop and where every action triggers reactions (which you consider) disproportionate. However, behind the match itself, lies something else…
“Because in reality, it’s not just sport that brings together so many people in front of a match. There is also the collective emotion. This very special thing of experiencing a moment at the same time as millions of other people. The tension. The waiting. The shared reactions. Even when you don’t know the rules”, reveals Amélie Boukhobza.
Indeed, you don’t have to like football to enjoy a sporting event. We can just decide.”to watch this match differently“.
“Why not already look at the supporters rather than the players?“, advises the psychologist. Be interested in rituals, excessive joys, crestfallen expressions, gestures of superstition repeated for years. “Ask yourself why some people live every action as if their whole life depended on it. It’s still fascinating!” admits the expert.
The finale then becomes almost a life-size psychology exercise. “Then, it will be enough to make a small remark to unleash the crowds and observe the wild comments and reactions of the most fervent,” confides the practitioner.
You don’t need to like sport to enjoy the atmosphere around the table
Very often, the pleasure of being together takes precedence over the game. It then almost becomes an excuse to get together, to laugh, to share a meal or simply to spend time with loved ones.
“The discussions, the impromptu meals, the jokes, the comments are often more entertaining than the match itself. At least for me. Many memories of sports evenings ultimately have little to do with sport,” recognizes Amélie Boukhobza.
For a few hours, everyone puts their problems aside to share a common experience: generations mingle, conversations arise, debates come alive. Even those who never follow football find themselves caught up in the general atmosphere.
But you still have to choose your side! “It doesn’t matter which one. A particular player, a color of jersey, a city, a story… We don’t care. But it gives you something to defend. Something to hope for. And as a result, the stakes rise, and so does the adrenaline.”
Conversely, resisting the event at all costs risks making the moment more painful… and therefore a little useless.
“And then, let’s be honest, there is the practical side. Good food. Good drink. Good company. A Champions League final, in good company around a good meal, is already a successful evening, even without liking football”, recognizes the specialist.
So you might as well agree to let yourself be taken on board. Even without being passionate. Just to see. “We might well be surprised…“, concludes the expert.