Two elite soccer championships, men's Wimbledon final make Sunday sacred
Sunday in most places throughout the world is considered a day reserved for either our connection to or our participation in religious practices and beliefs.
It’s a day reserved for God and gods. Not only do we pray on Sundays, but we pray for them. Sunday is the exclusive day of Super Bowls and every World Cup final, with the exception of two (1930 and 1966). It’s a day of holy assembly. A day of pride over the rest of the days, not a day of rest. The original “eighth day.”
Sports, in most parts of the world, are akin to a religion. The engagement, the worship. Arenas are temples. Venues represent churches. Sport is a religion superseded only by . . . religion. Why else are most NFL games played on Sundays? We’ll save that answer for another column on another day.
This Sunday will be different — a day when the religion of sports takes not just center stage but takes over. Because this Sunday, for the first time ever on the same day, starting five hours apart, the most popular sport in the world will crown champions. Plural.
Spain vs. England, 2024 Euros. Colombia vs. Argentina, 2024 Copa America. Two matches not in but for heaven. Messi. James. Kane and Bellingham. The young prodigy Yamal. All on display.
Same day.
Will it be a second straight loss in the European Championship final for England and its much-maligned, Gregg Berhalter-like coach, Gareth Southgate? With a win, will Spain, which won its last Euro chip in 2012 (also its last major finals appearance), enter the conversation of having one of the best Euro runs ever with the dominance it displayed over the last month in Germany?
With any type of above-average or even normal performance for him at 32, will James Rodriguez become a soccer immortal if Colombia beats the world champions? Will Lionel Messi simply use this match, on this pitch, on American soil, to further separate himself from all others who’ve played the game and turn Argentina into the new Brazil of global futbol?
Ah, the beauty of it all without that being all of it. Because, also, preceding both of those championships, is maybe an even bigger, more prestigious one: the gentlemen’s final at Wimbledon. Tennis’ holy grail. The dream final. The rematch of the 4-hour, 42-minute, five-set masterpiece that was last year’s final, Carlos Alcaraz vs. Novak Djokovic. The “now” and the “next him” supremes. The greatest player ever against the player destined to replace him (and on pace with three Grand Slam titles already at 21). A Super Sunday for the ages. God’s plan.
Next Sunday, a Tour de France king will be crowned. And in five Sundays, the closing ceremony of the XXXIII Olympic Games.
But the spiritual experience that will be this Sunday is one rarely, if ever, experienced. Three major global championships decided in three different places in the world on the same day is a trifecta of circumstance. From rise until fall until rise of the sun and moon. Yes, Spain has the opportunity to end the day with two crowns (one for the country in the Euro Championship and another at Wimbledon with Alcaraz), but regardless of who walks off grass as victors, the world of sports will experience a day of fewness, a day of lore. A day unlike any that has ever happened, with a strong chance it never happens again in this lifetime.
The UEFA European Championship and the CONMEBOL Copa America (recognized as the oldest international soccer tourn-ament) are two of the greatest non-World Cup trophies a country can earn in soccer. Every four years since 1958 and 1916, respectively, they’ve been the foundation of reverence of the world’s connection to the sport, to the point that most players will admit that winning either trophy for their country means more than winning a gold medal. That’s very much the same with owning All England Club hardware for winning Wimbledon. To the greats and GOATs of the game, that 18 by 7.5 inches of silver, even though it’s awarded every year, as opposed to every four, means more than any 556 grams of gold.
As we reserve Sunday for many things, many rituals, many significant moments in our lives and observe it as a day of sacred activities, know that as you read this, the upcoming one in the landscape of sports will be one to eternalize. One that years from Sunday we can say we were here for, we were a part of, one we were blessed enough to not miss.
A one-of-one day-of-days is upon us. The opposite of any given Sunday. Indulge. Enjoy. Embrace the fact this is one of those days for which sports was invented. And praise be the glory, as they say, for those of us here to be witnesses.