The fear of winning

In psychoanalysis, this is known as parapraksia: a phenomenon whereby one intends to perform one action but ends up doing another. While watching the Champions League, I thought of Sigmund Freud (yes, perhaps I’m mad), who studied this phenomenon at length (but just how much free time did Freud have?). Because in all the matches played by Italian teams, in a context of extreme difficulty and stress, we have observed errors so serious that they cannot simply be explained as the result of nervous excitement.

Politano looks exactly where he’s shooting, right where Mikautadze is standing. And he passes it to him, meekly, as if obeying some hidden command. Did he mean to do that? Certainly not, but he did it. Martinez runs out of his penalty area for at least ten metres, for no logical reason, almost colliding with Akanji, and sets up an intervention by Forbes, Brugge’s number 9, who, catching the ball by chance on his knee, lets it roll under his legs, clearing the way for Tresoldi’s goal. What was Martinez’s intention?

AS Roma conceded three goals in eight minutes; a sudden spasm, a paralysis, a nervous tic seemed to seize the Giallorossi’s muscles, freezing them in their tracks during no fewer than three set-piece situations – the corners from which Real Madrid’s comeback goals and winning goal were scored. On the final corner, the ball flew into the six-yard box; Gollini remained motionless on the goal line. A simple step out of his line by a couple of metres would have averted the danger. Instead, Gollini stood still, as if hypnotised. Fear had seized and pierced him, even before Rüdiger could slot it home. The next image is very telling. Gollini stares into space; the dark circles under his eyes seem even deeper, and sudden wrinkles mar his usually smooth skin.

The fact is, we do not need Freud to explain what happened; we are sufficient on our own – we, the health-service psychologists with a pen in our hands. Italian women’s teams in Europe lack sufficient self-confidence; they get nervous even before they have started playing. And if they start strongly – as Roma did when they literally dominated Real Madrid – at a certain point they almost feel guilty, and they retreat back into hell. These errors stem from a decade-long inability to win while managing emotions. Such psychological subservience leads to stagnant matches, as seen in Napoli and Como, or overconfident and therefore superficial ones, as in Inter’s case, while Roma were the only side to take the pitch to win—only to be gripped by an absurd fear of actually doing so. If Italian football wishes to take a step forward, this step is not merely technical, but mental. Yet in Italy, at the moment, this is how we live: with fear weighing us down, convinced we’re not up to anything, without belief, without daring, without even enjoying ourselves. And when the fear of playing takes hold, the only option left is to simply survive.