Every era has its heroes. Those who are whole face battles without fear and have the moral strength to face suffering and glory.
The 300 Spartans at Thermopolis. In 480 BC, the army of the Panhellenic League, led by the Spartan king Leonidas, clashed against the Persians, led by Xerxes I. The battle lasted three days, but the dramatic third day went down in history. The cunning and strategic brilliance of Leonidas, who led only 7,000 men against the enormous Persian army, whose number must have been between 90,000 and 300,000 men, would have led to victory had it not been for a traitor Ephialtes, a Greek shepherd, told Xerxes of the existence of Anopeia. This secret path would have allowed him to outflank the Greeks and encircle them. Knowing himself surrounded, Leonidas ordered the army to go and remained alone with his Spartan guard to wait for the Persians. Only three hundred men had to fight, knowing they would die because their sacrifice would free the Greek people.
The Greeks fought with the strength of those who believed in immortality, with an intrinsic inner strength. They all died but lived long enough to hold the Persians in the Anophean gorge, sufficient for the other Greeks to defend the other Greek cities. The soldiers of the Persian guard called themselves 'Immortals'.
They became immortal throughout history. Many works of art immortalise them, such as the 'Amphora with battle scene' Staatliche Antikensammlungen', Munich, 'Part of a relief in the royal palace of Susa' and 'Leonidas at Thermopylae' by Jacques-Louis David, both in the Louvre Museum. The movie 300 by Frank Miller (2006) immortalises them.
Nowadays, heroes tread the grass not of the Peloponnesian valleys but of football pitches. Europe is united in the shared passion for football, and the European cups have the highest ratings. There is not a person who does not know what the Champions League is. If I take a taxi in Copenhagen, am on a train in Istanbul, or during my morning walks in the Retiro park in Madrid, I hear about Manchester City, Bodo Glim, or Real Madrid. This shared passion for football, regardless of nationality or culture, is a testament to the unifying power of the sport and the sense of pride it instils in us all.
Football is our civil religion, or secular if you like. It unites Europe, merging and blending into one anthem. Football succeeds where politics struggles.
The quarter-finals of the 2023/2024 Champions League offered two of the most exciting matches in recent times. The first leg at the Santiago Bernabeu Stadium in Madrid between Real Madrid and Manchester City ended 3-3. The return match last Wednesday, 17 April, hosted at the Etihad Stadium in Manchester, was the Battle of Thermopolis (football version).
Manchester's strength was unquestionable, and it was a team honouring the football game. The resistance of the Real Madrid players was heroic.
Real Madrid's coach, Carlo Ancelotti, the new Leonidas, aware of his team's inferiority in the face of City, firm in his footballing perfection, chose the tactic of resistance. Or resilience, if you prefer.
His footballers had to resist the passage of time. Resist and stay alive until the referee's whistle.
Endure, beyond physical effort, to make it to the penalty shoot-out. In the penalty shootout, the balance between the unequal forces would return.
Because the penalty shoot-out is seen by many as a game of luck, instead, it is a game of the mind. Mental strength is the only asset; you must be highly trained to succeed.
It is to face the abyss without fear. It is to be like the Spartan Immortals.