In the days after the sad passing of former England manager, Sven-Göran Eriksson, relatively few of the many articles penned zeroed in on his impact in Serie A and how Italy became something of an adopted homeland for him. And perhaps nowhere was that impact felt more keenly than the sky blue side of Rome, after he went back on his word to Blackburn and decided he'd rather not sample the delights of Lancashire after leaving Sampdoria.
As Paris handed the Olympic torch over to Los Angeles for the 2028 Games, debate continued as to whether football should continue to have a place in its pantheon. France's men, under Thierry Henry, took the silver medal following an extra-time defeat by Spain and could probably be judged the apex of the French government's recent high value investment in top-level sport, starting with winning the bid to host last year's Rugby World Cup.
There is a sense, in the aftermath of this year's Copa America, a sense that all was not well with the venerable festival of South American football, hosted by the USA for a second time following on from the Copa America Centenario in 2016 (a special edition in marking the tournament's centenary as well as that of CONMEBOL itself- as well as the first one played on non-native soil thanks to an agreement with CONCACAF).
The dust won't settle for a while and the disappointment will be raw for some time, but this is the right moment to reflect on the unusual journey that England took at the 2024 European Championships in Germany. By the historical standards of the Three Lions, these past four weeks have represented their third best ever performance in a major tournament, obviously only bettered by 1966 and the last Euros (when England really should have finished the job against Italy). And yet, there's a clear split between those fans that think Gareth Southgate should continue for the next World Cup, and those that believe this is the right time for a new direction.
It's tempting to suggest that a little of Pep Guardiola's reflective magic stardust may just have landed in Munich with the arrival of Vincent Kompany, to take up his former master's mantle at Bayern after a season which saw his previous employers relegated to the Championship. The question is, is there more to the decision for him to step in and replace Thomas Tuchel?