Germany provides the stadiums and the hospitality, 24 European nations provide the football teams and champions who fuel the passion for sport in their club teams throughout the year. Of course, the aim of this major event is for someone to win the European Football Championship, but ultimately it is irrelevant who the official winner is, because in football the cards are always being reshuffled and the teams’ line-ups represent an incredible diversity – so it is not so much about the wealth of the club, but about the country’s human resources. In other words: sporting performance is what counts here and everything else takes a back seat!
An example? Khvicha Kvaratskhelia, a footballer who currently plays for SSC Napoli, one of the most coveted clubs in the world, is Georgian. And Georgia is a national team taking part in the European football championship for the first time. May the best players win, but this kind of football democracy is already the real winner.
Of course victory is important, it is very meaningful to see a nation proud of its idols celebrate. We wait to see the first-placed team consoling the runners-up, just as we all eagerly await the moment when the Eiffel Tower, the Brandenburg Gate, the Colosseum or the Little Mermaid in Copenhagen are lit up in celebration. But perhaps even more important is the fact that, through the medium of football, we feel more than ever like Europeans who share common values such as peaceful coexistence. The emotions we share unite us all and symbolise something that goes beyond football alone. Today we are more European than yesterday.
Football brings people together!
We say it again: the final victory certainly counts. And we are also looking forward to the results, especially as our offices and hotels are spread across seven countries – all of which are represented in this wonderful competition. Italy and Croatia, for example, will soon meet and a little rivalry with a twinkle in the eye certainly won’t do any harm to the team spirit. I would love to tease my colleague Robert from Zadar if Italy were to win. I’m sure he’d feel the same the other way round.
Vienna has the strongest representation in our country: Imagine how emotions would run high if Austria won the “company derby”. But the match between Austria and France went in favour of the French, which is particularly pleasing for one person in our company: there is a lonely, proud Frenchman in the Vienna office on whom a large part of our digital infrastructure depends. Seen in this light, it’s perhaps a good thing that France won 😉
And isn’t that the best part of a tournament whose purpose is not only to find the best European football team, but also to bring us closer together? Whether it’s Mbappé, Bellingham or Havertz, at the end of the day we’ll all be cheering along with our heroes. Anyone can win, but the respect and friendship will remain, probably even strengthened by these moments of entertainment – regardless of the outcome of the tournament.
We also see this in our hotels: we broadcast the matches live, and the crowds of fans that form around the big screens are colourful and cheerful. The excitement of the game is just a thrill that flies by. Victory may be important, but what counts even more are the moments in the bar immediately after the game, when winners and losers come together for a drink in a conversation that inevitably goes beyond the football pitches of this world.
One team will win – yay! – but for us at Falkensteiner, everyone wins. Not only the organisers of the event, the national team who will lift the trophy and the European citizens who will enjoy a unique spectacle.
For us, the guests are also among the winners! Those who stay with us until 30 June are entitled to a ‘Golden Key Card‘. This scratch card gives you the chance to win up to €5,000 in the form of a voucher for your next stay in one of our hotels.
