Football, discontent and nostalgia

I don't want to go against the current, but I was just reading a news article from Spain, how among authorities and employers there is a concern that the group of Romanian migrants has shrunk by almost 30%. Some are leaving for other European countries, many are returning to Romania. Their explanation was that the difference between opportunities in Spain and Romania is not that great anymore and those who simply came there for work are revising their plans. All in all, some Romanians are no longer willing to accept the cost of migration, as the gap between our beautiful republic and other community countries has narrowed.

After all, the EU is not going anywhere, you can return there anytime if you still need a work stint in the West. Or is it going? In the long term, Romania has clearly evolved positively. It is enough to look at photos or videos from 10, 15, or 20 years ago. The paradox is that the stock of public discontent has constantly increased, often leading to the re-signification of Europe as a negative character and the reappearance of elements of nostalgia for the socialist period. Perhaps a law should be passed that, periodically, for one day – just one day – the most watched 10 television channels should have programming like in the 80s (content and broadcast time), while the other cable/satellite channels should be blocked. And the internet. Just one day. And even then, probably people would say it wasn't like that and that it is being exaggerated. "Come on, how could there be no internet before '89? Are you taking us for fools?"

It's pretty much the same with football. INSCOP published here in recent days several survey data in the context of this summer's World Cup. We, as a people, have that saying, that everyone knows about football and politics. Romania's love story with football is not as great as people think. Practically, Romania was a major football power (let's say it like that), from the World Cup in Italy 1990 until the European Championship in 2000. After that, there was a long absence from the World Cup and only a couple of qualifications for the European Championships, without notable results. Of course, we can also discuss what happened before the 80s, but it doesn't benefit us, except for a very interesting period from 1930-1938, but more accessible to historians than to football fans. And it is worth seeing how many countries participated back then...

Honestly, almost all of our global football presence, at least as a national team, is a product of the 80s, true school years for Romanian football. And the results were seen from 1990 until the early 2000s, in precise correlation with Hagi's player career. A decade like a football Gaussian curve, which grew until 1994 and then gradually decreased until we fell off the map. And I don't know if it's important, but as the results decreased, players became more expensive and the spectacle more glamorous (this word actually exists in Romanian, just so you know...). It wasn't the lack of money that brought football down, but the lack of seriousness.