It was like the scene at the end of the 1997 Jim Carrey film The Truman Show.
Some emerged bleary-eyed, stepping out into the real world once again. Others simply shrugged; “What else is on?”
The World Cup is over. It was a pleasant distraction, thank you.
But as hard-core fans pointed out within minutes of Germany's triumph, the real business of domestic football is just few weeks away.
Sadly, we will have to put up with the interminable business of the summer transfer market first.
There are many objectionable aspects to the transfer window.
Mainly, that it is mostly a mirage, in which the odds on any particular rumour materialising are, statistically speaking, practically nil.
The transfer window is also when agents and players feast on the carcasses of dead promises. But fear not, an open farewell letter to the club’s fans will make it all right.
It is a slippery slope.
There is a place for genuine farewell statements from players seen as club legends.
Frank Lampard, for one, last month wrote a concise, heartfelt letter to Chelsea fans after he had just brought to a close one of the most successful individual careers of the English Premier League era.
“I will always be among you and have Chelsea in my home and in my heart.”
The words rang true.
If superstars are at it, it would be mean spirited to deny lesser players the chance to say goodbye to the fans.
West Ham’s Jack Collison made news this year when he wrote an emotional, but excruciatingly long, 2,800-word open letter to Hammers fans after he was not offered a new contract. After nine years at the club that was probably fair enough.
Yet it sets a precedent. We should not have to abide every departing West Ham academy graduate committing his goodbyes to a written farewell. In some cases, the waters were muddied, and they were never muddier than when Luis Suarez was involved.
Despite his phenomenal achievements on the pitch after just three seasons, I do not think he qualifies as a Liverpool legend. After all the controversies and broken promises, the value of his words is also questionable.
Suarez, it is clear, was angling for a move from Anfield to Barcelona for some time before his World Cup meltdown led to the long Fifa ban that accelerated his departure.
“To have had the opportunity to play, enjoy, smile and score goals at a stadium as unique and special as Anfield, with all of you incredible fans supporting us, is an honour, “ he said in his open letter to Liverpool fans last week.
Whatever his faults, there is no question Suarez had a special bond with those supporters and he leaves mostly with their best, if resigned, wishes.
Yet the letter feels a little forced and was almost certainly written by his public relations people. Besides, for those who idolised him, the goals were enough. This will not change anyone else’s opinion.
This self-indulgence seems to have taken root. Open letters are being reported as breaking news.
Patrice Evra signed a one-year extension at Manchester United at the end of last season. Last week it was revealed that he is close to joining Italian champions Juventus.
On Sunday, news “broke” that the former captain was “preparing an open farewell letter” to the club’s fans. These days, no transfer process is complete without one.
We also have cases of players writing an open letter to fans of clubs they hope to join.
In January 2013, Newcastle United’s Fabricio Coloccini wrote a letter to the fans of Argentinian club San Lorenzo to explain why his departure had been delayed to the end of the season.
“I write these lines from a long way away where I am missing my country, my family and my close ones,” he said. “And with sadness of knowing that after a series of meetings held here in Newcastle that my return to Argentina has been momentarily suspended.”
A year and half later, he remains at Newcastle.
Modern football fans might think it has always been this way. But it has not.
In his autobiography, No Half Measures, Graeme Souness talks of his departure to Sampdoria only weeks after leading Liverpool to their fourth European Cup win.
There were no protracted negotiations and only a few, less-than-gushing reports in the local papers.
There was certainly no farewell letters.
“The king is dead, long live the king and all that,” wrote Souness by way of shrugging off his departure.
Not these days.
Now it seems the king is not dead until he has penned an open letter to his subjects.
akhaled@thenational.ae
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