So they’ve spent all summer buying big, shiny cars, parading their Hello Kitty wives, waxing their chests, moaning that a €200,000 pay package a week is just not enough, and giving interviews. But finally, the players have waxed their chests, got a new tattoo, and are off to give one of the most beautiful spectacles – football.

Everything I know about morality and the obligations of men, I owe it to football.- Albert Camus

My wife says football is boringly repetitive – it’s always a matter of 22 men with too much gel in their hair running after a bit of leather. Then someone will score and take their shirt off (which is where the waxed chest comes in), while one of the opposing players, jealous of the limelight the winning team is getting, will dive theatrically as if he has just been shot by a sniper.

And, because I am a good husband, I just nod and tell her that she’s right. And, admittedly, she is. Yet within that closed text of football, there’s the poetry of Lionel Messi’s circus-worthy trickery, Neymar’s step over magic, Zlatan Ibrahimovic’s gravity-defying skills, and Douglas Maicon’s turf-blistering pace (hey, I had to put in one of ours). And there is always that unexpected drama of the beautiful game – will Mario Balotelli get sent off or score one of those goals which will get a zillion views on Youtube? What will José Mourinho say in his pre-match conference?

I know that this is not a sports supplement. And football is hardly a show of technological wizardry.

Or is it?

I have increasingly lived football through technology over the past years. In fact, the last time I watched a live football match was in 2008, when I watched Inter go down to Liverpool at San Siro stadium. After the 90 minutes, I was so dejected that I walked back to my hotel. It was a two-hour walk. And, unlike the Liverpool supporters, I did walk alone (which is why it was with such pleasure that I saw the Reds go down to West Bromwich Albion in their opening game of the season – yes, I do hold a grudge).

On the other hand, I’ve spent countless hours watching games streamed live on my laptop, enjoying the highlights of games I’ve missed on, updating myself on the transfer market on the calciomercato websites, and playing FIFA on my iPad.

And not only does football translate itself well through technology – you can’t get the same views and fancy camera work at the stadium – but it has also given me so much thrills. Just consider – when Inter won the Champions League (by now you should have guessed where my sympathies lie), I stayed up all night, watching the highlights of the game over and over again. And even now, when I’m in a nostalgic mood, I warm up the DVD player and watch Diego Milito score that marvellous brace.

And the best thing about getting my dose of football through technology is that I can always switch the telly off, close the streaming window, unplug my radio, and go nurse my woes on my own.

techeditor@timesofmalta.com