Football is cruel a lot more often than it is redemptive. Had it been an odd year, Antoine Griezmann would have spent the summer pursing his lips into a tight smile whenever anyone wanted to talk to him about football.
Forget the 32 goals he had scored for Atletico Madrid. Forget his totemic presence as a butterfly among Diego Simeone's bulldogs. Forget the fact he'd established himself as one of the continent's finest talents. All he would have thought about is that missed penalty in the UEFA Champions League final against Real Madrid.
Beautiful losers are, after all, still losers.