Spain are European football champions for the fourth time. After a 2:1 win in the final, coach Luis de la Fuente's team were crowned European champions.

While the players celebrated with the fans in the stadium, the trophy was quickly engraved in the background, which captain Álvaro Morata was able to raise into the Berlin night sky a short time later.

The organisers - unknowingly - demonstrated a sense of humour when engraving the trophy. They had chosen the stadium chapel in the time-honoured Berlin Olympic Stadium as the venue for this event.

While the engraver performed his task with dexterity and engraved "Spain" into the trophy for the fourth time, the television audience saw a Bible verse in the background.

On the wall of the chapel, where a prayer service is regularly held before a DFB Cup final, is the verse from Matthew 16:26: "What good is it for a man to gain the whole world and yet lose his soul?"

Such a saying in the hour of perhaps an athlete's greatest triumph is remarkable.

Short airtime at prime time

The Spaniards will not even care at the moment of victory. They wanted to savour their success.

The deeply depressed English certainly had other things to worry about, even if there are believers in both teams. Anyone who didn't want to win yesterday would have been out of place.

What else had the teams been competing against each other for four weeks?

But even with the greatest successes, whether in sports or personally, there is always another perspective on life.

With his words, Jesus directs our attention to God. He wants to take care of us in our successes and failures and wants our souls to be well.

Even during the greatest success, a prime-time text like this can get people thinking.

In Germany, over 21.64 million viewers watched the final on television. According to data from AGF Videoforschung, this represents a market share of 67.4 %. In the 14 to 49 age group, the figure was as high as 77.3 %.

The Bible text applies to everyone, regardless of whether they switched on yesterday or not.

This article was first published by Pro Medien Magazin and translated with permission.