The Hurt and the Pride
When I was going home I was watching Americans wrapped in national colours going to watch their match with Belgium. The streets were mostly empty and the only places where you could see people were bars and restaurants with TV screens. And all those screens were showing the match. The whole main street looked like a dead town with almost noone around except for places showing the World Cup. It was funny how you could tell which places were showing it just by the fact that there were people there. Even on my bus I could here people listening to the match on their phones.
And I know that many people already left for the long weekend and the students are no longer here but still it was eerie. And kind of familiar - because that's how it should be when your country is playing. Even when you know they are going to loose. (With all the group winners advancing now I kind of want the Colombia, Costa Rica, France and Belgium semifinals. Yes I am fickle and contrary.) You just hope to lose well and be proud of the team and thanks to US goalkeeper Americans suddenly gained some cred (according to my male football obsessed friends it helps finding friends to drink with in foreign countries). Because in the end 31 teams loose and this was never going to be US year. And it hurts but if it hurts it shows you really care and this is as big part of World Cup as the game itself.
Of course it's just a game. The endless discussions about whether this is the moment when scoccer makes it in US doesn't really mean anything. Whether it is or isn't popular here doesn't really matter. Because here it's just another sport and even if it becomes more popular it won't really impact much.
But I do feel angry when those right wing pundits dismiss it because it's cheap (no, in rich countries it isn't - kits and boots can be a small fortune as my boss complains) and therefore can be played by poor people (true - because you can play it even without all this expensive stuff but how is that a bad thing?). I get angry because they act like the fact that anyone can be good at something, without putting insane amounts of money into it, makes that thing less valuable. Like the effort to be good doesn't matter - only how much you paid to get there. But the value of sports is measured in passion not by the cost of becoming a player (or the price of the minute of advertisement). It's measured in the power to change lives. And this is the only reason why football really matters. Because sometimes it can make all the difference in the world.
I'm pretty sure that for those girls that win mattered more than World Cup ever could to whoever wins it this year. And I say it knowing that winning the World Cup means everything to millions of people.
And I know that many people already left for the long weekend and the students are no longer here but still it was eerie. And kind of familiar - because that's how it should be when your country is playing. Even when you know they are going to loose. (With all the group winners advancing now I kind of want the Colombia, Costa Rica, France and Belgium semifinals. Yes I am fickle and contrary.) You just hope to lose well and be proud of the team and thanks to US goalkeeper Americans suddenly gained some cred (according to my male football obsessed friends it helps finding friends to drink with in foreign countries). Because in the end 31 teams loose and this was never going to be US year. And it hurts but if it hurts it shows you really care and this is as big part of World Cup as the game itself.
Of course it's just a game. The endless discussions about whether this is the moment when scoccer makes it in US doesn't really mean anything. Whether it is or isn't popular here doesn't really matter. Because here it's just another sport and even if it becomes more popular it won't really impact much.
But I do feel angry when those right wing pundits dismiss it because it's cheap (no, in rich countries it isn't - kits and boots can be a small fortune as my boss complains) and therefore can be played by poor people (true - because you can play it even without all this expensive stuff but how is that a bad thing?). I get angry because they act like the fact that anyone can be good at something, without putting insane amounts of money into it, makes that thing less valuable. Like the effort to be good doesn't matter - only how much you paid to get there. But the value of sports is measured in passion not by the cost of becoming a player (or the price of the minute of advertisement). It's measured in the power to change lives. And this is the only reason why football really matters. Because sometimes it can make all the difference in the world.
I'm pretty sure that for those girls that win mattered more than World Cup ever could to whoever wins it this year. And I say it knowing that winning the World Cup means everything to millions of people.