The World Cup

I am pretty sure that there is nothing I can say that hasn’t been said already in this past month of the World Cup.  But what a month it was!  Everyone was a futbol fan; and if they weren’t, they at least feigned some sort of interest.  The real fans were discussing the World Cup long before it started.  They planned their schedules around the matches and relished in all the variables and stats of the teams in each group.  Enthusiasts traveled near and far to find the largest screens in bars, restaurants, homes and even work locations.  There were ‘watching’ parties everywhere.  Discussions of the day’s matches and the players were heard in just about every venue by fans of all ages.  Yet there were those who kept asking, ‘why are they still nil nil?’, ‘who’s Messi?’, ‘what is extra time?’, and ‘what is flopping?’   Unnerving to some of us, but at least they were asking the questions.  They were interested.  So we were compelled to educate them about the players, the jerseys, the two halves, the extra time and the penalties.  And here we are at the end of this thrilling World Cup full of early surprising defeats, underdogs advancing against all odds, a tough and humiliating knockout to the hosting Brazilians, and a more than deserving champion in Germany.  I couldn’t have asked for more.