World Cup, #38, Mendoza, Argentina, 2022 (From live TV)
Yes, much to celebrate here… but I do finish off this post with an alternative perspective on all this soccer madness. So read to the end, friends.
Soccer’s World Cup, 2022, Qatar
As I said in the intro, I’m not really much of a soccer fan. I don’t know all the rules… I have no idea how to identify an “offsides” situation… and I could never really understand the much-ado-rolling-around-on-the-ground, whilst faking a smashed shin or crushed ankle.
In fact, this was only the second complete soccer game I have ever watched on TV (the first being the Argentina vs. Holland contest a few days before).
BUT… I was sort of obligated to watch, however, since I was IN Argentina and visiting friends and family there. So, we all gathered ’round the big screen, with fingers crossed (and many signs o’ the cross).
[A caveat: I did get to go to a game at Camp Nou in Barcelona once–and was witness to some o’ that famous Messi magic!–but that was thanks to a relative with connections who happened to gift us tickets. I probably would never have gone otherwise… and I wasn’t living or dying based on who won the game (as soooo many do). I did, though, come away highly impressed by the athleticism and skill I saw on the field that day. Even so, I never made the conversion into a true “soccer fan”.]
Argentina vs. France (The Final)
Then came THIS game. Holy cow!
What an experience to actually be in the winning country at the very moment they take home the 14-pound, 18-carat gold World Cup trophy–and for them to win it in such an exhilarating, crazy, insane, bizarre, heart-thumping, historic manner!
And it brought joyous tears to many to see Messi finally get the one prize still missing from his palmarès. Good for him.
Many reviews hailed it as the most exciting World Cup Final ever played.
First Argentina looked like the easy, dominate winners, sitting at 2-0 after the first 60 minutes… then, within the space of just 120 seconds, France bounced back to tie it up 2-2… then Argentina’s Messi came through again to make it 3-2… then France bounced back YET AGAIN (their hero, Mbappé, again, for the third time) to tie it up by the end of regulation play… then the two 15-minute overtime periods with everyone on their feet and gnawing at fingernails… but STILL a 3-3 tie… so, then a sort of “sudden death” penalty kick series (just one kicker versus the goalie, quite the psychological game in itself) to decide the ultimate outcome.
And Argentina pulled it off and the celebrations began!
I imagine there had to be quite a rush to the hospital ERs all throughout Argentina as the serious fans suffered through successive heart attacks, nervous breakdowns, and brain aneurysms.
But Argentina pulled it off and the celebrations began!!!
I’m quite grateful for the experience of being an in-country witness to this amazing event in sporting history. I highly recommend it.
As to being a fan… I will definitely be tuning in to the Women’s World Cup in 2023 (the USA women are really good and have a shot). So, maybe I’m converted???
A Video
As to the truly massive celebration in Argentina, check out this amazing bird’s eye 1-minute video (credit: alepetra) of the crowds in Buenos Aires after the win:
An alternative way of seeing all this…
Two words: Roman circus.
It’s all a distraction. Keep the masses looking the other way, dontcha know.
They say that five million souls came out to celebrate the return of the Argentine National Team in Buenos Aires after their World Cup win–the largest “conglomeration” of homo sapiens EVER in the history of the country.
But…
Why have these five million souls never taken to the streets to demand, for example, an honest and independent judicial system, or an end to corruption, or a healthy economy with low inflation, or a quality education system, or a war on poverty? Where is their enthusiasm for these, arguably MUCH more important, things?
Reduced to the bare facts, it’s really all about watching 22 tattoed millionaires kick a ball around, with millions of addicted fans having their self-worth and personal identities firmly wrapped up in the end result of the contest.
All countries have their Roman circuses, of course. In the USA we have: football, baseball, basketball, wrestling, the TV remote, video games, shopping, drugs and alcohol, and the divisive and totally unnecessary politics of hate and fear. (Kicking down on that weaker and more helpless someone below you makes you feel soooo good, and you tend to forget about that top 1% that is robbing you blind while you are thus distracted).
Just think of the nice things we could have in our countries (in the USA: health care! infrastructure! schools! a green economy!) if we would just focus our energy and our money on what really matters for us and our children?
Heavy sigh…
What to think… what to think?
So, of the two very different perspectives I have offered up in this post, to which do I most sympathize?
Well… both, as it happens. As strange as it sounds, I find I can hold both in my mind at once.
Argentina’s win was joyous and wonderful… and it was profoundly disappointing. We are, after all, but little, distracted, confused, and imperfect human beans [sic] trying hard to do the best we can.
You might also like
Leave a reply