Notes on the World Cup
Living in the U.S., futbol was like a distant relative
(Photo: Photo by jason charters on Unsplash)
I did not grow up playing or watching futbol or soccer. I knew nothing about the majesty of the pitch. It was not a sport on the radar screen in the U.S. back in my day. We didn’t play it, the recreation centers didn’t teach it, and so, it is mostly a mystery for me today.
Futbol, for me, was Pele. That’s it. And Johann Cruyff. When a soccer league was launched in the U.S. in the 1970s, Pele came to play for the New York Cosmos. He was a legend by then, untouchable in terms of his charisma and presence in the world, except for a guy named Muhammad Ali.
Cruyff wasn’t as famous but he was also a legend. He played for the Washington Diplomats, the local team in D.C. He mostly played to empty stadium crowds. There were free tickets always available.
I got more interested in futbol as I got older. I used to hear people say it was the most popular sport in the world and I understood. I began to watch the World Cup as it rolled around every four years. I then read Eduard Gaelano’s book, Soccer in the Sun and Shadow and I really understood.
I now watch futbol occassionally at least and I have been to many games mostly women’s matches - The Washington Spirit, a local team, in D.C. I still don’t understand the strategy of the game very much. I am quite disappointed in that. But, that is mostly because I am a basketball fanatic. I watch basketball all year long.
I played it as a youngster in organized city leagues and played it in the student leagues in college. I was so obsessed with basketball in my 20s that I took a course in basketball to understand it like coaches coach it. I then read book after book, watched games, studied the sport like I was trying to find a cure for a disease.
Yet, even without my inability to understand the strategy in futbol, I laugh at times. I tell people: in soccer, you can’t use your hands, and yet, you must score to win. In basketball, you can’t use your feet to score.
My top World Cup moments over the years off the top of my head:
The goal in 2018 by Belguim to win a match against Japan.
Brazil losing to Germany 7-1 or something like that.
Brazil winning in 2002.
Mbappe (whenever he scores), a joy to watch.
The World Cup in South Africa in 2010
The World Cup in Korea in 2002 (I was a rising lawyer, and I would wake up to watch matches and prepare for court).
Spain winning the World Cup in 2010 was it? I was in NYC and I caught it in a bar full of their fans.
There are many more. So many more. And no, I am not a fan of Messi or Ronaldo. I don’t watch futbol much. I respect it.
I am sorry the World Cup is in the U.S. this year. This country deserves nothing of the sort at this point mostly due to its lousy leaders of questionable morals.
It is the wrong year for it to be here in any form. The POTUS is a guy who has no respect for the high culture and importance of futbol and what it means to ordinary people.
Sports is where we find peace and love for each other and it is on the pitch when we play and/or watch (I don’t play and never will) that it really comes together. The moneychangers and oligarchs can never understand that.
I leave you with the words of Eduardo Gaelano, who wrote the best book on soccer I have ever read mentioned above:
'“The fiesta of soccer, a feast for the legs that play and the eyes that watch, is much more than a big business run by overlords from Switzerland. The most popular sport in the world wants to serve the people who embrace it.”
And finally, one more from him, more playful in tone:
“In his life, a man can change wives, political parties or religions but he cannot change his favourite soccer team.”
My footnote to the last quote is - basketball team. Basketball team. I agree.
But, I do wish all of the teams/countries in the World Cup, the very best, and I do hope you can get in and out of the U.S., with as little hassle as possible. This place makes me ill these days.