It must have been 1996 or 1997, my Kuya and I are staying up late (when 10pm was still considered late)watching Manchester United vs. Juventus. Our bet: 1.5L bottle of coke. I picked Manchester, he picked Juventus. I don't remember the score but I remember winning. That was my first football game; David Beckham still wasn't the global superstar that he was, he probably haven't met Posh. So, everytime we can afford to stay up late and there is a game on, we watched and took bets, until I got tired of losing. Picking the team with the better uniform isn't always the best way to go.
Fast forward to this year's world cup, I found football again. Thank God for cable and for those rich kids' schools which promote soccer, for the first time all world cup games are televised here. You know how good these games are? My mom willingly missed her telenovelas to watch the games. My mom doesn't watch sports, not even Manny Pacquiao's bouts, but there she was totally engrossed and thrilled with everything on the screen. I did not even have to explain the game because its objective is pretty obvious. So for the first time in a long while, we are watching something that we all enjoy. It had been known how much this game brings different people together.
That is one thing great about football, the rules are simple so it is easy to get and its simplicity makes it so attractive to the whole world. And watching the world watch football just fills me with good vibes. Seeing so many people with different ethnicity dancing, singing blowing the vuvuzuela and doing the wave just make so happy. The stadiums are like big melting pot and everyone is having a good time. Even when the game is getting tense and hearts and dreams are broken after the final minute, it's still good because a beautiful game was seen by all.
Speaking about heartbreaks,wow, I never thought I would feel so much for a team that I'm only watching for the first time. Watching Japan lose to Paraguay was so disappointing, I felt like crying. Maybe because they are the last asian team in the tournament and that I feel like they just can't catch a break,plus there are like two yellow cards I don't agree with the referee. Paraguay also did not play that well to deserve to win the game. With this loss, I also realized that none of the teams I picked to win had won. (Good thing there are no bets.)But with this Japan team, I really wanted them to win; the others were just for fun. I guess not having your country in the world cup has an advantage, you can switch allegiance any time.
That's what I did during during the England-Germany. I cheered for England but the Germans were so impressive and cute! I think they are the cutest team in this world cup because they matched their good looks with fantastic game. Spain is gorgeous too but I like the youthful charm of this German team.
I'm watching the semi-final match of of Spain and Germany and it doesn't look good for the Germans. I'll be so bummed if they lose and it seems like they will. They don't have the same energy they had on their previous games. Nevertheless, what is good about this team is they have so much promise for 2014. I'm so looking forward to that.
