World Cup Memories #1
Greetings, readers! Alan’s enjoying some time away, and he’s asked me to fill in with a couple guest posts in his absence. Now, first things first: I’m American. Deal with it. Now that we’ve gotten the formalities out of the way, let’s proceed…
The World Cup. That wonderful month when we, the football fans of the world, tune out from the dream-world of jobs, family, food and personal hygiene. For one month we come truly alive, watching for that one moment that will carry us through the next four years. Yes, we love our clubs, but the Cup is something altogether different. If our clubs are the meat and potatoes of day-in day-out living, the Cup is the holiday feast. Sometimes everything turns out perfect; sometimes the American turkey comes out a little underdone. There’s always next Christmas…
I want to share three of my favorite World Cup memories in the next few days. I hope you’ll join in the reminiscing…
USA ‘94
The World Cup came onto my radar in 1990, but the coverage stateside was nonexistent. 1994, however, was something completely different. I had one year of college under my belt, and a road trip was planned. Me and two buddies mare the four-hour drive up I-75 to see Sweden - Russia in Detroit. We left early in my old pick-up truck so we could experience the whole thing. (Another friend was taking a separate trip, and his memories aren’t quite so fond.)
We arrived to a massive crowd. No sense fighting traffic for a close parking spot. We were young, so we ducked into a grass lot and started walking toward the stadium. The Swedes were in full voice, as the concourse echoed in song. We took it in before heading to our seats behind one goal. Now, the Silverdome is an NFL stadium, and it seats 80K+. We did not have the best seats - but we had seats! We only had to hope the action would occur on our end.
Sweden defended the near goal to open the match, and the Russians earned a penalty straight away. We were off to a good start. The Swedes would equalize with a penalty of their own later in the half, but lady luck wasn’t done with us. The second half opened with Sergei Gorlukovich being shown a red, and the Swedes pounced. Martin Dahlin would go on to score twice on headers right under our nose.
After the match, we floated on endorphins and adrenaline back to the parking lot. Traffic was gridlocked, but we were in no hurry. We had wisely packed a soccer ball, and before we knew it we had a small sided match going until dark. That was the day I fell in love with the World Cup.
What about you? When did you fall in love with the World Cup?
Related Stories
POSTED IN: FIFA World Cup
2 opinions for World Cup Memories #1
Milo Riano
Jul 28, 2006 at 10:39 am
It was in 2002 that I actually went crazy on World Cup, all because of Oliver Kahn primarily because I had a forgettable experience when I played the goal keeper role 14 years-ago.
A close friend of mine was unbelievable with all those saves that at the end of the year he gave me his goalkeeper tournament jersey which prompted me to play the position in a summer tournament. I thought wearing his jersey underneath my uniform would make me invincible, but letting the opponent score almost 7 goals a game was plain pathetic.
Everyone knew how Oliver performed in 2002, but the last game against Brazil saw Ronaldo scoring twice which somehow gave me mixed emotions.
Ronaldo is my personal favorite as I play the striker position in every game (except for that forgettable goalkeeper position) and seeing him score twice on an unpenetrable Oliver Kahn brought me so much joy. But at the same time, being a frustrated goalkeeper that I am, I was totally amazed on how a goalkeeper (Oliver Kahn) could become the center of attraction in a tournament.
This kind of weird affection for a striker and goalkeeper experienced in a World Cup Finals totally made me love the game especially when I watched it together with tons of people drinking and shouting as if it was the last thing they would ever do.
Bald Man
Jul 28, 2006 at 1:07 pm
Milo,
I’m still trying to decide what I think of Kahn. His performance in 2002 was unbelievable. Unfortunately, his best was seen against my red, white and blue.
Have an opinion? Leave a comment: