July 7, 2010
Everyone was excited. On Wednesday, for the first time ever, Spain won the semi-final against Germany and advanced to the final of the World Cup of Futbol. That’s soccer to us North Americans of Washington State who think of Huskies, Cougars and Seahawks when folks speak of football.
On Sunday a projection TV was set up at our church and probably every other place with a wall in town. We decided to stay home and watch with a guest family that was residing here. What a game! The Netherlands was roundly criticized afterwards for their Kung Fu futbol approach. They played a very physical and rough game earning about 11 yellow cards and one red card [ejection] that took place in the second extra period. A scoreless tie until then, over 110 minutes, then Spain had, during the final ten minutes one player more. Like a hockey power play and the winning goal was scored.
In the rest of the world, however, Futbol is King. In every playground you see little boys kicking the “pelota” [or whatever they call it in many countries] with amazing skill. Yesterday I saw a boy who could not be more than six years old received a waist high pass [kick] from his father. The boy jumped up with one foot meeting the ball and it dropped to the ground without a bounce. In a flash he then kicked it perfectly to his father with the other foot. Amazing!
For the semi-final I had to go to a plaza in our town where the game was going to be displayed on a large outdoor screen. We have all seen the post game shots of screaming fans of the victorious team and I can tell you that the noise was incredible even before play started.
The World Cup took place in South Africa over nearly a month with 32 national teams from around the world.
