by Kevin Burton
How to wrap one’s heart and empathetic mind around the heartbreak for England as it coughed up a late lead to lose 2-1 to Argentina in the World Cup semi-finals Wednesday?
Think of a Cleveland basketball fan watching Michael Jordan sink a jumper over Craig Ehlo in the 1989 playoffs to eliminate the Cavs. Now spread the anguish over a whole nation, not just one city.
England scored in the 55th minute Wednesday, and for half an hour inched toward a berth in the World Cup final against Spain. But in the furious ending to the game, they gave up a tying goal in the 85th minute and the goal that won it for Argentina in the second minute of extra time.
England lost in the most soul-crushing way to a despised national enemy, not just sports rival. Now they have to muster the energy to play another heated rival, France, in a game for third place Saturday.
My heart aches for my friend Linda, who lives about an hour southeast of London. I was thinking about her as they got close to reaching the final then in despair afterwards.
I thought England was going to lose to Norway in the previous round, but they won that one. England (as was my other favorite team, Mexico) was much more stout in this tournament than I have seen them before. Only an all-time talent like Lionel Messi of Argentine was able to do them in.
I plan to watch the final, but in relative detachment. I am hoping Spain wins because it seems to me that along the way Argentina has benefitted from some overly-favorable referee calls..…..
Anyway, my soccer jones has been re-fed. I’m hoping whatever cable package we get when we change providers will let me watch Premier League games on NBC and its cable outlets……
One question I took away from watching the World Cup; why do most of the national anthems sound like dirges? Did you notice that too?
Dreadful stuff. It felt like funeral music, the kind you would play on state-controlled media after your dictator dies in office.
It’s like, oh, Brezhnev died, cue the musicians.
If I ever start a country, I’ll be writing an anthem based on the work of Earth Wind & Fire! Give me something like “September.” Surely that would get the national juices flowing, get you all fired up to kick butt in soccer or war or whatever.
And of course dear readers you are invited to my country,…….
“Kevistan?”………….
The World Cup ruling body FIFA is already talking of expanding the tournament from 48 to 64 teams. The tournament that will end Sunday is the first, after expansion from 32 teams to 48. After some thought I’m OK with the first expansion. But I am relatively new to soccer. I wonder what the old guard thinks?
There were times in this World Cup I got that old Wichita State basketball, underdog feeling. You had completely legitimate teams that only needed a chance to play the big boys to prove they belonged.
. Cape Verde anyone?
But 64 teams might be pushing it. At 48 we have already seen teams that didn’t belong on the same field with the others. Not every underdog can be Wichita State/Cape Verde.
With 64 teams, we could even see the likes of Italy getting an invite!……..
Maybe my headline to this post should have been “Dribbles And Bits.” What do you think?….
Speaking of the old guard, I wonder they think of “hydration breaks.” Soccer is the sport of the world. Heretofore it hadn’t been tarnished (too much) by corporatism. Those unwanted, unneeded hydration breaks had everything to do with sponsors getting commercials on the air and maybe just a little bit about the needs of the players….
The next World Cup will be hosted jointly by Portugal, Spain and Morocco. Since the USA won’t be hosting they don’t have an automatic place in the tournament. So USA soccer fans will want to keep tabs on Trinidad and Tobago.
No, Trinidad and Tobago is not a comedy team from the 50s, it’s an actual country. And that particular soccer juggernaut knocked the US out of the 2018 World Cup during the qualifying stages. Be afraid, be very afraid……
“The likes of Italy getting an invite,” that I wrote earlier, that was a joke. Were you soccer-literate enough to get it?
Italy is a world power, the kind of team that would usually wipe the floor, or the pitch, with the likes of USA. But somehow they have not qualified for the last three World Cups.
It would be like Duke not qualifying for three straight NCAA basketball tournaments. Unthinkable.
Italy is four-time world champion, with wins in 1934, 1938, 1982 and 2006……..
I turned the TV off after England lost Wednesday and thus did not see the bad behavior by the Argentina team after the game.
This from BBC sports reporter Adwaidh Rajan:
“After the final whistle, Argentina players celebrated while holding a banner reading “Las Malvinas son Argentinas,” which translates as “The Falklands are Argentine.”
“The Falklands, a British overseas territory in the south-west Atlantic Ocean, remain the subject of a sovereignty dispute between the UK and Argentina.”
“Downing Street backed calls for FIFA to investigate, with the prime minister’s official spokesperson saying: ‘The World Cup might not be ours, but the Falkland Islands definitely are. Our commitment to the Falklands will never waver.’”
“Argentina, ruled at the time by a military junta led by General Leopoldo Galtieri, invaded the islands, situated 300 miles off Argentina’s east coast, in 1982.”
“The conflict, which lasted for 74 days between April to June 1982, led to the deaths of 655 Argentine and 255 British servicemen. Three people from the islands also died.”
England repelled the invasion, but not before 913 lives ended prematurely.
Given that FIFA referees virtually handed two games to them, I am guessing there will be no meaningful punishment for Argentina.
Page 7 