The World cup is finally over and it really seems like an event of the past, at least for me. That is because this year the events in the World Cup where so drastically different that I never really got to sink into the mood. That being said, I know a lot of people who where completely immersed in it.
Raw emotions
I am a what you may call a “normal” football fan. What I am trying to say is that I love it when my team is playing a match and I like watching the occasional game, I have the t-shirt of my team but I am not going to cry about it. I haven’t until the moment. You never know, life can change.
It seems silly to cry over sports, doesn’t it? For your emotions to spill out over the disappointment of losing a game.
I have seen many grown men and women soaked in tears when their team has lost a match. I mean, they have seen their teams be glorious, have golden afternoons, lift their spirits and then plop, it’s all gone.
The FIFA World Cup 2018 was an excellent and unpredictable roller coaster of a month long journey. That is it: only one month and people act as if their entire life depended on it, they revolved around it.
In the end, France won. But the other big teams didn’t even come close. Teams like: Germany, Spain or Argentina failed to impress. Italy wans’t even a part of it. And there were a lot of global stars who failed shine when their country needed them the most.
On the other hand, during the last world Cup, in 2014, Germany was unstoppable I have the matches in my mind, the way the played. The way they gave it all in every single match. That is the reason they won, because they never gave up and they faught till the very end. The celebrations where amazing. And, for a minute there, it seemed as if time had gone still in Germany and all you could feel was euphoria.
So, evidently, everyone thought that Germany’s mighty 11 team would shine with such force that we would still be talking about their power. But, as they proved, they were only names, it was so sad to watch them fall. It is as if they didn’t know and could not help teh tragedy that was taking place.
I have been an expat for quite sometime and it somehow magnifies the triumphs and disasters of your national team when you are geographically separated from it. I must state that your nationality doesn’t define you as a person, but there aren’t many ways to show love for your connection to home and for many, this is the most obvious one.
On the other hand, Croatia ultimately, had more raw skill and also more guile. The latter is the price of youthful exuberance – a trade-off for energy and optimism.
The 21 World Cup tournaments have been won by eight national teams. Brazil has won five times, and they are the only team to have played in every tournament. The other World Cup winners are Germany and Italy, with four titles each; Argentina, France and inaugural winner Uruguay, with two titles each; and England and Spain with one title each.
About the World Cup
The World Cup is the most prestigious football association tournament in the world, as well as the most widely viewed and followed sporting event in the world, exceeding even the Olympic Games. The cumulative audience of all matches of the 2006 World Cup was estimated to be 26.29 billion with an estimated 715.1 million people watching the final match, a ninth of the entire population of the planet.
Seventeen countries have hosted the World Cup. Brazil, France, Italy, Germany and Mexico have each hosted twice, while Uruguay, Switzerland, Sweden, Chile, England, Argentina, Spain, the United States, Japan and South Korea (jointly), South Africa and Russia have each hosted once. Qatar are planned as hosts of the 2022 finals, and 2026 will be a joint hosted finals between Canada, the United States and Mexico, which will give Mexico the distinction of being the first country to have hosted games in three different finals.
We decided to ask around, to see how people reacted to this one month tournament.
Solkes: How did you live this World Cup?
Tina G, from England: Oh, it was amazing. For me its always amazing. I love everything about it: the feelings, the excitement, everyone comes together. I had so much fun.
Solkes: How did you live this World Cup?
Saskia, from Germany: I was very exited at the beginning but with time I sort of became disappointed. Mostly because my team got kicked out. My team is Germany.
Solkes: What made this World Cup different from the others?
Michael, from Germany: Many things. The big teams where a disspointment, to me and I think to many people. The “smaller” teams, played thir heart out. That is the reason why Croacia got to the finals. I mean, they really deserved it. Another shoker for me was that Germany did not play how I am used to seeing them. TRhis is the first time that the national team has not qualified.
Solkes: How did your schedule change during the World Cup?
Julian Davila Polania, Colombian in Quebec: It definitely changed. I am a long distance trucker. so, I organized my shifts accordingly with the games. For isntance, I had to pick up strawberries in l’Ïle d’Orléans. So while the truck was being loaded i watched the game with the farm employees (most of them from central america). In some other moments, I wouldn’t leave until the game was over (España vs Rusia).
Solkes: What did you think when you saw the big teams go out so quickly?
Julian Davila Polania, Colombian in Quebec: Some of the big teams where eliminated, we all knew that was going to happen (Argentina: lots of “stars” but little team effort, Spain: great game strategy during 2010 but very obsolete, Portugal: a very limited team). The fact that Germany didn’t go futrher was a shock. I still don’t understand what happened there.
Solkes: Where you satisfied?
Julian Davila Polania, Colombian in Quebec: I loved the World Cup. I would have loved to see Sweden go further, as well as colombia nad Germany. But it was one of best World Cups I have ever seen.
Solkes: ¿What shocked you?
Julian Davila Polania, Colombian in Quebec: I was amazed by Russia, they team, their organization, the security. Croacias president and the ambient the french had after they won. Quebec is such a teanquil city but many french live here and it was noticable. They took the streets over with flags and makeup.
Solkes: What was the best part of the World Cup for you?
Génesis Duarte, from Venezuela: I liked the surprises. It was a pretty even W.C. where we could apprecite a tough competition in most of the matches.
Solkes: What made this World Cup different from the others?
Génesis Duarte, from Venezuela: The bigest difference was the fact that new technologiues where used (VRA – Video Assistan Review). We had te opportiunity of seeinbg first hand the new path modern fottball is taking and it is very interesting. It is somenthing the fans will need to get used to but it has many advantages. There are many aspects of the rules and technology that must be analized but this is what we took from Russia 2018.
Solkes: What are your thoughts regarding the football “super stars” and the performance during the tournament?
Génesis Duarte, from Venezuela: That was another of the many interesting facts of this World Cup. This World Cupo is teachung us that football is a team sport and beyond great athlets there are eleven players who have to fight together to win a match. Players like Ronaldo, Neymar and Messi did hace their important moments and made a difference in key moments. Messi got Argentina in the second round and then they where kicked out because they played so poorly. Neymar was very present and Ronaldo made 4 goals. But let me insist in the fact that it’smore than a single players performance people must think of it a whole. teams like Croacia with 3 great players like Modric, Rakitic and Mandzukic played as a team. In France, we all saw a new player “being born”, Mbappe. However, he was focussed in playing for his team and not a team playing for one single player. That was one of Argentina’s biggest problems.
What is coming
So, after speaking with some people we got a better grip of the meaning of the World Cup. Regardless, we must say that even if the World Cup was a disappointment to many, loads of money was made. The final global TV viewership may be over one billion people. Going into detail, attracted a total TV audience of 3.2 billion.
The next four years will mark the 2022 FIFA World Cup is scheduled to be the 22nd edition of the FIFA World Cup. It is scheduled to take place in Qatar. There are many first that will take place in four years.
For example, this will be the first World Cup ever to be held in an Arab country and the first in a Muslim-majority country. In addition the tournament will be the last to involve 32 teams. This is so because in 2026 there will be 48 teams competing. This will also mark the first World Cup not to be held in May, June, or July; the tournament is instead scheduled for late November until mid-December.
So, now that the World Cup is over, it is really over. I mean, the next morning the news feed went back to the “regular” news. And, the glory of the players and their teams has been forgotten. T- shirts, scarfs and flags have been put away. But, they are well stored, waiting for the next four years when they will glow again.
