Copa Mundial en Argentina

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A couple weeks into the Copa Mundial (World Cup) and I’m finally getting around to writing about it. So far, I’ve watched nearly every game in a café, bar, bakery, grocery store, you name it. I won’t go into details on who I think is doing well or bad, other than saying I think this is the worst year England has ever seen. I mean, tying the Americans and Algeria? What happened?!?!
The Americans are doing “well”. Pulling off that tie to England which really should have been a win if they weren’t playing so horribly. And that comeback tie to Slovenia that, due to some horrible refereeing, wasn’t a win. If the American team picks up their play, they will be the team to beat this year.
Uruguay has been a pleasant surprise in Group A. Pulling of first in their group. Nice to see a team that is relatively quiet come up to challenge teams like France and Mexico, both of which haven’t been nearly as aggressive in years past. Mexico just barely making second, and France not winning a single game.
No surprises coming from a country that is completely obsessed with futbol here… Argentina won every game they played so far beating South Korea, who took second, Greece, and Nigeria.
Germany Pulled off a fantastic 4 - 0 win against Australia in the first round. Some people looked at this win and suggested that Germany was going to be the powerhouse this year. I would have been with them, watching all the fancy footwork by their midfielders, but after the 1 - 0 loss to Serbia in the second game, it’s questionable if they’ll even make the next round now.
Italy has been the real disappointment in the cup. After winning the cup last time, they came back and proved that all they can do is tie. They tied a game with Paraguay, one that should have been easily winnable. And them embarrassingly, they tied New Zealand. I thought they would be the favorites this year, but they proved me wrong.
Living in a country that is obsessed with futbol, the World Cup has meant even more to me than ever before. The games are on everywhere no matter who is playing. And there is always someone watching them. Unable to see the US vs. England game in the bars, I figured I’d go home, and watch it on the internet. First I would get a snack at the grocery store. Inside, I was surprised to find that they were televising the game in their electronics section. I would spend the next 80 minutes standing in front of a plasma screen television with 20 other Argentines watching one of the worst international matches I had ever seen.
But the real fun is going to watch an Argentina game. The first game Argentina played was against Nigeria. I watched this match in a restaurant with some friends. The crowd in the restaurant was made up of us, 20 to 25 year old Americans, and several 40 to 60 year old Argentines. Needless to say, there wasn’t much of an atmosphere, even though Argentina did win 1 - 0.
The next game I watched from my home. Argentina beat South Korea 4 - 1. No atmosphere as I was working on a school paper at the time. Though you didn’t need to watch the game to keep score. The neighborhood erupted into cheers when Argentina scored and shook with the sound of “BOO” when Nigeria did.
The final game in the group stage that I watched was between Argentina and Greece. This game was a good one. Not only did no one score until the second half, but we, my family and I, were sitting in a small café among 25 to 30 year old Argentines who were really getting into the game. Tensing up whenever Greece got close to the Argentine goal, exclaiming oo’s and ah”s whenever Argentina nearly scored. Finally, in the second half, Argentina scored and the little café shook with the cheering. Fists being thrown in the air, everyone yelling, and horns blaring. A few minutes later, Argentina sealed their victory with another goal which was met with equal amounts of cheering.
Who’s next for Argentina? Mexico on the 27th. I will be watching that game. And likely be cheering with the Argentines.

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