The universe will never be the same - São Paulo

Caravanning with the Argentinians - Belo Horizonte - Porto Alegre

So, as I have mentioned before, I am having a GREAT time with the World Cup. One of the reasons is that it turns out that I am really good at predictions. Let me tell you two examples:

1. At minute 85 (it's 90 minutes + injury time in a match for all those confused) of the Argentina-Iran game, the score was tied 0-0. My kid started crying because he wanted to see a Messi goal. I promised him that Messi would make a goal--I mean I promised...BOOM! At minute 91 (regulation time + 1 minute, are you following me Americans?), Messi got a goal. Even my kid was impressed with me (okay, he was more impressed with Messi, what can you do?)

2. At minute 70 of the Uruguay-Italy game, I was online with an Italian friend who was getting upset about the red carding of the Italian dude and I said "don't worry, game is not over, Suarez will probably bite someone." I'm not kidding--it's right there on my facebook page. And at around minute 80, Suarez did bite someone. Okay, so Italy lost but that's not the point.

So, I'm feeling very chuffed with myself. Yeah, I didn't see Costa Rica coming and yeah, I've gotten most of the score predictions wrong but I am good with some of it. And I'm enjoying the heck out of the rest of it. 

A few friends have sent me the link to Ann Coulter's deluded rant against soccer yesterday. Clearly she has never watched a game in her life. Does she have kids? God, I hope not. Anyway, she is as demented as Suarez but her bites don't hurt as much and pretty much we should all ignore her. The fact of the matter is the World Cup is so much fun. More fun than Nascar, the NBA finals or baseball which I think are the things she mentioned. Okay, minus Nascar. I've never been to a Nascar race so I'd better wipe that one off my complaints here.

Anyway, here's what's fun for the non-soccer person (that's me in spite of being a card-carrying Palmeiras "fan"):

1. Soccer is bloodier than most sports. And it's crafty-bloody. As in, there is no instant replay for the refs to look and say "wow, he really did bite that guy" or "I think elbowing his nose out of joint is cause for a yellow card."  I saw Cavani chuck a guy out of bounds while the ref wasn't looking, I've seen all kinds of "hugs" and kicks and smooshes. Some of it makes me cringe--like Jones and the other guy (sorry terrible with names) from the US crashing into each other--that was worse than a Raiders game.  The gauging and cleats flying is also scary... So not sure that is "fun" but anyway, it's ummm, entertainment.

2. The fans. Oh, my gosh, the fans. First and foremost, let's talk about the South Americans who are here (non-Brazilians). The Argentinians are nuts. We saw converted buses traveling from Belo Horizonte on their way to the next stop in Porto Alegre, covered with blue and white flags. One had hung a real air conditioner out the back window--you know a regular size window air conditioner--and was going hells bells down the highway. This is fandom. The Argentinian fans are so far my favorites--they were polite and good-humored and singing all the time at the Iran game. Love.

Chileans are also here in force. I can hardly believe there are so many Chileans at all. A sea of red. I hope that if they win tomorrow against Brazil, there is not another type of sea of red. No, just kidding--this World Cup fandom is amazingly non-violent. There really are no fights between the fans--they can all sit in the stadium next to each other and no one dies like in club soccer. Love.

Even on TV, you have to be amused by how fans dress, how they cheer, everything. It is a giant party. Yeah, I know I forget to watch soccer when watching the fans but it's hard not to when they are dressed in diapers and whatever else.

Korean fan in diapers. Not sure why. Maybe it's "why not?" Image credit: uol.com.br

And if you think the gringos are immune to "loucura", guess again.Image: uol.com.br

The rising sun? Yes, of course! Credit again to uol.com.br

There's an ad for McDonald's right now which I think sums it up pretty well. Here is the link in case it does not embed: http://youtu.be/uqpw8R-vqD8. The universe will never be the same...I'm glad you came:

3. The stars. I mean the soccer stars. I love watching Messi, Muller, Robben, these guys who are living highlight reels. Yeah, if you hate soccer, you can catch the "real" highlights reel but you're missing the anticipation. And let's face it: soccer is all anticipation. 

4. The joy. Imagine being one of these 11 players on the field and winning a World Cup match, 65,000 people watching you live, millions at home. It must be just incredible. I love watching the moments of joy, the teams streaming onto the field to hug and jump on and pretty much run over the goal-maker. 

Today is a day completely without games. I'm not really sure what to do with my afternoon. Well, okay, so I'm heading to my favorite sushi restaurant with friends, picking up a shirt for my son, and bringing the kids to swimming but I mean besides that! Oh, real life. So it will go on after this? Yes, and I will move from Brazil on July 23 with the best possible memories. 

I'm glad I stayed for this. Tem Copa!

 

Another reason to cheer - São Paulo

2002 World Cup Team. Cafu to the right in the back, Lucio number 3 next to him

So, today I was at my usual weekly Reading Mum volunteer role at my kids' English language school in São Paulo. The Year 1 students (all around 6 years old) read to me one at a time--a short book in English. I correct pronunciation or get them back on track when they get distracted by stroppy stepsisters. This morning, about five kids into the stack of books, the Year 1 classrooms started to explode with energy. I mean more than every other single day of the year. People kept saying "Lúcio, Lúcio" and I thought to myself, huh, that name sounds vaguely familiar. 

There is a reason for that. Lúcio is a 36-year old Palmeiras player (he joined in January) and has played for seven teams total (I did not know this of course; he told us when questioned) including the Brazilian World Cup team of 2002. And that was a year that Brazil won (even I knew that one!). He had his World Cup medal with him, and a special World Cup replica trophy that only World Cup winners get from an Italian sculptor. 

A World Cup trophy in amongst the plastic water bottles and ABCs

I of course could not resist. When all the little kids filed into the classroom to meet Lúcio, I went too. I had some tiny bit of right to be there as I read with Lúcio's daughter last term. For obvious reasons, I will not be telling you her name, show her photo or mention which school she attends. All I can tell you is that this cute little girl just radiated happy pride and love when her father walked in. 

Lúcio, and all I'm going to show you of his daughter--with her hand on his leg.

Just like any other parent coming to tell about his/her career, Lúcio talked about his. He answered questions about how many soccer cleats he had owned in his life, who was the best player in the world, which was his favorite club team, how many times someone had kicked a goal over his head. He answered all the questions with a smile (and in Portuguese, by the way) and with quiet confidence. It is impossible not to like him. Seriously, I dare you.

Lúcio had come from yesterday's loss 600 km away, flying in this morning, and coming directly to the school. I loved how he made his daughter a priority when he could. And what I mean by this is that if you think about these players, you think about how much money they make, how egotistical they are, how space alien-like they are (but I will stop talking about Cristiano Ronaldo soon). What you don't see behind them is their families.

Now I don't know Lúcio but let's just imagine how his life is. Especially in the twilight of his playing career. He won a World Cup in 2002, he was the captain of the team in 2006, and played as well in 2010 for coach Dunga, his hero. And in between all this he played for several European teams as well as several here in Brazil. When approached to leave Brazil last year to play again in Europe, he refused. He wanted to stay in Brazil. 

And when I watched his daughter, I understood it. His wife Dione was there too--together they have 3 kids. And these three kids and his wife get left behind when the team trains for the big games, for the travel all over the country and world and at the late night games, they are surely all asleep. I forget how many games these guys play in a year but it's unbelievable! 

When I sit with a kid to read, it doesn't occur to me what happens at their homes at night. Some go to bed without mom or dad around a lot of the time. And that makes me sad. And it must make the parent sad too.

Now Lúcio is not going to the World Cup this year. Okay, he is probably going but he is not playing. He will watch his compatriots go for the gold--and I hope he watches those games from home with his wife and three kids. And he will know the cost to players and to their families of all of the training, all of the stress and all of millions of harsh words that are leveled at the players that they must ignore.

We can't forget in the middle of all this corruption and protests and FIFA-hating and Dilma-hating, there are 11 men on the field, and 12 more on the bench, who have lived entire lives for this World Cup. And they have sacrificed--even Cristiano Ronaldo who I love to hate has had to give up "normal" life for "national service" and his own dreams. And some of them are happy with that for a while...a long while... but I'm guessing that it weighs on all of them. 

So cheer for the players. Especially the ones you have never heard of and who don't make 8000000 billion on sports ads and drinks. They are giving up some of themselves for us, the spectators. 

Another reason to cheer. If not for Lúcio this time, for the others who come after.

Yeah it's dark...but here's me and Lucio..

Vai ter Copa - São Paulo

I admit it; I'm excited for the World Cup. It's 16 days to go, I've got my Uruguay, Brazil and US shirts, my tickets to Argentina-Iran, and Shakira just released her video so I don't have to watch Pitbull and J-Lo anymore. It's time to look forward and not back at the $7000000000 zillion that was wasted.

As many of you who follow me know, I don't really like watching soccer--yeah, I liked playing it as a kid, and I'm pretty much party rice at any Palmeiras game at Pacaembu but generally, nah. So, if I'm not watching it for the football, why am I so excited?

Well, I'll tell you. In a list. Here are my top 5 reasons for me to be excited about the World Cup.

In first place, I love the human stories. The teeny-tiny teams.  The African teams. The also-rans. The ones without a hope of winning, but every bit excited about playing. My current top three:

1. Iran. Okay, so I'm American and a woman so you'd think that I wouldn't have much sympathy for these guys...but then came the "human interest story" earlier this month. The Iranian players are forbidden from trading their uniform shirts at the end of games because they don't have enough funds to buy tons of extra shirts (say, where is that oil money?) And there's a funny story about the goalie washing his own shirt and it shrinking. And then of course the jokes about the shirts being white and red and the chances of them being pink by the end: high. How can you not feel for them? I do. Well, okay, I don't want them to win, but I love that they are at the World Cup (I do realize they beat the US in 1998. S*** happens). 

Dear players: wash those socks separately in cold water.

2. Cote d'Ivoire. The elephants. Well, of COURSE I like this team as their mascot and nickname is the Elephants. As I said, I am pre-disposed to love any of the African teams because of their David & Goliath nature next to the big teams. They have qualified for three consecutive World Cups--wouldn't it be fun if they made it out of the group stage? I think so too. A new house of orange. Plus with names like Boubacar Barry, or Sol Bamba or Yaya Touré, how can you not want to yell out your cheers? And I like Drogba. Not his name. But the captain is 36 years old. Love. 15 million population, a recent civil war, an agriculture-reliant economy; a good football campaign would be GREAT for them. Go, pachyderms!

3. Costa Rica. The Ticos (what this means, I dunno) Again, here is this tiny nation that has to fight against the US and Mexico in CONCACAF. And they are in one of the two groups of death this time around: seriously, the poor kids are against England, Uruguay and Italy in the group stage. Hello? The other three teams own seven world cups between them. I definitely cheer for them against Italy which I consider staffed heavily by big dramatic babies, and against England just because I am guaranteed to get the most comments from my Brit friends about this. Uruguay I cover later. Other tidbits about Costa Rica: it is the only Latin American country to have a democracy since before 1950, and in 1949, it abolished its army. This may not be good in case they win against Italy and the bambini invade.

Next, the team that makes Brazilians cringe almost as much as their Argentinian neighbors. The team that beat them on home turf in 1950.  And no, it's not just about Diego Forlán (yay, another post where I get to put a gratuitous photo of my main soccer squeeze), but about the history and the fact that this soccer powerhouse IS teeny-tiny too.

 
4.Uruguay. La Celeste. This country is the king of cute. Literally. It has 3.25 million people (in São Paulo, that is roughly the number of people who commute from one side of the city to another on a daily basis). It is the smallest country to have won the world cup--it had 1.75 million people when it won in 1930. They knocked Brazil on its keister in 1950 when they came from behind to win--and the architect of the winning goal is still alive and coming for the World Cup. Yikes for him. Now, I admit I am not a big fan of the muncher named Luis Suarez but it looks like he may not make it anyway. Cavani is fun to watch and I think we don't need to review my Diego Forlán obsession. Listen, the man is 35 years old and won the golden boot in 2010 so it's not all a pretty face. Anyway, if you want to seem smart about football, know that Uruguay is bigger than it seems on paper.

And the most important reason of all: Those for whom the Cup has still the magic and joy.

5. The seniors and the kids. Yesterday I picked up my World Cup tickets from the distribution center in Ibirapuera. As we waited for the doors to open, I watched the 8 or so 70+ year old men in the priority line talk about watching World Cups since they were televised. Most only heard 1950's World Cup on the radio. They had stuff to say about Pele, about Garrincha, about everyone I never knew I knew--and their eyes sparkled with excitement to see the Cup in Brazil. Dear protestors: do not take the joy from these men. And possibly women though there were none there that day.

And of course, my sons. Especially the blond one whose favorite player is Lionel Messi from Argentina. My sons are seven years old. They think farts are funny, that the world revolves around them, and that soccer stars are gods. What great good fortune that they are able to be part of the magic of a live game.

So that's it. Those are my top five reasons that I am happy that there will be a World Cup here. Vai ter Copa. Vai. And I am pretty darned excited about it.