Cape Verde deserve a mention this morning before and above everything else. Words of wow and wonder at the Cape Verde football team in the World Cup. They played Argentina, the world number 1 team, current holders of the Cup, and Argentina were taken to extra time by little islanders Cape Verde. I even woke up and listened to the extra time on the radio in the night. No fluke, no luck, just sheer hard work and good football and attitude. They fought and they fought to come from behind once, then twice and then took the game to extra time. They never ever gave up. Even though they lost 3-2 in the end they were the heroes of the night. They bring smiles to the faces of football throughout the world.
I sat talking to a lady at the station the other day and she was full of Trump Derangement Syndrome. She said loads of things about the Cup for which she blamed Trump like ticket prices, games played all over, three countries, you name it she blamed Trump. She did not have any grasp of FIFA organisation. She then went on to say her daughter lives in Massachusetts as if that made her an expert and smugly said "they all hate football and are not interested in the stupid World Cup". This morning I noticed that the largest Cape Verde presence in the US is a community outside Boston, MA. The powers that be in that town put a curfew on the Cape Verde supporters. Well I hope they had a lovely evening of celebration without the spoil sports of Boston and the state of Massachusetts because Cape Verde footballers and their fans can be proud and they can celebrate all they want. They brought joy to the world of football.
Good for Cape Verde. I don't watch the football as you know Rachel but I am pleased when the 'underdogs' do well. I hope the 'underdogs' do well Monday morning too! Did you have to bite your tongue when the lady with Trump derangement syndrome was in full deranged mode? I can never see/hear the word Massachusetts without thinking of the Kenny Everett impersonation of the Bee Gees with their mass of chew sets! Hope your day is going well Rachel. x
ReplyDeleteI explained to her how the World Cup is organised by FIFA, stadia bookings, costs, between FIFA and the owners, countries organised by FIFA committee etc. etc. So, no I didn't bite my tongue. I just gave her the facts. I said nothing more but that I had read that some on the left have been trying to turn the tournament into something of a political issue. Cape Verde won many fans last night in the football world with top names singing their praises. England, whatever happens, I doubt will show collectively the passion that Cape Verde players have shown although some individuals in the team might.
DeleteAnonymous above is me Rachel!
ReplyDeleteI guessed it was you! xxx
DeleteLike that woman, some people believe they know it all (and better than everyone else) when they don‘t have a clue and never bother to check the facts.
ReplyDeleteOf course hosting any sports event as big as this always has a political dimension, but that doesn‘t mean that one single person within a country‘s government is to blame (or praise) for it all - totally unrealistic!
I remember the year the championship was held in Germany. Some cities in the East were hosting matches, and a lot of people begrudged them the sudden surge in having long overdue roadworks done, train stations and hotels built or renovated, city centres cleaned up and so on. I was in Leipzig that summer to work at a convention and was really impressed by how much better the place looked thanks to the influx of money being invested for lasting benefits.
The desire from FIFA now is to steer away from infrastructure costs being borne by one country alone and to eliminate the need for new stadia. To achieve this the tournament hosting is deliberately shared by more than one nation. The next World Cup in four years time will be spread between Morocco, Spain and Portugal and S. America (for S. American matches). The woman I was speaking to had her political agenda and I had facts.
DeleteThey really did fight hard. I bet most viewers were hoping theyd win.
ReplyDeleteThey were definitely the heroes of the night, win or lose.
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