Russia 2018 was over in June, and it is the start of September. I've been late by two whole months on this.
Thank goodness there's not a deadline on this article. (Technically I have four years) If I were a journalist, a sports journalist, or someone writing about stuff related to the World Cup, I'd be screwed by now. :)
I had looked forward to watching the World Cup this year.
I wanted to watch it- the Cup marked the span of 4 years- and I'd even gotten The Parent a huge colourful poster from Harvey Norman with the team playoffs and the whole scoreboard.
But somehow I just didn't quite make it for any of the matches. I don't think I even got to watch a full match throughout the entire season, which on reflection, seems rather dumb, but that's how it went. Guess that's what happens when you don't go hang out with the crowd at bars, pubs, coffee shops or the community center. If I did watch a match, it was either a re-run (cos that was what was on national TV) or a highlight or two on the local sports channel.
Dismal, indeed.
Not that I didn't show any interest though.
I did.
I kept a tight watch on the match scores at match times in the mornings, the afternoons, the wee hours. I hit on all the HD highlights from my mobile, and I got as excited about the scores as much as anyone else who'd stayed up to watch matches on cable did. The chatter caught my attention too, as so did the round of social media stuff which happened real time as the season progressed.
It was a season of surprises. Teams that one didn't normally expect to win, won. Teams that one expected to go through to the next rounds, exited. There were surprise victories. There were surprise disappointments. Brazil didn't make it to the end. Neither did England. Not to mention Uruguay, Mexico, Iceland and the only two soccer teams from the Asian side.
Yet there were victories to be counted for.
Iceland had their first victory at the World Cup ever. Croatia kicked their way to the near end, boosted no doubt by the rousing support of their country leadership who flew economy class and threw the dignity of her position aside by wildly cheering for her team at the stands. And the Japanese, as usual, left a lasting impression on generally everybody by cleaning up the stadium, their locker room and leaving a thank you note in English.
Of course, Russia had its victories too, both on field, and off. Sports events are a great opportunity to show off the fun side of a country's people, and Russia, as gruff as they often come across to be, tried bopping about just a wee bit more. Their song, of which I am not sure of the title but I think is called TEAM, whilst not the likes of Waka Waka and The World is Ours, did have a bit of party vibe, a bit of sexy vibe and of course, the ubiquitous street cred vibe.
Still, if you were to ask me what my most memorable moments of Russia 2018 were, I'd have to go off field from the stadium into the underground train subway, for there on social media floated pictures of the South American fans basking proudly in their full fan gear and paraphernalia as they took the subway back to their hotels, long curvy feathers, head gear and all.
And I'm not going to be soon forgetting the picture of the Brazilian fans "walking" their dinosaur balloons through the subway doors into the train, both dressed in the national colors of yellow, and green. :)
Dismal, indeed.
Not that I didn't show any interest though.
I did.
I kept a tight watch on the match scores at match times in the mornings, the afternoons, the wee hours. I hit on all the HD highlights from my mobile, and I got as excited about the scores as much as anyone else who'd stayed up to watch matches on cable did. The chatter caught my attention too, as so did the round of social media stuff which happened real time as the season progressed.
It was a season of surprises. Teams that one didn't normally expect to win, won. Teams that one expected to go through to the next rounds, exited. There were surprise victories. There were surprise disappointments. Brazil didn't make it to the end. Neither did England. Not to mention Uruguay, Mexico, Iceland and the only two soccer teams from the Asian side.
Yet there were victories to be counted for.
Iceland had their first victory at the World Cup ever. Croatia kicked their way to the near end, boosted no doubt by the rousing support of their country leadership who flew economy class and threw the dignity of her position aside by wildly cheering for her team at the stands. And the Japanese, as usual, left a lasting impression on generally everybody by cleaning up the stadium, their locker room and leaving a thank you note in English.
Of course, Russia had its victories too, both on field, and off. Sports events are a great opportunity to show off the fun side of a country's people, and Russia, as gruff as they often come across to be, tried bopping about just a wee bit more. Their song, of which I am not sure of the title but I think is called TEAM, whilst not the likes of Waka Waka and The World is Ours, did have a bit of party vibe, a bit of sexy vibe and of course, the ubiquitous street cred vibe.
Still, if you were to ask me what my most memorable moments of Russia 2018 were, I'd have to go off field from the stadium into the underground train subway, for there on social media floated pictures of the South American fans basking proudly in their full fan gear and paraphernalia as they took the subway back to their hotels, long curvy feathers, head gear and all.
And I'm not going to be soon forgetting the picture of the Brazilian fans "walking" their dinosaur balloons through the subway doors into the train, both dressed in the national colors of yellow, and green. :)