I never cared much for soccer, until I saw it played at its most prestigious level. My first real live match was USA’s surprising defeat of Portugal in the 2002 World Cup. The match was being played in Suwon – which, if you’ve read here over time, you will know is one of my favorite cities. I had enlisted that morning and had the rest of the day off. Micha told me she read in the paper that some seats were still available for the match. I threw my bike in the back of the van and drove up to within a couple miles of the stadium. I rode the rest of the way, was directed to a schoolyard where they were selling end-line tickets for less than 50 bucks.
The spectacle was amazing – a Portuguese Figo (their superstar – number 7) jersey stretched over an entire spectator section. People going crazy, banging drums, signing. I sat next to a couple of Canadians just a few rows into the second deck over the goal in which the US ended up scoring all of its goals. I remember them cheering the Portuguese team, waving small plastic flags that were being passed out to the crowd. I told them, “Hey! When Canada plays I’ll root for the…ohhhh, yeahhhh. Canada aren’t even here.”
But you know what? Canada are in Qatar right now. And true to my promise, I’m rooting for them. I was disappointed in their loss to Belgium yesterday. They looked decent, but couldn’t get the ball in the net during the half I watched before going on my bike ride.
The US looked good too against Wales. Just couldn’t put it away, and got lax on defense. Wales were crashing to box so much that it really was only a matter of time before either a goal went in or someone committed a penalty. I hate penalty kicks. Feels too cheap a way to score. But I suppose for the sake of offense close in you’ve got to make the cost of playing too stiff high enough that shooters have a chance of scoring.
In the morning we’ll see how they do against England. I say it’ll be a 3-1 loss, but you never know.
As for Korea, I love the team. They looked pretty good last night (here) against Uruguay – who are a tough opponent for sure. Uruguay have to go up against the likes of Brazil and Argentina to qualify, and they were third in their confederation. So Korea made a good showing of it to end up tied 0-0. Great ball control and passing. Decent defense. They just faltered in the box, only really getting a couple of scoring chances – one of which should’ve gone through but for the nerves and adrenalin firing it well over the bar. One weakness did show in that Uruguay seemed to do well on the long ball right through the middle. Korea’s defense lagged in those respects, and the Korean keeper did get challenged a couple of times. Hope they can reign it in and control that in the future.
One of my favorite things while watching the World Cup in Korea is the collective emotion of the nation while the matches are being played. Sadly, it’s November, and I can’t keep the windows open to listen. It’s a bit funny – three in the morning and someone will score a goal (or just miss) and you hear people in several of the neighboring apartments screaming like they were there.
I’ll keep up on this World Cup as I have the others since that first match in 2002 (I also saw USA play Poland (lost 3-1 I think) and Mexico (won 2-0 and advanced to the round of 8)). Probably won’t get a chance to see another match live, but if I do, I’ll take it. People think soccer is boring, but really, if you actually watch and get a chance to appreciate the skill (along with the excitement of cheering for your team), it’s as good as anything out there. Even better.