First AppleWorm Life Rant on Football
Yeah, it is called FOOTBALL NOT SOCCER! And it is most definitely the biggest sport in the world. And since all 32 countries for the 2018 Russia World Cup have been decided I wanted to start a series of AppleWorm Rants about why football is important to me. Every time people ask me about Costa Rican culture I tell them the two "official religions" in our country are christianity and football. If there is ONE thing that brings the country together like nothing else it is the national football team. Walking outside ANYWHERE in the country on game day you will be visually INUNDATED by red football t-shirts, which is something that gives you hope even on hopeless games (for example in the 2014 world cup, Costa Rica had to play Uruguay, Italy and England and even when the world was almost laughing at Costa Rica, we held hope, and if you don't know the rest of the story I invite you to watch the linked video).
3 experiences mark my football-loving life more than anything else:
I reposted the adidas foto of the official world cup ball aside the world cup trophy a couple of days back because I honestly cannot fathom how to explain to someone who has not lived through bad and good times with football, what the sport means. I guess this is the first of many rants to try and explain my feelings. Every 4 years the world turns into a football-fanatic-planet for about a month...
And I CANNOT WAIT!
More rants will ensue.
3 experiences mark my football-loving life more than anything else:
- Denmark qualify for the 2010 South Africa World Cup while I was in Denmark.
- France win the World Cup in 1998 while in southern France in a small village called Bagnols-en-Forêt.
- Being in Costa Rica when we qualified for the first time ever to quarter finals in the 2014 Brazil World Cup.
My dad is the oldest of 9 in a family of humble beginnings/story and he would take from his first job's salary to be able to take his 2 youngest brothers to the stadium to support their local soccer team. Another time, I went to the stadium and got truly emotional as a father was narrating the game to his blind son... Those special moments are what the sport and global phenomenon it is. It is a love-hate relationship with football, it might give you horrible and sad times in which you cry your heart out, and it may give you ecstasy out of happiness like you did not know you were capable of feeling.
It is true that emotions and passion can lead to fanaticism and hooligans are proof that it can be turned into something negative. But I truly cannot and will not give up my respectful yet absolutely passionate love for football. Back and forth banter between people that support different football teams can be funny if both people have respect. I for one, have always had the discussion with my family of why I support a different team than they do; I have also been in huge discussions about which player is better. Many great discussions with people have proven that the more you get into the sport, the more you get out of it, if you are willing to agree to disagree with many people about your teams, players, and much more.
It is true that emotions and passion can lead to fanaticism and hooligans are proof that it can be turned into something negative. But I truly cannot and will not give up my respectful yet absolutely passionate love for football. Back and forth banter between people that support different football teams can be funny if both people have respect. I for one, have always had the discussion with my family of why I support a different team than they do; I have also been in huge discussions about which player is better. Many great discussions with people have proven that the more you get into the sport, the more you get out of it, if you are willing to agree to disagree with many people about your teams, players, and much more.
I reposted the adidas foto of the official world cup ball aside the world cup trophy a couple of days back because I honestly cannot fathom how to explain to someone who has not lived through bad and good times with football, what the sport means. I guess this is the first of many rants to try and explain my feelings. Every 4 years the world turns into a football-fanatic-planet for about a month...
And I CANNOT WAIT!
More rants will ensue.
