FIFA Fever

FIFA 2006, Argentina vs. Ivory Coast. I took this shot while watching the match on TV. Argentina won, 2:1.




Before any screaming, kicking and feverish temperatures of football fans are written here, let me travel back down memory lane first. The point of destination is when I was in college, particularly those times I had to go to San Jose’s Basak campus to take my PE (Physical Education) classes. We had the class inside the coliseum but before you could get there from the gate, you had to walk past the campus‘ enormous soccer field. I remember seeing one of my buddies, who was a member of the soccer varsity team, practicing there all the time. And everytime I saw them I kept on wondering to myself why this sport? Why play soccer?

Fast forward to A.B. (After Beckham) in the Philippines. Sure everybody knows David Beckham there. People buy everything he endorses, but still we couldn’t bring ourselves to get interested in soccer. Soccer, football, whatever you call it, still doesn’t make sense to the majority of Filipinos except, for men, it means sporting Beck’s ever changing hairstyle. The whole nation, to the exception of myself, my family and friends, are all agog about basketball. No sport other than basketball can rock the entire nation. The Philippines‘ obssession with this sport and its indifference to football is beyond my comprehension.

Or maybe I understand its indifference to football. Maybe it can't provide the quick gratification thru a goal the way a shot does. Sometimes the whole match is over without a goal. In short, maybe it's boring for most Filipinos. Oh well, I understand it, alright, but I can’t really explain it. I can understand it because up until Ricky Martin gyrated his hips to the tune of “The Cup of Life,“ I, myself, never knew anything about FIFA or its existence. I thought the Olympics was the big thing. Now that I live in Central Europe I realized FIFA is the big thing. Everything else pales in comparison.

Europeans consider football as a way of life. To some if not most of them, football is the life. The Filipinos‘ obssession with baskeball cannot even equal to their fanaticism in football. I guess you can say the same for Latin America and most African nations. The TV cameras can’t lie when they pan to show the fire in every fan’s eyes as they cheer for their teams. This funny line proves how crazy this part of the world is about this sport. I read it on Yahoo the other day. Ukraine’s PM said something like this: “On June 14, all unexplained illnesses are expected to hit most people in Ukraine.“ It will be Ukraine’s first match after qualifying for the World Cup for the first time. They will play against Spain.

And later today in Germany, Czech Republic will play against the USA. You can bet that at 6pm in Prague, all other things will be in slow motion against the pounding noise of the live TV coverage of the match. I will watch it,too, and cheer for the Czechs. Yes, I am quite afflicted with the football fever here. It’s so contagious, it's quite difficult to avoid.

Later I will join millions of Czechs cheering for their team in Germany, in the pubs, at home, everywhere around the world, as they shout “Češi, do toho!“