On the one hand, what do you say about last night’s 7-1 result, in which Germany defeated Brazil and broke countless records in the process, that the professionals haven’t said already?
On the other hand — come on, you want to talk about it, don’t you?
A few observations:
It does bother me that, in the CNN reporting and in the comments, everyone has to return to Nazis. The headline: “World Cup: Brazil dreams destroyed by ruthless Germany” is already ascribing ill intent to a game — ruthless? This isn’t kids’ house league soccer with a mercy rule for outmatched teams — and, from what I understand, Brazil’s loss was as much about poor defending (plus the loss of two major players, to an injury and a penalty) as it was a brilliant German offense. Later, CNN says, “This was not just a beating. This was a merciless destruction, not just of a football team but of a nation’s football heritage. Within 18 first half minutes, Germany had delivered a barrage so deadly that Brazil never stood a chance of recovering.”
And the comments? Well, actually, there were a lot more Nazi comparisons last night — this seems to have died down by comment 9000.
I was also spooked just watching these goals, one after another — we all know this doesn’t happen in soccer, so it felt surreal. Was this going to be revealed the next day as a major game-fixing scandal, in which someone had bet on exactly this scenario?
My oldest son is in Germany now, visiting his grandparents for a couple weeks, so this is a very nice treat for him to be able to watch these games there. My husband is, on the other hand, now thrown into the logistical challenge that the final takes place at the same time as arrival and swim-testing is scheduled at Boy Scout camp, where he’s one of the adult leaders.
Does this improve my appreciation of soccer as a game? No, not really — there’s not much visual appeal in watching men run back and forth on a field, and I don’t have the trained eye to see the strategy, and the goals are too infrequent. (At least with hockey, there is a visual appeal to the men on skates, and it’s somewhat more high scoring.)
And it still irritates me to read Americans telling other Americans that there’s something wrong with us because we’re not as interested in soccer as the rest of the world (when, ironically, those same individuals criticize global sameness in other aspects of culture), and have now, apparently, taken to calling the game “futbol” out of, presumably, some embarrassment that American English has a different name for the sport. (Guys? It’s “association football,” strictly speaking, and soccer derives from “asSOCiation.”)
But, in any event, go Germany!
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