Tomorrow starts the 19th World Cup.
I love this event because of its scarcity, drama, joys, exuberance and passion. In all the 32 countries participating, the World Cup fever is mounting. People are getting organized to watch the games of their home team wherever they will happen to be; at work, at home, travelling, camping, commuting, anywhere! Some governments like the one of Honduras are even letting their civil servants go home earlier so as not to miss any second of their favourite team! Football fans are getting together, in bars, pubs, cafés, restaurants, in front of tv shops, any spot where they can see the World Cup at play. The populations of the supposedly weaker teams are thinking; what if this time we get through to the 2nd round?!
Dreams are running wild, everyone becomes the head coach of their team, 16 million Chileans are convinced they each own the magic formula for the best Roja team ever! Mexicans are thinking to themselves, and what if they get to the semi-finals for the first time in their history? Americans are praying to beat England again as they did in 1950. Paraguayans are thankful that the golden goal doesn’t exist anymore. Argentinians are already chanting Vamos Vamos Argentina! Brazilians are already counting their 6th star. All 3 million Uruguayans will be listening feverishly to radio and tv channels at the same time. Algerians will be humming, “one two three, viva l’Algérie”! Cameroon will come to a halt and children from the Ivory Coast are hopeful Drogba’s arm heals asap! South Africans are already proud of all they have accomplished so far. The whole of Ghana is in trance and Nigerians are counting the seconds. The All Whites are hoping to do as well as their All Black brothers. The Aussies would like avoid bad refereeing again. North Koreans are waking up from 1966 and South Koreans are alive with memories from 2002. Japanese are stacking up with sake. The Nati followers are making sure their watches are on time while the Germans would love to revive Lineker’s famous quote. The Dutch are convinced this is the right one. Espana is hoping that the favourite’s curse won’t affect them. Slovenians , Slovakians and Serbs are excited to be in World Cup for the first time. Greeks are relieved Maradona is off the pitch this time. England fans will be on their best behaviour. Italians are sorry Zidane isn’t there this time and all of France wants to get rid of their coach. Portugal is living and breathing with Cristiano and the Danes are just enjoying it as usual.
Maracanazos are citizens of the world.