^^ Me too. Considering Holland isn't in, it'd be logical that I'd be supporting our neighbors, but I actually admire Wales this tournament. Just like Iceland, they have a pretty bad record, so the fact they made it to the quarter finals makes me excited and actually kind of makes me root for them as the: 'rootable underdogs'.
But all my friends are rooting for Belgium though; admittedly Belgium is far superior over Wales.
Dang, Wales is kicking some butt. Belgium is considered one of Europe's best teams, so the fact Wales is butchering them right now is comically tragic!
I hope Wales wins against Portugal! Can you imagine Wales in the finals?! They'd probably lose, but still!
Tinfoil thoughts: Imagine a Wales v Iceland finals!!! For some reason the thought makes me giddy. Iceland destroying France and Germany/Italy would be the best thing in the world to expierence!
Wales earned that win. They played aggressive all game and their defense kept Belgium from getting any strong inside shots. If Belgium had concentrated on taking long shots, they might have scored another one or two.
How can you have any pudding if you won't eat your meat?
And there was much screaming in my household. We're hoping the Welsh go to the finals now (which, having watched Portugal play, if Wales plays aggressive like today, they will be in the finals).
I'm also a number of beers in.
How can you have any pudding if you won't eat your meat?
And the ref was pro-Belgium most of the game. That first yellow was bullshit and should have been a simple foul. Fellaini should have received a second card after his first and been booted- he was playing like an asshole.
How can you have any pudding if you won't eat your meat?
Oh, Vlad. I actually still had a story from 2010 during the world cup. It may be a bit long though -fair warning-.
So 2010, that was the first year I actually showed immense interest in soccer during the World Cup. I was so fascinated by all the poules, all the nations that were participating and just the general atmosphere was amazing! And the fact that it was in South Africa made it even more effective, that opening game -and that masterful first goal scored by Sipihwe against Mexico had me instantly mesmerized. The celebration of the South Africans at that point was so gratifying to watch, and it still gives me chills to this day - there was a certain sense of respectful pride shown in the celebration that not many countries respectfully display.
Holland had one of it's best teams to date, and everyone was getting stoked for that anticipated first match against Denmark.
Before-hand, I had bought a DVD titled: Road to Africa. It did a countdown of the 100 best players coming into the World Cup. Absolutely brilliantly summarized, and an amazing countdown that got me so, so excited to see everyone play - as that was going to be my first world cup that I was actively going to watch.
In the mean-time, I had done research on all the previous world cup's, and even memorized the majority of statistics and had a bunch of great conversations with my friends about it even though the amount of memorization on my part even had them lost at times.
I even made my own poules and played soccer against friends, making teams and that that we chose which country we wanted to play for that match. I made poules with everything (Wii soccer, little merchandizing toys from my local grocery store that we got after we shopped there -the toys were little green figures with a country flag around them.) Me and my friends would stand at the store asking for the toys from adult shoppers, haha. Which is funny considering we hardly ever got them because there were always other kids begging for them too. Every single day at school the collection of those toys grew by each person, and we even traded doubles. I remember having a lot of Portugals, haha.
It's fair to say it took up the majority of my summer during 2010. The hype surrounding the event, from all around, was seriously insane. Not only were the students talking about it, but teachers would literally stop the class so that we could watch the games (Even if Holland wasn't playing) Soccer world cups in Europe are the ABSOLUTE best.
I remember the very first time I went into town to see that opening game from Holland against Denmark. The town (Nijmegen) was PACKED, everywhere were people staring at this huge screen. All the bars were open with screens inside the bars as well. And the general excitment everytime Holland scored was so amazing, I should have recorded that. It was also awesome how well Holland was doing that year as well, they literally smashed the competition. And the finale was a nail-biter.
But besides that, the songs released for that year were absolutely amazing. I remember playing those songs non-stop whilst I was doing research about previous world cups, or playing soccer on the Wii. I was OTT obsessed, for real, haha.
But I just re-watched them today and got an immense wave of nostalgia. I'd like to go over them real quick :).
So, that was ofcourse the main song. It was pretty over-played, but I always loved the music video. It really attempted to bring in atmosphere, and the visuals they used still get me to this day. From the opening shot of when Italy won against France in the finals of 2006, to to the very last shot of unity. The part of the music video that always stuck with me was 2:25-2:41. Those shots still give me chills, ofcourse the legendary Maradonna being feautured like that was amazing, and the miraculous Bulgaria win during the 1996 World Cup against GERMANY in the QUARTER FINALS. Iconic moment that will always stay at the top of the rankings of best World Cup games ever played. The goal keepers reaction within the music video is absolutely priceless.
Then there is ofcourse 'Wavin Flag' by K'Naan
-Look out for the Orange colors before watching, that is the color Holland always wears! :-D
Beautiful shots all around, they show the culture of South Africa amazingly, and Nelson Mandela being featured so heavily is still what makes that song one of my favorites. Just check the music video out, you won't regret it! :)
So yeah, it was a lively expierence during 2010, and the memories made are ones I look fondly back on. My first soccer expierence surrounded by European hype-culture (Which actually did deliver, cosnidering hype usually never delivers), and also my first expierence being in a jam-packed town during the event as well as all the memories made with my friends make it possibly the best summer of my life so far!
It was just absolutely amazing.
Ofcourse there is a bunch of personal context within this post, so I'm sorry if I went on a bit TOO long. But anyways, I felt like sharing that with you! :)
Don't forget that vuvuzelas suddenly became internationally known. :)
US played like shit that year- got out of group but then lost to Ghana. lol
Oh yes! How could I forget! Haha, they were EVERYWHERE. The parents all thought it was super annoying, but I always had a blast with them, haha. I used to have a Dutch and South African one. Those were honestly the best!
The games whilst being watched live always seemed like bees were flying in the background due to the amount of vuvuzelas in the background, haha. SO MUCH MEMORIES :')
I couldn't find the full documentary about Destination South Africa (I had remembered the title wrong), but youtube has the first 10 minutes on it. I HIGHLY suggest to watch the intro part, I would sometimes put on the DVD just to watch the intro! It's pretty awesome!
#1 GOAT
