It was very cool living in Europe as the World Cup was going on. World Cup fever was everywhere. Flags hanging from people's cars, on construction equipment, and from flats. The local high street stores selling England bikini's and tank tops. The excitement and the build up week after week, the countless office chatter about which players did well and who they thought would win. Employers letting their staff make up hours to watch a 3:00p.m. game because historically productivity was low when Europeans were not allowed to watch the World Cup games. Drunk English men chanting their team's songs on the Tube. Patriotic souls also parading around my neighborhood with their flags, bullhorns and vuvuzelas.
I participated in my share of the fun. I joined a sweepstakes (a fancy word for pool) in which I drew two countries from a hat. I picked Germany and really stuck by them...well except when Australia was playing but then Germany whipped major Aussie butt...In the end, I won 6 pounds because of Germany. I partly did it just to mess with my colleagues. Here I am, am American girl that doesn't know a thing about football and I end up winning....Can you see the gloating??? We were actually nice to our colleagues when the US advanced and England lost. I have to admit, England was a little quieter and more humble.
I attended a few of the England and US matches. I was particularly interested in attending an England game. When England and the US played, I was in a posh pub in Nottinghill so there wasn't too much craziness, aside from two drunk guys punching each other in the chest. My friend invited other Americans and when USA scored, we gave each other low high fives. We feared what could happen in a pub full of English. For my next game, my Manager, Director and I had just come from Paris after a business meeting. There was no way he was missing the England game. Straight from the Eurostar, the plan was to roll right to the pub. It was one of the hottest days in London so I had to get my bearings and I joined later. Like a trooper, my manager was there and happy to have made the start of the game. The fans really have true spirit and are really passionate about their team. Even at the replays, they'd still have the same intensity - the "Ohhhhsss"...and "Yaaaasss" in unison. One weekend as I was coming home from Dublin, my taxi driver even commented that the reason he thought business was slow that Saturday was because England lost to Slovenia. Hmmm...interesting how a match loss could contribute to the economic downturn of London...Did the British really decide to stay home because they were so upset by the loss??
Each country has it's patron pub. My fellow Americans found refuge in Bodeans. Bodeans is an American style BBQ joint that shows all the US sports. It's also the best BBQ you can get in England that makes you feel close to home. There is about 5 throughout the city. It was quite strange to be in a pub with all Americans. One of the guys even had an American vuvuzela. That day, USA lost to Ghana. The only two Ghanians that were there had the guts to cheer when they won and the US lost. My English friend who was with us said that there was no way he would have gotten away with that if England was playing. He'd get his face kicked in by the English fans. He also said that we shouldn't be sad that we lost. Americans can't be good at everything.
Yesterday, as I was watching the match, a sadness came over me. This was the last game of the World Cup. Kind of like the Olympics coming to an end.
I was a rebel and cheered for Holland. As we know, Spain won. The Spaniards celebrated until the wee hours of the night. They climbed the historic statue in the palacio. They were proud to be called the best team in the world. Perhaps Americans don't feel as patriotic when our team wins the Superbowl or the Stanley cup. It's been great seeing the live coverage and reading about the World Cup in the newspaper. I am definitely happy to have witnessed it.
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