The World Cup, a once every four year event to determine the champion of soccer, just finished this past Sunday. It is a national event, although many players play for club teams outside their own country. Even some US players are employed overseas in the more prestigious European leagues, a situation which leads to participants taking penalty shots against goalies that they are very familiar with, either from league matches or as teammates. The event that just ended was the men's tournament.
Before commenting on the final game, I thought it also important to mention the dark side of this year's World Cup. The host country Qatar, was chosen more than a decade ago by FIFA, the ruling commission of international soccer. At the time, the choice was very controversial, not the least because there were no large stadiums in which to play the matches. Generally, host countries must demonstrate they have the infrastructure in place before being awarded such an important event.
Additionally, most World Cup tournaments are held in the summer, yet Qatar's summer weather was far too hot to have world class athletes competing in such a physically demanding sport. This is why the tournament was held in December, so that the temperature was acceptable for the participants, again, a concession to a host country that was unprecedented.
Also, the fact that Qatar does not have the best human rights reputation, resulted in a number of protests and boycotts, especially from the LGBTQ+ community, but also from women in general, since Qatar has only a slightly better record of treating women than its other Middle Eastern neighbors.
Finally, workers rights was seen as a black mark on the country, since, with the number of stadiums and accompanying buildings that needed to be constructed, immigrants were imported by the tens of thousands to provide the labor, often paid wages not in line with the difficulty of the work, and housed in poor shelters with inadequate room and sanitation facilities.
Lastly then, many people claim there must have been some bribery and corruption within FIFA, to allow such an ill prepared country without much of a soccer reputation and with a questionable labor and human rights record to be the showcase for the most widely watched sporting event in at least 4 years, if not more.
Yes, America, football and the Super Bowl are popular with over 100 million people worldwide tuning in, but over 1 billion (that is billion) people watched this past Sunday's final match.
Still, and despite these obvious reasons why a Qatar boycott was justifiable, I caught a number of matches during the tournament, including the entirety of the final match between Argentina and France, the defending World Cup champion. And I was not disappointed.
The game itself was remarkable. The best player for Argentina, Lionel Messi, is one of the top 3 players in the world, but also at the end of his career, trying to win his first World Cup. On the other side, Kylian Mbappe, also one of the top 3 players in the world, was looking to cement his legacy as the best of today, and, by winning his second straight World Cup become only the second in history to win two by the age of 22, Pele having won 2 by his 21st birthday.
In other words, not only was there the drama of the World Cup itself, but history would be made regardless of who won.
Now, many Americans disdain soccer as too slow and not enough scoring. I was fortunate enough to have played backyard soccer in my youth, and also to have known a few soccer enthusiasts who played in high school, and one who also played in college. Additionally, when I went to the Olympics in both 1976 and 1984, I saw multiple soccer matches, including one in the Rose Bowl in Pasadena, California. For those who have never been to an international soccer event, there is nothing like it, the constant cheering, singing, rise and fall of the crowd as the game progresses.
Sunday's final match was the ultimate example. Argentina dominated the first half, ney, most of the first 75 minutes, yet, while substantial in soccer, only held a 2-0 lead, one of the goals belonging to Messi. Then, lighting struck as France scored twice in less than 2 minutes, both by Mbappe! When the game went to overtime, tied at 2, Argentina scored in the second 15 minute overtime, Messi with the lead goal, but since soccer overtime periods are not sudden death, France still had about 12 minutes to go. So, of course, Mbappe scored with just 2 minutes to go, making it 3-3. This would have been enough excitement, except that both teams had excellent chances to score in those last few minutes, France especially being thwarted by an unbelievable save in close by the Argentine goalie.
So, off to penalty kicks. Now, again, some Americans don't like penalty kicks to decide such an important season ending match, but watching a world class soccer striker stare down a goalie from only 12 yards away, each attempting to out psyche the other, is tense. Each knows the others' tendencies, which corner the striker likes to aim for, which side the goalie likes to guess for his lunge. Multiplied by 5 players for each side, barring saves and misses, perhaps even more if neither side gains an advantage after the first five players.
In Sunday's finals, France won the toss and went first, analytics indicating that the team that goes first wins more than half the time. And, when Mbappe's shot found net, the choice looked good. But Messi evened the score with his penalty shot, then the Argentine goalie made an amazing save on France's second shot, and when the third French shooter missed the net, Argentina found itself up 3-1 after 3 rounds. France made in 3-2 but when the fourth Argentine shooter hit the back of the net, the celebration was on, and Messi had his first World Cup championship in his (perhaps) final match. Talk about going out on top! Perhaps Tom Brady should have spoke to him after winning Super Bowl 55.
As I have said before, I enjoy watching sports, having passed my playing days, backyard and otherwise, many years ago. Sports, when done right, can help develop team goals, teach graceful winning as well as losing, create long lasting friendships, and, sometimes, even bring nations and people together when other topics do not. But there is far too much money in sports today, which bothers me greatly, as I see money's influence tarnishing sports itself, and bashing the concepts I refer to above as the positives of physical competition.
Is there hope? The fact that a country like Iran still sent its soccer team to the competition, and that some competing teams felt, at least for a few weeks, an affinity to those men who were just like them, just living in a different country, is the kind of thing that sports can do. The fact that most likely, the choice of Qatar as the host country was influenced by power and money, takes away from that accomplishment.
In the end, whether it is the face of a 10 year old peewee football player who just scored his first touchdown, or that of a 35 year old man who won his last international competition, the joy that sports can create for the victorious, and the tears for those who didn't win, is priceless when followed by a shared ice cream cone, winners and losers, at the local DQ, or a beer by competing rugby teams at the local pub.
It is the shared humanity of fair and tough competition with respect for each other, and the shared act of having left it all out on the field that makes sports worthwhile, and as long as that stays in the forefront of the innumerable games that take place in the thousands of communities worldwide, it is what will continue to make our ball fields and pitches the place where life lessons can be taught to our kids. And, even more critically, (hopefully) remembered by adults when competing in those adult arenas of work and relationships and politics.
