Well, the World Cup is over. As a huge fan, I’m so sad. I might just have to go through some withdrawal here! It has been a fantastic World Cup.
I remember the 1998 World Cup, and watching it with my family. We were on vacation in Nigeria and there were several other missionary families there. We would all gather around and watch the games and laugh at the commercials and the kids would just play. I have no idea who won that World Cup, or even what countries were playing…but I remember the feeling of gathering together to cheer and watch and just be together doing something that everyone can appreciate.
I haven’t been as enthusiastic about every World Cup, although I do remember watching lots of games in July 2014, when I was approximately 800 weeks pregnant with Tera. Lol- more like 8 months, but still! The World Cup was a great way to relax and cool down during the hot summer months when I was very pregnant.
This year the World Cup just seemed to hit at the right time- we all needed a little pick me up, a little common interest, a little distraction. From the very first game, we were IN! Of course, we didn’t watch every single game, but we did our best to catch as many as we could.
I was cheering for any African nation to win, and I’m disappointed that once again it’s the main characters who made it all the way through to the end. We need a good underdog story to go all the way to the end.
Speaking of underdog, my favorite team of the whole tournament ended up being the Cape Verde team! Talk about the underdogs- their first time ever being in the World Cup, and they made it to the round of 32, and almost nearly beat Argentina in that game. It was a nail-biter!
Life Lessons from the World Cup for Kids (and none of it is about winning) from @WholeChildCounseling – this just a few of the life lessons, click through on her post to see all of them!
What do you think about Iran playing in the United States? On one hand, I hate the way that they were treated. They had to leave the stadium immediately after each game and go back to Mexica (admittedly, only a 1-2 hour flight, but none of the other teams had to travel that extensively). They also had some key support staff who were denied visas, and I think if we look at it objectively, they were not playing on a fair playing field. I wish that soccer was powerful enough to stop the animosity between teams and that we could just leave it all at the door. On the other hand, I understand that our nations are at war, and there absolutely have to be boundaries in place. What do you think?
Here’s another contentious moment that I would love to hear your opinion on- the US player got a red card, which seemed completely undeserved. 4 days later, his red card is reversed because FIFA somehow found a loophole in some rules that will allow him to play in the next game. Some people say that President Trump called the FIFA president and asked him to reverse it. We had a lively dinner table discussion with the kids about this one. Did he deserve the red card in the first place? Should it have been reversed? Should a president have any sway over decisions like that? Did the president really do that, or is that just the rumor? How can we check our facts? Now, would we feel the same way if it was an opponent who got that loophole? It was a great conversation on bias, and being “fair”- what really is “fair’?
Ok, let’s end with some funnies- the memes and reels from this World Cup have been absolute GOLD!
@enneagramblueprint posted this carousel about which countries fit with each enneagram type…I thought that was clever/funny!
And of course the classic- a reel of how women give birth to a whole child, while World Cup men (elite athletes, mind you!) get tapped in the arm and roll and writhe around on the ground as if they have been gravely injured. It’s funny because it’s so true!! hahaha.
Anyways- it’s been a fun summer and I’m so glad that the World Cup kept us entertained! What was one of your favorite games or memes from the World Cup this summer?