My family of soccer fanatics could not be more excited for the World Cup. My husband has been to five across the world. My son has been to three and my daughter two. I have been to none, but I am going to join my family for one in Kansas City. You see, even though I have watched more soccer games than I can count, I still don’t understand what off-sides means, and to be honest, I don’t really care. But I do love the World Cup because of the fans.
First let’s talk about Cape Verde. They played Spain in their first match and tied them. It was amazing. After the game, Cape Verde’s goal keeper looked like he had run a marathon or three. I must admit I did not even know this country existed, but here they are, an island nation off of the coast of Africa somehow managing to hold strong against Spain in the World Cup. The odds of Cape Verde winning the Cup are dismal, but I now have a strong urge to learn Portuguese and travel there this year.
Then we have Scotland. They won a spot in the World Cup much to the joy of their citizens, who packed up and traveled to Boston and Miami, wearing kilts and drinking the cities dry. The Tartan Army is a sight to behold. Men proudly wearing kilts and ornate belts with their jerseys.
These people are not just ordinary visitors. They sing songs, chant and drink! I always thought the Irish were the ones that could hold their liquor, but the Scottish are the true winners in any drinking contest. They drank so much beer that bars in Boston ran out, and as one Scottish man said on TV, ‘they were forced to drink Bud Light.’ (Now, I love a Bud Light on a hot summer day, but apparently it is offensive to others.)
Not only did they party like there would be no tomorrow, they placed orange traffic cones on top of statutes in Boston. Apparently, this is done in Scotland, and no one cares. They danced in the streets with the police officers and got around the law of not drinking alcohol from an open container by putting their liquor in a Starbucks cup. The joy they brought with them was contagious! Oh, and I finally found out what men wear underneath their kilts!
Norway embraced their Nordic heritage and lined up on escalators like Vikings. They took over streets with mobs of people sitting in lines while rowing in sync. And no matter where they went, they cleaned up after themselves. Seriously, visitors whipped out their white plastic trash bags, filled them up and left them next to trash cans. It is like having a house guest strip their beds and start a load of wash before they leave.
So, my family, the whole extended lot of them, will be traveling to Kansas City, Miami, Seattle, Boston and Vancouver to participate in this chaos, and I will dream about all of the places I want to visit across the world and the joy that people have for the beautiful game of soccer.
