It All Comes Down to This

7/13/14

It’s finally here, the moment we’ve been waiting for, and sadly, I could kind of care less. I don’t know if it’s because the country’s so bummed about their home team loss or if it’s the anxiety about how aggressive the massive crowds of Argentinians will be, but I am kind of over the World Cup now. It was a lot more fun in the beginning when we were following Costa Rica, when there were a lot more people from all over the world sharing in the games. Now it’s just a giant crowd of potentially violent Argentinians and lots of Brazilians rooting for Germany to spite Argentina, with a handful of actual Germans (who, out of tradition, apparently never sit down during a soccer game). There’s no festive atmosphere, just a lot of tension to see what happens. Would it be better to root for Argentina to win and Messi to finally get the Cup, possibly encountering a massive amount of drunken Argentinians slinging every possible insult at Brazil? Or to root for Germany, a team that I have never supported, just so that Brazil can save face? Even with the latter option, we have no idea how the Argentinian crowd will react to such a big loss. Oh the drama of the World Cup! :P [Nick: I was also a bit apprehensive; there’s no limit on the amount of beer you can buy and I was worried the Argentineans would be even more aggressive since they would have extra time to drink during the closing ceremony before the game. Also, I wish Brazil had been able to exorcise the demons of 1950, but instead they created a new demon that will haunt the collective memory for many decades. Thus, I too felt a little disappointed but still: it was the World Cup Final in Maracanã stadium! I just wanted an exciting game after having watched several scoreless games go to penalties. I don’t mind penalties, but I dislike scoreless games. I really think that FIFA should alter the offside rule just slightly to increase scoring. Instead of any part of the attacker being ahead of a defender being offside, I would change the rule (or really the interpretation of the rule’s definition of “level with the opponent”) so that if any part of the attacking player is aligned with any part of the last defender then they would be considered onside. Oh and take care of diving by a panel of 3 refs that can do instant replay and call in for egregious diving or to correct a penalty or card.]

Argentinian fans

Our final game together

Full stadium

Another of Fe and Filipe’s friends, Guto, joined us the morning of the final. We headed over to Maracanã stadium early but still had to wait in line after line to get in. Maracanã is very impressive; it’s HUGE but still feels like you have a good view of everything. [Nick: All the stadiums in Brazil were really nice but Maracanã was my favorite. The seats were comfortable with good leg room (important for me), but you still felt cozy and close to the pitch even though it sat more people than any other stadium we visited.] We tried sitting with Fe and Filipe even though our seats weren’t together, but it looked like every last ticket had been sold or scalped because this was the first time there were absolutely no empty seats around us. [Nick: Thought we did get to sit together for the closing ceremony show which was fun.]


Opening Ceremony Pics:

We were packed in by Argentinians and one young Australian couple, the girl of which fit the young millennial stereotype of constant selfies and jumping up to dance to every pop song that came over the PA system. The Argentinians were worse, though. Constant smoking (which is prohibited in the stadium) even when asked to stop, and repeated confrontations with the people around them. The security guards came over at least three times to talk to them. I was hoping they would get thrown out, but for some reason, they were able to talk their way out of it every time. What good are having hundreds of security guards to patrol the stands if they don’t remove drunken assholes who start fights?! What’s the point of coming over to them repeatedly if you’re not going to do anything about it?! Ugh, it was not turning out to be a fun game. The 0-0 score was another bust; Argentina tried but, once again, no one was able to make a goal and Messi’s performance was underwhelming. Most of the time I was too bored to pay attention and instead spent my time roaming the gift shop (finally found some Costa Rica swag – I assume because they were unloading everything at the last minute) and scanning the VIP section for all the famous people in attendance. [Nick: Unfortunately, a goal on each side was disallowed as offsides. There were a few chances but, really in the end, the goalkeepers on both sides had to do very little work to do during the game.]

Pele

Argentina fans

Germany fans

We saw this guy at several games dressed as a ref

Mr & Mrs Gisele Bündchen

Angela Merkel

Beckham and kids

Nick's doppelgänger: Kaká

The game finally ended in the 113th minute when Germany scored and half the stadium (dressed in white, as very few Brazilian fans were sporting their team colors) erupted in cheers and the other (light blue) half stood in stunned silence and disbelief. It was clear the game was over and in all honesty, I had to admit I was kind of relieved that Germany had won. They clearly earned it; they were well trained and disciplined in their games. But also, I was glad not to find out what would have happened if Argentina had actually won a World Cup on Brazilian soil. [Nick: I didn’t know if, as far as crowd aggression, Argentina winning or losing was better. Messi had a free kick in the last minute but his direct shot on goal flew above the crossbar as so many have at the World Cup. Actually, that is another thing I would change about the game. For each World Cup, Adidas unveils a new ball. Of course, this is so that they can sell millions of them, but the problem is that usually the ball they come up with is lighter and has different seems than a regular soccer ball. For example in 2010 the ball had fewer panels, thus there were large areas of the ball without any seams. This alters the aerodynamics of a ball and, as a result, there were very few free kick goals during the World Cup. I don’t understand why they don’t use the exact same ball with the exact same weight. It would be like in baseball if they came up with a new ball right before the World Series (maybe this year with a single seem around the ball’s equator!) and then they expected pitchers, who are used to a different ball, to be able to find the strike zone.]

Messi

Germany Wins!

Cameras rush on the field

The closing ceremony was pretty calm. Neuer went up to receive his Golden Glove award (which in all honesty, probably should have gone to Navas) [Nick: Of course Navas was the best. When they published the nomination, you they listed the two goalkeepers whose teams had made it the finals and the player who had the actual best performance, which was Navas. In the end, they went with the winner of the final.] and Messi, clearly reluctantly, went up to accept his Golden Ball award. I still don’t know why it was awarded to Messi, other than the fact that it was expected of him. He didn’t score the most goals in the tournament and I don’t see how he could be considered most valuable player if none of his other teammates could connect with his assists. Those two awards just seemed kind of pointless to me. [Nick: I feel bad for Messi and the criticism he got from being awarded the Best Player. He did not ask for it; he did not award it to himself; and it was clear from his expression that he did not care to get another Best Player award. The guy just wants to play soccer, and yes he is the best, but he did not ask to be the best; he just wants to play. I feel sorry that so many people want something from him.] The Argentinians accepted their second place medals and graciously stood on the field while Germany accepted theirs. To my surprise, the president of Brazil actually did end up awarding the World Cup trophy to the winners. There was a lot of speculation on how she wouldn’t dare to because she is so unpopular in her country right now. As it was, she was booed by the crowd anytime she was shown on the big screens. [Nick: I thought it was shameful that the Brazilian crowed booed whenever their president was on screen. First, they made Brazil look bad in a big international event by showing childish disrespect. Second, this was not a political rally; she was there representing the country as host and so they were really booing Brazil. Third, Dilma’s party’s base is made up of lower income Brazilians who could not afford a $1000 game ticket; so she was being booed by upper class citizens. This could backfire because it might rally Dilma’s base, feeling that the upper class has no respect for their wishes.] The German team seemed to be very gracious winners as they celebrated their Cup with spouses and kids on the field, and even took the trophy over to the area where the largest German crowd was in the stands. [Nick: The Germans were gracious winners. Including against Brazil. It was nice to see them thank the crowd and, in after-game interviews, compliment Brazil as a nation.]

Argentina is less than happy with 2nd place

Neuer & Messi receiving their awards

Brazilian president, Dilma Rousseff, in green

We hung around to watch the fireworks and then headed back so that Fe and Filipe could get on the road. They wanted to drive home that very night to avoid the crazy morning after traffic. Fortunately for them, they later told us, the traffic wasn’t too bad and all the dejected Argentinian cars headed back down south made them feel like their four hour drive back to São Jose was pretty easy. It was hard to say goodbye to them; they’ve really made our trip so special and really helped us out a lot! We will miss them and hope to see them soon the next time they head up to the States.