C'mon Aussie C'mon
It's strange how people are more patriotic when overseas then when they are at home. I myself am such a proud Australian when I am away, whilst at home I tend to bitch and moan about the state of the country...This has become quite evident to me recently with the advent of the world cup. Before I arrived in the UK I had possibly only watched one soccer match in my whole life. Now I am hooked... And I think the reason why I like football (football will refer to the game of soccer from henceforth) is that the old saying "It's not whether you win or lose, it's how you play the game" really does ring true. In many ways, the score during a football game doesn't always reflect the nature of the match. Of course there is an incredible amount of talent and skill involved in football, but there is a very large element of chance mixed into whether or not that little black and white ball makes it into the net. There are many tense "what if" moments and many games can really truly have gone either way. In this way, the stigma of losing is lessened.. Your team might lose 1-0, but if they played well, that can be just as significant as winning. And so winners can be far more generous to the vanquished; especially if it was a close game, or it came down to a penalty shoot-out. Of course obvious landslide victories do occur.. witness the 6-0 victory of Argentina over Serbia & Montenegro...
(Grandma, is there a point to this blog... ???)
Australia qualified for the world cup, for the first time in 32 years, and I am excited! They won their opening game against Japan.. and then had to face the world champions, Brazil in their second match. I even went to the pub, on my own, to watch the game! There were quite a few rowdy Aussies in the Old White Swan, and I was so proud at half-time when teams were 0-0. See what I mean.. there was no score, and yet I was still really happy. Even when Brazil scored a goal early in the second half, I was still proud! The Aussie team never gave up, they keep trying and it was just really unfortunate that they didn't make the most of their opportunities to equalise. I told myself that a 1-0 loss to the world champions wasn't at all a bad thing.. and that I could still walk out of the pub with my head held high.. So I was heartbroken when Brazil got another goal to give a final score of 2-0... BUT I still know that my team played well!!
Tonight we face Croatia. This is the final match for Round One, and Australia need to win or draw to go through to the next round. The match starts at 8pm tonight and I will be at the pub watching it, fingers crossed around my pint glass hoping that the boys in green and gold will shine! Of course by the time some of you read this blog entry, the game will be over, and you'll know the result and so I hope you're smiling right now !!!
So I have officially been diagnosed with a case of world cup fever.. but I know I'm not the only one!
posted by Dr Krystal @ 11:09 am
3 Comments:
And we drew with Croatia which means we make it to yet another round!
I also got a postcard from Sam & Belle who are right now experiencing the joy of the World Cup from a pub somewhere in Manchester. I think the high will last Sam for the next four years at least.
It really is interesting the patriotism thing, isn't it? You should see me and my Canadianism whenever hockey playoffs (ice hockey that is) come around. And Canada Day. My favourite one of those was spent in London.
I don't believe it!! My Dr K has footy fever? What have the poms put in your drinking water?! Whilst my football fanaticism is restricted to a code with an oval ball, where you use your hands and you wear short shorts, I must admit that I have been a LOT more interested in soccer (as it will always been known to me), during this world cup. I've been dragging myself out of bed in the wee hours of the morning to watch the Aussies play (not to mention even a few games where the 'Roos aren't playing), AND I'm reading Fever Pitch by Nick Hornby, AND I have finally begun to see the game's beauty (partly for the reasons you mentioned, Dr K), and appreciate its skill. I don't know if it’s because the socceroos being there means that I have a team to go for or that I live with a man who epitomises Roy and HGs catchphrase, "when too much sport is never enough". A bit of both I suspect. However, when I think about leaving this country, I imagine my patriotism will gush not only when Aussies do well in the world game (because they will only get better), but more when I think about Aussie rules footy - our own game, with our own rules, which is quintessentially Melbourne.
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