World Cup Cold

I've got to admit, I'm hooked on the World Cup.

But it's more of a cold than a fever; soccer, or football as the rest of the world calls it, never really was my sport: I'm a Canuck, and we love hockey. Sorry, but that's just the way it is. You simply cannot replace a contact sport played at lightning speeds with a bunch of guys running around in shorts for minutes on end before anything interesting happens. Don't even get me started on the diving (where football players feign horrendous injury), which could be an Olympic sport in its own right. Hockey players don't come off the ice unless their throats are cut or they've sustained internal hemorrhaging, and then maybe.

So why the interest in the World Cup?

Because my boys entered and surpassed both the quarter- and semifinals, and that for me is when the World Cup gets exciting. My boys would be the Dutch, by the way, in case you have not yet grokked my surname, which is about as Dutch as it gets. Yes, I was born in Canada, but as Canada didn't even qualify for the World Cup, I've got to cheer for the team of my parents' homeland, and why not?

I happened to be in the Mediterranean during the quarterfinal against Brazil and so was able to watch the game at a reasonable hour, unlike in Hong Kong where the matches are aired at the ungodly time slot of 2.30am. While in Kusadasi, Turkey, I bought a #10 Netherlands jersey (Wesley Sneijder), not knowing then that he would score two goals against Brazil to knock them out of the tournament.

And then the Dutch team went on to sent Uruguay packing, entering the finals for the first time in a long long time, against Spain, no less. Given the history between the countries, which led to the Dutch War of Independence, the match should be a good one. The Netherlands has been described as 'the best team that never won the World Cup'. Neither has Spain, come to that.

So I plan to hit the sack early on Sunday night so that I can wake up in time to catch the match Monday morning. I could settle for the replay, but it would lack the tension of real time. From what I've seen the Netherlands team is strong and should triumph, barring mistakes or some huge injustice, but I won't be too put out should Spain prevail, because they too have never earned the gold star.

At least this way I won't be exhausted from staying up all night, and as I've said, football can never replace hockey in my heart.

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