The Magic of Football
I never gave much thought to football. In my mind, it was always this sport men mostly follow and play in video games, and the rest of the world gets excited about during the condensed time frame of one month that is the world cup. I only remember glimpses of the world cups before this year’s, not even that of 2018. It’s strange because this is the first time when Lebanese television channels could not broadcast the matches free on TV. It’s ironic because throughout all the wars and horrible events Lebanon has gone through, people have always had free access to the world cup. This year, people are either watching matches in cafes and restaurants, from home after paying providers,or on phone applications and sketchy links that allow them to watch for free. Despite all this hassle, this is the year where I watch and focus on each game and event the most.
What happened is that I got Inspired by the vibes of this event, so I decided to watch the latest documentary of Pele’s life and career on Netflix, the Brazilian football living legend. My mother has always been a fan of the Brazilian team, so all my siblings and I naturally become like her. Knowing bits of information about Pele’s success as a footballer and him securing three trophies for his country, I came to love him too, but little did I know about his upbringing, his career’s ups and downs and what football meant to the people of Brazil. As I watched, my heart was filled with happiness knowing how this sport helped shape the nation and earn it more attention and respect by the international community. The country went through some really dark and sad times, and only the country’s national team was bringing back home victory, happiness and hope.
Netflix then recommended ‘Captains’, an eight-episode series on five national teams’ trip to attempts to qualify to the World Cup. The countries are Jamaica, Brazil, Croatia, Vanuatu, Lebanon and Gabon through following the teams’ captains journeys in leading and motivating their teams. It saddened me seeing that only two of these countries actually made it to the world cup, Brazil and Croatia, seeing how all teams badly wanted that opportunity for themselves and their countries as well. I was also personally moved that my country’s team’s journey was filmed, highlighting the crises the country has been passing through and what it woud have meant to us to qualify for such an international event. It only wasn’t destined to happen, not this time at least.
This series is so beautifully and suspensefully made. Audiences in stadiums and people watching from afar watch the game and see the player’s tiny figures and some of their zoomed in captured reactions on TV and later on social media, but they don’t get to know what’s going through the players’ head. This series gave watchers this perspective. This made me at least watch every game with new eyes, after knowing how much dedication teams and how much hope they have to consistently to hopefully get to enter the tournament.
It was interesting the journeys of Luka Modrić and Thiago Silva were both featured, and they ended up facing each other in the semi-finals. Brazil’s dream of a sixth world cup ended abruptly and painfully, and its players went back home broken and grieving. Despite feeling bad for Brazil, I was happy for Luka Modrić, who wanted nothing more than taking the world cup to his homeland before retirement, a country that has never won it before. The team never lost hope throughout the whole game and succeeded in turning the table towards the end of the game and got every penalty kick flying through the Brazilians’ net. Not only that, Luka Modrić came out to console the Brazilian team, which only speaks volumes of his manners and humanity. This only made me feel so sorry for Croatia eventually losing against Argentina in the semi-finals, knowing for sure that neither Silva nor Modrić will have another last chance to earn the cup. Their last chance is officially over.
This version of the world cup is really like no other, not in terms of the controversy that surrounds it, the money that has been invested in holding it or its predictions versus what is really taking shape. Saudi Arabia defeated Argentina in their first game, giving Messi a good shake of his world cup dream. However, Saudi Arabia ended up leaving and Argentina flew to the finals. Morocco shocked the world by reaching the semi-finals, kicking out Spain and Portugal and bringing Ronaldo crying and on his knees.
Seeing Ronaldo cry was heartbreaking, and so was every other losing team player who couldn’t suppress their tears until they were away from cameras. I hated every meme and joke mocking these players. Isn’t grieving the death of a world cup dream like the death of any other of our big dreams? Don’t we all cry, or at least want to, when something we really wanted slips through our fingers? The difference here is that these very accomplished players wanted to top their victories with a world cup for their countries, and their dreams died after the last referee’s whistle. The death of their dreams was televised and accessible to billions around the world.
I believe this world cup is one that the world will always remember. Qatar has set the bar very high for all the countries that will later earn the honor of hosting it. However, the violations Qatar committed while shaping their platform for this tournament should not go unpunished. Knowing thousands of laborers died building these stadiums made the matches harder to watch. I can only imagine what the families and friends of laborers who went to work in Qatar building one of these stadiums felt knowing their loved ones returned in a coffin bringing these fancy stadiums to life. I couldn’t help myself boycott the tournament. Participating teams worked so hard to qualify, so how can we not watch and cheer them on? The responsibility falls on Fifa and Qatar, and there should be some serious consequences for their violations. I truly hope the gleam of this world cup doesn’t silence the international community’s efforts to amplify the voices of those treated justly in the process of putting this event together. Below is a video created by Vox that discusses this issue that I believe deserves much more attention by all of us: How Qatar built stadiums with forced labor
I don’t understand my friends who have been telling me that they haven’t been watching the world cup. I know that some of them have been busy, but others were saying that as if implying that watching the tournament and following up on its updates is some sign of maturity. This event comes up every FOUR years! Why don’t we just enjoy witnessing the history that is created on these football fields as long as we can? Two more matches to go!
