I was convinced the World Cup was starting today. As someone who has barely missed a cup match since Korea-Japan 2002 not knowing the starting date just feels weird, but what isn’t about a World Cup in November? It goes to show how unenthusiastic I am about Qatar 2022.
Some people believe football is a matter of life and death, I am very disappointed with that attitude. I can assure you it is much more important than that.
— Bill Shankly
It turns out there’s still 3 days to make up my mind on whether to watch or not.
Since I recently read that the only ethical way of watching this World Cup is on a pirate stream… and I dig that… I’ve been thinking about things I want to see and would hate to miss if I end up not watching.
Messi lifting the Cup - Because it would put all doubts aside on who the greatest player of all time is.
A goal celebration revalidating (reivindicando is the word I’m trying to translate) LGBTQ+ rights 🏳️🌈 - Because there’s no “jogo bonito” or “beautiful game” if you exclude people.
Sadio Mané kicking a ball past the QF - Because if I’m gonna root for someone, it has got to be the first team I was ever impressed by in a World Cup. (Just confirmed Sadio is ruled out through injury 😔)
It really sucks to see FIFA destroy an amazing tournament. I guess greed does break football’s golden rule: la pelota no se mancha.
Football is the most beautiful sport in the world. If one person messes up, football doesn’t have to pay. I messed up, and I paid. But the ball, the ball doesn’t stain.
— Diego Armando Maradona