For one month every four years, there is a role reversal of sorts in our household.
Nate is the person explaining the sports terms to me. Nate knows the sportscasters, the players, the stats, and the rules. Nate is the one checking the DVR every day to make sure we’ve recorded the games.
For one month during this hot, humid, don’t-want-to-be-outside Texas summer, there’s World Cup soccer on our television practically 24/7.
It didn’t take much for Nate to get me excited about watching soccer. If Nate is going to get excited about watching sports, I’m all for it. He puts up with (and is, I think, secretly starting to enjoy) my watching college football every fall/winter weekend. It’s the least I can do to indulge his month-long command of our television and DVR. Plus, Nate played soccer for 15 years and has a real love and appreciation for it. That kind of love translates to me and I want to be supportive of my husband’s interests.
One week in, and I’m slowly learning how to spot a player offside, I understand what different fouls mean, and I’m learning all sorts of new terms – my favorites being those in this post’s title. I’m now obsessively watching each game, tuning out the annoying vuvuzelas, learning the names of players for my favorite teams, and understanding the nuances of each position on the field. One thing that hasn’t changed in my sports-watching persona is my screaming loudly when my favorite team scores a goal.
Nate laughs at some of what he calls the “new to watching soccer” things I do during games. I excitedly call out, “Header!” almost every time a player makes one. Apparently, they’re not that uncommon. While watching the USA vs. England match with Jeff and Catherine, Nate and Jeff (who’ve played on soccer teams together) laughed at me when I commented on a goalie’s “outfit.” Nate tends to get exasperated when I can’t figure out why a player was offside when it was apparently so obvious. But I am starting to recognize and call out good footwork, key plays, and solid passes.
I love the international-ness of the World Cup. I get a kick (no pun intended) out of all the fans with their banners, scarves, painted faces, wigs, and yes, even their vuvuzelas. It’s just such an interesting sports culture. Many of the ESPN/ABC game announcers have fun English, Scottish, or Irish accents. Seeing all the fans from each country reminds me of the Olympics, another of my favorite every-four-years sporting events. The format of the World Cup, with the group play and then the knockout rounds, is interesting to me and I’m glad I finally understand how it works.
However, the best thing about soccer is the excitement (or disappointment) that each goal commands. I don’t know of another sport where a point is so celebrated or hard-earned. During today’s USA vs. Slovenia match I was jumping up and down and screaming excitedly at the 3 - I mean, 2 - goals scored by the USA. It’s quite an adrenaline rush when any team makes a goal, but even better when scored by the team for which I am cheering. Yay!
Today, during the Germany vs. Serbia and the USA vs. Slovenia matches I learned about the pain that comes from bad officiating. Sure, I was rooting for Germany and USA. And yes, those were the teams on whom the officials seemed to be piling horrible calls. But still, as a soccer-watching novice, Klose’s second yellow card should have only been a foul and the USA’s third goal should have been allowed. My love (obsession?) for American football makes me yearn for booth review at times like those. But, this is a different kind of game, a different kind of football, and there’s no booth review to possibly reverse a call. It’s just whatever happens on that giant field in 90 minutes.
And it’s 90 minutes for which I am head over heels in love. Welcome to my life, soccer. You are definitely here to stay.
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