Feeling Sorry

I have joined the rest of the world, including the opponents Germany in feeling sorry for Brazil. I had sat down to watch the semi-final match of the 2014 football world cup and was supporting Germany, but after the third goal by Germany, I started feeling bad for the hosts, Brazil. I couldn't believe what was going on. Instead of a tough nail biting match that I had expected, it was a one sided match which was so completely dominated by Germany that they stopped celebrating their goals after a while.

I went to bed after 55 minutes because I did not want to see Brazil's humiliation any more. When I went to bed, the score was 5-0 and when I got up, it was 7-1. Poor poor Brazilians. I felt hardly any joy at Germany's victory although I was supporting them. Hope they don't let it get into their heads and play well in the finals.

Today was a back breaking day for me. I had to finish a training at work and pass some tests with 80% correct answers. Then I had to assist the maid in the weekly cleaning, clean the fridge, make jam from some strawberries and raspberries that were showing signs of going bad, stow away some stuff in the cellar, load the washing machine and hang the clothes, empty the dishwasher and load it again apart from making a warm lunch and a warm dinner. I even managed to call my mom and talk to her after many days. I guess I will pat myself on the back.

Football Fever

The most popular game in the world is probably at the peak of its popularity at the moment because of the world cup. Every time there is a match involving Germany, plenty of people can be found on the streets and at the public viewing areas wearing German colours and drinking beer.

The world cup makes me nostalgic as I used to watch the world cup matches with my dad when I was a child. He loved to watch sports on TV and since he didn't have sons and nobody else at home was interested, I think he liked the fact that I joined him. He would patiently answer all my questions and would let me stay up late when the tournament was held in a different time zone. Argentina and Italy were my childhood favourite teams and some of my favourite stars were Maradona, Baggio and Batista.

Now, much to DH's consternation, I support the German team. There are ofcourse no superstars or on court dramatics. They are methodical and consistent and are often accused of being boring. We went for an exhibition match before the national team left for Brazil. While the fans were happily cheering their team, there was no euphoria, no fan-girls or anybody trying to get up close to their sporting heroes. I think the celebrity worship culture has not yet caught up here or maybe it is because they play as a team and there is no one superstar in the team. I do not follow german media and that could be the reason why I have this impression. But, I know for sure that if it were a cricket match in India, there would be plenty of fans going wild trying to get as close as possible to their favourite player. Sachin Tendulkar ofcourse has the status of God in India. I didn't feel that any of the German players enjoyed that kind of cult status. Anyway, all of these factors don't really stop me from enjoying the matches. I would love it if Germany or Argentina won the world cup. Go guys!