I certainly understand people who think sporting events are silly and caring about them passionately is especially silly. I don’t share these people’s opinions, but I can relate to them. There are plenty of things that millions of people think are important and that I think are stupid. The winner of American Idol is an obvious example. Nonetheless, there’s no denying that people are incredibly passionate about World Cup soccer. Nowhere is this more true than in Brazil, where the sport serves as an important part of the national identity. Brazil has never fought in a major war or experienced a major revolution, and its disparate parts are held together by nothing more than by their national football team. This is a team that until yesterday had not lost a meaningful match at home in 39 years. They have won five World Cup championships. The odds that they would lose 7-1 to any team were infinitesimal.
I was rooting for Germany for no other reason than that I have some German blood and that my father-in-law was born in Germany, giving my son even more of a connection. But I actually just felt bad about what happened to Brazil. Thinking about it, this is because the joy Germans experienced in winning so convincingly and advancing to the final was so heavily outweighed by the grief the result caused for millions of Brazilians.
In a real sense, this was a national calamity for Brazil, its people, and even its government which has been under fire for spending $11 billion to host the games.
I had actually predicted that Brazil would lose against Colombia, one round earlier, but they had passed that challenge. I fully expected Germany to win, unlike Nate Silver and most prognosticators. Brazil no longer has the best players in the world, and the German side is absolutely loaded with top club players. But the way it happened, with such suddenness and finality, was stunning.
The people who had been protesting the government’s expenditure on the games put their grievances aside to pull for the national team. Civil unrest may now return with a vengeance. And the worst part is that Brazil’s games are not over. They still have to play the loser of today’s match between Argentina and the Netherlands. That is close to a no-win situation. If Argentina advances to the finals it will break Brazilian’s hearts to see them play even if they lose. If Argentina loses today, then Brazil will probably lose to them in the Third Place match. And South American pride will be wounded if the finals are between Germany and the Netherlands, two European teams.
What a calamity!