Usually I try to write about something close and personal to me when taking up this particular space in the paper. However, today is a bit different since I have been caught up in the World Cup coverage. As anyone reading this who has paid attention to the World Cup, team USA has been eliminated. It was a heartbreaking loss that left me proud of the men on the field representing the USA. Still, the heartbreak for a soccer fan like myself is usually a double dose of disappointment. At home we also root for the Mexican National Team. There is an unconditional support for the home team as well as an unwavering love for my parents’ homeland.
While Team Mexico’s loss on Sunday left a bitter taste in my mouth, there was still a wave of hope and confidence that Team USA would pull through against Belgium’s Red Devils and that our boys would move on to the round of eight. Instead, our team lost and now we must wait four more years to try it again. Many a sports fan will argue that you can’t root for two teams but with soccer it’s different. You love your homeland unconditionally and there is a passion for the place your parents once called home. That is why when both teams lose the heartbreak is that much more painful.
As a fan of the sport there is still much to expect from this World Cup. Messi can become a soccer legend and win it all for Argentina; Neymar can deliver a nation its dream of winning a World Cup at home; or the Cinderella team Costa Rica can keep shocking the soccer world and pull the mother of all upsets. Yet, in all of these maybes there are only two certainties: both of the teams I lose sleep over are out of the tournament. Sunday half of my heart said Adios to Brazil only to have the other half say goodbye two days later.
Very few events are as amazing as the World Cup and few provoke such emotions. Four years seems like an eternity but it will creep up on us sooner than we can imagine. While a lot can happen in that time, the hopes and dreams of World Cup glory will grow day in and day out until the inaugural ceremony in Russia. I’m proud of the way the Mexican and American teams played. I wish one of them had advanced to the next round (ideally both). For now I can do is wait four more years and hope that 2018 doesn’t give me another double dose of soccer disappointment.