More thoughts on 2022 World Cup

I have to admit that I have a new team that I have started cheering for in the World Cup. I am very late to the bandwagon but I am cheering for the USMNT after watching their match against Iran yesterday. I lived in Germany for 3 years as an Army dependent when I was young and I have been a big fan of German soccer since that time but the US team yesterday really impressed me. It wasn't so much their match itself but instead was how they handled themselves before, during and after the match. Prior to the match, I thought that Tyler Adams was all class in his press conference when asked by an Iranian reporter how he felt about representing the US as a black man due to discrimination in our country. His response was full of respect to both the reporter and to our country. During the match I was very impressed by the whole team but especially Christian Pulisic and the giving up of his body to score the only goal in the match. But my most favorable impression was by far after the match when some of the US players including Josh Sargent, Tim Ream, Weston McKennie and Brenden Aaronson showed compassion for the heartbroken Iranian players on the ground.

I have a lot of respect for the Iranian players and the courage that they demonstrated in the first match in not singing their national anthem to show their support for the women and men in Iran who are standing up to the government. These Iranian players were subsequently threatened that their families would pay the price if they did anything more during the tournament. They deserved and received the respect of their US counterparts on the pitch. Well played!!

World Cup 2022 - Men's Football (Soccer)

I have been enjoying the World Cup that started a little over a week ago from Qatar. As usual I am rooting for Germany and a few of the other European countries (England, France, Portugal) over the South American's (Brazil, Argentina, ...) and other countries but overall I just love watching the matches and seeing all of the passion from the players and fans. I am sorry that Italy did not make it this time as their players were always fun to watch with the energy that they would have while belting out their national anthem and while on the field.

FIFA has claimed that this is not a political event however the amount of politics in this tournament (e.g. US vs Iran drama, the attempted Gay Rights initiative by a number of the European countries, ...) has been pretty promenent throughout these games.

Round 3 of the pool play starts tomorrow meaning that the 4am/7am games are now completed and all remaining games will be at 9am or 1pm CST. Hopefully the rest of the tournament will be as fun as the games that I have already watched. I will still be rooting for my favorite teams but more than anything I love to watch the best players in the world playing for their countries on the biggest stage. The goals scored in this tournament are the ones that will be mentioned in Wikipedia articles in years to come when you read about the careers of different players.