Alright, I’m not actually in Russia, but on Thursday morning, 8:00am in Sonoma County to be exact, Russia takes on Saudi Arabia in the FIFA World Cup opener, kicking off the 21st edition of the tournament. I will be watching the game in Sebastopol at my brother Andrew’s home…not to be confused with Sevastopol.
Like any true soccer fan, or dare I say any true sports fan, I eagerly anticipate the start of the month long journey to crown the new world champion in Moscow on July 15th.
As you might have heard by now, the US team didn’t qualify, which changes the event for many Americans. If you are a soccer crazy American, of course you are bummed not to be able to cheer on the Red, White and Blue as you enjoy the other storylines which develop. Certainly, casual sports fans won’t connect with the World Cup in the same way without the US competing.
Fortunately, the soccer world has a short memory and the rest of the globe will quickly forget that the 2018 event will be without Italy, Holland and Chile to name a few heavyweights that weren’t able to punch their ticket to Russia. The game goes on and is bigger than any player or country.
I look forward to sharing my thoughts with you over the course of the World Cup. Caution – I may poke fun at certain players and countries, and it is possible baseball, American football and even basketball might also be on the wrong end of my humor. You should know these pokes come from a good place of admiration and respect.
My first memories of the World Cup date back to 1978 and although I wasn’t in Argentina, my brothers Andrew, Benjamin, Marcus and I would take to our backyard in Sebastopol and pretend we were. One day we would be Mario Kempes scoring for Argentina against Dino Zoff from Italy. The next day we would be German players, our favorites included Karl-Heinz Rummenigge and Sepp Maier. From Brazil, it was Zico or Rivelino. I remember being Johan Cruyff as well, which is ironic as he didn’t play for Holland in 1978 but he was probably listed in the tournament program which we used our soccer encyclopedia.
This tournament started a life-long love affair with soccer and the World Cup for me and my family. Although I have only attended three World Cups (USA, Germany and South Africa), I have enjoyed watching games around the world (including many cities in the US, Italy, Spain, Germany, Sweden, Holland, and South Africa to name a few).
I had the privilege of working at the World Cup in South Africa in 2010, have enjoyed blogging about my experiences over the years and written articles for several soccer publications as well the San Francisco Chronicle. This summer I am excited to contribute to my local newspaper, The Press Democrat, as I enjoy and experience the World Cup from the US. I will weigh in from here in Santa Rosa, where I live, but also from the road in LA, San Diego, Seattle and who knows where else my family and soccer travels will take me this summer.
Buckle up everyone. The World Cup is here! Let’s do this!
