The teams of Russia and Saudi Arabia line up prior to their group A march which opens the 2018 soccer World Cup at the Luzhniki stadium in Moscow, Russia, Thursday, June 14, 2018. (AP Photo/Victor Caivano)
5-0! Are you serious? Russia opened the World Cup in convincing fashion with a 5-0 win over Saudi Arabia!
For me, the game provided a valuable reminder. Your heart and brain don’t always work together, especially when picking the winner of a World Cup soccer game.
For the past few months, there was no doubt in my mind, Russia would win the opening game. They were more experienced and as the host team the support (and pressure to win) would be massive. My brain was convinced that Russia would win.
However, just last week as the tournament neared, I started to bring my heart and emotions into thinking about the game. I saw photos of Fran Hoek with the Saudi team, and I as have mentioned before, many of us have shared fields across Sonoma County and the US. I began shifting the decision from my brain (Russia) to my heart (Saudi Arabia). Really, I was just pulling for Frans as he is my only connection to the team or country. When I saw they were competitive in a 2-1 loss to Germany last week, it was all I needed to shift my pick. This morning I had my second thoughts, but when I pulled on my SA shirt (I am the Athletic Director at Sonoma Academy), it was meant to be that I was cheering for SA – Saudi Arabia. Well, not exactly…
In the end, Russia was the better team and their win will help liven the experience of the World Cup for all of the fans watching live in Russia. It’s always good to have the host team start well and to be in the tournament as long as possible.
I enjoyed watching the game with two of my brothers, Marcus and Andrew, as well as Andrew’s family. Benjamin couldn’t make it as he is coaching with the Sacramento Republic FC and they head to San Antonio for the a game on Saturday before traveling to LAFC in the 5th round of the US Open Cup. Thanks to Shawna for a nice breakfast spread and it was great to see our good friend Dennis who we grew up playing with in Sebastopol.
Joining the crew was Kevin, who is Danish but coaches in the US. As we spoke, I couldn’t help but think fondly back to 1992, when Denmark won the European Championships, having qualified only after then Yugoslavia was disqualified. The cheer that summer was, “we are red, we are white, are Danish Dynamite.”
Note to self…pick Denmark to win future games because you think they are good enough to win, not because you watched the opening game with your Danish friend Kevin. And, keep decisions between your brain and heart, because if you bring your stomach into the equation, Denmark will be my pick to win it all…who doesn’t love a good Danish!
The World Cup has began! Congratulations to Russia for kicking it off in style.
