Euro 2008 is on these days and even me, who never cared about football, is suddenly becoming intrigued by this analogy for life. This is the only way I can explain why I bother about who wins and who loses, who is disqualified and who goes through. My latest obsession (after group C and the fate of Italy and France) is the great comeback of Turkey in their match against the Czech Republic. I didn't even see the game but I then saw the replays and I was so touched by the force with which the Turks came back. I mean, they were losing 2-0 15 minutes before the end and they managed to turn it around, even with their goalie disqualified in the last minutes if the game (for a Zidane-style out of the blue push to a Czech player).
It seems to me that it is weird that I care about this. I have no particular feelings for Turkey, although they are the 'enemies' of my country ;-) and I definitely have no feelings whatsoever about the Czech Republic. I guess it is always fascinating to see an underdog story being unfolded in front of your eyes. Maybe that's why the win of Greece in Euro 2004 was so cool, because nobody believed in them. And that is exactly why football could be seen as an analogy to life: you could always have a safe bet on a person or on a situation and most of times you'll get it right, but underdogs do fight back and they do get their win once in a blue moon and make people believe in miracles.
skip to main |
skip to sidebar
What I am today is like humidity in the corridor at the end of the house, causing mould on the walls…
Translate
Blog Archive
-
▼
2008
(112)
-
▼
June
(15)
- The British summer
- Can we? or: read Lady V post below
- Freedom fighters
- One against all
- Birthday
- People with issues
- Why do I care?
- The two faces of German cinema
- Ο ρεαλισμός, όμως στην τέχνη σήμερα περιττεύει*
- Insane in the brain
- The past and the reiteration
- Nietzsche was right all along. How the hell did it...
- The modernization of China
- Portugal olé, Portugal olé, Portugal olé
- L' Orient
-
▼
June
(15)
1 comment:
Well, well, well, let us not speak of the Greek victory in the Euro 2004, hosted by a certain country which happened to lose.
But yes, I agree with the analogy so beautifully put. I care about football, I like to see people inspired and happy, although sometimes it is annoying. But I cannot follow any game when my country is not playing. I just do not care. Nothing touches me about this game, it is cold and empty except when Portugal plays.
But the underdog analogy is true. Once in a while they win, although most of the time they fail. Look at East Timor, the most recent country in the world. They were abandoned by Portugal, invaded by Indonesia and everybody expected them to surrender and eventually accept their oppressors. But they didn't and now they are a completely independent, sovereign country, despite their problems. Like having the underdog winning a match unexpectedly. And maybe that's why football means so much to countries with problems, because it is a chance to show they're worth something. It doesn't mean anything anyway, but it seems to make people happy.
Post a Comment