I knew it would be great to be in Colombia for the World Cup, but this morning the daily paper was especially incredible. Eight pages, with very few advertisements, of in-depth, funny, detailed and passionate World Cup coverage. I enjoyed a detailed graphic comparing key midfield performances of a key player for Uruguay and key player for Spain. There were eight boxes, with pictures and text, describing the important moments in the Argentina v. Germany game. Stories and commentary about everything from the party that was going on in Germany to the heartbreak of the Ghana forward who missed the penalty kick.
I spent about three hours reading the paper and drinking strong coffee. I should have brought it to the internet cafe so I could quote it exactly, but one commentator said there were two positive aspects to the disappointing South American performance. He wrote, “We will not have to see Diego Maradona running naked through the streets (he had said he go streaking if the team won the World Cup) and Brazil will find a coach who is less of a caveman, who understands that soccer is played with your feet but not just long balls.”
This is our one relaxed day after being at the stadium practicing and cleaning yesterday. Tomorrow is the uniform distribution day and Tuesday the soccer festival starts here in La Mesa, with an evening parade and praise performance. There will be games all day every day until Saturday.
The kids seem to have fit in very well on their old La Mesa teams. Gabo started on the Under-15 team in a match on Wednesday, about 36 hours after we arrived, and then started in the Under-17 game also. They won both games. Gabo scored the sixth goal in a 6 to 0 game against a team from a nearby village on Saturday. Mario’s age group has just been practicing, but they are very excited for the festival.
