Goal Oriented
It was the summer of 1994. My cousin-3 years my senior- and I were staying at my aunt’s place. A football fan, he was excited for the World Cup finals between Italy and Brazil. It was the first time FIFA World Cup was broadcast live in China. I did not care about it. I woke up very early in the morning and found my cousin glued to the TV set for the final minutes of the match. Through my half open eyelids, I watched a man with a ponytail in a blue jersey standing in front of the penalty spot ready for the final shootout. Italy was one point behind. I still remember exactly how that ball went over the crossbar. I watch the ponytailed head sink, his shadow cast on the pitch of the Rose Bowl by the setting sun. It was my first memory of football, or, as y’all Americans call it, soccer. It was that moment when I fell in love with the sport, the Italian team, Roberto Baggio, and AC Milan.
Hello and welcome back! I hope you had a good weekend. Mine was okay. Today’s topic is football-related.
Over the years, football has become sort of an anchor for my memory. I can still match many life events to big football tournaments around the same time. In 2004, in the final days of college, my then girlfriend and I watched the last matches of the Euros before she moved to another city for her first job while I stayed. And I’ve only seen her twice since. Euro 2008 was the first tournament I watched with my then girlfriend now wife. We both hated the Spanish style soooooo much. In 2021, the night we brought infant George home, was another final of the Euros. We put sleeping George in my Italian jersey next to our laptop screen. To this day, George still doesn’t know the role he played in the triumph of the Azzurri. And the 2022 World Cup was the last one we watched in Hong Kong. Also, it’s one of the most scandalous World Cups ever. According to an investigation by the Guardian, thousands of migrant workers-mostly from poor countries such as India, Pakistan, Bangladesh, etc-died during the construction of the stadiums, for a tournament only 832 players were registered to play. It’s pretty bad. And it’s only gonna get worse. Can’t wait!
That’s the end of my rambling. Because of my love of football and the amount of time I now spend watching George in parks, on playgrounds, etc, I’ve got access to many a football pitch. And since I often have a camera on me during these outings, I get to snap a quick photo or two here and there. Here are some photos of football goals from the last two years. These were shot on film and digital, some with filters, and some without. I will skip my normal brief captions, because, you know they are just two posts and a bar.
That’s it for today. If you’ve made this far, thank you! My goal is to keep this series going, so there may be future posts on this topic. Have a good week!
I’ve never been a big fan of watching others play sports, but when me and my boyfriend was in Ireland we saw a game of Irish football on the telly in a pub. THAT I enjoyed! It looks like so much fun!
Using the major soccer events as a landmark for things in the past...I don't do it myself that much, but my youngest son sometimes uses these moments as references for (shared) experiences. The moment with Baggio I remember clearly, by the way. One thing we aren't going to agree on is the Spanish style of playing in that period, I think that was great, even if 'we' (the Dutch) lost a world cup final to them not much later. And By the way, I think George knew exactly what he was doing wearing that azzurri tricot. Now, about the photos: I like their simplicity, goals make a good subject. The darker ones are my favorites, to my own surprise.