A Real Football Game

Four days before USA was eliminated, I watched Greece play its final game of the 2010 World Cup...in Greece. I've spent most of this last year living on the beautiful island of Paros, one of the Cyclades Islands southeast of Greece's mainland.

I was excited to see the game with "real" fans. Greece loves football the same way America loves baseball, football, and basketball. Combined. The game started at 5:00PM local time so the crowd unfortunately wouldn't be as large as for games shown at night. Because of the touristy nature of the island rules the summer, many locals can ill afford to leave work, even only for an hour and a half, to watch their beloved national team take on Argentina.

It was most likely the last game for Greece Ethniki, who would need to beat the heavily favored Argentines along with receiving help from Nigeria in the other group match. You wouldn't know it, though; once started, it was anyone's game as optimism grew with the passing of each minute.

I chose to watch the game with some friends at a local coffee shop on the waterfront. Good scenery, good food, good company. A great setting to watch the game and the match didn't disappoint.

The match was scoreless as the game's first half came to a close. Nigeria was beating South Korea 1-0 in the other match so if Greece could somehow pull off the miracle upset against Argentina they would advance to the second round. The excitement built, the crowd was getting into it.

Nigeria never ended up winning their match. It didn't matter. Ethniki's hopes were all but gone when Argentina scored in the 77^th minute and reality officially set in a few minutes later when the better team scored a second goal before final time. The thing I will remember most about the game, though, occurred after the match.

The spectators around me applauded their football team, minutes after they were eliminated. I've never seen anything like applauding a losing effort back home in the states. When I asked my friend Barry, who lives on the island, why, he looked a little baffled. "This is their team; they love them."

Bring on 2014.