On World Cup (soccer, not football)

The World Cup opening animation sequence is rather amusing. While I can accept that these people were watching an old school 4:3 TV in 2014 without any power cable, this guy came and knocked over the poor TV set and nobody noticed it. Since it is a magical TV, I'm sure it will be fine.

After watching all the World Cup teams in action, I'm now a fan of this great outfit that commands respect and strikes fear on the pitch. Though they are most often older than the other players, they have superb stamina and are shrewd enough to see past the theatrics of play-acting. So why can't I find a single referee jersey in the stores to show my support?

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It surely is a visual treat this World Cup season with an explosion of colours and hues on the pitch and I'm not talking about the players' jersey. While the sky is the limit on any creative design, each country is compel to use only their official colours since time immemorial for fear of incurring the wrath of their rabid supporters. Ironically, it is now the referee's time to shed their drab black uniform and embrace the rainbow like a kid in a candy shop.

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For the World Cup Final, I can predict with confidence that it will be a fight between these two juggernauts yet again: adidas and Nike, with the former having home ground advantage being the official sponsor. And the winner will be....FIFA! Laughing all the way to the bank.

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Watching a World Cup match is tedious trying to fix my eyes on the smallest round object on the screen which is constantly moving. Instead, I subliminally wants to fly Emirates to Brazil so that I can drive a Hyundai to buy a Sony 4K TV and watch soccer while drinking Budweiser beer. And of course I'll go all in or nothing and pay using my Visa. I'm lovin' it!

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I admire my Dad's blasé attitude to watching repeat telecast of World Cup matches. Despite knowing the scoreline, he would cheer and jeer as if it is a live match, and in most cases, managed to hoodwink my non-fan Mum into believing so. Feigned ignorance is bliss.

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(Previously published)

This World Cup season is perhaps the only time we wouldn't be labelled as unpatriotic fools donning other countries' colours with matching face-paint, especially where there are money to be made in betting the right team. We would just be called fools waking up at 3am (Singapore time) watching millionaires prancing at half-completed stadiums in a third-world country. The only legitimate thing to do at 3am is to pee, then go back to sleep.

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I would like to join a non-government, non-profit organisation that will have global impact with their wealth of history and enrich my life. The closest I can find is soccer body FIFA. Rather than a wealth of history, it has a wealth of $1billion in reserve; and rather than enrich my life, it sure can enrich my bank account since countries will clamour to wine and dine me to clinch their rights to host the next World Cup. And it definitely has global impact milking from the millions who made Soccer their religion. The Beautiful Game is played by men in suits at boardrooms and corridors of power, with the winners determined even before the ball is kicked on the pitch. Where do I sign up?

More musings on World Cup:
http://winstonchongsingapore.blogspot.sg/2014/06/more-on-world-cup_22.html 

More musings on soccer:

http://winstonchongsingapore.blogspot.sg/2014/02/musings-on-soccer-english-game-not.html