I've never been a huge fan of sports. The Olympics are the only sporting event my family actually cheers for outside of obligatory loyalties, like the college my sister and I attend. The more true sports fans I meet, the more interested I get in sports, so with the World Cup dominating TV and my referee friend constantly asking me if I've seen any games, I decided to get invested.
The United States isn't in the World Cup this year, and beyond my Swedish heritage, I'm pretty impartial, so making a bracket about who would make it to the quarter-finals was less biased than most soccer fans. I'm also relatively ignorant when it comes to soccer teams and players, so making a bracket was both a challenge and an ease. How did I know who to pick? Then again, what was really at stake? I'd heard of people obsessed with brackets for football and basketball, but making one seemed relatively low-risk for me.
Until the teams started playing.
Suddenly, the World Cup wasn't something to just catch up on at the end of my busy day. I was checking scores continuously if I couldn't watch it live, I was texting my friend, I was watching recaps. Based on a quick but comprehensive Google search, I'd composed the following predictions based on points, red cards, home turf advantage, slight personal bias, and players who either scored goals or assisted goals.
France vs. Argentina: France (they have more points).
Uruguay vs. Portugal: Uruguay (more points).
Brazil vs. Mexico: Mexico (close points, but Mexico is the closest country to the U.S and I have a friend from Mexico, so there you go).
Belgium vs. Japan: Belgium (more points).
Spain vs. Russia: Russia (close points, but Russia has home turf advantage).
Croatia vs. Denmark: Croatia (close points).
Sweden vs. Switzerland: Sweden (close points and I'm part Swedish, so no betrayal allowed).
Colombia vs. England: England (close points and one of England's players has scored more points than any other player in the World Cup this year, no offense to my Colombian friend).
Upon the writing of this article, my bracket is perfect, which gives me a high I didn't expect. It just feels so good to be right, especially with such a small soccer education. Uruguay did indeed take out Portugal, despite Ronaldo's skill. France took out Argentina, despite the legend that is Messi. Russia took out Spain after tying, going into overtime and getting 4 kicks over Spain's 3. Croatia took out Denmark after both teams scored goals in the first five minutes, survived overtime, and matched each other in kicks until the very last opportunity.
Although I got bored in the middle of the game, every time one team got close to the other's goal, my entire body tensed up. During the last kicks, I was screaming, praying, and jumping up and down. I was glad for Croatia, but I was even happier that my perfect bracket was being maintained. Finally, I understood the craze.
Actually having specific teams to cheer for also helped me understand the community of sports. I've gotten to know my sister's boyfriend even better by discussing soccer teams and I finally had an actual game to talk about with my referee friend. I began to understand the universality of sports too. What else but a game of soccer could drag a 21-year-old from the U.S in front of her TV to scream for a country she's never been to?
Maybe I'll start watching soccer more once this World Cup is over. I've certainly learned more about the sport and had fun watching the games. Maybe I'll forget about it until the next round. I don't normally keep up with sports when I'm busy with work and school. But I've made my first bracket. I've participated in the craze and learned from it. So, may all our brackets go well this summer. And may we always watch good games, no matter how often we prioritize them.
