mi mundial

Once upon a time, in 2006, I fell in love.

After catching football fever when I studied in Toledo in 2003, I was excited about the World Cup in 2006 and being able to watch Spain play. Thinking I'd never be able to come back to my favourite country, I did what I could by supporting them.

So on 14 June 2006 (Yes, I remember the day), I got up at 8.00 to watch Spain play football. It was worth it, as I got into the game. I forget who they beat, but I remember getting into the game. And to make things better, I watched most of it on Univision, the Mexican cable channel, instead of ESPN with their lame announcers.

And that day, I fell in love with a striker named David Villa. I don't know why, but he was an instant favourite, and I actually texted in to ESPN every game to vote for him as player of the game.

I followed the rule of only watching Spain play. After every game, I would go to Common Grounds to read about the game with their wifi and go to all the sporting good stores in search of a Spain camiseta. Unfortunately, Spain did not win the Mundial. They lost to France of all things. (Thank you, Italia, for kicking their ass.)

The same happened with the Eurocup. I had to miss a few games because of that stupid job scanning documents, but I watched Spain win it all, wearing my red and yellow. (I also fell in love with Cesc Fabregas. We're involved in a scandalous fictional love triangle).

So now it's somewhat of a dream to be able to watch Spain win these games in the local bars. Going to teach at a summer camp may cause me to miss the rest of the games, but being able to cheer on La Roja is somewhat of a dream come true. And I'm now saying "¡Gooooooooool Villa!" instead of "goal".

So...¡VIVA ESPAÑA! ¡E-SPA-ÑA! ¡E-SPA-ÑA!