World Cup in New York

A Spanish team that will be remembered as legend:So what happens...

Mon, 12 Jul 2010 01:57:00 -0400

Casa Galicia in Astoria, Queens

There may be a game going on...

...but the Spaniards have priorities.

Iker!

That's all, folks!

A Spanish team that will be remembered as legend:

So what happens when you field 7 Barcelona wizards and marry them to the tough, elegant men of Madrid? Noble, total football emerges, of the kind that Spain stubbornly believed in during World Cup 2010’s finale, against a Dutch side that was on the field to slash and burn.

Let’s face it. This was a hard fought but shockingly anticlimactic match. Both teams felt the burden of history in the making hanging on their shoulders. Sneijder was all but anonymous, Robben has never missed more glaring chances in a single game and De Jong mistook the world’s biggest sporting match for tae-kwon-do. Puyol and company were not saints either. Barcelona’s otherwise fully deserving captain was lucky to get away with some of his late tackles. Casillas saved his team from disaster many times over, and will be hailed as a hero for Spain as much as David Villa and Iniesta. Even so, through gritted teeth, both teams gave their best. Renouncing their reputation as the kings of fair-play, The Dutch did what they had to do to stop Spain’s mesmerizing construction game. Yet the Spanish pressed on. Carried by new found steel and ambition, they believed until the end that somewhere at the end of a Cesc Fabregas ball, Andres Iniesta would appear and send Spain up there with the greats. Sure enough, tackle him all you will, but the little man from Barcelona hardly ever disappoints.

There’s a degree of bittersweet irony to Netherlands losing against the very style of play that their beloved Johan Cruyff brought to Barcelona in the ‘70s. This should be a lesson learned for Sneijder’s silver generation however. Had the Dutch stuck to the football they showed in the games leading to the final, particularly in the quarter against Brazil, they would have had a better chance. It’s a sad record Netherlands has set losing 3 world cup finals. But the Dutch must look forward, build on this generation, and just like Germany, come back in 2014 sporting a truly distinctive personality. They have the pieces for it. Many back in Holland will naturally wonder what went wrong this time.

It just happened that Spain was better on Sunday. They were luckier, and had a date with destiny. The octopus has spoken, if you will.

Seeing this match in a 3 story Galician community center in Queens reinforced something I had felt long before the World Cup even started. This success was long, long overdue, and came to counter not only Spain’s anonymity on the world football stage, but a long history of civil strife. Above all, the result shows that Spain has finally learned to move past its crippling separatism. When it comes to football, at least. Mastermind Vicente del Bosque and his boys will not only be remembered for playing legendary football. They will hopefully be remembered for giving an opportunity to the folks back home to put their differences aside, and come together as one nation. Such is the power of football.

While I was stuck near work in Washington Heights today, glad at...

Wed, 07 Jul 2010 23:25:24 -0400

While I was stuck near work in Washington Heights today, glad at least Embry watched the classic Spanish display of class against Germany at a proper venue.

All in all, Telegraph’s Ian Chadband said it better than I could. Més que un club!

Admittedly, I’ve been hovering on the reflective side as of late. I’m finding it a bit difficult to pay attention to who is winning and who is losing with projects like this beautiful series floating around.

But can’t wait for a weekend of the best kind of football coming up. A new name shall be inscribed on the cup, and we’re bound to see something truly beautiful from the most talented teams at this tournament.

On the creepy, random side: world cup trophy made of cocaine?

embrywoodowen:

i wasn’t expecting to watch today’s spain/germany match. in fact, i was expecting to sit at work for eight hours and be very productive. but a friend invited me to la nacional, a spanish restaurant downtown, and i couldn’t say no. this only happens once every four years, and spain is my team now, since they’re the last team in that speaks one of my two languages. it seemed like every spaniard in new york was packed inside the crowded basement with at least seven tv screens, the sangria and screams flowing.

Hup, and today's roundup!

Tue, 06 Jul 2010 22:23:00 -0400

Oranje! Hup Holland hup!

The Netherlands made it to the final of World Cup 2010 following an exciting match against tenacious Uruguay. Sadly for the last South American team left in the competition, Luis Suarez’s absence was too much to compensate, even for wonder playmaker Diego Forlan. The Uruguayans went down, but went down in style, 40 years after their last semi-final defeat to Brazil. More on the matches tomorrow.

In the meantime on the New York stage, I am woefully caught in lab work, so I can’t leave the premises and watch the games somewhere other than local Columbia Medical Center pub Coogan’s.

Instead of photos, just this once, here’s a healthy dose of World Cup internet euphoria:

Bad news for German fans out there. Psychic octopus Paul predicted Germany would fall to Spain in tomorrow’s all-European semi-final. It’s Paul against Joachim Low’s stylish v-neck sweater, folks!

Mollusk odds aside, die Mannschaft made everyone in the world (myself included) want to be German when they wrote a touching letter to their fans. (Thanks, Cindy, for spotting this one)

Lastly on the German front, the exciting team Joachim Low has molded may also be a benefit of the ‘multiculti’ squad. Rest of Europe, take note.

Elsewhere, Argentina returned home to an adoring crowd. From fans, to Maradona, Still Loving You.

Can’t get enough of Oranje? Here’s one of the goals of the century, courtesy of Johan Cruyff, and a video summary of the last time the Dutch made it to a World Cup final, all the way back in 1978.

One of the many reasons I am a Diego Forlan fan

After Raymond ‘Guillotine’ Domenech left the French national team, Les Bleus have a new coach: World Cup ‘98 veteran Laurent Blanc is a brave man. Good news is, he can possibly do any more damage.

If it’s only Team USA you care about, Hendrick Hertzberg ponders whether Americans hate football.

And if you haven’t been skipping work to watch one heck of an entertaining World Cup so far, check out this enlightening cheat sheet by Gawker.

Last but not least. Orange geekdom.

Till tomorrow. What a match that will be.

On why both Argentina and Brazil are going home: South America...

Sat, 03 Jul 2010 19:34:43 -0400

On why both Argentina and Brazil are going home:

South America was flying high until yesterday. With 4 teams qualified for the quarters, it seemed likely that Africa’s party would turn into a prelude to what’s surely going to be a nail-biting World Cup Brazil 2014. But a few youngsters from Europe who barely see in one year the press that Lionel Messi gets in one month had something different in mind.

“Te acompanio en sentimentio por la perdida de Argentina”, a distressed blond woman shouted to my Argentine companion in Queens, 15 minutes after Germany had put an end to Maradona’s insane spell and sent him packing with an unforgiving 4-0. Argentina’s loss is Maradona’s failure.

I admit, I had believed for a good while in his manic bet, and I have the jersey to prove it. I had believed in the “genius” and the audacity to rest the hopes of his nation on the shoulders of one player, who can undoubtedly play the best football. But who didn’t have in Africa what he has at Barcelona: a team behind him. Messi is good enough to play alone. He can turn matches around. It’s just very improbable that he’ll dribble past 6 opponents in a row, and when it didn’t happen against Germany, Maradona had no answer on the bench. He sat there dumbstruck, wondering deep down why the destiny that smiled at him in 1986 didn’t follow Messi this time around. Why God didn’t smile for Diego once more. Diego, whose face is plastered to the window of every soccer establishment in Argentina. Well, Diego should have had that question answered in 1990. Such is the king sport. Mascherano would have had to multiply himself to do all that Maradona asked him to do against Ozil and co. Messi would have had to be super human, and perhaps score a goal with his hand. This was the vision of deluded Maradona, who kisses his players, counts his blessings and carries his rosary, but had no answer against a German team that is too well-oiled to spare squads that show neither backbone nor humility.

Elsewhere, Dunga had the game in his pocket against a similarly young and audacious Dutch team. But where Maradona failed, Dunga overdid it, ordering Brazil to fall back instead of finishing Netherlands off. And he paid the price when Wesley Sneijder, who later commented on how good it felt to have the ball brush against his bald head on the second goal, solved the game for the Dutch in two swift moves and inspired his team to victory. Dunga forgot that the Brazil he remembers (just like Maradona remembers Argentina) also used to have fun on the pitch, and savor the pleasure of running for the goal. He forgot Rivaldo, he forgot Romario, he forgot young Ronaldo and he tried to prove a critical and prophetic Johan Cruyff that “football has changed.” No, Dunga, it hasn’t. The team who scores the most goals still wins.

And so, both Argentina and Brazil went down at the hands of two men who have seen the last of their countries’ golden generations. Dunga lost because he rejected history, Maradona because he relied on it. In the age of Nike commercials dictating how people perceive football, Germany did well to prove what the sport is about. As my friend Peter aptly noticed: how many Germans can you see towering above everyone else in this fun little statistic?

In other news, my heart sank yesterday when Luis Suarez handballed a Ghana strike away from the goal line in the 121st minute of the game. Asamoah Gyan predictably missed a penalty kick under the pressure of history knocking on his door. Suarez clapped, Ghana cried, and Africa cried for Ghana. No matter how cheap and heartbreaking his save though, I’m forced to agree with my friend Bikram: Suarez showed more of that elusive team spirit than the entire wonder trident Messi-Higuain-Teves combined, and far more cool nerve than Brazil’s Felipe Melo. Thanks to him, Uruguay now stands alone for Latin America in the semis. Nobody at Univision saw that one coming.

And man. The Germans just won’t stop. Watching them play is like watching the Sound of Music. Ozil to Schweinsteiger to Muller, to Klose and goal, almost every time. Miroslav Klose is two short of being the most prolific world cup scorer of all time, and he doesn’t even start at Bayern. Mesut Ozil reminds me of the magical Turkish squad that took Euro 2008 by storm. And by now Maradona will surely remember who 20 year old Thomas Muller is. They’re young and thirsty, these Germans. And they’re playing delightful football.

A word of caution though: if Germany makes it to the final, they’re favorites, and winning the cup would be well deserved. But they’ll have to play Spain first. And no matter how absorbing their game is, the Germans have not yet played the team that knows an antidote to their midfield play. Del Bosque seems to have figured that one out. He is not Maradona, and has Germany’s number from their Austrian date 2 years ago. He will calculate his team’s steps the best he can, take full advantage of Muller’s unfortunate absence and rely on the likes of Villa and Xavi to strike first. Spain has crept forward without shining, like an old lady beating vicious defenses with her gnarled stick. But it hasn’t choked, and made it to the semis for the first time in 80 years of World Cup history. I wouldn’t count the Spanish or their luck out just yet.

Top World Cup Players on Facebook

Fri, 02 Jul 2010 20:50:33 -0400

Top World Cup Players on Facebook:

The latest from The Times’ multimedia desk. Awesome.

cindypepper:

World Cup players are sized according to the number of mentions on Facebook during each day of the World Cup.

My day in pictures. This is just a quick post previewing...

Fri, 02 Jul 2010 19:54:00 -0400

Happy Brazilians, Favela Grill, Queens.

My codfish is better than Felipe Melo.

Sad Brazilians.

Let 2014 roll.

Coogan's run. Min 121. "What happened?"

My day in pictures.

This is just a quick post previewing what’s to come tomorrow, after Maradona and Messi go on their date with history and Spain make a bid for the semis against Paraguay.

Planning to catch the morning game at Boca Juniors, after a lady on the phone vaguely mentioned something about “policia”.

tinaxgao: world cup and football in India

Wed, 30 Jun 2010 08:39:35 -0400

tinaxgao: world cup and football in India:

In most parts of India, people didn’t care much that the World Cup was going on. Our attempts to find a sports bar in Delhi to watch the first match was disappointing, and we ended up in an extremely posh place where they served the most pretentiously presented masala-laced nachos ever. Not…

So who before this tournament called a quarter final between...

Sun, 27 Jun 2010 01:40:00 -0400

So who before this tournament called a quarter final between Ghana and Uruguay? Not me, that’s for sure.

I did however have a hunch Ghana would do away with the United States’ luck, so I went down to Meytex Cafe in Flatbush, Brooklyn, to watch the game together with some people who really know how to party. After the final whistle blew, traffic stopped on Flatbush avenue, as dozens of people flooded the street and let no car pass before honking for the Black Stars. Ghana qualified thanks to goals by Kevin Prince-Boateng and Asamoah Gyan in overtime, and showed form that promises to keep Africa in the streets for a while longer in this World Cup. To quote my friend Embry, who was kind enough to bring me a margarita because I was too in the zone to deal with dehydration, this was one hell of a multisensory experience.

You can find more photos here.

And to those who think I should be deported because I didn’t root for the US…

1) Ghana was the stronger, faster, better team.

2) It takes more than winning to up the interest in soccer in a country as saturated with victories as the United States is.

3) A team competing at this level cannot hope for more after only leading for 3 minutes of the total play time they had at this World Cup.

4) Clint Dempsey dives too much.

5) Just imagine Ghana making it to the semis. I’d say it’s worth more for them this time.

6) Ghana fans cheered for both teams.

7) Again. Ghana was the better team.

Looking forward to their encounter with an extremely impressive Uruguayan squad who withstood pressure from South Korea to clinch the victory after a great touch by Ajax striker Luis Suarez.

And most importantly… Let’s rejoice. After some serious group stage fiasco, we are finally seeing the kind of football the World Cup should be about.

Game on!

Only one minute in the game between the United States and...

Wed, 23 Jun 2010 19:27:00 -0400

Minute 90.

Minute 91.

Still can't believe Donovan scored.

Born in the USA?

The hipster and the Cowboy

Only one minute in the game between the United States and Algeria mattered: the 91st, when Landon Donovan annulled atrocious calls from referees that stripped team USA of two previous goals and coolly finished off Algeria to send the US atop of their group ahead of England, and into the next stage of the World Cup. Donovan smartly followed a rebound from Clint Dempsey’s late shot, and buried the ball in the back of the net, generating an uproar in a city that otherwise rarely stops for anything at noon on a Wednesday. It was kind of like basketball.

Among the most fanatic were the fans who watched the game at Lower East Side’s Nevada Smith’s. The legendary soccer bar fit a few hundred American fans who took off work to watch their team win. For half an hour, it almost felt like home.

Why Maradona is the coach of the moment: I must admit,...

Sat, 19 Jun 2010 18:25:00 -0400

Argentine fans celebrating in Corona.

Ian owned his Dutch outfit.

Lone Japanese supporter at Tonic.

Halftime during Ghana - Australia.

Guillotine for Domenech.

Why Maradona is the coach of the moment:

I must admit, like many skeptics, I had my doubts Diego Maradona could discipline an Argentinian squad that relies so much on strokes of genius from a few key players. But after a shaky start against Nigeria, Argentina systematically unlocked the typically Asian South Korean defense with patience and grace on Thursday. They played the kind of football that makes one’s heart race, the kind that teams like Japan and Switzerland have completely forsaken under the guidance of overly tactical coaches.

Maradona’s vision harks back to 1986, when the numbers 9, 10 and 11 had true meaning. Messi’s number 10 was Maradona’s number 10, and meant the kind of imaginative attacking player that in the same championship could score 5 goals and create 5 others for his teammates. Sure, Maradona was a bit of a cheat, and had the ego and temper to boot. But he played football like it is meant to be played: with joy, with excitement, and going for the goal. That is what Maradona is trying to get his team to play. Just watch the look of wonder on 22-year old Higuain’s face as he scored his third goal of the evening. He does not see much of that at Real Madrid nowadays. I for one am looking forward to watch Argentina’s next few matches. As usual, Corona Ave. was the place to be, with quite a few Argentinian fans populating a cozy bakery that opened early for the occasion. Thanks, Cristi, for the empanada and the company.

Back to Maradona’s vision though, it seems to me we are witnessing a World Cup in which teams have come to regard goalless draws as good results. And that’s hurting the spectacle. Capello’s England couldn’t score against Algeria despite having someone like Wayne Rooney on the team. In this morning’s frustrating game against foolproof Japan, it took Dutch coach Bert van Marwijk 70 minutes to do away with soulless van der Vaart and trust players that have the youth and energy to always find the box. Together with 300 other Dutch fans back at Tonic, I was left wondering what if Eljero Elia or Ibrahim Affelay would have played from the first minute. Still, I am hoping for a more open game from Brazil and Ivory Coast tomorrow.

And now for the round-up: the French all over Twitter are demanding that Raymond Domenech be guillotined before he makes another squad selection based on astrology. Even his own players want him out. With Ghana drawing against Australia and Cameroon slipping 2-1 against Denmark today, maybe some tactics are actually in order for African teams. Check out Josh’s wonderful write-up of the travesty of a match that USA – Slovenia was. And enjoy some pasta, courtesy of a not-so-happy German team who lost against Serbia yesterday. Told you Australia doesn’t count.

Excited for Columbia’s summer league starting tomorrow, and I never thought I’d play street soccer in New York. Last but not least, my friend Ian wins the competition for the brightest orange Dutch fan.

Tune back for more tomorrow! Vamos Argentina, viva Mexico!

Round One Over So. By this point, every team has played at...

Wed, 16 Jun 2010 23:34:00 -0400

Round One Over

So. By this point, every team has played at least one game. And what have we seen in the last two days? North Korea narrowly held Brazil to a bizarre 2-1 win. Heavyweights Portugal and Ivory Coast drew 0-0 to their fans’ dismay, showing little in the way of cohesive play and good finishing touches. New Zealand drew 1-1 with Slovakia! And Switzerland beat Spain 1-0 in today’s match-up, sending my and everyone else’s bracket into shambles. Because at this point, provided del Bosque’s side does wake up from the Euro dream, they could still come second in their group and face Brazil in the next round.

But first thing’s first. Hoping to see some fan spirit, I went down to East Harlem yesterday for the Ivory Coast - Portugal match. I watched the game at a very orange (lighter shade than the Dutch one) restaurant on 119th and Madison Ave called New Ivoire. The company was what I hoped for: Ivorians dressed to cheer for the Elephants, a few Drogba fans donning Chelsea jerseys, a friendly owner who treated me to a delicious corned beef sandwich and a fellow who declared himself Drogba’s twin. True enough, he looked the part, and tipped the cable box over in frustration at least two times as Gervinho and Dindane missed precious chances for the Elephants.

Aside from the typically dull ESPN commentary, this match I had fun listening to in Dioula, the vernacular Ivorian dialect. Too bad though that the only real reason these guys had to be excited was seeing Drogba warming up on the bench. Their team looked determined and ready to fight, but did not manage to string enough passes together and take advantage of Cristiano Ronaldo’s average day. By average meaning he nearly scored the goal of the tournament so far (that honor went to Brazil’s Maicon, 3 hours later). The match ended in a nail biting yet extremely disappointing goalless draw.

Next in line was Brazil - North Korea. I watched this one at home, entertaining myself with following tweets from my friends while tending to a bout of food poisoning (oops). The prevailing explanation for the 0-0 persisting until halftime seems to be that a certain national leader would have done terrible things to the North Korean players had they lost by too many goals. Or maybe North Korea has something going for them. Either way, reports from friends in Brazil divulge that despite Selecao managing a narrow 2-1 win largely thanks to individual inspiration from Maicon and Elano, fans have consistently mentioned “filhos de puta” during and after the game. Not sure who that epithet was referring to. And another piece of trivia, courtesy of Josh: most North Korean fans seen on TV were actually Chinese.

Finally in line of importance, today the Swiss team reminded me of Italy’s golden age, and beat top seeded Spain thanks to very effective counterattacking and some great tactical moves by coach Ottmar Hitzfeld. Spain was somewhat unlucky, but please, please let Fabregas play and start Fernando Torres next time. Villa’s run is over. With this surprise crash, the Germans and the Dutch are in my book favorites to win it all, with Brazil and Argentina needing to grow into their game if they are to be taken seriously.

Going to Boca Juniors bright and early tomorrow for Argentina’s game against South Korea!

Life in bright orange: Today is the day I finally saw glimpses...

Mon, 14 Jun 2010 22:16:32 -0400

Life in bright orange:

Today is the day I finally saw glimpses of a team that could go all the way in this tournament.

For the first all-European encounter of the World Cup between Netherlands and Denmark, I went down to 47th Street to hit up Tonic, a 3-floor establishment in Times Square that may very well hold the record for number of TV’s installed for the occasion.

Being the kind of kid who used to wear orange bathrobes for Holland games back in the day, I was expecting this to be a colorful set-up. Tonic outdid itself though. To give you an idea about the crowd, picture a couple hundred perfectly dressed, sharp looking Wall Street executives in their mid-30s. Now imagine them sitting jovially at long tables together with their wives and children. Finally, shine some bright orange light on them, let some Heineken flow and hang a bunch of giant footballs from the ceiling. You’ll get Tonic during this morning’s game.

Despite that for most of the first half, Oranje encountered some stiff resistance from the Danish team, the atmosphere was perfectly relaxed. The Clockwork Orange worked fine if not spectacularly well, delivering some beautiful plays and only missing the finishing touch from Arsenal’s Robin Van Persie, who seemed to have a beef with one of the video cameras installed behind Sorensen’s goal. But despite a strong start, Oranje found itself under pressure towards the end of the first half, with Dennis Rommedahl sending some serious warning signals on the left wing of the Dutch defense.

The Danish were on track for at least threatening Netherlands’ long undefeated run, when Simon Poulsen added to the series of unfortunate events haunting individual players at this World Cup and sunk an own goal 55 seconds into the second half. Isolated Danish fans at a side table I had just noticed bent their heads. They knew from there on, things could only go downhill. Wonder kid Eljero Elia replaced Van der Vaart in the 67th minute, in a move from coach van Marwijk that switched Oranje into top gear.

You know how they say this World Cup is the World Cup of Rooney, and Drogba, and Cristiano Ronaldo? That may be so when it comes to Nike ads, but watch this guy Elia play, and you will see some truly delightful football. He tore the precise Danish defense to shreds on three separate occasions, being denied a goal of his own when Sorensen tipped his shot onto the post, handing Dirk Kuyt an easy 85th minute strike. At this point, the orange people around me were doing a weird victory dance. And for good reason. After an uninspiring performance from Italy against Paraguay today, Netherlands looks yet again like the team to beat on this World Cup.

In other news, on my lone day off yesterday Ghana managed an impressive feat and beat Serbia thanks to a late penalty by Asamoah Gyan, becoming the first African nation to win a World Cup match on African soil. And Germany predictably trounced an Australian side that had little choice against die Mannschaft. The Germans looked sharp as usual, but they should be manageable by a team that can show a little more imagination.

Game on! En route to Harlem for Ivory Coast vs. Portugal tomorrow.

Day 2: For the first match of the day, I trekked down to Korea...

Sat, 12 Jun 2010 21:41:00 -0400

South Korea - Greece

Argentina - Nigeria

United States - England

Day 2:

For the first match of the day, I trekked down to Korea Town, on 32^nd Street between 5^th and 6^th Avenue together with New York Daily News shooter and volcano buddy Daniella Zalcman. The nice thing about K-town during the World Cup is that there’s no need to look for any place in particular. You can just walk down 32^nd during a game, follow the cheers, take any entrance that seems to be leading to a dodgy ground floor calling center, climb up the stairs, and you’ll find yourself in a room filled to capacity with Korean fans donning red shirts. At 7AM on a Saturday.

(By the way, the replay of USA - England is on Univision in the laundromat I’m parked at. Poor Robert Green. If you get a chance, watch some matches in Spanish. The commentary is to die for.)

Long story short, South Korea looked disciplined, attacked swiftly, and did not cut Greece any slack. Thanks in large part to a good game from Ji-Sung Park, Korean fans had plenty of reasons to cheer. And boy do they cheer a lot — louder for each replay. The only Greek moment worth mentioning during 62 full minutes of no shots on goal was when Steaua’s Pantelos Kapetanos came in for Angelos Charisteas in the 60th minute. Kapetanos somewhat revitalized the Greek game and made Dani speak wisdom: “he is the pants captain.”

At 9:30 we left happy Korean fans behind and headed over to SoHo for Argentina - Nigeria, to try out upscale Cafe Novocento on West Broadway. This place was quite strange. We did manage to detect a couple of fellows that were indeed from Buenos Aires and were equipped with flags and a thirst for loud, but the density of USA jerseys and slightly lost looks on some people’s faces made me suspect that Argentina may be a fashionable team to root for this year among New York’s hip crowd. Nevertheless, I am going back to that cafe. The empanadas looked delicious, and the wine cellar promising.

Then after a short and most welcome pit stop at Dani’s, I dropped the journalistic pretense altogether and joined a few newly made friends at cozy Bunny Chow on Orchard Street for the United States – England match. By the end, I found myself rooting for the USA. They admittedly benefited from a rare and unfortunate gift from Green, but aside from some woeful defending, I daresay they deserved a draw and could have clinched a win in the final seconds. One thing’s for sure: neither classy looking Becks nor Mr. Capello were too happy on the sidelines. Just like Argentina earlier in the day, England could have pushed itself harder.

On a final, celebratory, and totally unrelated note: this is my first time in a laundromat. Ever since childhood, I used to fantasize about random encounters in New York City laundromats. Clearly, I belong to the 90’s. Game on!

It’s never easy to play against the home nation in a World...

Fri, 11 Jun 2010 22:43:00 -0400

I got off at 103rd St. Corona Plaza.

Fernando Ruiz, owner of Nixtamal.

First Mexican goal cancelled.

Carnitas cooking in the background.

Minute 55, South Africa scores.

Rafa Marquez scores for Mexico.

Quizas.

Quizas.

Viva Mexico.

It’s never easy to play against the home nation in a World Cup opener, and despite scores of missed chances, Mexico nearly choked against South Africa in a game that surely turned Ciudad de Mexico and chunks of New York into likely venues for a collective heart attack.

For World Cup 2010’s opening match, I went down to Corona, Queens, home of a sizable Mexican population that can enjoy everything from Mexican supermarkets to lunches at Pollo Campero. For a second, I thought I was back in Guatemala City.

Following advice from the Wall Street Journal, I stopped at Tortilleria Nixtamal, on 47th Avenue. Surely enough, this was the spot to be: it had a patio, warm tortillas, tamales, fresh papaya, and eager football fans. Not as many as I would have expected for a World Cup opener, but those who came out most certainly made up for the ones that were probably watching from somewhere at work.

Fernando Ruiz, the owner of Nixtamal, started out confident. Two minutes into the game, his prediction went from 3-1 to 5-1 in Mexico’s favor. And good efforts from Dos Santos in particular made it seem like it was only a matter of time until Mexico would silence some South African vuvuzelas. The patrons of Nixtamal went crazy over a 38th minute canceled goal from Vela. But, it was not meant to be. The first half came and went with neither team having scored.

During half time, Nando entertained me and Wall Street Journal’s Michael Rubenstein with a mini tour of his facility. The man has a tortilla making factory in his basement, and appears to be one of the only if not the only man on the eastern seaboard who actually makes his tortillas from fresh masa. He has corn shipped from Illinois and his “tortilleros” work around the clock to put together fresh orders every day that then get delivered to 12 restaurants in the area. So if you want your taquitos fresh, you know who to call. And as someone who accidentally bought 49 tortillas too many in Mexico at some point, I can tell you Nixtamal (which by the way means “dough” in Aztec) has some pretty darn good ones.

On that note, the second half started. And a certain Siphiwe Tshabalala scored a gorgeous goal from short range for South Africa. It was the 55th minute, and Nando & co. were pegged to their chairs. From there on, the game was bit of an emotional rollercoaster. 37 year old Cuauhtémoc Blanco came on for the Mexican side, sending me down memory lane to World Cup ‘98. Yet Mexico was limping, playing too slowly to unlock a South African side that seems to know how to defend. Exasperated fans watched as Mexico was playing a two men defense that thinned out with every South African counterattack. But Javier Aguirre finally woke up and threw Manchester United’s new poster child, Javier “Chicharito” Hernandez into the game. He energized Mexico’s game, justified the many jerseys around me and put the South African defense to sleep, as Barcelona’s Rafa Marquez scored an equalizer in the 79th minute.

From there on, it was a toss up. 101 exasperated shouts later, the end of the match saw some pretty relieved Mexican fans who can chant “Viva Mexico” and trust the future. With France being held later in the day by Uruguay, this group could very well mess up many brackets.

7 Hours to Go

Thu, 10 Jun 2010 23:43:00 -0400

Alright folks. It’s here. The moment we’ve all been waiting for. World Cup 2010’s first whistle is tomorrow at 10:00AM EST. First match: Mexico is facing host nation, South Africa.

A bit about this blog: I come from a country that has not qualified for this World Cup. After a decent Euro run two years ago in which Romania managed a tantalizing first match goalless draw against France, a dignified tie against Italy and a sweet dream turned nightmare against Netherlands, the World Cup 2010 qualifying campaign was a total disaster. So my lab mate Simon and I will both be commiserating for the next month, wondering why Australia and New Zealand are in for the fun, while Romania and Ireland are not. C’est la vie and allez les bleus, although my money is on Spain this year.

For lack of a team to stir up my football blood, I’ll be bar hopping around the city in search for the best neighborhoods to contradict the misconception that people don’t care about football in the United States. Well, in New York at least. I plan to hit up all boroughs and photograph during at least one match per day. Tune back here for photos and blow by blow accounts of New Yorkers going crazy over football.

Let the game begin!