It was two in the morning and the large living room lit by three dim fluorescent light bulbs was filled with about 20 friends. 15 of the 20 were wearing bright red, the color of Manchester United’s jersey. Potato chips were crunching, and cokes cans were opened while we waited for a friend to bring his widescreen television.
In my room, on Facebook and Twitter, friends from everywhere, and from different countries were reaching ridiculous states of soccer frenzy. I read chants ranging from expletives to professional sounding predictions of the match’s outcome. Then I read a Twitter comment from a friend. It read, “will never understand why people get so emotional over football. There're more important things like political factions, world hunger.” She echoed the thoughts a few others had about soccer. I was one of those few.
My friend finally showed up with his 40-inch LCD screen. Three of them stood around attempting to connect the screen to the house’s antenna. The screen buzzed black and white; white noise emanated from the screen’s built-in-speakers. There were several disappointed murmurs as my friends thought they might have to watch the game in some odd, dirty café.
Finally, the screen came to life and crisp British soccer commentary was heard. I ambled out of my room to join my friends. After all, as the saying goes, if you can’t beat them, join them.
I decided to cheer for FC Barcelona. I did that mostly because everyone was rooting for Manchester United. Flipping my laptop open, I Googled insults that I could use against Manchester United fans. Allowing myself a few shouts and screams at the television, I was promptly stopped when my friend leaned over and said, “I will smack you over the head with a spatula if you don’t shut up.” I laughed and went back to insulting Wayne Rooney very loudly.
There was this short FC Barcelona player with flouncy hair. Whenever he ran, it looked as though he was shuffling around the field. His scarlet and blue ‘Blaugrana’ Jersey billowing at his sides and looked as though it was a size too big for him. I pointed at the screen and was told that the player’s name was Lionel Messi. Being curious, I began to read about him. My friend commented that he was the “Messiah of Soccer.” What makes him more remarkable is that he had a hormone deficiency as a child and was told that he could never play sport.
I looked back up to the screen and was greeted by the sight of four FC Barcelona strikers pushing into the back of Manchester United’s defensive lines. A striker named Pedro passed the ball over to Messi and immediately, Manchester United’s defenders swarmed around Messi. I wondered how the plucky defender was going to get out of the trap. He merely dribbled around their feet, putting on dazzling and bursts of speed. When enough defenders were around him, he passed the ball out of the tangle of Manchester United defenders circling around him; and striker would appear out of nowhere to receive his pass. FC Barcelona made strike after strike in this manner.
Then I realized that how many people were watching this spectacle around the globe. Being the Champion’s League final, it was viewed by an estimated 100 million people. International Twitter feeds were buzzing with activity. It may not be the most important thing in the world but soccer was certainly the most popular sport.
Football brings people together. The thing about soccer is this, people identify with the idea of soccer. They identify with the team. FC Barcelona is a team that hailed from Spain. Spanish citizens were cheering on a team that represented them on an international level. Not only that, fans around the world was cheering for players who were from their country. Thousands of international fans were supporting teams like FC Barcelona because they somehow felt connected with the drama unfolding on screen. There was also that simple feeling of unity felt when cheering their team on to a victory.
Manchester United scored an equalizing goal. Twitter feeds erupted again. The twenty or so university students screamed at the television. On Facebook, Manchester United fans were busy writing the motto of their team ‘Believe’.
However, in the next hour, FC Barcelona went on to score two more goals pushing up the goal count to 3-1. A few minutes later and the whistle for the game to end sounded. The Manchester United fans looked completely dejected, with their faces staring listlessly at the television.
FC Barcelona fans around the world began to celebrate their victory. Calling Lionel Messi the Messiah and pronouncing equal titles over the different players in the team FC Barcelona. I found myself dancing around the room telling all my friends how much better FC Barcelona played than Manchester. My friends had none of it and promptly shut me up.
Perhaps it serves to show that while soccer may not be as important as world hunger; it does however, bring people together.
