Spore Sprout: World Cup 2010

The world cup is a festive occasion around the Sprout household. What serious fun to watch twenty men kick a ball about on television (!) -- and cheer along with the very lucky tens of thousands inside the stadium where you wish you were, also along with the lucky hundreds of millions gathered around screens just like you are. How precious to share some of football's unforgettable moments with friends and family and in happy fellowship with people all over the world.

Spore Sprout learns a few things along the way, too, quite apart from the odd geography lesson, such as that both Paraguay and Slovakia (Group F June 21) are located at the center of their respective continents.

Watching the Argentina v. South Korea game (Group B June 17) in China, the word that came to Spore Sprout's mind was 大气 (loosely understood as a generosity that is often artless, in contrast to 小气, a calculative petty-mindedness).

Three things gave Spore Sprout this impression. First, all sixty-four matches of World Cup 2010 are broadcast live and replayed several times in different guises on public television in China -- free to all viewers in China. Contrast this with our lot in Singapore: games available only to cable-TV subscribers, and at historic high rates (S$94.16 for existing subscribers; higher for new subscribers). Spore Sprout thinks he understands most of the arguments made to explain why things are the way they are in Singapore ... But he asks, "Why not be BIG about it?"

Second, notwithstanding popular sentiments against what is seen as repeated Korean attempts to appropriate certain elements of Chinese culture and tradition (e.g., Ganjeung Danojie, the Korean variant of the Duanwujie dragonboat festival that originated in China, was designated as a Korean cultural heritage by UNESCO in 2005), the Chinese TV commentary for the game in which Korea was soundly beaten betrayed no hint of snide gloating, but consistently praised the Korean team as worthy representatives of Asian football, a shining example for China to emulate.

Third, it was heartwarming to be reminded of how the magnanimity of one person can mean so much to another. The Korean goal that took the shine off the Argentine victory was clearly the fault of Argentine defender Martin Demichelis whose cringing mistake could have been expected to send his hot-tempered coach Diego Maradona into an apoplectic fit. In the words of Demichelis,

I felt that, for a moment after the error, I had earned the insults of 40 million Argentines. ... Maradona spoke to me a lot at half time, he told me I have his support and my team-mates'. He told me to not be overcome by nerves because of the error, to not start hitting long balls from the back and try to control the ball like always. It was an amazing show of support.

Vamos, Vamos Argentina,
Vamos, Vamos a ganar ...