Hello and welcome to my very first post covering my adventures as I watch the World Cup. Let’s start with the opening match which I was able to see briefly between Russia and Saudi Arabia.
It’s a little before breakfast and I turn on the tube to see the Russian’s out to an early 3-0 lead. Later I see star Russian Denis Cheryshev score one of his two goals on the day, and an amazing free kick by Russia in stoppage time to make it 5-0. Putin’s shoulder shrug expression after that free kick goal was priceless. It’s safe to say that the Russian national team lived to play another day after that performance.
This was a great matchup that I got to see at work on Friday. I saw it in between meetings four times and the score changed each time. First I was meeting with a colleague in the lobby and I was able to see Ronaldo score a penalty very early into the match. Refs may have given it to him, but regardless that was a great show.
Then it changed to 1-1, 2-1 Portugal at the half, then 3-2 Spain. The fourth time I checked there was a Spain fan in the lobby. We exchanged pleasantries but he clearly wanted for his team to win. He feels really conflicted because Ronaldo plays for Real Madrid, however, a different national team on this stage. We exchange talk about Microsoft’s role in accessibility and immigration (he’s an immigration attorney for the company) and the stage is set for an epic performance.
After sharing a joke about Portugal being Spain’s Canada, I witness an amazing free kick by Ronaldo to tie the score at 3-3. He has a hat trick, and he nearly scores another goal to give Portugal the win. Even though it’s a draw, I feel really good about the team that I picked. Surprisingly he’s the only person to score a hat trick against Spain in the World Cup.
This one was an “Arthur tried to watch the World Cup, but his parents forgot to tell him they don’t have cable anymore”. I go to FS1 and Telemundo in stoppage time, but we don’t have service apparently. My mom explains that they have started streaming things instead because their cable bill apparently doubled. Mother tries to log into Hulu account but is unsuccessful.
We later tried to find it on the radio but unfortunately it’s in Spanish, not English, and by then the game is over. Despite not being able to find a live stream my dad showed me the Roku feature on the television where we can stream channels and for future reference I know where to find this feature in case I’m stuck there again for World Cup games.
Hope you enjoyed this opening column. I will try to make more of this and record additional shenanigans. Will there be bar fights like at club matches in England, pub crawls with random fans across the Seattle skyline, or will I wake up with knife carvings of player names or other mistakes. Stay tuned and enjoy your cup watching.
