World Cup 2014 is finally here and we have been waiting for four long years! I've had my iPhone Vuvuzela app ready to go and we've all been practicing our "GOOOOOOOOLLLLL" yell. I come from a long line of soccer players. My dad was a soccer player, my grandfather was a soccer player, my uncles, my brothers and even myself and my niece. Hell, I even married a soccer player. Our fútbol roots run deep, so when the World Cup rolls around, there will certainly be lots of family bonding time, even if some of us root for Mexico and others Brazil. But no matter who wins the World Cup we know one thing for sure, we will be spending lots of time together.
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Exponential times of togetherness: When you are spending every day for a month hanging out with your family and friends watching the World Cup, there is no doubt that you will surely catch up on things. You are just naturally closer to people who are in your lives every day because you know more about one another. You know the little things that make them tick, unlike when you see someone just once a week.
People who share similar interest develop bonds: Obviously a love of fútbol can bring you together but it instantly gives you something to talk about and a common interest, which might not sound like a lot at first, but soccer is a very passionate sport with a lot of passionate fans and to know the game is to love the fans. Also, if you are a Messi fan and you find yourself next to someone rooting over a Messi moment, what's not to love?
Surviving a tragedy brings people closer to one together: Talk about surviving a shared tragedy, did you see the Cameroon vs. Mexico game? What? Offsides? Hello, bad reffing calls can bring a family together into a lynch mob. We're Mexican, so the refs calling offsides on perfectly good plays by Mexico was making us all a bit livid. Even if we root for other teams, generally, we come together over our shared Mexico team.
Food: I am not going to lie, we are Mexican and when we are all gather together, there is a good chance that something is getting thrown on the grill and we are all standing around discussing the games. There is just something about good food that makes the soul happy and this makes memories happen usually in the form of a soccer ball being kicked around the backyard by the kids and the men, complete with loads of squealing of children in delight.
What doesn't Kill you makes you stronger: As we watched the Mexico vs. Brasil game, we hoped for the best but, honestly expected the worst, I think we all were biting our fingernails during all eight of Brazil's shots on goal. In the end, it was a draw 0-0 and though it didn't feel like a victory, at least we could hold our head up high and pray for the best in the next round.
Image via Thomas/Flickr
