Here We Are
Author: Brandon (Dad)
There was a time I thought the San Francisco Giants would never win the World Series… at least in my lifetime, anyways. They had a pretty long stretch of being good, but not great. From 1954 until they finally lifted the trophy in 2010, a span of 56 years, they went without a championship.
Of course, they are one of 30 baseball teams that all compete, roughly, on an even playing field. Teams can have bad runs of luck – the Boston Red Sox somehow made it 86 years between championships – but chances are, eventually, every team will win a championship.
That’s not the case in international football/soccer. The World Cup has been held every four years since 1930, a total of 20 tournaments. There are 211 nations registered as members of FIFA, making them eligible to compete in the World Cup. 77 nations have appeared in at least one World Cup. 12 nations have made it to a World Cup final.
And only 8 nations have won a World Cup: Brazil (5), Germany (4), Italy (4), Argentina (2), Uruguay (2), France (1), England (1), Spain (1).
14 of the 32 nations in this year’s World Cup have a population over 40,000,000. Brazil has over 200,000,000. France is around 67,000,000.
And then there’s little Croatia. As I mentioned in a previous post, the population of this nation is on par with Oklahoma or Oregon. The Riverside/Ontario/San Bernardino is more populated…by nearly a million people. The Dallas/Fort Worth area is nearly twice the size.
Of course, it’s not all about population or we’d be looking at a final featuring China and India. Big countries often don’t compete at the top levels, but for those that are gunning for a world championship in the world’s game (yes, Americans, this is the world’s game), a wide population base from which to draw and develop talent has always been important.
To be fair, Uruguay does have two World Cups to their name with a population slightly smaller than Croatia’s 4,000,000, but those happened in 1930 and 1950. Since 1950, no country smaller than Argentina (44,000,000) has won.
This is sport. Underdogs do win. Croatia could very well raise the World Cup later this afternoon. They are good enough. Luka Modrić is playing as good as any player in the world right now, in my opinion. They have talent and they have depth. They have a good coach and they are motivated. In 90 minutes (or 120 as the Croatian team likes to do it…) anything can happen.
But regardless, this country has already won. You can see it on the faces of every Croatian. In the excitement of every child who refuses to take off his or her Modrić, Rakitić, Perišić, or Mandzukić jersey (I have one of those kids).
Today goes far beyond soccer. This is about the pride of a nation. I can’t tell you how many people I’ve heard from in the U.S. that are following along. More often than not, it’s people who don’t follow soccer. Maybe they are just humoring me because I’m their friend who sold his house and moved to Europe for the summer to be closer to his beloved ancestral homeland. However it feels bigger than that.
For a long time, when I would tell people about my Croatian roots and my love of this country, I would be asked about the war. I’d be asked if it was even safe to go there.
Over the past couple of years, word has gotten out and Croatia has become a go-to tourist destination. Folks wouldn’t ask me about the war, they’d say, “I hear it’s beautiful…” or “I read an article about Croatia, isn’t that where your family is from? … sounds beautiful…”.
All of this is true. There is an indelible mark on this area left by centuries of struggle and a recent war for independence. It’s also really damned beautiful. It’s hard to take a photo that couldn’t double for a postcard. But, at least for today, it’s about more than that. Croatia is taking its rightful place on the world stage.
I can’t tell you how lucky I am to be right here, right now. I’ve carried on and on about my attachment to this small nation, but to be here on its proudest day is something I will never forget.
So to all those people who would tease me about how my 1996 Croatia jersey looks like a table cloth at an Italian restaurant, here we are. Let’s have some fun.
There was a time I thought the San Francisco Giants would never win the World Series… at least in my lifetime, anyways. They had a pretty long stretch of being good, but not great. From 1954 until they finally lifted the trophy in 2010, a span of 56 years, they went without a championship.
Of course, they are one of 30 baseball teams that all compete, roughly, on an even playing field. Teams can have bad runs of luck – the Boston Red Sox somehow made it 86 years between championships – but chances are, eventually, every team will win a championship.
That’s not the case in international football/soccer. The World Cup has been held every four years since 1930, a total of 20 tournaments. There are 211 nations registered as members of FIFA, making them eligible to compete in the World Cup. 77 nations have appeared in at least one World Cup. 12 nations have made it to a World Cup final.
And only 8 nations have won a World Cup: Brazil (5), Germany (4), Italy (4), Argentina (2), Uruguay (2), France (1), England (1), Spain (1).
14 of the 32 nations in this year’s World Cup have a population over 40,000,000. Brazil has over 200,000,000. France is around 67,000,000.
And then there’s little Croatia. As I mentioned in a previous post, the population of this nation is on par with Oklahoma or Oregon. The Riverside/Ontario/San Bernardino is more populated…by nearly a million people. The Dallas/Fort Worth area is nearly twice the size.
Of course, it’s not all about population or we’d be looking at a final featuring China and India. Big countries often don’t compete at the top levels, but for those that are gunning for a world championship in the world’s game (yes, Americans, this is the world’s game), a wide population base from which to draw and develop talent has always been important.
To be fair, Uruguay does have two World Cups to their name with a population slightly smaller than Croatia’s 4,000,000, but those happened in 1930 and 1950. Since 1950, no country smaller than Argentina (44,000,000) has won.
This is sport. Underdogs do win. Croatia could very well raise the World Cup later this afternoon. They are good enough. Luka Modrić is playing as good as any player in the world right now, in my opinion. They have talent and they have depth. They have a good coach and they are motivated. In 90 minutes (or 120 as the Croatian team likes to do it…) anything can happen.
But regardless, this country has already won. You can see it on the faces of every Croatian. In the excitement of every child who refuses to take off his or her Modrić, Rakitić, Perišić, or Mandzukić jersey (I have one of those kids).
Today goes far beyond soccer. This is about the pride of a nation. I can’t tell you how many people I’ve heard from in the U.S. that are following along. More often than not, it’s people who don’t follow soccer. Maybe they are just humoring me because I’m their friend who sold his house and moved to Europe for the summer to be closer to his beloved ancestral homeland. However it feels bigger than that.
For a long time, when I would tell people about my Croatian roots and my love of this country, I would be asked about the war. I’d be asked if it was even safe to go there.
Over the past couple of years, word has gotten out and Croatia has become a go-to tourist destination. Folks wouldn’t ask me about the war, they’d say, “I hear it’s beautiful…” or “I read an article about Croatia, isn’t that where your family is from? … sounds beautiful…”.
All of this is true. There is an indelible mark on this area left by centuries of struggle and a recent war for independence. It’s also really damned beautiful. It’s hard to take a photo that couldn’t double for a postcard. But, at least for today, it’s about more than that. Croatia is taking its rightful place on the world stage.
I can’t tell you how lucky I am to be right here, right now. I’ve carried on and on about my attachment to this small nation, but to be here on its proudest day is something I will never forget.
So to all those people who would tease me about how my 1996 Croatia jersey looks like a table cloth at an Italian restaurant, here we are. Let’s have some fun.
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