You will be missed, Pulpo Paul…

July was quite a memorable month for me this year. Apart from my promotion, I was finally able to enjoy the World Cup frenzy which drove all (association) football nations crazy except for the Philippines. Who could forget the sleepless nights me and my sister had to endure anticipating the outcome of every La Roja match? Or my fangir-ly moments in the office as I jumped and shrieked in relief after that wonder goal by Andres Iniesta in the finals. But no one could ever argue that the biggest celebrity ever produced by WC2010 was none other than Paul the Octopus.

His predictions made him a household name and earned him the gratitude of every La Roja fan. Vicente del Bosque himself never fails to make a reference to him whenever honors are bestowed upon the team. But just a few days ago, news was released that Paul has passed on. He had lived a good life and will surely be missed come Euro 2012.

Because I miss Xabier…

I have to thank the 2010 World Cup for introducing me to the “classy” one that is Xabi Alonso. Before it, the only person that kept me interested in association football was Kaka which meant that by default I had to support team Brazil. Here lies the problem. I barely knew half of the team.

Things started to change when I watched La Furia Roja play their first game against Switzerland. I loved the way the commentator said Xabi Alonso’s name and I decided to google the guy afterwards. Who cares if he’s married? ;) I had found the team to root for in this tournament. The good thing was, I fell in love not just with the guy but with the whole team. Within days I familiarized myself with the other Spain NT players. I rooted for all of their WC games. (I still maintain they were underdogs against Germany) To top it off, I even screamed and jumped like a freakin’ lunatic at the office pantry after they were crowned World Cup champions.

Kung-Fu (Oranje style)

No one kicks my beloved Xabi in the chest and gets away with it. Bad move, Nigel de Jong! If karma didn’t bite the Oranje’s ass mid-way into the actual game… it painfully caught up with them in extra time. They were a huge disappointment. To say they played dirty would have been an understatement given the flurry of yellow cards handed throughout the duration of the game. But the long wait was worth it. La Furia Roja is one proof that prayers indeed work miracles. I have never prayed this hard for a favorite team of mine (OA, but true) and they pulled through convincingly. Surprisingly, the haters who strongly criticized Spain prior to finals were now squabbling amongst themselves what went wrong with the Netherlands.

The week that was…

The World Cup has taken over my life. Well, sort of. It's just that I have been rooting for Spain since the tournament started and now it's pretty annoying when people trashtalk the team in favor of Germany. The fan in me actually gets affected by all those black propaganda against La Furia Roja. But hey, you can never please everybody right? As my sister would say, "let them eat their cake and we'll eat ours too". It's a whatever floats your boat situation and I won't force them to like my team if they don't.

I also miss the academic atmosphere. Had I been the diligent type as a student, I would love to go back to school and take up a graduate course. But sadly, I wasn't blessed with such brains. I have a few officemates who enrolled this semester and I wish them luck in juggling work and studies. It ain't easy multi-tasking after all! :)

Lastly, I feel guilty for not being able to submit a Carnival entry last week. It was supposed to be a walk-in-the-park topic since I love FRIENDS! Sadly, real-life caught up and I just didn't have enough time to type my entry. I'll make up this week, and that's a promise!

La Furia Roja

These guys are my remaining hope for the World Cup. Who knew Brazil would fall to a shocking exit against the Netherlands? At this point in the competition, it is clearly anybody’s ballgame already. La Furia Roja has to survive. They have to!

I do not mind at all if people call them underachievers. It has been a slow and patient climb for them to the top. I cheered when they recovered from a disappointing loss to Switzerland and couldn’t be happier that they’re in the semi-finals after beating Portugal. Root for Argentina or Netherlands if you want, but win or lose… my money is still on these guys.

Good luck on the game against Paraguay!

Te quiero, Xabi!

I'm catching up on Xabi Alonso's clips on YouTube. Man, I love guys with accents! He's just so cute when conversing in English that it reminds me of Puss-in-Boots. Haha! But yeah, finally got to see that infamous long-range goal he had back when he was still with Liverpool. Whether it was pure luck or a strategized game plan I can only imagine the excitement of the viewers who were watching the game at that moment. Oh Xabi, is it too much to ask for a repeat performance in this year's World Cup? ^_^ 

Write-ups always say he looks like Jason Bateman but I think he's more of a cross between him and Eric Mabius. And yes, he's married. Good thing I'm no longer a teenager who can be very territorial over guys they fangirl at.

Blame it on the vuvuzelas?

My favorite World Cup teams are losing their steam! With Germany's loss last night to Serbia, this ballgame has become totally unpredictable. The underdogs have managed to outwit the favorites while my favorite players haven't really stepped up. If Brazil and Spain don't get their act together in their remaining matches, Argentina is getting an easy ticket into the finals. I wouldn't want Diego Maradona to have that satisfaction though. :)

My new World Cup crushie, Spanish midfielder Xabi Alonso

Waka waka!

I do not claim to be a football fanatic. I barely even know squat about the mechanics of the game. But now that the whole world is caught in the euphoria of the 2010 World Cup, I am so excited to be rooting for the teams of my favorite players. While my sister is all for Team Korea, I shall be rooting for Team Brazil and Team Spain (maybe Team Italy too, just because Gigi Buffon is one awesome goalkeeper).

But like a typical Pinoy whose idea of sport is either basketball or boxing, my dad is apathetic to our FIFA fangirl tendencies. He'd rather watch the NBA Finals than figure out who'll score a goal first in a football game. :)