The football Pope

When Jorge Bergoglio had just become Pope Francis I in 2013 I was at a diplomatic reception in Monrovia, Liberia, and came across a young Argentine priest who worked at the Holy See’s representation in Monrovia. He confirmed he knew the Pope, and we then proceeded to discuss football, focusing on the coming 2014 World Cup. Confessing my own support for Argentina, we were interrupted by a Frenchman who overheard our conversation: “Of course, France also has a great team that could win”.

“Excomulgated”. The Argentine priest replied in good humour. 

It was the same good-natured approach of his Argentine boss, who after having passed away, has been given many tributes by the football community. 

Because Pope Francis may have been the popular leader of the Catholic Church, one of the most important religions in the world, but he was certainly also a follower of the quasi-religion of football. It might have been obvious given that Pope Francis was born in Argentina, and grew up in a society where the religion of football means a lot in every layer of society. 

The Pope was a fan of the club from the neighbourhood of Almagro, in Buenos Aires, San Lorenzo, a club that has incidentally been founded by a Priest. When the club miraculously won the Copa Libertadores in 2014, a year after he had become Pope, the club went to the Vatican to give the Pope a copy of the trophy, in gratitude for the Pope’s near-divine support. 

And the Pople met many footballers who have also paid tribute to him, just as the fans of many teams, including those of Olympique Marseille: 

 

Independiente Medellín-Once Caldas

I happened to be passing through Medellin, Colombia,  and decided to go to watch football. The local side Independiente Medellín was playing the team from Manizales, Once Caldas.

Great atmosphere in the stadium, fantastic fans and a home team that pressured from early on, completely dominating, and leading 2-0 at half time on excellent strikes by Leider Berrío and Francisco Chaverra.

Second half was frankly boring as Medellin pulled back and Once Caldas had little to offer.

But some fantastic fans did have a lot to offers and I had a great time in Medellin.

2025 forecasts

It is hard to be optimistic about 2025, both in and outside football. Football, like the world in general, is becoming more tribal, hateful, since hate and tribalism mobilises more money. Fewer and fewer fans watch because they want to watch good football, but rather because they want to belong to their tribe and hate the other tribe.

It is sad, but with that out of the way I have my predictions for 2025 (I am notably bad at predicting though):

• Liverpool will win the Premier League, and I think that Manchester City will squeeze into the top 4 instead of Nottingham Forest. Amorin will fail to qualify Manchester United to Europe.
• Real Madrid or Liverpool will win the Champions League, whose current format will favour all the traditional top teams as the surprises in the league will all be eliminated in the first round of knock-outs. FC Barcelona will suffer from its financial mess and not get far.
• Brazilian teams will be even more dominant in South America, and all four semifinalists of the Libertadores will be Brazilian
• The Club World Cup will be a big economic success for FIFA as they get the European teams on board, who will completely dominate the tournament with some VAR and referee assistance
• Real Madrid will win La Liga after a lucky streak ahead of Atletico Madrid. Valencia will be relegated and will have a hard time returning to the top flight.
• France will win the UEFA Nations League.
• FC Copenhagen will win the Danish League, Bayern Munich the German, Napoli the Italian, PSG the French.
• Cristiano Ronaldo will return to Europe to finish his career.

2024 footballing memories

For me 2024 has been an intense year, full of emotions and changes on the personal level, but also at the footballing level, and I have probably been a bit lazy and lacking passion in terms of this blog that I have now had for 20 years, but there are certainly some footballing experiences, good and bad, worth recalling:

• El Salvador-Inter Miami: I was living in El Salvador in January, not knowing where I would be at the end of the year. The Salvadoran national team is poor, very poor, and only appear to have become worse during the years I spent in the small but charming Central American nation. It was therefore with a lot of expectation that Inter Miami, with Lionel Messi, went to San Salvador to face El Salvador in an exhibition match. Despite totally overblown prices (that is why I decided not to go) there were huge expectations (the President even met the team) for a hugely disappointing and boring 0-0 match during which Messi was substituted at half-time. The match reminded me of the modern hype around one player...

•  Inter Miami-Nashville: But I did see Lionel Messi this year; I went to visit friends in Miami, and we went to the old Fort Lauderdale Strikers' ground to see Messi, Suarez, Busquets & co. play against Nashville in the MLS. Inter Miami is first and foremost a merchandising machine and only secondly a football club, and they lack many real fans who do not go to see Messi. Without the superstars Inter Miami are at most a second-rate side. The match and its surroundings was a very polished and organised affair with the required goals by Messi and Suarez, but completely lacking a passionate atmosphere. I enjoyed the evening, but hope this is not the future of football.

• Cruz Azul-Pumas: By the month of October I had finally left El Salvador and moved to Mexico, with its excellent Liga MX and went to my first match at the Olympic Stadium by the UNAM, to watch the Pumas take on Cruz Azul. The atmosphere was splendid, totally different from the polished match in Ft. Lauderdale: crazy songs, passion and a lot of emotion. Cruz Azul won easily and ended first in the league, but they nevertheless did not manage to win the championship. That said, I look forward to watching many more Cruz Azul matches!

• Alianza-FAS: It was not all a loss. During my many years in El Salvador I had never chosen a team to support. But that came on a day in May when I went to see the best team from San Salvador, Alianza, play their arch-rivals from Santa Ana, FAS, on the second leg of the final of the Salvadorean championship. Alianza won the match 2-1 amid a fantastic atmosphere where the numerous FAS fans were annoying, but I happily rejoiced in the triumph alongside the many charming Alianza fans!
  

• Brøndby-AGF: My team in Denmark is and always will be Brøndby! This season they were doing well in a very closely-fought league with the Wolves of FC Midtjylland, but in the end Brøndby had it all in their hands; all they needed to win the league was to defeat AGF in their last match at home. I was in El Salvador and full of expectations as I watched the match in the morning at the beach in El Tunco. I was proudly wearing my Brøndby shirt, only to have a very disappointing morning that ended with consolation beers: Brøndby lost 2-3 at home, and the championship went to FC Midtjylland (and a tiny consolation that at least it did not go to FC Copenhagen).
  

• Denmark-Germany: I was back in Denmark for most of the Euros, and watched the Denmark-Germany in Viborg with some great friends. Although the match was won by Germany amid some controversial VAR calls, there is little doubt that Germany were the better team overall, and in the overall view of the tournament Denmark was disappointing, most of all in the first round where I felt Denmark gave away matches against weaker sides (Slovenia and Serbia) and never played the counterattacking football that I think Denmark has always been good at. Kasper Hjulmand finally resigned as manager after the tournament and hoping for a better style in the future.
  

• Scotland-Germany: I was in Glasgow for the opening of the Euros. Wonderful atmosphere amid the charming Scots who are impossible not to support; I did buy a Scotland shirt! Unfortunately their marvelous support was not translated into their style, and in the opening match (that I watched in a pub in Glasgow) they were outplayed by a great German side. 5-1, and even the Scot goal (their only shot on target during the match) was scored by a German, an own goal. But Scots are living proof that to be World Champions it is not necessary to win at football.
  

• Spain-England: Personally the Euro final was not my dream final, but there was no doubt that I supported Spain in their 2-1 victory against an admittedly good English side. That said, except for one of my cats, it is difficult to support England. I watched the final at my house in San Salvador, barbecuing some choripanes with the few people who accepted my invitation to come over. Good times.
  

• Colombia-Argentina: Two countries that I love very much both in- and outside football faced one another in the 2024 Copa America final in Miami. I was very much looking forward to a clash full of passion and good football, but was not ready for the chaotic and hateful atmosphere that day in Miami and on social media. Argentina won, but both countries in reality lost, and most of all football lost. The racist chanting of the Argentineans after the match (and they refused to apologize, instead defending the indefensible) only added to a final that most of all saddened me.
  

• Real Madrid-Manchester City: I was widely disliked at my office in San Salvador, and one of my few joys was escaping during the Champions League afternoons to a small taco-restaurant to watch matches over lunch. One of these matches was the CL quarterfinal 1st leg in April 2024 when the two giants from Real Madrid and Manchester City tied 3-3 in Madrid (the return match in England ended 1-1 and Real Madrid progressed after penalty kicks). You can say anything about these teams, but they do give high quality entertainment, and this match was memorable, probably the best of the year seen with objectivity.
  

• Real Madrid-Borussia Dortmund:I watched Real Madrid win their 15th European Champions title at my local Cadejo bar in Santa Elena in San Salvador. Most people in the bar were supporting Real Madrid, but I was supporting Dortmund, a great club that has not had a good year. The Germans were better in the first half, but when you do not score, Real Madrid is always bound to punish you, and they surely did by scoring two goals in the second half, and me enjoying more Cadejo beers!
  

• Santa Tecla-CD Firpo: The only time I went to the stadium of "Las Delicias" in San Salvador was to watch the low-rated Santa Tecla team play CD Firpo in the Salvadoran league. I went spontaneously, just wanting to watch a match in the midst of a stressful period in my life, and I was fortunately rewarded with a fantastic match that ended 3-3 and a great atmosphere in the small but charming "Las Delicias". One of those low-expectation football experiences that just turns out to be perfect.
  

Let me wish you all a wonderful 2025; no matter who you support, may you and your team first and foremost live the joy of football, the sweetness of victory and losing with dignity! 

It is just a game, and beer is the fuel!

Good luck to us all.

Cruz Azul and other things

Yesterday was a special day, as I moved into my new apartment that will hopefully be my home in Mexico for years ahead.

Shortly after receiving the keys I went to a nearby bar that was showing the classic match between Real Madrid and Barcelona. I must admit that it has been some years since this match has excited me, but this one was special: it was 0-0 at halftime, but I expected that Barcelona’s forward defensive line would succumb to the quick Real Madrid strikers, as there were indeed close calls in the first half. But Barcelona were simply extraordinary in the second half: two goals by Robert Lewandowski, a splendid strike by Lamine Yamal (sadly marred by racist chants amid Real Madrid fans) and a great lob from Rafinha made it 0-4 and a demonstration by a resurrected Barcelona under Hansi Flick. They also destroyed Borussia Dortmund 1-4 in the Champions League and if they keep it up they are a team to beat.

Later that day I went to the Olympic University Stadium in Mexico City. The legendary stadium of the 1968 Olympics, where Bob Beamon made the second longest jump in history. Today the beautiful stadium is home ground to Pumas de UNAM, and they were facing Cruz Azul a home derby in the Mexican league. I got the tickets through Cruz Azul, so was sitting amid hardcore Cruz Azul fans behind one of the goals surrounded by copious (but largely unnecessary) riot police.

And perhaps for the best, as Cruz Azul, current leaders of the league, were by far better. It took only 27 seconds for them to go ahead on a goal by veteran striker Angel Sepúlveda, and barely 12 minutes later Uruguayan Ignacio Rivero made it 0-2. Cruz Azul then relaxed and really Pumas represented no threat in a match that all in all appeared too easy for Cruz Azul, and it ended 0-2, and I may be on the way to becoming a Cruz Azul fan, whose mascot is a piece of cement,

The mascot of Pumas is supposedly a puma, but it looks more like a cross between the lion king, Beverly Hills chihuahua and Robert Procineski. And the mascot sang karaoke love songs at half time: “nunca voy a olvidarte” (I will never forget you) seemed totally out of place as I would have wanted to forget the Puma defense after that first half….

But respect to the Goya, Pumas fanbase, who despite their team, were never silenced.

Good time with beer and chants, but I look forward to going to a match at Cruz Azul’s home ground in Mexico DF.

Trying for Cruz Azul against Necaxa

 Today I wanted to go and watch the local Mexico City side of Cruz Azul face Necaxa. I was trying to buy ticket online on my way to the stadium in the metro and metrobus, but on the one hand had a bad connection, but worse, Ticketmaster.com continues to be the worst facilitator of tickets in the world. I already had big problems with tickets I had bought for an MLS match in the US: I had already purchased the tickets, but when heading to the match, I could not get them in my account that was "registered outside the US". The problem was similar yesterday, as I have a Danish ticketmaster account, but could not access the tickets on that account, while when I accessed through Mexican ticketmaster, I was not able to pay with a non-Mexican credit card.

I did make it to the stadium twenty minutes before kick-off. In this digital world it was not possible to buy a ticket outside the stadium which makes it so much more ridiculous that it has to be so difficult to get a ticket.

In the end, without a ticket, I went to a bar and watched the match which Cruz Azul won 3-0, and they maintain a comfortable lead at the top of the Mexican Apertura league. As I had my beers I could see that the stadium was not full, which makes this ticketing challenge so much more stupid.

Champions League in Mexico

Yesterday Mexico inaugurated its first female president, so I was off work as the focus was on this historical event. It was thus a good day to watch some Champions League.

There is scant interest for other teams than the Spanish teams in the CL, most of all, obviously, Barcelona and Real Madrid, so the only option to watch in a bar was Barcelona-Young Boys, even though there were so many interesting matches playing simultaneously.

And Barcelona-Young Boys was indeed as boring as expected, as Barcelona cruised to a victory with 5-0, and it comes at a good time after they lost their first match 2-1 to Monaco. That said, with all its crisis, Barcelona is doing great under German Hansi Flick: top of the Spanish League and giving chances to a lot of young promising players appears to be working for now, but is also what Barcelona needs as they are unable to sign super stars. And surely on the long-term it is better for Barcelona (and Spanish football overall) to be promoting so many young players from the outstanding Barcelona youth academy.

The new format of the Champions League is confusing though. As everyone is in a big league, but without everyone playing one another, one cannot study the teams against other teams that you will face, and most annoying for real football fans, adapt the tactics according to other results and new matches in smaller groups. In my personal view it takes away some of the excitement about the planning. As the 8 initial rounds come to an end, the excitement will not be about the top teams, but about the 7th-8th or 23rd-24th, who will snatch the last position for the play-offs. And the top teams will all go through....

 I appear not to be the only one annoyed at the new format. The fans of Borussia Dortmund (a team that incidentally is first in the league after two victories, the latest trashing Celtic 7-1) welcomed the new CL format at home with a huge banner: "UEFA Mafia", protesting against the new format that indeed appears to be a way for UEFA to make more and more money from the ones who love the game.

In Dortmund 

Goodbye El Salvador, hello Mexico

Every country I have lived in has done well in football. 

Until now that is, because El Salvador is awful, and in the seven years I have lived here appear only to have become worse as their national team football appears to be disorganised, unfocused, and lacking of a long-term perspective for a country that loves football and does not lack talent.

It is a pity, because I would have liked to see El Salvador be successful, not least for the Salvadoran fans, who nevertheless are often more keen to watch European leagues than support their domestic clubs.

Frankly, I found the domestic league much more interesting: I saw some great matches and could see that there is indeed talent in the country, and I became a fan of Alianza, something I will always be.

I am going to a new country, a country I have visited before and with which I already have a footballing relationship: from having stayed there in 1986 up to the World Cup, going to the mighty Azteca Stadium, as well as a love-hate relationship with their national team (something that seems to be the case with many of the Mexican fans, many of whom I had the pleasure of celebrating with in Russia 2018).

I very much look forward to Mexico! For a new chapter in my life, including a new footballing chapter!

Ferenc Puskas and I

Since I am moving I have been packing, going through a lot of old documents, and came across a small football memory that involved none other than the legendary Ferenc Puskas, one of the best football players of all time; all-time topscorer of Europe and captain of the legendary Hungarian national team of the 1950s, that broke many records: the first team ever to defeat England at Wembley, they didn’t lose a game for three years, until the 1954 World Cup final in Switzerland, where they nevertheless ended up as the most scoring team per match of all time (ironically, they had defeated Germany 8-3 in the first round, but lost the legendary final 3-2 after being up 2-0!). 

Hungarian football has not been the same since 1956 (even though they have participated in many tournaments, but without much distinction) when the legendary team fell apart after the Hungarian uprising against the USSR. Many of the players were dispersed all over Europe – many went to Spain, for instance Sandor Koscic (the topscorer of the 1954 World Cup), but also Ferenc Puskas, who went to become a player of one of the most legendary teams of all time: Real Madrid. This was the real “galactico” Real Madrid, with some of the best players of all time: Alfredo Di Stefano, Raymond Kopa, Francisco Gento, José Santamaría… Still, Puskas stood out: four pichichis and winning five European Championships. 

In 1993 I went to watch Hungary play against Denmark in a friendly match in Parken in Copenhagen. Denmark won 3-1 (and Michael Laudrup scored after his recent return to the national team), but that was not the special thing about the match. I was with some friends from the boarding school in Birkerød, which I attended back then. Some ten meters behind me I saw a large fat man with sleazy combed back hair, and immediately I recognized him: this was Ferenc Puskas, and I told one of my friends who knew who I was referring to: this was one of the most legendary players of all time (Pelé, Maradona, Cruyff, Beckenbauer, Puskas)! We wanted an autograph from this legend, and approached the old large man. “Puskas!”, and waved at him. He waved back, casually and signalling that he was not going to sign any autograph, but I thought I sensed a certain pride that he had been recognized by two Danish teenagers. We kept waving,: “Autograph, Puskas!”, but he ignored us, until I then said in Spanish: “Vamos, para un hincha del Madrid!” (I am not proud that I pretended to be a fan of Real Madrid…), which at least made him turn towards me: “Yo estoy aquí como Húngaro!”, he said and I didn’t get an autograph. 

Seems Mr. Puskas, like me, had different identities for different contexts: One day Hungarian, other days Spanish, other days Madrid. 

Mr. Puskas passed away in 2006, was given a state funeral in Hungary, and well, I could remember my little encounter with a legend.

Disappointment and sadness

I have been so disappointed and sad about the racist songs of Argentina's national team players at France's national team, and understand the anger of the French. Argentineans would be as angry, justifiably, if anyone sang about the victims of the Malvinas, but they cannot look at themselves with any hint of criticism or empathy with the French players. Ignorant players as Enzo Fernandez even saw no problem at publishing on social media, while they are complete ignorant about French history or society (and probably as ignorant about anything beyond social media); because saying that "Frenchmen are already racist", by being racist against Frenchmen who have experienced racism for years, is one of the most idiotic things one can imagine someone saying.

I am disappointed and sad because I have always supported and defended Argentina. But I need to remember that Argentina fans (and apparently players) are as ignorant and hateful as anyone in this pitiful world.

My recommendation for everyone in the final

After my gloomy previous post I want to give a recommendation to fans, players and any supporter of England, Spain, Argentina and Colombia. No matter what happens in the final, no matter the result or the match, it all has a simple solution:

A Death Foretold

 

Marcelo Bielsa is already a legend as a Manager and Football thinker, and his recent reflection on the decay of the football game is as timely as ever as we await the two finals tomorrow of tournaments which seem to confirm the grim future of the game.

Paraphrasing another great Latin American, this is the Chronicle of a Death Foretold, and I agree as I have been watching (and blogging) football for 20 years.

We have increasingly seen in these tournaments that teams are more afraid to lose than with a desire to win, so they largely retreat in a tactically result-oriented style. Some teams try to play more open, but they seem naive as they fight against the tide of boredom; in the meantime you have teams with a great amount of individual talent who treat their players like robots who are not to enjoy or entertain.

And let us face it, players contribute to this decay as well as the gentlemen of the game have all but disappeared: they act, they cry, they protest, they fight, play dirty. It is amazing how VAR has come in and not being used for this, but I also understand it: it seems incredible that we need to treat highly paid grown men as little children.

And VAR... I am not against it per se, but I have said before that it is being used completely wrong. It is being used to justify decisions that will always and have always been subjective, like a penalty, as well as searching with a microscope for faults where they were never seen before and where nobody protests. The blind faith in technology is only creating more doubt and distrust about the game as idiotic conspiracies flourish like never before.

Is it money? Of course it is. The people who can afford to go to a game are not your average income guy. Do you think that people who were in Charlotte for the Colombia-Uruguay match were the bottom of the Latin American income scale? No. And add TV rights, commercial deals and propaganda, and we have the explanation for all the things happening that are undermining the beauty of the game, just as Mr. Bielsa underlines.

Football has totally overtaken religion and politics as "Opium of the People", and as such it has been grasped by those in power as a way of controlling societies. Do these people in power fix matches? Is there a grand conspiracy to make certain teams win? No. But the spread of these conspiracies is useful to take attention away from other of societies' problems. 

We, the fans, are as guilty too. We are puppets. We let them control our primitive tribal instincts to hate other teams and other nations; the worst human instincts. We love being the martyrs, being rightful losers who fought against an evil force, and will never congratulate or thank another fan for a good match. And if we win we will rather insult the losers than recognize that in fact we need two teams trying to win to enjoy a game! (people who say, "I hate them because they defeated us" have in my view not really understood the point that it would be rather boring if they did not try to defeat us....).

There is no such thing as friendly competition in football any longer; it is war and you are judged by who you support - the Political Culture Wars taken to the most primitive level. 

It is a fact that football fans will rather see a team they hate lose than see their own side win. How fucked up is that!?? 

This is an angry rant indeed; but the decay of football is a symbol of the decay of our societies: tribalism, discrimination and hate are the order of the day, and in football we can't even any longer be happy for a beautiful play no matter who does it and a friendly taunt is always seen as an insult.

A sad state of affairs, and I do not have much of expectations of tomorrow's finals, even though I will watch them over beers with my cats and hoping that I get a bit of the happiness that made me fall in love with Football back in the day.

20 Years of blogging!

Time flies. 

Twenty years ago, on June 16th 2004, Facebook had just been founded but not become a global phenomenon. Twitter, Instagram, TikTok or WhatsApp did not exist yet. Lionel Messi had not played his first match for FC Barcelona, while a young Cristiano Ronaldo was starting his career in Manchester United. Spain had never won a World Cup, Manchester City did not belong to the Abu Dhabi Group, and FC Porto had just won the Champions League.

I was also a nerd (as I still am), finishing my Masters degree in Denmark, and wondering what the future would bring...

I had a World Cup football website since 1998, but blogging was a new thing, where people could write articles about whatever they wanted. So I started blogging, inspired by my friend Stig, who blogged about cool stuff, but I decided to be a nerd and blog about football, just as the 2004 European Championship had started, and Denmark had tied Italy.

How much has happened since then! I don't know what I would have thought if someone had said to me that 20 years later I would still be blogging ("get a life"!?).

As these twenty years feel to have flown by, I have gone from a young sexy student to a middle aged bald and chubby professional; I have gone through ups and downs in life as well as in football, something that I have expressed in this blog (and sometimes not), but in the end, this blog, with more than 1500 posts, has been here following me as I have seen and experienced many changes in my life, the world in general, and the footballing world in particular!

Sometimes I blog, sometimes I don't. Whenever I feel like it. Blogging is no longer cool; it is like writing with an ink-feather after the invention of the printing-press. But here I am, an old ugly fart, writing about a thing that is special to me, football. 

Football, no matter where I have been, at what time, across cultures and generations, it is a common reference point anywhere in the world. That makes it even more special, and I will try to keep blogging about it, amid my ups and downs...

Thanks if you take the time to read this.

Cruel to the hopeful one

This weekend was full of hope. After watching the FA Cup final I went to the beach. El Tunco is a surf town with not so nice beach, but a good laid-back atmosphere and plenty of drinks, and I was in a good mood as I enjoyed watching people, reading and cold beers. In the evening I watched the final of the Salvadoran Championship, where my adopted Salvadoran side of Alianza destroyed Municipal Limeño 5-0 to take the Salvadoran title.

For me this was buildup for what I really wanted to celebrate: Brøndby taking the Danish League title! 

The Danish league has been awfully close, but with last day, all Brøndby had to do was win at home against AGF, and they would be champions. In the meantime, FC Midtjylland were playing their rivals of Silkeborg (recent winners of the Danish Cup), and had to win, and hope that Brøndby did not win.

I was perhaps too optimistic, but I felt that Brøndby could not lose this at home, with the support of the best fans in Denmark, and having played a great season.

9 AM I sat in a restaurant by the beach, ordered breakfast, and started watching the match live on the "OneFootball" app.

And it all started so well...

Brøndby went ahead 1-0 on a header by the defender Rasmus Lauritsen, and in the meantime Silkeborg went up 0-2 against FC Midtjylland. The title felt so close!

But then things started falling apart.

The same Rasmus Lauritsen missed a clearing and scored an own goal, making it 1-1, which was the score at halftime. "Ok", I thought optimistically, "FC Midtjylland losing, and second half to score a second, things cannot go wrong!".

But they did.

 Within 8 minutes of the second half, FC Midtjylland had scored 3 goals and were ahead 3-2. The title was now with them if Brøndby failed to score! We were all nervous as the unthinkable happened, and Tobias Bech brought AGF ahead 1-2, and suddenly the title was two goals away.

We were all hoping when Sebastian Sebulonsen equalised for Brøndby with 25 minutes left. 3-2 would give Brøndby the title, and we all pushed the team forward. 

But football is like life: cruel to the hopeful one. Instead of 3-2 for Brøndby, AGF scored a third by Patrick Mortensen. At this point I lost hope, but kept watching, and Brøndby received a penny of hope when Silkeborg equalised for 3-3 in Midtjylland. This meant that if Brøndby managed to get 3-3, they would be champions!

I never really believed in it, even though there were some chances. And as the match ended, thousands upon thousands of Brøndby fans all over the world had our hearts broken. 

What do you do when hope is destroyed? When darkness descends over your life, and you feel there is no way forward? 

There is no shame in crying and expressing your disappointment. Just remember to raise your head, be proud of your team, and look forward to the next season where we will again stand together behind the team!

Forza Brøndby!

And to console myself in this deep pain, I will have beer (gravøl), and make a steak on my bbq.

The day I found my Salvadoran team

 Today I went to watch the classic match in Salvadoran football: Alianza versus FAS in the second leg semifinal of the tournament. The first leg had ended 1-1. 

I had until now not selected a Salvadoran team to support, but today I have chosen Alianza.

I guess it makes sense, they are from San Salvador, a team with history, and a passionate group of fans.

But it was the little things that made me decide to go for Alianza: although they were at home, the place was full of fans from Santa Ana, where FAS is from. A varied bunch, and although a generally quiet and good-natured atmosphere, they were certainly more aggressive and throwing things on the pitch.

A point against FAS.

FAS played a bit better the first half and started going ahead on an outstanding long-shot from Jonathan Nolasco. They created chances, but Alianza had the ball more, and it was an elegant run from their right-winger Anyelo Rodriguez that gave the home side the equalizer as he passed the left-back and centered, forcing the FAS defender Rudy Clavel to score an own goal, and a stadium that exploded.

A point for Alianza.

Alianza came out stronger in the second half, and although FAS fans were noisy and annoying, Alianza fans kept singing and supporting their side. Alianza pressed on while FAS tactics appeared mainly to waste time by acting and committing a lot of small dirty fouls (in my view they should have deserved a red card).

A point against FAS.

As the match appeared to be going into extra time, Leonardo Menjivar made an elegant run and shot from the right side, scoring a great goal and making the stadium explode.

A point for Alianza.

There were nevertheless six added minutes, and FAS started to play football again, and came very close to equalizing, amongst others on an elegant bicycle kick or a great long-shot, despite Alianza's feverish and heroic defending. Alianza's players looked very tired but they fought and held on to the onslaught.

A point for Alianza.

So Alianza is now my favourite Salvadoran team. They are not done nevertheless, as they will have to play the final this Saturday against a side from the Department of La Union, CD Municipal Limeño. They are from a small town, Santa Rosa de Lima, who have never won the championship before, so they will be up against the giant from Alianza, who is looking to win its 18th title.

And I will support Alianza.

Intense evening in Santa Tecla

Yesterday I was traveling home to El Salvador from Antigua, Guatemala, and spoke with a guy who told me about the Antigua football team, one of the best in the country despite being from a small town. I suddenly had a feeling that I really wanted to see a match, and tonight I went to watch a match in the Salvadoran first division between the local side of Santa Tecla and the visitors from Usulutan, CD Luis Alberto Firpo (the story about their name is worth a post).

All I can say it was a great evening in Santa Tecla with very lively Firpo fans and a Santa Tecla home side that played a fantastic first half: they were ahead 3-0 at halftime on three fantastic strikes by Andres Rivas, Alan Ocon and Mario Martinez. In particular the young Ocon was a constant threat on a Firpo side that appeared completely out of place.

Second half Firpo made some changes, including the entrance of a tall Brazilian, Mateus da Silva, which proved crucial as he soon shortened the distance on a rather lucky strike. That said, Santa Tecla were the better team and came very close to scoring a fourth on good attack combinations, but the goal eluded them as the match went into its last dramatic minutes: in the 88th minutes da Silva scored on a penalty called after a handball, and pressure increased on the locals. Into the added time one of the attacks seriously injured the Santa Tecla goalkeeper Christopher Rauda, who had to be replaced by the field player Jefferson Sierra. 

In a last minute attack the ball went past Sierra, and in Luis Suarez style the defender Alejandro Frezzotti saved the goal, but was shown a red card and in the subsequent penalty kick da Silva equalised to the disappointment of the locals and the celebration of the lively Firpo fans.

Great match, great time in Santa Tecla.

Being on the blog

 I have not blogged for more than two months. I have before had periods during which I have blogged little, but they were either because of technical problems or because I was simply tired of football.

That is not the case now: I am following football a lot, and so many things have happened: the sad passing of the giants Mario Zagallo and Franz Beckenbauer; the (unlikely) Ivorian victory in the Africa Cup of nations; Jurgen Klopp's surprising announcement that he will leave Liverpool (as well as the lead in the Premier League and the League Cup victory over Chelsea); Paraguay's and Argentina's qualification for the Olympic Games; Real Madrid's good run (against Girona in particular) and Xavi's resignation from a very unstable Barcelona side; exciting Champions League matches, and even, closer to home, Messi making El Salvador go crazy when coming with Inter Miami to face El Salvador in a boring 0-0 match.

As I write this, I realize how many posts I have missed! But truth is that maybe the time of Blogs, like this one that I have had over 20 years, are over? Not that I mind that nobody reads it: I have always said it is like a diary, for myself, and in fact, when I read at my nearly 1500 posts, I see many moments of my life!

It is strange to think about, and it is perhaps a little bit of a loss of the discipline and inspiration to write when I see some of the many interesting football news. 

I must continue.

Forever blowing bubbles

 I identify with West Ham's song "Bubbles": fortune is always hiding.

Last Sunday I was at a beautiful beach in El Salvador. After a morning walk on the beach, at 7 AM, I went online to watch the match between my dear Brøndby against our arch-rivals, FC Copenhagen, over a delicious cup of Salvadoran coffee. Brøndby has started the season well and could, with a victory, take first spot in the Danish football league, ahead of the Copenhagen side.

It looked good for Brøndby when they went ahead by Josip Radosevic, but Diogo Gonsalves equalised for FCK following a serious mistake by Henrik Heggheim in defense. It was so frustrating when things looked so good.... Then, I celebrated alone on that beach as Ohi Omoijuanfo scored for Brøndby following a great build-up.

2-1, and it looked as Brøndby could do it, although FCK started putting pressure. They put on the 17-year old Swede, Roony Bardghji, who with six minutes left of the match scored twice for FCK, and gave them a 2-3 victory and myself a big disappointment.

Lately it feels everything has been like this match: sometimes doing great things, but then fucking it up completely by being thoughtless. And when things are going well and you start to think that you may succeed, things just go to hell in the end...

Forever blowing bubbles.

The Greatest World Cup ever

 Today the World Cup has started in New Zealand/Australia. It will be the first women's World Cup with 32 teams competing, and with the immense growth of the women's game in the past decade, it all points to it being  the best World Cup ever.

In the opening match, the hosts from New Zealand pulled a somewhat surprising 1-0 victory over Norway, while the other hosts, Australia, defeated Ireland 1-0.

So good start for the hosts as the World Cup kicks off. 

Living in El Salvador there is scant interest here for the tournament, and although I have so many TV channels, two cable subscriptions, as well as two online TV subscriptions, and still nowhere shows the Women's World Cup in a country as passionate about football as El Salvador. This is very disappointing, but I hope I will be able to watch some of this great tournament!

Reflection on the World Cup in Qatar

This World Cup was hard to get excited about: the entire precedence of greed for a host country that had no football tradition and the complaints about human rights (something that has nevertheless never been and never will be of FIFA´s concern) were just part of the tale. Having a World Cup in November and December was also strange, difficult to get excited about amid the usual end of year concerns that permeate our lives. 

Finally my feeling was that this World Cup has been worse than any other in terms of fans: most appear focused on their petty idiotic nationalisms and xenophobia. For most people the World Cup is nothing but an excuse to be petty and hateful, rather than enjoy a friendly contest. 

At least there was beer; as in every World Cup, plenty of beer (except of course if you happened to be in Qatar....).

On the footballing side it was also more positive: it was an exciting tournament, with good matches, surprises (which are nevertheless nothing new in a World Cup) and the excitement of a dramatic final. I am personally happy for Argentina, having reached something that I had hoped for many years.

That said, as I have learnt over the years of passionate fandom, my life is the same shit whether my teams win or lose.

Nothing new there.

But as always, it remains strange to have finished this World Cup. The next one will be in USA and Mexico. Maybe I will not be around, but if I am I could travel there depending on what the world looks like at that time... 

But let us see: four years are a long time!

In my office I had put up a poster from World Football Magazine:

I quite like it, and since it will remind me of this World Cup, I will have it framed.