Well that’s the World cup for another four years, not as rich in terms of football as I would have liked but more twists and turns than your average soap. As Paul the predicting Octopus discovers his best friends are vegetables and a hot simmering bath it’s time for a quick wrap up of some memorable moments.
Hitting The Bar
As I pointed out before, the bars here in Tenerife have not reaped the cash bonanza they hoped for, partly due to the credit crunch and cheap beer (22 cents a can) by the lorry load in the supermarkets. One thing you could guarantee though was during matches the local police could be found closely inspecting the plasma screen telly in their nearest bar, it was like Donnington Park pits outside some bars with those tell tale motorbikes parked up.
Action Replay Replay
The Brits out here just have to have the home comforts of their familiar channels and by a technical miracle it arrives here thanks to some poor bloke sat on the top of Mount Teide holding up a coat hanger. Watching BBC or ITV in various bars was a weird experience as their signals are beamed in slightly behind the live feed of the Spanish channels. At several games a loud cheer for a goal came as the build up play was going on in the English bars. I did wonder if I could speed dial a bookies during that short delay and win a fortune – well it was just a thought.
A Trophy Not To Be Sniffed At
Some pre match routines became a little boring and I found my mind wandering and imagining other possibilities. The TV shots always showed both teams marching out of the tunnel before a match and the ref grabbing the World Cup trophy from a small display table – quite a simbolic shot. Surely some joker could have squeezed some super glue in place just so we could see the surprised look when the ref picked up trophy and table in one unexpected swoop.
I liked the story about the drug smugglers using World Cup merchandise to traffic their goods. Replica copies of the World Cup trophy were shown being broken by the police and crumbling into a pile of nose candy. So is that why Pickles the dog found the stolen Jules Rimet trophy so easily when it went missing in 1966.
Well hope you enjoyed this World Cup journey, there will be another along in four years. Don’t just sit on the sidelines waiting, get out and support your local team, you still can’t beat the live experience. I can’t wait for the new CD Tenerife season, now thats what I really call atmosphere. The vuvuzelas ruined the atmosphere in South Africa, we only got rare break throughs of terrace singing and chanting.
There’s a taste of South American skill and passion when Venezuela are the pre season opponents for CD Tenerife on 19 or 20 August (TBC) Enjoy your football.
