World Cup Dreams

Rest Day

It is a scientific fact that most men, and some women too, get depressed over the summer. There is no football on, we don't know what to do with ourselves. After a hard week at work or weekend shopping or sorting out the garden we like nothing more than to kick back and watch our favourite teams battle it out on the field of play.

If there is no football then how do we relax? What are we supposed to do in our down time? We can check the latest transfer news but that will only sustain us for so long.

But every two years we get a tournament, the World Cup or continental championship. We can continue our love of the game, once again plan our time around kick off, enjoy the glory and despair. But today, today is a rest day. Despite the hours of football I have watched in the last two weeks my craving has not been satisfied. For some reason I feel lost.

I am in the garden, soaking up the summer sun’s rays, but I keep checking my watch. “Must not miss kick off”, I think, even if it is over two hours away. Then I realise there are no games today and rather than think, “how stupid am I?”, I get annoyed. Yes, I have watched thirty odd games in the last few weeks but for some reason I am annoyed that there are none on today. That doesn’t happen during the rest of the season, I don’t get annoyed on Tuesday if there are no European matches. I don’t get annoyed on a Friday if there are no Friday night games. I don’t get annoyed if a Saturday falls on a holiday like Christmas. So why am I getting annoyed now?

I think it is because we are programmed to run on routine and my routine for the last few weeks has been football, football, football. It is like a drug I need and without it I am left dazed and confused. Well today is one of those days.

Sometimes I think, “these players are paid so much they don’t need to rest, they should earn their money.” I don’t take into account the strain on the body, the fact they have been playing all season, that the conditions are different over there. Sometimes I even think of complaining to FIFA, as if they would listen, to tell them that rest days are just being lazy. I really sound mad don’t I? I do sound like an addict who is getting ready for the next fix. And you know what, when the World Cup finishes I will be back to normal in two days.