World Cup Dreams

They Look Like Ants

Eighty quid each of these tickets, add to that the cost of a flight over here and a hotel for a few nights and you’re talking about a couple of thousand for the two of us. And what do I get for my money? A seat where my view is almost obscured by clouds. I feel like some God up here looking down on my people fighting a war with a foreign deity. They look like ants. It is nice to know that when they sell you the tickets they don’t tell you that you will need a pair of binoculars to see anything. I came to watch a football match not go on safari.

I can barely see which team is which, I have been caught out once cheering when those around me were in deadly silence. The looks I got, I am sure they think I support the opposition and am just wearing this kit to blend in. I now have to wait till other people cheer to join in. It is like when there are two TVs in the house with same channel on, quite often there is a lag between them and you can hear that there has been a goal from the other room a few seconds before you see it. I feel really fake but I have supported these guys for years, through thick and thin.

The people in front of me are asking about our striker, they are calling him Geering. I am sure he got substituted at half time and that guy up front doesn’t look like he has the same hair style, that is if that is our team. Well, the strikers on the other team don’t look like him from here either. Maybe it is not just me, everyone else is looking to the supporters below them for cues on how the game is going. If we score the cheer will ripple towards the top of the stadium like some stuttering Mexican Wave.

I still can’t believe it, eighty pounds a ticket, I wonder how much it was for down there. I would have had to sell my house to get one of those tickets. Oh, I think one of the ants has fallen over. There is booing so it must have been a bad tackle. I wish I could see the action, do you think it would be bad to watch it on my phone?