July 27, 2023

WWC: Don't cry for me Argentina fans

Welcome back. We skipped yesterday, because I accidentally sent two the day before. This is clearly a very professional operation I'm running here.

Before we get into the subject for today, here's where we stand in the Cup play at the end of Day 8:

Moving on up

Two teams, Japan and Spain, have secured a spot in the next round, both in Group C. The two teams will have a match against each other on July 31st which will determine who wins the group and therefore, who they will face in the Round of 16 knockout games.

I don't want to say goodbye

Four teams have been eliminated, with one game still to play:

• Group B: Ireland's loss to Canada, after getting their first ever goal in a World Cup from an absolutely wild Olympico¹ by Katie McCabe sealed their fate. They will play Nigeria on the 31st, where Nigeria, the lowest ranked team in the group, will be competing for a berth to the Round of 16 and Ireland will be competing for the chance to bring more chaos to the World Cup before they bow out.²

• Group C: Zambia and Costa Rica were collectively shut out by Spain and Japan. They will play each other on the 31st. Expect an interesting match since both teams will be playing for pride and nothing else.³
• Group E: Vietnam was eliminated with a loss to fellow debutants Portugal, however they deserve more than a little praise for holding their own against top ranked team in the world. They lost to the US, but given the USWNTs history of absolutely crushing small teams, their 3-0 loss is nothing to be ashamed of.

The next round of matches will help us get a better picture of Groups D & G with the following pairings: - Argentina vs South Africa - England vs Denmark - China vs Haiti

Now onto my dispatch-bordering-on-diary-entry for today:

In my real life, I’m not very expressive with my emotions. I’m often told that I’m hard to read. People who don't know me well assume I don’t care about things that I’m extremely passionate about, or think I don’t like them when actually I really want to be friends, and so on.

And I’m also not much of a crier.

Unless I’m watching a major sporting competition. It doesn’t matter if I like the teams in contention, if there are high emotions, I am going to get emotional. World Series, Super Bowl, the Olympics, they all get me teary-eyed.

But nothing gets me like the World Cup. I have to keep some Gatorade on hand once we get to the knockout rounds, because I am inevitably going to cry at least once during every match.

Even in the group stage though, the waterworks are already flowing. Here is an incomplete list of things that have made me cry during the World Cup so far, in relatively chronological order:

• Rewatching the 2019 final the night before kick off because I was tired of waiting for World Cup soccer.

• New Zealand’s first ever World Cup goal by Hannah Wilkinson.

• The team’s reaction to New Zealand’s first ever win in a World Cup, men or women.

• Ali Riley’s post-match interview about said New Zealand win

• Christine Sinclair subbing on against Nigeria for her 6th straight World Cup.

• Pretty much anytime Quinn is on the pitch for Canada or even mentioned, because as someone who grew up with zero positive trans representation (and who vividly remembers watching the 99ers win as a child), the idea that a little trans kid can see an openly trans player in the World Cup is actually too much for my little ol' heart.

• Every time someone mentions one of the amazing players who is not at the Cup due to injury. (Mallory Swanson, Vivianne Miedema, Beth Mead, Leah Williamson, Catarina Macario, Christen Press, Tobin Heath, Sam Mewis, Fran Kirby, Delphine Cascarino, Marie-Antoinette Katoto, Amandine Henry, Giulia Gwinn, Iman Beney, etc)

• The fancams and supercuts of Leah Williamson on Tiktok.⁴

• Morocco losing by 5 but their fans cheering their hearts out, undeterred.

• Marta subbing on for her 6th straight World Cup and the Brazilian supporters unfurling a tifo in her honor.

• This interview with Panama’s midfielder Marta Cox where she tells the young girl “Not [a soccer player] like me, be better than me.”

• Philippines first ever World Cup goal by Sarina Bolden.

• Filipino fans celebrating the goal like they’ve won the whole Cup.

• The Philippines team’s first ever win in the World Cup and the team celebration.

• Rage crying over sexist idiots on the internet who are taking time out of their days to shit on these amazing players.

• The American Outlaws marching to the stadium for the USA match against the Netherlands.
• The Orange Army marching to the stadium for the Netherlands’ match against USA.⁵

• The Vietnam fans greeting their players after the team was eliminated following their loss to Portugal.

• Asisat Oshoala, arguably the most famous Nigerian woman playing the game today, performing sajdah after scoring Nigeria's 3 goal against the Australian hosts.

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We are literally not even halfway through the group stage, so surely more tears are to come.

Send electrolytes.