Categories: Sports

The 2006 World Cup has seen many upsets. Portugal defeating England, the US losing to Ghana, just to name a few. But the greatest upset by far was when Brazil lost to France. It was the defeat that shook the world, and the hearts of Brazil’s supporters. After England’s spirit-crushing loss to Portugal, I heard that the match between Brazil and France was next. I didn’t watch the match, so confident was I in Brazil’s victory. After all, they are the world’s #1, and I had faith in FIFI, an artificial intelligence that predicted that the World Cup would go to Brazil. The same night, my friends and I were chatting football. The topic as Brazil’s lackluster performance. They were criticizing Ronaldinho and Ronaldo for not attacking more, the Brazilian coach for not saving the star players for the finals and letting the younger players gain some experience, and the Brazilian camp in general for not playing like they meant it. In the midst of all this, I said, “at least they beat France.” They looked at me in disbelief, and told me that Brazil lost.

I was dumbstruck. It was as if a member of my family had died. A distant one anyway. And after I put my trust in FIFI. Technology, why have you betrayed me?! After I recovered from the shock, I still had to see for myself. It was hard to find, as TVJ replayed it so much times, probably because the majority of Jamaicans were behind Brazil, and they were probably in the same situation as me. I’m no sports analyst, but I believe that it was overconfidence that did them in. They played as if the Cup was already theirs. As TVJ’s Oral Tracey said, “the only team that can beat Brazil is Brazil”. And they did. Because of Brazil’s loss, many Jamaicans have lost interest in the World Cup. As for me, my #1 team and my #2 team (England) have been kicked out, so I have no choice but to cheer for my #3 team, Germany. Go Deutschland!