It’s been 3,087 days since I wrote this blog: Boa viagem para o Brasil!
3,087 days since I posted that preamble to my chronicles of our amazing experience at the 2014 FIFA World Cup in Brazil.
3,087 days is a long time to wait to return to the FIFA World Cup finals, but that day has finally come.
Today – November 19, 2022 – is my D-day. In this case “D” stands for departure.
The U.S. Men’s National Team (#USMNT) are back to the “Big Show” and I’m stoked to be taking part.
I’m sitting at the Qatar Airways departure lounge waiting to board my ~15-hour flight to Doha.
As I reflect back on my past Brazilian adventures, there are some differences between my last journey and this one:
A Thanksgiving World Cup - It still hurts my head to be watching a World Cup Finals in autumn. Don’t get me wrong, I am thankful that I won’t be sitting in 100 degree weather, melting as I go hoarse screaming U.S.A. chants. I do wonder if I can find a turkey dinner in Doha! Nonetheless, the shift is super whacky. It has turned the World Cup into a quasi-All-Star break for international football. We are at the near halfway point of most European leagues, and that will make the second half of these seasons quite interesting. The sport is tough enough for top-tier footballers, and now they need to pack in a once in a (maybe) lifetime tournament between the high stakes of club play.
Flying solo but not alone - This go around, I’ll be heading over to Qatar without my wife or in-laws. They’ve all decided to stay home. While I’m traveling solo, thanks to my work with U.S. Soccer, I won’t be alone. I am a founding member and serve as a co-chair of the U.S. Soccer At-Large Development Council. 24 of my fellow Development Council members will be in Qatar. This doesn’t count the countless U.S. fans swarming into Middle East this week.
This Bud’s NOT for you - The World Cup is more than sporting event. It is a celebration of global culture. There’s no need for me to express the complications and concerns with our hosts, but it’s a bit crazy to think there’ll be no beer in the stadiums. I can’t deny that getting ready for this trip wasn’t without frustrations. What to pack was on my mind for several weeks. “Can I wear shorts?” was a question many Google searches and messages to folks already in-country tried to answer. Needless to say, I drove myself nuts packing for this one.
Short Trip - My wife and I spent around five weeks in Brazil the last go around. We attended all three USMNT group stage matches and watched a lot of games from our base of operations in São Paulo prior to heading back to Seattle before the final between Germany and Argentina. For Qatar, I’m sticking around for a week. I’ll watch the Wales and England matches, as well as sneak in Portugal vs Ghana.
Qatar felt like a thousand years away just a few months back, and now it’s a mere 20 hours to go. No matter what may surround this edition of the World Cup, you cannot deny the “Beautiful Game” brings together people from every corner of the globe. I think we could all use a little bit of “coming together” these days.
It’s been a journey since 2014 (and it’ll be a long ✈️). It’s #OnlyFoward from here!