Hi! Just heard this story on NPR, right after reading your dispatch. You might like it! I'm not a soccer aficionado, as you well know, but I enjoyed this story. It's the first in a series.
Lionel Messi is considered one of the greatest soccer players of all time. An Argentine by birth, he rose to stardom playing in Europe. Messi has won almost every accolade possible for a professional soccer player–save one–the World Cup. He's never been able to lead his Argentine national team to victory and he says this year's competition will be his final attempt.
In The Last Cup, a new bilingual podcast series from NPR and Futuro Studios, NPR's Jasmine Garsd looks at how Messi has wrestled with the disappointment of the home crowd after each devastating World Cup loss. Over time, his connection to his own country has been questioned after spending time abroad. Garsd, an immigrant from Argentina herself asks: What can Messi's story tell us about the cost of leaving home, and the struggle to return?
Listen to The Last Cup in Spanish and English on NPR One, Apple Podcasts or Spotify.
Some years ago while watching every match of a World Cup, it dawned upon me that an invisible hand was at play. The smaller teams, from smaller countries, were made to lose by questionable refereeing. Outstanding players, playing with heart, were victims of clear fraud openly televised. Only the franchises—what some might call the establishment—are allowed to win. Money is involved. I will never watch another World Cup again, and I feel sad for anyone who trusts, or counts on, elections being fair. Their hearts break for something they never had a chance of winning, and we are all the worse for it.
Hi! Just heard this story on NPR, right after reading your dispatch. You might like it! I'm not a soccer aficionado, as you well know, but I enjoyed this story. It's the first in a series.
https://www.npr.org/2022/11/11/1136087664/the-last-cup-lionel-messis-dream
Lionel Messi is considered one of the greatest soccer players of all time. An Argentine by birth, he rose to stardom playing in Europe. Messi has won almost every accolade possible for a professional soccer player–save one–the World Cup. He's never been able to lead his Argentine national team to victory and he says this year's competition will be his final attempt.
In The Last Cup, a new bilingual podcast series from NPR and Futuro Studios, NPR's Jasmine Garsd looks at how Messi has wrestled with the disappointment of the home crowd after each devastating World Cup loss. Over time, his connection to his own country has been questioned after spending time abroad. Garsd, an immigrant from Argentina herself asks: What can Messi's story tell us about the cost of leaving home, and the struggle to return?
Listen to The Last Cup in Spanish and English on NPR One, Apple Podcasts or Spotify.
You forget to mention Foden as a key player for England!
Some years ago while watching every match of a World Cup, it dawned upon me that an invisible hand was at play. The smaller teams, from smaller countries, were made to lose by questionable refereeing. Outstanding players, playing with heart, were victims of clear fraud openly televised. Only the franchises—what some might call the establishment—are allowed to win. Money is involved. I will never watch another World Cup again, and I feel sad for anyone who trusts, or counts on, elections being fair. Their hearts break for something they never had a chance of winning, and we are all the worse for it.