Filipinos & the World Cup

Living in Europe, you can’t help but feel obliged excited to watch the World Cup. And as this and this article mention, Filipinos are mostly absent from this football craze. Though for me, it's a different situation, It’s almost halfway through the games & I’m happy to say that I’ve been brainwashed into this football watching/screaming/vuvuzela-ing (?) supporter.

FILIPINOS FOOTBALL? We can draw inspiration from Paulino Alcantara, Spanish-Filipino striker of FC Barcelona and is the highest scorer in FC Barcelona's history. (horrible background music btw)

And I’m actually getting into it well and enjoying the experience (I’m watching Brazil v. Cote d’Ivoire while writing this entry).  And I think more than the excitement of the actual games, the social aspect of watching one is what attracts me the most.  Like last night, I spared the usual going out to party for some cookies, curacao and the Denmark v. Cameroon game at my friends’ place. And when you do game fixtures then watch the games with loads of people in pubs or in someone’s flat, it gets better. Though recently, I've been enjoying  mocking the French team. J

Belgium is not playing, but expats in Brussels plus the Belgian francophones & néerlandophones cheering for France & Netherlands respectively have put the usual life into standstill. If you want to watch games in public places in Brussels, I would recommend to see it in Place Luxembourg or some pubs like The Old Oak or Hairy Canary in the Schuman area. Most are expat-filled places, though I'm interested to get the feel of  watching with Belgians, so do write them up if you know one.

I’m ecstatic and for sure will be following the games up to the finals. People usually ask who I’m cheering for, at the moment, I don’t have any. I hope that one day – I can watch the games and actually support the Philippines. When it will happen, I don’t know – and I know it takes more than just training good players but probably re-shaping our sporting culture.

A toute!