So who’s with me in rooting for Argentina in the World Cup finals today? Argentina is the world’s only chance to show the Germans that they don’t own the universe. Plus, if there are both Germans and Argentinians living in your area, you know that Germans celebrate by getting sulkily and moodily drunk and trashing the neighborhood. Argentinians, in the meanwhile, celebrate by filling the neighborhood with the delicious smell of parrilladas.
It’s a no- brainer, folks. When was the last time Germans did anything for you? OK, there is the sausage. And I vaguely suspect my car must be German. And, in all fairness, they did come up with the word Bildungsroman. But that’s it!
Argentineans, in the meanwhile, have the best meat, the best movies, the best music, and the best version of Spanish anybody has been able to come up with.
Argentina totally deserves to win also because times have been tough and people need cheering up. And it isn’t like anything can cheer up a German anyway.
And if I haven’t been able to convince you by now, you must be German. In which case, with all due respect, I hope you lose.
Clarissa's Blog 
Is there someone sore that Spain didn’t get all that far? 😀
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Sore! I’m a raw pulsating wound!
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Turns out my teen has money on the game. This World Cup has been the first sporting event she’s followed at all, mostly because her friends (who include a number of foreign faculty brat transplants) were getting together to watch. They got up a betting pool and she was the only person to bet on Argentina (a fairly random pick, given that she knew nothing about any of the teams), so she gets the pot if they win. These kids are geeky 15 year olds, so there’s literally a pot–a cooking saucepan–filled with 1’s and 5’s sitting in the living room where they all convene to watch the games. If Germany wins, the pot gets divided among a bunch of people. I have suggested that springing for pizza might be a politic gesture if Argentina wins.
So yeah, I guess I’m rooting for Argentina, too.
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You’ve got a smart kid! I hope you get to enjoy that pizza. 🙂
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No pizza. Perhaps my kid has learned a useful life lesson about the uncertain rewards of sports gambling.
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Sorry to hear you missed out on the pizza! I’m consoling myself with an uncharacteristic eclair.
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Sorry, but I like vosotros and distincion more than voseo and zheismo*. So I can’t agree that Argentine is the coolest Spanish (My top three are Iberian standard, naco Mexican and Andean (Indian substrate) in that order).
I’m now rooting for Deutschland because no one likes them internationally and that appeals to my contrarianism.
*my term for the Argentine version of yeismo
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Me cago en la mar!!! 🙂
La concha de la lora!!!
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Also one of the top german scorers is from Poland (Mirosław Klose) so that seals the deal for me.
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Klose is the only German player I like.
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Klose left the field so now is your chance to switch sides. 🙂
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God I am so with you and so bummed out about the result. I watched with friends in London and was the only Argentina supporter in the crowd. Another reason to be sad!
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Thank you for the support! This was very disappoint in because we had every chance to win.
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I know! Stupid Messi. The worst part for those of us who live in Europe is that now we have to tolerate four years of Germans preening over this.
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Man, usually I root for the underdogs but I’ve had such unpleasant interactions with Argentinians that I had to go for Germany. Almost every Argentinian I’ve met in grad school has acted as if being born in South America was their greatest misfortune. It’s been amusing to observe the lengths they go to distance themselves from their continent.
I’ve seen too much casual racism from them to ever consider supporting their team. Sorry guys, maybe next time (hopefully not).
Fuck Messi, he’s not fit to fetch Maradona’s cola.
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This reminded me of how once, back in grad school, I went out with a group of Argentineans and they were constantly bellyaching about everything and repeating, “We, Europeans, are used to a different standard, we, Europeans, never put up with this crap, we, Europeans, hate picnics, etc.”
Finally, I got fed up and bellowed, “I’m the only actual European here, and everything you are saying is stupid!”
There was also this time when I started giving a presentation in a class run by an Argentinean professor. I began the presentation with, “Julio Cortazar is the first Latin American writer to. . .”
The prof cut me short with, “Argentina is not in Latin America.”
“But, professor,” I mumbled, “geographically it is.”
“No, it is not! We are Europe!” the prof declared.
I was not even given a chance to finish my presentation.
So I get what you mean.
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