[New] It’s Not That Deep A GAME IS JUST A GAME

BY DEVNA PANDA

For whatever reason, Bengali families in India commonly feel a very strong allegiance toward the Argentinian and Brazilian men’s national soccer teams. Seeing as how Bengali people have no tangible connection to either Argentina or Brazil, this phenomenon honestly can not be explained.

Personally, my family’s love and support for Argentina’s team originated from my dad. I can picture the scene in my mind’s eye. The year is 1986. My dad and his siblings are sitting around the CRT TV in their house in Rourkela, Odisha watching the final match between Argentina and West Germany. They watch in awe as Diego Maradona helps lead his team to victory at the pinnacle of his career.

After my older sister and I were born, we were quick to jump on the Argentine bandwagon. Maradona may have retired in 1997, but one Lionel Messi had begun scoring goals for his national team in 2005. Nine years later, I watched him play against Germany in the World Cup final. Like many, I was entranced as I watched the greatest player in the world maneuver the ball. As the years went on, we continued to keep up with Messi’s club and country career and watched as the greatest honor continued to elude him: the opportunity to win a World Cup for his country.

Fast forward to 2018 when Argentina was woefully eliminated in the group stage. I am sorry to say that footage of me unashamedly crying my eyes out still exists today. Though I have always been somewhat superstitious, I was particularly superstitious during this World Cup. I refused to wear certain tops or carry out specific aspects of my routine if I associated them with a match in which Argentina had performed poorly. As if the performance of a team playing in Russia could be impacted in any way whatsoever by the outfit of a fourteen-year-old girl watching the game in Eden Prairie, Minnesota. Considering that the outcome for Argentina was particularly disappointing in 2018, I remember looking forward to 2022, Messi’s last chance at winning this coveted title for his country, as an opportunity for redemption.

Now, my propensity to be superstitious or search for nonexistent signs impacted other spheres of my life in high school, too. My tendency to draw connections between unrelated things often prevented me from taking action to realize whatever I was fantasizing about experiencing at the time. I don’t want this to be the case in college.

Regardless, as you know, it is currently 2022. We are in the throes of World Cup season once again. At the time that I am writing this, Argentina has been playing reasonably well and has advanced to the knockout stage.

Though I have tried to break out of my habit of associating unrelated events with themes in my life, I have noticed myself wondering whether Argentina is performing better because I have managed to curate my college life to my tastes in a way that I was never capable of achieving in high school. I can’t help but imagine that their performance signifies the universe either rewarding or punishing me. Though it sounds delusional, mostly because it kind of is, I have somehow forged this association in my mind.

In moments like this, I have to step back and remind myself that every event that happens in the world is not the universe somehow attempting to communicate with me. Argentina’s performance in the World Cup and my ability to create a life I enjoy are two entirely disparate entities. And yet, regardless of what it means for my personal life, I can’t help but hope against hope that the answer to whether Argentina will be the 2022 World Cup Champion is yes.