Bravado and gall

June 19th, 2010 | by: JuanT | Comments Off

David replied, You come with a sword,
But I come to you, in the name of the Lord,
He gives this battle into our hands,
You’ll know all about it, when this shiny rock lands.

Goliath drew near to David, who ran towards him,
He let go his sling and made the giant’s lights dim,
The stone flew like a rocket and imbedded in his fore- head,
Before he crashed down, David knew he was for sure- dead.

South Africa 2010, a World Cup where Vuvuzelas were thought would be the defining characteristic everyone would remember years after the competition ended, is now taking a unexpected shift toward a growing tendency already making headlines. Honduras now clings onto this trend.

It’s the fight of the  underdog: small team with nothing  to lose  goes on to defeat or tie games  dubbed  impossible.

England 0:0 Algeria

Germany 0:1 Serbia

Spain 0:1 Switzerland

France 0:2 Mexico

Big-time favorite Spain, lost its debut game against Switzerland in a match where the “Red Fury” looked visibly shaken after receiving the first goal. “We love the role of  ”the Favorite’s nightmare”.” Huggel (Swiss midfielder) said . “Ottmar Hitzfeld convinced us that we could give any team problems.

Things are looking down for Spain. A recent poll shows that Spaniards share no optimism towards its national team. For the game against Honduras this upcoming Monday, results show that fans call at best for a tie against Honduras. (http://www.diez.hn/Minisitios/Mundial-2010/Noticias/Noticias/Aficionados-espanoles-estan-pesimistas)

On Monday 21 Honduras will play the role of the underdog; a team that has nothing to lose and everything to win.  It’s our effort vs. their expertise, our heart vs. their pressure. “The favorite’s nightmare” which Huggel mentioned, will be an even more decisive factor for Spain this time. They have the pressure to prove themselves before millions of fans around the world. Once again, with the odds against us, just like that game in Copa America’s quarter finals against Brazil, where being the underdog allowed us to ignore social norms and forget about “respect” on the soccer field, we have the chance to prove rankings are mere numbers. Once again we’ll dream.