The Beautiful Game Is Dead?

I was wearing the blue & white stripes jersey. Since there was no live telecast on mainstream television channel, I had opted to watch the game at my favourite place, the nearby coffeshop. Joined by my uncles and cousins and other customers, we cheered for our favourite teams. It was Argentina vs Germany.

It was a dissapointing night for Argentina. I felt almost embarassed walking out of the coffeeshop wearing my no. 10 jersey. Cheers roaring everytime a goal was scored. I felt very disgusted to watch. So, when it was already 3-0, I took out my PSP and engaged into the virtual world instead. Reality hurts.

There were smiles all over the faces of Germany fans. To be truthful, I didn't really think that Argentina could overcome Germany. Not this time. The defence were very vulnerable. Messi was underperformed. Maradona was simply insane. However, these had become the reasons for me to support Argentina. They added colours to the beautiful game.

At the end of the game, I walked away feeling dejected with the loss. I envied those smiles and cheers of the Germany fans.

On my way back home, I met up with one of the fans. He was wearing a polo t-shirt bearing a Germany emblem. He looked at me. I didn't look back. Instead, I looked somewhere else. The guy expressed his happiness about the win. I kept queit. I let my uncle do the talking. My despise kept on growing inside my heart.

Then, came the part that hurt the most. That guy said, "I bet for Germany."

Ok, fair enough. That explained the annoying grins on his face.

"I also bet for Holland."

Wow! Maybe you also bet for Uruguay? How lucky you are? Those words almost burst out of my mouth.

Then, I wonder. Those cheers I heard, was it merely because of the beautiful game? Or was it because of money piling up inside their pocket everytime a goal was scored? Does anyone really cheer for the sake of the game?

Betting, be it legal or illegal, is killing the beautiful game. People won't cheer because of the game. People cheer because of money. How could you possibly ensure that the players and the officials are not sold out? One thing is sold out for sure. The betting tickets...

As World Cup 2010 makes its way towards the end, I can see the beautiful game moving towards its demise...