How many other households had alarms set for hours before dark on Friday morning? When one of our team posted hat her month as a soccer widow was about to start, she was surprised how many others agreed.
Some followers argued that Friday’s opening World Cup match result proved the benefit of playing on home soil – where a crowd can lift emotions and referees tend to be influenced by the intense environment. No doubt this will be one of many controversies viewed by billions of international fans whose eyes are on Brazil this month.
But given that nearly 16% of Brazil’s population lives below the poverty line, many Brazilians are protesting the $14 billion spent on the World Cup. Nine construction workers died during the construction period. Another 250,000 people were displaced from urban favelas in the lead-up to the event.
For many of these slum dwellers, a chance to watch 90 minutes of soccer is an escape from reality. While many believe that spending so much money on sporting events like this is wasteful, it highlights what life is really like for others. Surely that’s a good thing. It’s a great visual education tool that covers so many areas of the curriculum.
No matter what sport you follow, opening our eyes to other nations and their living conditions, passions and lifestyles has to be a good thing. It shows our children some of the opportunities that outside their comfortable environment. So send them to bed early for a few nights and set those alarm clocks so they can soak up the atmosphere – they’re bound to learn something from the experience.
