Day 19: The golden possum
27 June 2006, 09:14
Will Fernando Torres win the Golden Boot? If the twenty-two-year-old Spanish striker finds the back of the net today, he will keep pace with Germany’s Miroslav Klose in pursuit of the award for top goal scorer. Here at the Newsletter, Torres is officially known as “La Zarigüeya” or “The Possum.” (Thanks to all of you that entered the name-that-haircut contest.)
La Zarigüeya is also called El Niño because of his baby face. He has some peculiar adolescent traits. A tattoo on the inside of his arm reportedly says his name in JRR Tolkien’s invented language, Tenwar. After one of his goals, he slid into the corner and acted like he was wielding a bow and arrow. Perhaps the celebration, which he performed with a combination of boyish exuberance and shy embarrassment, was another Tolkien reference. Whatever the case, his goals (like the breathtaking volley against Ukraine) can seem otherworldly.
Spain faces France today. As a fake Spaniard, I’ll pull for La Zarigüeya.
Elsewhere, Brazil takes on the strong Ghanaians. The game will not feature incredible dribbler Robinho, who is injured, or Ghana’s versatile midfielder Michael Essien. Brazil still has a big carnival of tricks. Ghana still has Stephen Appiah and an excellent team.
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Ohmigod, if Ghana wins, it will be the best thing that has ever happened. As a Ghanian man-on-the-street said this morning on NPR: “If, at the end of the match, Ghana has won, I don’t know what I will do. It will be so marvelous.” Brazil is playing for pride and to keep face, Ghana is playing (to the death, remember) for the African continent, for the eternal dream of overcoming great odds, for all the people of the world who harbor a little flame of hope that the impossible dreams—the cure for malaria and AIDS, landing on Mars, writing the great American novel, the rising up of all the poor and exploited and downtrodden people of the world—can really come true. Plus, Ghana winning is the only way I’ll have a chance to collect the $300 World Cup pool.
— Emily · 27 June 2006, 09:59 · #