Changing my secondary plan of staying at home tonight is one of the best decisions I’ve made in a very long time.
The All Whites, New Zealand’s national football team, played their first match in the FIFA World Cup at 11.30pm today, and I did not want to miss it. So my initial plan was to go to a pub to watch it, albeit I didn’t really want to go by myself, but I decided that if it was necessary, I would. However, due to a terribly hard day (with an early exam and some flat trouble), I didn’t feel like socialising or drinking, so I thought I’d just stay at home and find a website that had live streaming of the match.
After dinner I felt much better, though, and decided I’d go to the pub after all. A bit nervous, I left my flat just before 11pm and walked into town. As I entered the pub that was my first choice (Four Kings), I was shocked to find it already packed with supporters, some even had facepaint to show their support. I stood awkwardly by a wall and stared at the screens over the heads of other people (I guess that’s one good thing about being tall, eh?), trying not to get in anyone’s way.
There was a generally loud round of applause as the All Whites entered the pitch and the New Zealand national anthem started playing.
And just for the record – whoever says I’m not really a Kiwi, who do you think you are? You don’t know me. If you had felt 1% of what I felt when I stood there in that pub, you wouldn’t doubt me, you wouldn’t even be doubting yourself. My heart swelled with pride, so much it was painful, and I felt a desire to get up on a chair and sing along with the national anthem (which, thankfully, I didn’t).
There was an excellent atmosphere in the pub (note to self: future All Blacks games will be watched from there). The All Whites started out really well, which made people really enthusiastic about the game.
One of the things I was impressed to discover was that the people actually understood the rules of football. Not do I know when this became common knowledge in NZ, as football has always been a minor sport here, while rugby has been the area of knowledge for the common man.
As the match progressed, and the All Whites lost control of the game, some people became more subdued and some simply left. Traitors. Others (myself included) remained behind to support the guys to the end.
When about 10 minutes remained of the match I decided I’d better cross my fingers for luck, because I had a feeling that they could still make it a draw. So for the last 10 minutes or so I tried to keep them crossed – and they did get closer to scoring a goal – but every time they almost scored I forgot about keeping my fingers crossed in the frenzy that followed. After a minute or two I’d realise that I’d stopped keeping them crossed, so I’d do it again, and they would get closer to scoring again. So in the last (additional) three minutes, I kept reminding myself not to slip up, because we couldn’t afford it. So I kept them tightly crossed, and whaddayaknow – in the very last minute of the match the All Whites scored a goal!
(Now I finally know why my luck has left me – I seem to be giving it away in such kindly gestures as that.)
When the All Whites scored the final goal, it was like a bomb went off inside the pub. The entire room exploded – security guards, avid supporters, bartenders alike – everyone cheered as if New Zealand had just won the World Cup. (It is fair to mention here that the last time NZ qualified for the World Cup was in 1982.) Everyone missed out on what was said during the last few seconds of the game, but it didn’t matter – people were hugging strangers, cheering, jumping up and down and celebrating all over. When we vaguely discerned a whistle being blown and the referee put his arms up, the place erupted all over again. Wild applause and chants ensued for some time. Then people eventually started filing out, and as I exited I heard Dave Dobbyn’s song ‘Loyal’ being played over the loudspeakers from the upstairs pub and into the dark night outside, where people were standing in little crowds, discussing the game and smiling and nodding at friends and strangers alike.
As I started making my way home, I heard and saw cars tooting and hooting; people were shouting and cheering everywhere, there was a mile-long queue at McDonald’s, and there was a general feeling of festivity in the air, as if it was New Year’s Eve or a similar event (I heard on Twitter that somebody fired up some fireworks in Brooklyn – a suburb – which pretty much sums it all up).
I had to walk all the way back to my apartment, but due to my elated mood that wasn’t a problem, and as I was waiting to cross the road at some lights there was a taxi waiting for a green light just in front of me, and there I was, grinning broadly (and stupidly) all by myself, and when the taxi drove past me the taxi driver smiled and waved at me – totally made my night even better.
As of now, it’s almost 3am (yes, that’s three o’clock in the morning for those of you who may not be used to the whole am/pm thing yet), and I’m extremely tired (ah, yes, I mentioned that I had an exam this morning), but I feel too happy to go to sleep just yet.
Tonight, NZ was one, its people was one, and we all seemed to agree on one thing: We won. Maybe not in hard numbers in the football game, but in our hearts and in our minds, we achieved so much more than that. I think this showed that New Zealand has finally discovered the beauty and the passion of football, and I’ll be damned to say it was about time.
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