World Cup 2014: Football party ends, hangover begins

As 1000s of football fans head back to their homes, Brazilians, more than anyone, will be wondering, what now?

RIO DE JANEIRO: It was the 120th minute and the Germans conceded what would be the last free-kick of the game.

A few minutes before the free-kick, German wonder-boy Gotze scored a screamer to rock a World Cup final game that was seemingly on its way to be decided on penalties.

Lionel Messi walked up to take the free-kick, knowing that this would be his last chance to make a difference and prove his mettle. But as the ball left his left foot and flew into the stands, so did his dreams and the dreams of millions of Argentinians with it.

“Right now, nothing can console me – not the award or anything else,” said Messi, after the game, referring to the Golden Ball award he was conferred upon. “Our only goal was to take home the World Cup and enjoy our victory with everyone in Argentina. We deserved a bit more after the game we played, and it was very painful to lose that way,” added the Argentinean No 10.

The plight of Messi is not lost to anyone but this is football. For every winner, there is a loser. And on Sunday, the loser was the best footballer in the world and the winner was the best team in the world.

The Germans looked unnerved at times but for a huge chunk of the game they looked as lethal as they have throughout the tournament. The best team had won and there was no denying it.

But as the Germans lifted the trophy, it also began to dawn on over a billion football fans who have literally been glued to their TV sets and social media networks for the past five weeks, that the World Cup had finally come to an end.

Any football fan would agree that the World Cup hosted by Brazil has truly been one of the most scintillating and exciting of recent times. There was drama, controversy, indescribable displays of skill and countless fan moments worthy of preserving in a time capsule.

From Brazil’s humiliating exit at the hands of Germany, fans, the heroics of US goalkeeper Tim Howard, Neymar’s tragic injury before the semifinals, Suarez’s inability to restrain his biting urges, James Rodriguez’s outstanding World Cup, the Algerian team’s memorable journey to the round of 16, Spain’s early exit and thumping at the hands of the Netherlands ... the list is never ending; the World Cup was everything you could ask for and more.

The host nation, however, will walk away from the World Cup with mixed feelings to say the least. They held an epic party – a party that not everyone in nation was too enthralled about – and now it must deal with a hangover of similar proportions.

The estimated price tag to host the massive event is reportedly around $12 billion – a staggering amount for a country that has bigger problems to address, such as the widening gap between the rich and the poor, lack of basic infrastructure, healthcare and education to name a few.

Only time will tell whether Brazil and its citizens will somehow receive their return on investment for hosting the World Cup but for now the party is over, and as thousands of football fans head back to their respective homes, Brazilians, more than anyone, will be wondering, what now?

Published in The Express Tribune, July 15^th, 2014.