The World Cup started in November, causing excitement to spread around the globe. This worldwide sporting event is not only popular all over the world, but it is also popular among those in our school community. Between checking game scores, watching the game during free periods, or representing a participating country for Spanish class, it is impossible to ignore the interest of AHA faculty and students that is garnered from the tournament.
So far, this year’s World Cup has been interesting to say the least. For one, you may have noticed that the World Cup is being held in winter this year, instead of its usual summer slot. This is due to it being held in Qatar, where temperatures have regularly risen to the low 80s for a high during the games. Despite the odd time frame, many exciting games have formulated within the short schedule, including four penalty shootouts. At the time of writing, the current semifinalists are Argentina, Croatia, Morocco, and France.
Within the soccer community in Minnesota, numerous World Cup events have been held. One of these is World Cup viewing parties for all United States matches held in the Brew Hall at MNUFC’s stadium, Allianz Field. Another popular location for viewing parties is Brit’s Pub, a restaurant in Minneapolis which regularly shows league soccer matches in addition to those played in the World Cup.
In our AHA community, teachers and students alike have been engrossed in the intriguing games. Mrs. Aylward’s 5th period class who, due to the seven extra minutes allotted in the hour, have been able to watch the penalty shootouts in the Round of 16 and the quarterfinals that aligned with the beginning of the period. Ms. Grabow’s Spanish 3 classes were given a packet before the start of the tournament and picked a team to represent for the remainder of the competition. Additionally, many students have regularly watched and kept tabs on the games during passing time and free periods. You can often see Chromebooks open with online streams of the games.
Among those who have shown interest in the World Cup is the current girls soccer state champion coach, Dave Marshak. Upon inquiry about the semifinalists, Marshak has chosen France as his favorite to win it all out of the remaining four teams, but he hopes Morocco will emerge as victorious underdogs. This sentiment is shared with Mr. Vitek, as when asked, provided the same answers. As for a student’s perspective, Zaira Flores ‘24 says her favorite team is Argentina, as she both wants and believes that Argentina will become the first South American team to win the trophy since 2002. With the final this weekend, you can be sure that there is more World Cup excitement still to come.
