TWO massive upsets shook the ongoing World Cup in Russia. First was Mexico’s literally earth-shaking 1-0 win against defending champions Germany (literal because the celebrations in Mexico did cause a mild man-made tremor that registered on the scales). And second was Japan’s 1-0 triumph over highly touted Colombia.
Upsets are not uncommon in global football, but many will always root for the underdog. The sight of fallen giants is easily relatable to hundreds of millions of fans who look up to football heroes and heroes-in-the making. Nothing like an upset can inspire the common man as he faces head on his everyday challenges, some of which can seem insurmountable.
For all its troubles at home and beyond its borders, Mexico gets a timely reminder of who they are as a people and what they can achieve on the global stage against the biggest odds. Who would have given Mexico a chance against the mighty, highly technical, overly efficient Germans aptly called Die Mannschaft, or The Machines. But Los Blancos did, even if it didn’t make sense.
The Japanese similarly had remained a mere blip on the global football radar for the longest time until this week’s massive win. Even the Japanese, perhaps not too keen on their team’s chances, didn’t journey to Russia in droves, unlike the confident Colombians who outnumbered them clearly on the stands. The shock win, though, was enough to prod the fans of the Blue Samurai off their seats and stream into the world-famous Shibuya Crossing late at night to celebrate.
But while football fans like me see only the upset side to their wins, what isn’t apparent is that underdog teams like Japan and Mexico have been preparing for years to pull off unlikely wins of this scale. But more importantly, they just didn’t turn something incredible into something real, both teams proved they have narrowed the gap between the “real contenders” and the “mere participants.”
With a more technical and tactical quality of play that relied less on luck and more of standing their ground and sticking to the game plan, both Japan and Mexico just showed the world how to slay giants with finesse.