Sweetness

I watched the Germany-Italy semifinal of the 2006 World Cup yesterday. The game was played in Dortmund, where Germany's national team had never lost (12-0-1). On the flip side of the coin, Italy had never lost to Germany in a World Cup match.

Obviously, one streak was going to end. Unfortunately, it was Germany's unbeaten streak in Dortmund, but kudos to Italy for the win late in the extra time. 

For today's semifinal, I don't have any strong preference as to who wins, although if France go through, I'll be cheering for them in the final.

My friend S opined the other day that he wished every soccer match could end in a draw. When I inquired further, he said that he would like to see people satisfied with good play and that the draw would ensure that nobody would be crushed when their team lost.

After the match, I had the time to run a few errands and walked along the Drive, where many Italian fans were still hooting and hollering with joy and euphoria.

I think that my friend S is wrong. The fact Germany lost was sad, but they did a lot better than almost anyone predicted, and I was proud of them. I think it's far better to have a life where there are great moments of joy as well as sadness.

In the movie version of Mark Salzman's Iron & Silk, Mark experiences a moment of wisdom, beautifully expressed as "you have to eat bitter to taste sweet."