Brazil vs. North Korea

(Robert) Today I woke up very excited for the Brazil vs. North Korea game. I have completely mixed feelings about this match. On the one hand I should be rooting for Brazil since we'll be in Rio de Janeiro for the final week of World Cup. If Brazil was to win the World Cup while we are in Rio, we'd be in for the party of a lifetime.

On the other hand I'm extremely empathetic for underdogs – even underdogs ruled by a ruthless dictator. It's not the North Korean teammates' fault that they were born on the wrong side of the boarder and forced to remain there until they die. Isolated from the rest of the world, they haven't had the opportunity to gain much needed experience by going toe to toe against the world's best. Even the sports commentators had almost nothing to say about the the team due to a shroud of secrecy imposed by their dictator leading up to the match.

All I can imagine is that the North Koreans must have been terrified to play one of the consistently strongest teams in the world on their World Cup debut. To make matters worse the North Koreans could very well face torture or even death at home should they “disgrace” their homeland in the eyes of their leader.

The question at hand is - what is more important, the ultimate party in Rio or the mortality of the North Korean team? Katherine and I decided to compromise at 2-1 Brazil. This way we have the best shot at a great party while the poor North Koreans get to retain some dignity and hopefully their lives.

After watching the first half of the game at home, we made our way down our street to the Buenos Aires Mundial installation in Plaza San Martin to catch the remainder of the game. A boisterous group of Brazilian supporters made good use of their noise makers as Brazil scored once then a second time. I managed to contain my sense of bathroom humor when the announcers would mention that Kaká has the ball. Leite Ricardo Izecson dos Santos is commonly known by his nickname, Kaká, and is one of the stronger players on the Brazilian national team. I imagine if I was to as much as chuckle over his name in Rio my throat could be cut. Just as people began to vacate the premises in the final minutes, North Korea scored a goal to everyone's dismay!

When the game ended, as we had hoped, at 2-1 Brazil, we headed to a giant soccer ball located just off the lawn and snagged a self-portrait. It was another great day of futbol in Buenos Aires.