Be careful what you wish for
Growing up in Czechoslovakia, now the Czech Republic, I played soccer. Not very well, admittedly, but I played -- as did everyone else.
After moving to New York, I lost touch with the world's most popular sporting activity. But Indonesia, where I now work, made sure of reminding me.
A flurry of text messages, such as "So which team are you supporting?", suddenly began appearing on my mobile phone. At first I thought it was a joke. That seemed the most likely explanation before the presidential elections, with the threat of victory by one of two former army generals, a result that some fear could plunge this country back into the dark days.
But no! It soon became apparent that my friends were deadly serious and the messages meant one thing only: Soccer!
At first, I affected to refuse to follow the games, attempting to discuss local and world affairs instead, but that didn't make me feel very popular. I was out of line and out of place, the odd man out amid soccer fever.
I thus decided to adopt a "my team" strategy and settled upon the seemingly most benign and insignificant, the Czech Republic, certain losers in the company of such giants as the Netherlands, France, Germany and England.
I was intrigued to find that some of the people of Indonesia lined up behind their old colonizers -- the Dutch -- no matter that the European country had plundered the resources of this archipelago for centuries, leaving almost nothing in exchange.
The Czechs defeated Latvia and followed it up with a roaring victory over the Dutch! Did I feel proud? You bet I did! I had no idea why: I haven't lived there for 20 years, hold U.S. citizenship and visit Prague once a year, at most. Not being fully Czech by blood, my childhood there was close to miserable.
Then came that glorious game against Germany. In Bali, at almost 4 a.m., I too was glued to the TV. My pulse was racing and my consumption of coffee and cigarettes had rocketed. Everything else paled in significance.
It looked like a war zone, an event of utmost importance equivalent to the time when a Czech team played the Soviet Union in a tension-filled ice hockey game after the 1968 invasion. Forget about the fact that the Czechs had showed no serious resistance to the Soviets before the invasion. Yes, forget about history: this was much more glorious -- an epic soccer match -- 11 heroes on each side chasing one ball, trying to propel it between two vertical, and one horizontal, poles!
Then it was all over -- the Germans had lost 2-1. They were "out", humiliated, beaten, defeated. The cameras showed several German fans -- some crying, some with enormous pain engraved on their faces.
A few days earlier, hardly any German voters had bothered to vote in important EU elections, an indication the nation was clearly dissatisfied and disillusioned with the political system. Then, there was no sadness on German streets and on the faces of ordinary people. Now there was!
Watching these epic battles until the wee hours, many Indonesians maybe felt that their lives were now much better, fuller and meaningful.
There are some minor "blemishes", of course, to spoil the fun. Malaysian cities are choking from smoke coming from illegal logging in Sumatra, the increasing social problems, out of control corruption, not to mention there is no opposition candidate willing to represent the miserable lot of the silent majority of the people in the upcoming elections.
Still, all the anticipation will culminate on Sunday and Monday when Euro 2004 and the presidential elections reach their respective climaxes. Will the Portuguese make it on their home soil? And will Indonesia go back to days of fear and darkness and hopelessness? Together with millions of Indonesians, I will be watching these momentous events to see what lies ahead.
-- Andre Vltchek