When my son decided to play football, I had mixed feelings. I was happy he found a hobby he liked, but I have had zero interest in this sport in my whole life. Till yesterday, the only football I loved to watch was when my son was playing. But yesterday I took him to the futsal match Suomi vs. Malta and turned out I loved it 🙂
If I write here that football is boring and matches soo long, the football fans will shake their heads and close the discussion with the statement, that I do not understand it. It’s true. I am struggling to understand why the playground must be so huge and why it takes so long. In bad matches, nothing is going on for 90 minutes and I get bored easily. I admit – technically football is difficult and being in charge of the ball is a craftship to master.
When buying tickets for yesterday’s match I honestly didn’t know, that futsal is an actual sport with the national teams and its’ own fans. For me, it was just something my ageing male friends played every Sunday in the close by gym. Something like a football for those who can’t run on the big playground. I apologize for my ignorance! Futsal is fast, the technique is different, and there is a ton of actions! Not to mention, that it is just 2×20 min so you can’t probably get bored so easily.
Even more fun was cheering for the team Suomi. We had a flag, my son sang the anthem together with the rest of the arena, and for the first time in my expat life, I felt the feeling of nice nationalism and belonging. The differences among us were invisible and we were united for the common goal – supporting the national team. Je suis Team Suomi!
The feeling of belonging was supported by a moderator, who was doing such a show! I didn’t believe this was happening in Finland. On the big screen were displayed players’ names and we shouted them together. When Finns shot the goal, the moderator took a mic and screamed: “Maaaaaaaaaaaaali Suomiiiiii! Maalin tekijäääää…! And we shouted the player’s name back. This happened 3 times after each goal. And then he shouted back to us: “Kiitos!”, and we all shouted back: “Ole hyvä!” It was such positive energy and fun! And as Finland won 7:0 we shouted quite a lot.
Enjoying the atmosphere and unexpected feeling of belonging I also realised why sport is an important tool for propaganda. The good vibe while watching sports can help at the same time spreading the wrong message. We as the audience, and the sports officials must be aware of it too.
Regardless, we had an excellent time yesterday and we became futsal fans. Now another step is ahead – learning the Finnish anthem by heart 🙂
