My Memories of World Cups

My memories of the 1978 World Cup remain fresh： That scorching summer， my grandfather， my father and I sat and watched the World Cup on a 9-inch black-and-white television set in my home in Nanjing. In the final match， Argentine footballer Agemtoma Mario Alberto Kempes’ goal ignited jubilation among Argentine spectators at River Plate Stadium. This was my first time watching the World Cup. Even though the images on television were black and white， my memories of the match are in living color. Perhaps the monochromic motion pictures made the match such an unforgettable classic in my memory.

By the arrival of the 1982 World Cup， my family had a 14-inch color television， so I could see the yellow uniforms of Brazilian soccer masters including Zico， Sócrates， and Falc？o， who were eliminated by Italians in blue. Of course， I was also impressed by German players in white and talented Argentine footballer Diego Armando Maradona in blue-and-white. That year， my homework for the summer holiday was to establish a “newspaper.” I compiled a special World Cup edition that included various news about the event， players’profiles and match comments， as well as a Dream Team based on voting by my father， grandfather and me. At that time， I never thought such homework would become my job in the future. Perhaps this is a so-called“metaphor of life.”

I was preparing for gaokao （college entrance exams） when the 1986 World Cup took place. After some discussion， my father and grandfather permitted me to watch the live broadcast in the wee hours of the morning. I watched Zico， Sócrates and Michel Platini unexpectedly miss penalty shots in the fantastic match between Brazil and France. I also witnessed Maradona marvelously cross over five defenders， as well as his famous “Hand of God.” On the day of the World Cup final， in which Argentina defeated Germany， after watching the live broadcast of the match， I stepped into the auditorium shrouded in morning haze for a gaokao mobilization meeting.

In 1990， I was about to graduate from college in Beijing. That year， I had enough free time to watch the World Cup on television. I watched the semi-final between Argentina and Italy in one of my middleschool classmates’ dormitory at Tsinghua University. The dormitory had a color television， powered by cord linked to an outlet in the corridor. I remembered every- one in the room supported Argentina， just because we didn’t like Italian goalkeeper Walter Zenga， who appeared arrogant. The reasons that fans like or dislike a team may be arbitrary， unexplainable， emotional or interesting. As a fan of Maradona， of course， I supported Argentina too， despite the fact that they knocked out the Brazilian team that I most favored.

In 1994， I was working with the Sports Division of China Central Television（CCTV）. Every night throughout the U.S. World Cup， I taped video of every match and wrote logs accordingly for editors of news and other programs to search the following day. Unfortunately， my grandfather died at the end of 1993. He would have been proud to see me work for the World Cup broadcast. At the time， internet wasn’t yet around， let alone social media tools like blogs， microblogs， and WeChat. I didn’t even have a cell phone. I found no way to express my excitement after watching every match – I only went home to sleep.

In 1998， I attended the France World Cup as a CCTV commentator. After the French team won the championship， about a million French people paraded along the Avenue des Champs Elysees to celebrate the victory. When I saw the huge portrait of French footballer Zinedine Zidane cast on the Arc de Triomphe by a laser projector， I remembered how disappointed Brazil’s Ronaldo looked when his team lost the final match. Life isn’t merciful to everyone. My favorite Brazilian team was once again abandoned by fortune.

When I went to South Korea as a commentator for the 2002 World Cup， the Chinese team qualified for the World Cup finals for the first time. In the group phase， Costa Rica defeated China 2-0. Before the match held in Seoul， my colleagues asked me whether China would win the game. I predicted Costa Rica would score at least two goals more than China. On our way back， every colleague acted as if I caused the loss.

Later， I went to Japan as a commentator for the semi-finals and final held there. I witnessed Brazilian soccer star Ronaldo and his teammates walk away with the World Cup trophy. However， the victory itself wasn’t the most unforgettable moment. I was most impressed by Japanese pupils attending soccer classes in brightly-lit school stadiums that were frequently found amidst modern skyscrapers. At that moment， I understood why the Japanese team could dominate Asia’s soccer arena.

Before the 2006 World Cup， I had planned on staying home in Beijing to take care of my daughter， but I was eventually persuaded by my boss and colleagues to head to Germany as a commentator. That summer， I drew unexpected public attention in China due to some controversial comments. In my view， I just did what football commentators are supposed to do. Even today， I think I did the job very well. Throughout my career as a CCTV commentator for three World Cups， I gave my best performance at the Germany World Cup.

In 2010， I became a co-host on Huang and Li’s Comments on the World Cup， an online talk show presented by Sina.com， a leading internet portal in China. The talk show enabled me to experience the joy of watching World Cup matches together with young amateurs in nightclubs.

Time flies， and the 2014 World Cup has arrived. It has been 36 years since I watched my first World Cup in 1978. I wrote this in honor of the 10th World Cup I have watched.