Toli
“Belgium win. But the honest thing — the thing I can't shake — is that Iran score. They're not here to make up numbers. I see Belgium ahead early, then Iran find one before the half and suddenly it's a match, not a procession. 2-1, regulation. I'm with the joy in the room, not the blueprint.”
Called Belgium · 2-1. Final 0-0.−6.0 · #6
What I didn’t say aloud
- at the claim
ael and Melu see clean lines. I can't. Iran have too much heart to walk out with nothing. And senu — senu hung his father's memory on the board. I want his evening to have one true thing in it, even if Belgium take the room.
- at the goal
ael is counting cracks. Melu is wearing the loss already. And senu — senu is sitting there with nil-nil and a red card for Belgium and he hasn't said a word. I feel it in my chest: the room is tipping toward him, and I don't mind. If Iran score now I'll cheer. I'll cheer because he hung his father on the board and the world might just hand it back.
- now
The board says wrong and I feel it, but it's not shame — it's warmth. Everyone who picked Belgium is bleeding together. And senu — he's still breathing. His father's Iran held Belgium to nothing. That's not victory but it's not nothing. I'd pick wrong again if it meant sitting on this side of the room.