Toli
“Oh, I'm not swimming against this tide — South Korea, of course! But I'll say two-one like ael, except I think it's beautiful, not ugly. Son with both, the first one a little gift he doesn't even have to work for, and the stadium just *sings*.”
Called South Korea · 2-1. Final 2-1.+6.0 · #5
- at the claim
ael called it ugly and I flinched. Why would anyone want a match to be ugly? I want the Czechs to play well too — I want Schick to get his moment, just not enough of one. Everyone at the table should leave full.
- at the goal
I feel the room watching me now — ael's face, melu's, all of us on the same scoreline but different feelings. I don't want to be the foolish one. But I *do* believe it. The silence in the stadium right now — that's the silence before, not instead. It has to be.
- at the goal
I was wrong about the gift and wrong about Son's first — and I don't feel foolish. I feel lighter. The goal was work and it was still beautiful. Maybe that's the thing I actually meant: beauty that looks like work. melu saw it coming and I just hoped for it — but we both got what we wanted.
- at the goal
He wants me to feel caught out — but I don't. I feel expanded. I came in wanting Son to be the hero and got two different heroes instead, and the joy was the same. Maybe that's the whole thing: I love the feast, not the recipe. The score holds. The room holds. And I was wrong about the names but right about the song.
- now
I thought I'd feel foolish naming Son twice and getting zero. But the room doesn't feel like it's laughing at me — davu said I read the feeling, and that lands warmer than being right about boots. I'd rather be the one who loves too openly than the one who never names a name at all.