Yes. The world Cup is over.
Now, most of us feel a void that will never be filled. The pain is like the love or our lives saying goodbye without telling us why.
Trying to describe the feeling that overwhelms us just after the Final match ends, would just scratch the surface of a multi-layer bulk of emotions that wants to come out all at the same time. Everytime we hear the official song , its like a dagger piercing into our souls.
And it hurts.
It hurts so much.
But don't worry. You are not the first -and you won't be the last- to suffer from Post-World Cup Depression, and the best way to tackle a problem is trying to understand it first. Luckily, although it may vary a little from one person to another, this particular grief can be analyzed in five steps or stages that we all football fans go through:
1. Denial:
It comes right after we turn off the TV. We just won’t even think on the fact that there are no games left: “Nope. It can’t be over. It last a whole month” –We declare, without actually realizing that the month for that we waited 4 years to come, just flew by while we were busy watching the games.
2. Anger:
It Generally appears in the first week after the World Cup is over, and you can feel the tension in the air. Bad mood is the order of the day because there are no more excuses to do what you have to do, like work and stuff. As you slowly get back to your “normal life” routine, you are consumed by thoughts as “Why it has to last so little”, “they should do the eliminations rounds with at least a home and away games” and “now I really have to work…”*. In some cases, ulcers are expected to emerge at this stage.
3. Bargaining:
Right after most of the rage is consumed, there comes the time when we try to fill the emptiness by watching taped games, TV specials about game’s analysis, the best goals, catches and plays, browsing curious facts about the players and teams. We watch other tournaments like the Champions League to try to match the excitement, and we even get to the point of trying to follow other sports in between. This is a desperate way of trying to get back all the thrill of the first week of the group stage. But deep down, we know that ain’t gonna happen.
4. Depression:
Sadly, we haven’t invented time machines yet. Now, we are consumed by the fact the FIFA World Cup is really over, and we have to wait for another 4 years to have it back. This is the stage when we realize that no other sport tournament gives you the joy of a Football World Cup, and the Champions League, Copa América and Eurocopa are really cool, but they just don’t cut it. That heavy golden thophy is just too perfect.
5. Acceptance:
At this moment, we have made our peace with the truth. We can’t change the past, so we try to live as good as we can. We gradually get better as we learn to cherish all the good moments that we lived and got to see in that glorious month of the World Cup, cheering from time to time for our own national team. We know how hard the road has been so far, and we are grateful for the journey to the present moment. After all, most of us get to this stage less than a month away from the next World Cup.
I hope this helps you overcome the great sadness that comes at the end of every World Cup one day at a time.
As the Final match’s Referee said to the captains in really lousy English:
“Remember: live in Football. Allways live in Football.”