FIFA World Cup 2010 Final: Habrá Lágrimas: But Whose?

Exactly a month after the ball was kicked in Soccer City, Johannesburg, to begin a month-long soccer fiesta, and after 64 games, there will be tears.

No longer will there be hope to make amends for bad luck or sheer bad playing, no two extra games to be played to resurrect hope.

The highest pinnacle is where the last game will be played, and a fall from there will be the hardest to bear. Indeed, there will be tears.

Already, the Germans have been lamenting their defeat in the semifinal, a different reaction from four years ago. Then, they were quite happy with their third-place finish. Now? Not quite.

Philipp Lahm, the captain of Germany at the World Cup, declared, after their semifinal loss against Spain, there was no point in celebrating a third-place finish.

The team, he said, had a bigger goal in mind than a third-place finish, meaning they wanted to finish in first place.

In 2006 after the World Cup, and in 2008, after their second-place finish at the European Championship, the German team bid farewell to their fans in front of the Brandenburg Gate in Berlin.

Now, this petulant reaction seems to me to border on lack of proper appreciation for good fortune. Yes, good fortune.

Consider that Germany has finished in the top three positions of major competitions in recent times: 2002, runners up at the World Cup, 2006, third-place finish at the World Cup, 2008 runners of at the Euro Championship, 2010, third-place finish at the World Cup.

Think of the many countries that would gladly change places of with Germany! Indeed, what would Uruguay have not given to win the third-place encounter!

There are tears, but these tears are almost (if not completely) tears of ingratitude.

As a matter of fact, German football legend, Franz Beckenbauer, says as much : 

“I regret that the team isn’t saying ’thank you’ to its fans in Germany. I consider the decision not to visit the Berlin fan zone to be wrong,” he said.

“In 2006," he continued,  "the players bid farewell in front of the Brandenburg Gate (in Berlin) to the people who had supported them for weeks.

Enthusiasm in Germany was just as big this time around. They could sacrifice a few hours to say ’thank you.’”

Tears! But tears of thoughtlessness.

Today, there will be tears and these tears will be justified.

None of the two teams playing today has ever won the World Cup. Spain, in fact, have never even been to the semifinals of the World Cup before.

Now this is Spain's first time in the final after underachieving for years. And this time they've reached the final and with the best team ever, the envy of the whole world, in fact.

If they fail to win the cup this time, there's no guarantee they'd have such a splendid team in a while.

As such, they have to take their chances. If they fail to win today, there will be tears, and the tears will be plenty, the lament long.

For the Netherlands, they have memories of two back-to-back heartbreaks: 1974 and 1978. At their third try, they'd want to win the cup and nothing less. The self-doubt that would accompany a third failure will be psychologically damaging.

They have to win this time. If not, there will be tears, and the tears will be bitter.

If the Netherlands lose, they would have chosen the most expensive time to do so. They would have won six games in the tournament and lost one, same as Spain, who would congratulate themselves for losing when it was affordable to do so.

So whose tears will it be tonight? Spain's or the Netherlands'?

Definitely, the tears will be from one of these two nations, but not just from them, but also from the myriads of their fans around the world.

I am convince this is Spain's match to lose. I believe they are the better and stronger team, but I have cast my lot with the Netherlands. I am hoping against hope but I'm afraid I have set myself up to be sad tonight.

My tears may not flow though, I suppose however that tears of other fans might.

There will be tears.

-Nostalgic tears from fans of football around the world for the end of a month-long celebration of the game,

-Tears from South Africa, the host, for the sudden departure of everyone and the end of a month of idealization and dream ,

-Tears from business corporations for seeing such booming opportunities for profit end,

-Tears from commentators and arm-chair analysts around the world for the end of a period where conversations and discourses of all kind flourished,

-Tears for the eventual silence of those maddening Vuvuzelas!

Indeed, there will be tears.

Qué será, será.