R.I.P. “Minnie”

… a.k.a. Cinnamon Sprinkle, a.k.a. Cinnamon Sparkle: Cornell’s beloved miniature horse, who arrived on campus the year I moved away. (See, also, this earlier piece.)

Now that’s the kind of alumni reporting I’d like more of.

Had I known Minnie was at Cornell, I would have taken Karin to see her when we traveled to campus for my PhD defense.

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Happy New Year. Today, the USA attacked Venezuela and captured its head of state.

All day long, I worried about geopolitics, not least about soccer.

What will FIFA do about the World Cup? It would be consistent to ban the USA, since Russia is banned for attacking Ukraine.

If only.

What will CONMEBOL do about the Copa América? The USA is a hosting candidate but has just attacked a CONMEBOL member.

I went on Facebook to see what my “friends” are saying about the attack.

The Ecuadorian church leaders are silent. I don’t object to that. Not everything needs to be discussed.

Other Ecuadorians are making jokes about Venezuelans. Many Venezuelan refugees live in Ecuador. The jokes hint that now is the time for Venezuelans to return en masse.

(A Venezuelan says goodbye to her Ecuadorian sugar daddy.)

My U.S. “friends” who used to live in Ecuador are debating whether the coup is a canny U.S. foreign policy move; whether it’s good for Venezuela; whether Venezuelans, in preponderant numbers, support it; whether Maduro was entitled to rule; and whether “individualism” is better than “collectivism.”

I’ve seen none of these “friends,” none of them, say anything like this:

The geopolitical order is an order of sovereign states. An order of sovereign states forbids particular states from unilaterally attacking other states and deposing their leaders, even bad leaders.

It’s amazing how this simple norm, so dear to Latin Americans – including Venezuelans (even, I daresay, opponents of Maduro) – appears not to figure in ex-missionaries’ thinking.

What were they doing in Ecuador, all those years?

Not reading the room, it would seem.

An entertaining draw

– but a goalless one – between Peru and Ecuador. The Peruvians are a hairsbreadth from elimination. I’m sorry about that. They play hard but can’t score goals.

Peru: sixteen games played, six goals scored. 😢

Ecuador: sixteen games played, thirteen goals scored, five goals conceded. Three of the five were conceded during the first three games. These are amazing statistics. I wonder if any defense in CONMEBOL’s history has been so stingy (that is, since this qualification format was adopted in the mid-1990s). I’ll find out. Not tonight; after all the games have been played.

Average (i.e., mean) scoreline involving Ecuador: Ecuador, 0.8125 goals; opponent, 0.3125 goals.

Average (i.e., mode) scoreline: 0–0.

No wonder it has seemed so dreary. I should be grateful. This is historic.

Together with Venezuela’s defeat to Uruguay, this draw ensured Ecuador’s passage to the World Cup. Brazil also qualified. Uruguay and Paraguay each need one more point from two games (or else that Venezuela not obtain six). Colombia’s position also is strong. The Bolivians trail Venezuela by a point; either Bolivia or Venezuela will claim the play-in spot.

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Protests this weekend. Stay safe! Better yet, stay home! Some protests are effective. My hunch is, these won’t be. They’ll just embolden the government to crack down further. This is a powder keg, and all it needs is for some cop or protestor to kill or get killed.

Don’t like how things are going? Vote.

The case against living in las Malvinas

… a.k.a. the Falklands.

Argentina came within a point of qualifying for the World Cup, defeating Uruguay, who fell in the standings. Ecuador rose to second place. We’d dropped to fifth because Brazil and Paraguay won their games; but then we beat Venezuela, 2–1, in what should have been a cakewalk but became rather fraught when Venezuela scored.

Enner scored twice for Ecuador but missed a penalty kick, as is his way. Other outstanding players were midfielder Pedro Vite and goalkeeper Hernán Galíndez. The latter dislocated his finger; Pervis pulled it back into place.

Five games remain for each team. We’ll play on Tuesday, in Santiago. The Chileans are last.

Karin took Samuel to the emergency room last night because we worried that he had appendicitis. He didn’t, thank goodness. Today we’re all much happier.

The scholar, pt. 2

Samuel seemed shell-shocked after his first day.

“What did you do in school?” I asked.

“Work,” he said, grimly.

He wouldn’t say much else. He made a beeline for his toy cars and organized them fastidiously. Then he slept all afternoon.

With Samuel away, Daniel has been extra clingy.

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World Cup-wise, we lost 1–0, in Brazil. We debuted a new coach (Sebastián Beccacece). We wore red (!). Alan Franco, a midfielder, played surprisingly well as a makeshift right-back. Otherwise, it was a forgettable game.

At the same time, in São Paulo, the Packers and Eagles played a regular-season game. Was the NFL wise to promote itself to Brazilians while a World Cup qualifier was in progress? Maybe: the qualifier was such a stinker.

The Bolivians have begun hosting games in El Alto – clearly a savvy choice. They defeated Venezuela 4–0 and leapt back into contention. A lot of bad teams are contenders this time.

More results

Copa América quarterfinals

Argentina 1 (4), Ecuador 1 (2). We outplayed the world champions but lost the shootout. Pity.

We almost were knocked out by soccer kindergarteners, one Argentinian journalist complained.

Our coach, Félix Sánchez Bas, a Spaniard, resigned afterward. Rumor has it, his wife and children have been unhappy in Ecuador; they may even have been bullied by fans. I’m very sorry if this is the case. Sánchez is likely to take another job in Qatar.

Brazilians and Uruguayans are scoreless as of this writing. Canada beat Venezuela in another shootout, and Colombia thumped Panama, 5–0, in the Darién Classic.

UK general elections

Labour thumped the Tories. No Tories won seats in Wales.

Euros

Türkiye 2, Austria 1. A good game. Afterward, the Turkish goalscorer, Merih Demiral, was suspended. The Dutch eliminated the Turks today.

Spain 2, Germany 1. A good game. Alas, yellow cards were distributed willy-nilly, and various players were suspended. Spain’s is the only pleasing team left in these Euros.

The French are still tedious to watch, and the English are still putrid. Both teams have reached the semifinal round. Both could reach the final. Wouldn’t that be nice.

I liked what the Mexican commentators said about the English and Dutch fans: For all their color, they’re tepid once the game starts, probably because they’re already soused.

This would explain why the Turks outcheer pretty much everyone during the games.

Ecuador 1, Chile 0; Brazil 0, Argentina 1; Peru 1, Venezuela 1

The highlight videos might make you think we’re kinda good. That impression would be false. We’re very good at defending; apart from that, we’re putrid.

The coach has to go. Has to, has to.

Even so, I’m happy that we won and climbed to fifth place. (We were joint-fourth, briefly, but Venezuela reclaimed a point in Lima and moved ahead of us again.)

Brazil lost at home, to Argentina, and sunk to sixth. At least we aren’t Brazil. …

Ten months (ten!) until the next qualifiers. In that time, we could get a lot better. Or worse. Every team’s form could change.

Venezuela 0, Ecuador 0; Argentina 0, Uruguay 2; Brazil 1, Colombia 2

The Venezuelans are at their all-time best. They’re on pace to qualify for their first World Cup.

Ecuador outplayed them in Maturín, in the far northeast, about as far as you can go without straying into CONCACAF land. What an uninspiring game this was. Neither team covered itself with the tiniest shred of glory.

Whenever the Ecuadorians would recover a ball in their opponents’ half, they’d send it to their back line to “recycle” possession. It seems to be what this coach wants them to do.

We’ve scored four goals in five games. We’ve scored in just two of those games.

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For the first time ever, Argentina and Brazil lost qualification games on the same day – Argentina at home, against the superb Uruguayans, and Brazil in Colombia. Luis Díaz, whose father, recently released from kidnapping, was in the stands, scored two late goals to sink the Brazilians.

The Brazilians are on a two-game losing streak – their first ever in World Cup qualification. It might become a three-game losing streak. They’ll play Argentina next. I expect the Argentinians to be in a kicking mood. They hadn’t lost since the first game of the World Cup. Before that, they hadn’t lost in dozens of matches.

On holiday; Bolivia 1, Ecuador 2; Brazil 1, Venezuela 1

A satisfactory little vacation in Austin. I’ve done what I said I’d do, except I haven’t ridden the bus.

I’m about to finish reading my second book.

David took me to a good Colombian restaurant in East Austin, the seedy-but-gentrifying part of town. He lives in a much-nicer-but-also-gentrifying part of town. I gather there are other neighborhoods that leave his in the dust.

My legs are sore because yesterday I hiked through a stony, scrubby forest. I’m no birdwatcher, but I was delighted when a roadrunner crossed my path. It was an idyllic morning – except that the freeway traffic near the forest was very loud.

Back where Ana & David live, we did a little tour of the Halloween decorations.

Ada, my neice, is a chatterbox. She is keen to describe all the neighborhood calaveras (skulls). She tells us about Ellison, her imaginary older sister.

George, my nephew, likes to be read to and to dribble the soccer ball around the house.

We watched Ecuador play awfully against Bolivia. To our intense relief, Ecuador scored the winning goal in the last minute. Afterward, David and I listed four or five players whom we never want to see again. The commentator was a nice man from South Africa or maybe New Zealand who clearly knew little about South American soccer or soccer in general. By the end of the game, even he was remarking on how poor these players were, and David and I were warming up to him.

The other notable result was that Venezuela rescued a point in Brazil thanks to a late bicycle-kick goal. The Brazilians were very angry.

World Cup updates; “I love you”; Benidorm; the reader

With just five matches to play, we’re dragging ourselves over the finish line. Last month, in Colombia, we did some heroic time-wasting to earn a 0–0 draw. Kudos to our savvy goalkeeper, Alexander Domínguez, for wasting ten or fifteen minutes during his goal kicks; and to the VAR officials for annulling Colombia’s last-minute goal.

Then, a few days ago, we eked out a 1–0 home victory against cellar-dwellers Venezuela. We were so poor, the result was downright inspiring.

(In fairness, many of our regular players weren’t available.)

Tomorrow night, we’ll play in Chile. The Chileans also have been poor. Even so, they’re on a three-game winning streak and have climbed to fourth place, four points behind us.

If we so much as draw this game, our position will be very strong.

Colombia and Uruguay, the other nearest contenders, also have been struggling.

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The Troggs (on Spotify): “Wild thing, I think I love you.”

Samuel: “I love you.”

He doesn’t say it to his parents; he only repeats what he hears from the TV. When he first said “I love you,” he was repeating a sign-language lesson from Baby Einstein.

Tonight he said, “Love Benidorm.” He really does love Benidorm, the little weirdo.

I think he can read or at least recognize words he’s seen in his books. Today, he recognized the word “summer” when it appeared on the TV; and, yesterday, when the word “Texas” appeared on the TV, he said “taxi.” He’s been doing this for several months.

Venezuela 2, Ecuador 1

This is the second qualifier we’ve lost to a team at the bottom of the standings.

This defeat is especially galling. We were ahead 1–0 and seemed to have the Venezuelans under control. I guess we were excessively confiados.

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Karin & I continue to unpack. Today I cleared out about half of the kitchen and nearly all of the front parlor. It was like a super long game of peg solitaire – I’d clear away one “peg” to make room to clear away another, so I could access yet another “peg” – only, these “pegs” were liquorbox- or bananabox-sized and filled with dishes or books, and the empty spaces were on three different storeys of the house.

I was glad for the workout since I didn’t run. Yesterday, though, I did try out a new route: eight laps around a nearby school. The sidewalk was uneven and hard, and on the last lap I injured a groin muscle. But I toughed it out: I needed to burn extra calories: I was to go to a restaurant with Karin’s dad’s family.

Here is our group portrait, with little Samuel at the end of the table:

After the meal, Karin & I stopped at my parents’ house and retrieved the food we’d left in the freezer. But when we got back to our new house, the power had gone out.

I had to sleep without using my CPAP machine, and so I woke up many times.

More qualifiers

This long day began for me before five o’clock. Then I didn’t get a full meal until after two; a couple of hours later, I was sleeping from sheer exhaustion. Did Samuel sleep today? He did not.

Thankfully, Karin was here to watch him: she stayed at home to prepare for the move.

My parents and I spent much of the day cleaning the new house, and we waited there for a plumber who didn’t come. A different plumber will come next Wednesday … after Karin, Samuel, and I have moved in.

Until this plumber arrives, the bathtub will serve as our all-purpose sink.

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Ecuador’s next World Cup qualifier will be played tomorrow night (8:30 ET).

Opponent: Bolivia.

Location: Guayaquil.

This will be our first home qualifier outside of Quito since 1997 (the last one also was played against Bolivia, and in Guayaquil).

Afterward, we’ll travel to Venezuela and Colombia. It makes sense to prepare for those games on the Caribbean coast by playing our home game in a hot, coastal city.

Guayaquil was in the news a few days ago because a particularly brutal prison riot happened there.

Yahoo! trolls the world

There’s a tradition in U.S. soccer journalism of importing awful British pundits. Several of these donkeys have worked for Yahoo! Sports.

When I first moved to this country, I was delighted with Yahoo! for re-publishing other news agencies’ reports from all over the world. Every day, I’d read of the domestic leagues in Botswana or Thailand or wherever. Coverage of South America was especially good.

All of that fine reporting is long gone. Now, Yahoo!’s content is much narrower in scope, and the site employs its own journalists. These pundits have tended to sing the praises of (a) the English Premier League, (b) the U.S. men’s team, (c) the English men’s team, (d) Cristiano Ronaldo, (e) the other powerful European leagues and teams (France’s, Germany’s, Italy’s, and Spain’s), and (f) U.S. Major League Soccer – more or less in that order. Presumably, these are the topics that U.S. readers care about.

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For years, the especial jackass at Yahoo! was one Martin Rogers, who’s moved on to USA Today. How I loathed that “bloke.” … But now, I wonder if Ryan Bailey, the “wanker” du jour, is even worse.

First, Bailey doesn’t write. He makes videos. (Rogers would at least write his columns.)

Second, the videos are obnoxious, due to Bailey’s relentless cheerfulness.

Third, Bailey doesn’t just wish to preserve the status quo; he favors giving dramatically more power to the most mercenary entities.

See, for example, his recent video, “Making the Case to Scrap International Soccer.”

This is his case:

(1) International soccer sometimes conflicts with the Premier League.

(2) And the Premier League is obviously what everyone wants to view.

(3) Besides, we don’t have to scrap international soccer completely. If we were to keep soccer as an Olympic event, that would be good enough.

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This cannot be a serious argument. No one who isn’t already on Bailey’s side would be convinced. Bailey must be trolling.

But if Bailey is serious, he obviously hasn’t watched the South American World Cup qualifiers. If his idea of a good game is Brighton vs. Newcastle or Arsenal vs. Chelsea, he should try watching Uruguay vs. Chile, or Chile vs. Paraguay, or, least glamorous of all, Paraguay vs. Venezuela. (In the 2018 World Cup cycle, each of those South American fixtures turned out to be a matter of life and death.)

As for moving soccer’s main event to the Olympics: either the Olympics would have to be greatly expanded to accommodate a soccer tourney with the magnitude of the World Cup, or else the world’s main soccer tourney would have to be shrunk. The first option would leave in place all of what Bailey dislikes about the current system (including, I presume, the massive qualification phase). And the second option would fail to placate those who like having a big tourney and its attendant qualification games.

One suspects that the real motive for incorporating the world’s main soccer tourney into the Olympics would be to allow U.S. fans to feel better about themselves, since their country would likely excel in many other events. (“We didn’t reach the podium in soccer? Well, at least we earned the gold in beach volleyball.”)

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Bailey also states that players prefer to focus on their clubs and not their national teams.

To which every South American replies: You must be from England.

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Even so, I probably am more disillusioned with international soccer than I ever have been. This latest World Cup left me especially discouraged. I worry that international soccer will always be unjust – and not only contingently so; I worry that people’s valuation of it is conceptually confused.

I may discuss these issues further during the next several months.

More results

Well, Paraguay lost to Venezuela, 1 to 0. So much for Paraguay.

Argentina defeated Ecuador, leaped over several teams, and qualified for the World Cup. Ecuador didn’t field any of the players who defeated Argentina in the first game of the tourney. That, perhaps, is the most surprising fact of Ecuador’s World Cup cycle.

In Lima, Peru and Colombia each scored one goal. Peru’s was a golazo by its talisman, the excellent Paolo Guerrero. He scored with an indirect free kick that was touched by the Colombian goalkeeper. Now, to reach the World Cup, Peru must defeat New Zealand in a two-game playoff. Colombia finished above Peru and reached the World Cup directly.

The Uruguayans scored twice against themselves but still defeated Bolivia, 4 to 2. They also qualified for the World Cup.

These results helped to eliminate the Chileans, whom the group-winning Brazilians defeated, 3 to 0.

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Ironically, the Chileans would’ve qualified for the playoff at Peru’s expense had they not won an earlier judgment in court. Due to Bolivian impropriety, Chile and Peru had sued against that nation. Chile’s 0–0 draw against Bolivia was converted into a 3–0 Chilean victory, and a 2–0 victory for Bolivia became a 3–0 victory for the Peruvians. On the whole, then, the judgment benefited Peru more than Chile. The difference was enough to switch these nations’ respective, final positions (click to enlarge):

(The chart on the left gives the official, post-judgment standings. The chart on the right shows what would’ve resulted without the court judgment.)

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All of this was dramatic enough. But it paled in comparison to what happened in North America.

The Hondurans, obliged to defeat Mexico, narrowly managed to do so. One of their goals came from a shot that hit the crossbar and bounced off the Mexican goalkeeper’s head.

The Panamanians were similarly obliged to defeat Costa Rica. Their winning goal came at the end of the game. I celebrated it with great passion. Their earlier goal was even more dramatic. It was un gol fantasma: the ball never crossed the goal line. But the shooter, Blas Pérez – my old Panamanian favorite – was fouled and should’ve been awarded a penalty kick.

Here’s a video that shows all of this in clear detail. It also shows the Hondurans’ lucky goal.

Why do I care about these North American games? Because they made possible the elimination of the United States, that hollow team, which lost against Trinidad and Tobago. And so one of my dreams, that the U.S. should fail to qualify for a World Cup, has finally come true.

Results

Though the Ecuadorians played hard, they lost, two goals to one, relinquishing their last chance of qualifying for next year’s World Cup.

They almost didn’t lose. The Chileans scored their winning goal because an Ecuadorian substitute, having just ventured onto the infirm playing surface, slipped. But the night’s other results would have sunk the Ecuadorians even if they’d drawn.

A draw also would have pretty well sunk the Chileans. Instead, momentarily, they’re vaulted into third place. I say “momentarily” because they must play their concluding game in Brazil. Whether they qualify may well depend on how few goals the Brazilians decide to score against them. The Brazilians may end up KO’ing Chile for the third consecutive World Cup cycle.

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Argentina and Peru stalemated in Buenos Aires. Their fates depend upon their respective final matches.

Sitting pretty are the Brazilians (already qualified); the Uruguayans (assured of a playoff, at least; virtually assured of direct qualification); and, amazingly, the Paraguayans. GET THIS. Right now, the Paraguayans are in seventh place, i.e., three places from direct qualification, with a goal differential of minus-five. But if they defeat Venezuela at home, they’ll at least reach the playoff (they’d overtake either Colombia or Peru) and they might even qualify directly, overtaking Chile or Argentina (or both). This good placement is due to their superb comeback victory in Barranquilla. They scored in minutes 89 and 92, defeating the Colombians, 2–1. The Paraguayans are South America’s “cardiac” team.

Then again, I wouldn’t put it past them to fail to defeat the last-placed Venezuelans.

To recapitulate, this is the table (click to enlarge):

And these are the concluding fixtures:

Argentina at Ecuador
Bolivia at Uruguay
Chile at Brazil
Colombia at Peru
Venezuela at Paraguay

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The best result of the day was Kazuo Ishiguro’s selection as the Nobel literary laureate. When it was announced, it made me so pleased, I almost wasn’t bothered about the World Cup. Ishiguro is a fine writer, and The Remains of the Day, his most famous novel, displays the sublimest English and Japanese virtues.

Thank you Uruguay, thanks Bolivia

… for defeating Paraguay and Chile, respectively, which is all that’s keeping Ecuador in the hunt. The Venezuelans helped us, too, drawing with Argentina in Buenos Aires.

(I feel like Alanis Morissette in her “Thank U India” video: chastened and nude.)

No thanks to ourselves. Last night, the Peruvians defeated us in Quito. We were bad.

It’s hard to know what, or whom, to blame. Our players? They’d do better if things weren’t so dire. Our coach? Certainly, his tactics are bankrupt, or else they aren’t suited to our personnel; but I’m not sure what tactics to suggest instead. The groundskeeping? That was a problem last night. The grass was cut short to make the ball roll quickly. But our players kept failing to control the ball.

The altitude? Last night, it didn’t help us. I think Peru may have used more “highland” players than we used.

I’d be in utter despair – I was all through the night – except that Argentina and Chile are playing badly, too, and they’re our closest qualifying rivals, and they’re whom we will play against in our last two games. I thought the Peruvians would be easier to beat, but now I’m not so sure. The Argentinians have looked tepid under all three of their world-class coaches. And the Chileans, well, they’re a disaster. And so are we. The three teams are punch-drunk and knocked down. Whoever can stand up just a little will be admitted to the World Cup.

Russia vs. New Zealand

I was eager to watch this game.

Gone from my thoughts was the flaccid Russia of last year’s Euros.

Gone was the blundering Russia of the 2014 World Cup, whose players, under Capello, were fearful.

I hoped to see the slick Russia of the 2012 Euros, the Russia that put four goals past the Czech Republic (before being dumped out of that tourney by the Greeks).

New Zealand, I thought, would be the ideal victim for such a Russia.

Unfortunately, I missed the first half. I got the kickoff time wrong and turned the game on rather late.

The Russians were ahead, 1–0, but only because New Zealand had scored for them. Empty seats blighted the stadium in St. Petersburg. From his V.I.P. box, Putin cast an irritated scowl.

As I watched, it became clear that these Russians were no better than, say, Peru. (The FIFA rankings have them beneath Venezuela, but that’s not right.)

The Kiwis were vastly worse, though. They looked like a team of schoolboys. Their only standout was their goalie, who made some startling saves. (His club, in Germany, is in the third division, and so I hope that this tourney brings him wider notice.)

But the onslaught could not be held back. Around the 70th minute, a neat maneuver resulted in a tap-in for the Russians. Such was what I’d hoped to see.

Matchday 13, pt. 2

Well, we lost. All credit to the Paraguayans. They ran hard, troubled our best passers, blocked our lanes, and converted two scrappy goals. Moreover, they were expert time-wasters. When the “Topo” Cáceres became injured, the medics took a good while to cart him off, making several changes of direction. The ref had to toss one of the medics out of the game. Also, crucially, the Paraguayans were much taller than the Ecuadorians. Toward the end, our coach brought on skillful little Matías Oyola. It was a mistake. Whenever Oyola had to jump for a high ball, he was dwarfed and ended up committing a foul, allowing the Paraguayans to waste more time. (I am not complaining. Time-wasting is a fact of life.)

Meanwhile, the Brazilians demolished the (very good) Uruguayans in Montevideo. After several woeful years, the Brazilians again look to be world beaters. They are trouncing the other South Americans, and no one in Europe seems as good.

The Colombians squeaked past the Bolivians. Argentina defeated Chile. Draws in these games would have served Ecuador better. In the sole unimportant game, Venezuela squandered a two-goal lead, drawing against Peru.

Ecuador’s presidential election

Yesterday, elections were held in Ecuador. The votes are being tallied to see if a second round will be required in the presidential contest. By rule, to be declared the winner after just one round, a presidential candidate must receive 50% of the votes, or else he or she must receive 40% of the votes and outdo the next vote-getter by 10%.

This year, it’s close. As of this writing, the top vote-getters are Lenín Moreno with 39.08% and Guillermo Lasso with 28.43%.

Moreno is the candidate of the ruling party. He served as Rafael Correa’s vice president from 2007 to 2013. Lasso, a banker, was Correa’s closest opponent in the election of 2013.

My Facebook “friends” who discuss Ecuadorian politics tend to belong to the upper crust, and their aim is to get the socialistic ruling party out of office. They have nightmares of Ecuador turning into something like corrupt, disorganized, impoverished Venezuela. Thus they oppose Moreno. What Lasso stands for is not their focus.

My own views – impressionistic, not scientific – are that Ecuador is a society that needs large-scale economic redistribution (socialistic or otherwise); that although Ecuadorian socialism depends on unreliable, unsustainable revenue from oil, as Venezuelan socialism does, Ecuador will not cast its lot irrevocably with oil as Venezuela has done; and that the ruling party has shown far more competence than any other recent party.

There also is the question of authoritarianism, a charge frequently brought against Correa’s regime. To be sure, Correa has exhibited more than a dash of authoritarianism in his personality. But everything I’ve read suggests that the opposite is true of Moreno. Indeed, he has concerns that are very unusual for a politician. (For a few examples, see this article from 2013.) Moreno seems to exhibit genuine goodness – a quality which, in this age of Donald Trump, the world may finally decide it needs its politicians to have.

I must sleep now. From afar, these are my thoughts.

Super Bowl LI; la Sur Oscura; la sub-20

Every couple of years, it’s said we’ve just witnessed the greatest Super Bowl in all of history. During my own short life, I’ve heard this said of Super Bowls XXV, XXXII, XXXIV, XXXVI, XLII, XLIII, and XLIX … and now, Super Bowl LI.

Certainly, last night’s was a great Super Bowl. But the best ever? I think not.

The first quarter, the teams spun their wheels.

The next two quarters were entertaining – but not compelling. Though we were treated to the occasional brilliant play, it seemed obvious that the Falcons would win, that it was unnecessary to really pay attention.

The contest finally became interesting when the Patriots whittled the deficit to 16. Then their comeback was tremendous – indeed, too one-sided. The Falcons hardly resisted.

The outcome was narrow and, on the whole, the foes were well-matched; but they didn’t exactly “trade punches” throughout the game. It was more like they attempted one bazooka shot apiece.

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Earlier that afternoon, some people who did trade punches – literally – were the members of the Sur Oscura, Barcelona’s famous fan group, during the season’s first home game (against Macará). Due to the violence, the game was suspended by the referee.

The episode is being depicted by the foreign and domestic presses as a shameful one for Ecuadorian soccer. And I agree. It’s one thing when different teams’ supporters fight. When the conflict is within the fan base … well, it’s disgraceful.

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In the last phase of our sub-20 championship, we Ecuadorians have played to a draw against Brazil, scoring two late penalties; we’ve lost on a foggy night, 4 goals to 2, against Venezuela; and we’ve defeated the Argentinians, 3 to 0. (Clearly, these results have no correlation to how we perform at the senior level.) We’ve yet to play against Colombia and Uruguay. Our objective is to finish no worse than fourth, qualifying for this age group’s World Cup.

More soccer results

As expected, we beat the Venezuelans – no great feat, especially since the margin of victory, three, could easily have been seven or eight. ‘SUFRIDA’ GOLEADA, headlined the newspapers. The visitors “closed up shop” in front of their goal and stalled whenever play was interrupted. They did this until our central defender, Arturo Mina, burst forward and headed in a cross (our whole team was playing very high up the field).

This occurred early in the second half. Our next goal was from a counterattack, and the third came from an even simpler counterattack after the Venezuelans had no choice but to send their players forward.

Again our most dangerous attacker was Renato Ibarra. He and the “Hormiga” were devastating along the right wing. But neither of them could shoot. (My grandpa likes to tell how, decades ago, he arrived in Ecuador unable to speak Spanish. The evangelicals prayed: O Señor, suelta la lengua del hermano Pablo. In the same spirit, I’d like us to pray: O Señor, suelta las patas de la “Hormiga” y de Renato.)

As I’d predicted, we climbed up into third place, because the Colombians lost against the Argentinians in this week’s duel of desperate teams. Which proud team will miss the World Cup is the question that grips the continent. It’ll be either the Argentinians, the Colombians, or the Chileans. We might miss the World Cup, but we are not especially proud. The Paraguayans, also humble, were hopeful until these last two matches, when they lost against two of the cellar-dwellers: at home, 4 to 1, to Peru, and away, 1 to 0, to Bolivia. This last result has “cooked their goose.”

♦ ♦ ♦ ♦ ♦

In the CONCACAF, the gringos also are in crisis mode. They followed their home defeat to Mexico with a 4 to 0 defeat in Costa Rica. I was very happy about this, and I gloated about it to my Spanish students – most of whom didn’t care – until Mary told me that Martin has been very sad about it. That tempered my glee a little bit.