Gerardo Chapa is the producer of 20/10, a documentary about the 2010 World Cup. The movie's descriptor reads: "For a month this summer, for 90 minutes at a time, an inexplicable phenomenon will unite people of all ages, creeds and colors. Every four years, beggars and kings, whites and blacks, women and men gather to indulge in the revelry of this sensation. For the first time ever, the catalyst for this fever will take place in Africa."
Chapa is on the ground in South Africa as the world's biggest sport event grips the globe. He's writing a first-person account, exclusive to CultureMap.
After the four quarterfinal games finished, even the man at his 13th World Cup saw something he had never seen, and will never see again. Every four years for the past five decades, my grandfather leaves his small coastal town in northern Mexico to travel to the World Cup.
Before leaving home, he picks two teams who he thinks will take home the cup, and wagers an amount undisclosed to even his family and closest friends on these two sides. This year, sensing a South American domination, he replaced one of his sides for the first time in his 48-year streak. Germany out, Argentina in. After the four-nil humiliation and Argentina's second consecutive quarterfinal defeat at the hands of the Germans, he learned his lesson.
Never bet against the Germans. Even when their staunchest supporter abandons them, they defy all the odds.
After watching Brazil, his other perennial favorite, dismantle Chile 3-0, he said with utmost conviction that no European team stood a chance against them. After I suggested Holland had the best attackers in the tournament, he quickly dismissed my claim as if to say "You're too young to know anything." He boasted: "They will be dancing all around the Dutch!"
Wrong again.
But as unexpected as these results were, neither came close to what he witnessed at the end of the Uruguay-Ghana match. If Maradona's handball goal was dubbed the "Hand of God", Uruguay goalie Luis Suarez's goal-line punch away in the 120th minute will surely be (especially in Africa) "The Hand of Satan."
Suarez's hand and Asamoah Gyan's subsequent missed penalty in the closing seconds of extra time were the only things in the way of Ghana becoming the first African team to ever reach a World Cup semifinal. Less than five minutes later, once the final whistle had been blown, Gyan was called on again to convert his team's first penalty of the shootout. He made it this time, but two of his teammates missed, and Ghana's run was cut short.
The following night, my grandfather saw another player take two consecutive penalties. This time, Spanish defensive midfielder Xabi Alonso put his through, but was forced to retake the penalty by Guatemalan referee Carlos Batres for a rare and especially bold encroachment call. He missed, and the match remained scoreless.
All of this just seconds after Alonso's Real Madrid teammate, goalkeeper Iker Casillas, denied Oscar Cardozo from giving Paraguay the lead.
If these four games proved anything, it's that you're never too old to see something new at the World Cup. The top three South American teams were eliminated, while the fifth and final qualifier made it through. The superpower that had been written off by everyone before the tournament now looks like the favorite. But the two teams most deserving of their first World Cup trophy, Holland and Spain, stand in their way.
As things have gone to date, it's safe to say that anything can happen.
German players clear the ball during the 2010 FIFA World Cup quarter-final match between Argentina and Germany at Green Point Stadium.
