What to do now?

     I can't believe that it is really over!  Although we were given an extra half hour of football, at least we did not have to succumb to watching the World Cup be won on penalties as Germany managed to find a goal late in the extra period.  My heart was pulling for Argentina and the Americas, but having seen Germany twice live, I always assumed they would find a way to win.  Argentina has Messi and a talented supporting cast, but the Germans have depth and discipline like no other team; no matter who lined up they were always in control of the ball, rarely out of position with their shape and seemingly constant perfect spacing, never making hurried, frantic clears.  Outside of the Ghana game they never looked vulnerable and were definitely the best team of the tournament. There were a record (-tying) 171 goals scored in this World Cup along with some of the best goalkeeping we have seen in a long time.  Germany's Neuer won the Golden Glove (very creepy trophy) but had strong competition from CONCACAF with Costa Rica's Kaylor Navas, Mexico's Memo Ochoa, USA's Tim Howard and others.  Lionel Messi took the Golden Boot for best overall player and James Rodriguez, with only five games won the Golden Ball with his six goals (and probably the goal of the tournament with his chest volley strike against Uruguay).  It was definitely a Cup to remember!

   However, Monday was a difficult, melancholy, slow-moving day and it should have probably been dreary and raining throughout.  I guess I was in mourning as I wore a black CU T-shirt, the first non-World Cup/soccer shirt I had worn in weeks.  I was in a funk all day, unsure of what to do with myself.  I could have watched replays but I couldn't muster the effort.  I will eventually finish recapping my trip, but was just not motivated to write.  No Sportscenter, iphone app, internet site or book could hold my attention for very long.  Hopefully, it will get a little easier each day.  Maybe watching more replays as long as they are available On Demand will become more enjoyable as time goes on (although I still need to watch Mexico-Netherlands to complete my "Mexico Marathon" started last Friday).

    As for this blog, I will finish my trip recaps, with a couple upcoming posts on Recife, Rio and Brasil in general (see previous posts in this blog about Salvador and also a short piece on my other blog: http://bcraptorwatch.blogspot.com/2014/07/a-little-brasil-birding.html ), and will hopefully adding some photos soon.
    After that, I will continue to follow soccer, as there are many other "Copas" to look forward to watching and hopefully attending. I will be checking in on both the Mexican and US national teams as they prepare for those future Cups: The Gold Cup next year here in the USA, followed in 2016 by the Copa America, also in the USA, making its first appearance ever outside South America, then hopefully one of the teams will qualify for the Confederations Cup in Russia in 2017, and eventually World Cup 2018 Russia.  Both of "my" teams look to have their coach for the foreseeable future with Jurgen inked through 2018 and Herrera likely soon to be signed on as well.  In the meantime, both squads will have some interesting friendlies coming up, including a Mexico rematch with the Dutch in Holland.  I also think I am going to start watching some LigaMX.