![]() Like millions of people around the world, I badly wanted Lionel Messi to win the World Cup. ESPN's writers pick their 2022 World Cup best XIs ![]() The plan to avoid what was going on was failing spectacularly. Then my phone started vibrating with friends and family reacting to the makes and misses. After every penalty, the world around me swelled with reaction, loud cheering mixed as well with groans of disappointment, which made it impossible to tell which team was doing well. All around me, from the apartments nearby and the hundreds of people watching the match below me, were the sounds of the game. Sitting on the roof, I was instead exposed to a different kind of anxiety. The problem with trying to avoid the World Cup, especially in one of the biggest cities in the world, is that one would have to lock themselves in their apartment and avoid everything. So, to avoid becoming an emotional mess, I ran up to the roof of the building, sat in one of the few seats there, folded my arms and looked out into the blue sky of Sunday afternoon. I was already breathing hard, as if I had played 120 minutes as well. The teams traded goals in extra time, but each time it seemed that Argentina had won, France - Kylian Mbappe in particular - would pull right back. Argentina had given up a two-goal lead after dominating for almost 80 minutes. To me, that's the only possible way to deal that and the match had already exhausted me of emotion. There is a photo of Pep Guardiola sitting in a chair with his arms folded, facing away from goal as his team took penalties. It's a trait I share with my father, who was once so rattled after the first few penalties while we were watching a match that he left to go to sleep because they were driving up his anxiety. I have never been able to stomach watching penalties as a player or as a fan. ![]() You have reached a degraded version of because you're using an unsupported version of Internet Explorer.įor a complete experience, please upgrade or use a supported browserīefore penalties started at the end of the World Cup final, I left the room on the second floor of the Football Cafe in New York City's Chinatown neighborhood, where I was watching the match along with a friend, a foot or so from Susan Sarandon (somehow), and ran up to the roof. ![]()
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