World Cup Drama

Yesterday afternoon around 2pm I was running some statistical tests on the dengue database when I realized that the Italy-Germany World Cup Semifinal game had started. So for a half hour I monitored the progress of the game via the internet. The first half ended with a score of 0-0, and things were shaping up for a dramatic second half. So I looked at Mario, the informatics guy, and he was thinking the same thing as me: "Vamanos!" we said to each other, and we hopped in a taxi to take us to a bar where we could watch the rest of the game.

When we got out of the taxi and walked into the bar, I noticed that it seemed eerily quiet considering there was a World Cup Semifinal Game going on. There were very few people, and it was dark inside. Then it hit me: "Ah, se fue la luz!" The power had gone out! Dejected, Mario and I decided to try elsewhere. After walking for about 10 minutes we finally found a bar with electricity, air conditioning and 2 projection TV screens! We plopped ourselves down on a couple of stools, and with a cold brewski in hand, we were soon comfortably immersed in the drama of the soccer game.

It turned out to be a classic duel. No score through the first 90 minutes, so they went into overtime. Nearly everyone in the bar was rooting for Italy, but it felt like a lost cause because the Italian team kept coming close to scoring but could never close the deal. Finally, with two minutes left before a penalty shoot out, the Italians scored and the bar went wild. Then, a minute later Italy scored again to seal the deal and secure a spot in the finals on Sunday. The dramatic conclusion made this the most exciting World Cup game that I've seen this year.