By Uzair Fahmi:
“Iniesta scores!!”. The roar, following this iconic extra time goal, by the Spanish supporters would have probably drowned the treacherous cacophony of all the vuvuzelas combined together. When the final whistle from the referee came it probably changed the life of each and every Spaniard. The moment will go down in the history books of both FIFA and Spain. A team whose players refuse to sing the national anthem are now the winners of the coveted World Cup. A nation which has unemployment of 20% and a massive economic crisis suddenly finds itself lifting the biggest prize of the biggest game and a feels a surge of positivity rushing through all stratas of the Spanish society. This is the magic of football that has united the highly segregated Spaniards – Catalans, Basques and Galacians.
Spain has always been considered a good team that failed at the biggest stage of them all, the World Cup. Some credit the failure to lack of harmony and unity in the team and basically a total precedence of regional identity over the national one. To add the cherry on the cake to Spain’s trouble was the economic recession which has left Spain in huge fiscal debts and a struggling government that has a strong public resentment from different sections. The country needed a catalyst to turn the things on its head, to get the different regions together and what better catalyst than a World Cup victory. People from all over Spain could be seen crying and hugging each other forgetting regional and personal differences as Iker Casillas lifted the trophy and possibly heralded a new dawn for the country.
Economists predict a positive growth for Spanish economy and consumerism. It happened in the World Cup of 1954 where a weak West Germany team ousted a stronger Hungary side. At that time Germany was still in the process of exorcising the Nazi ghost and reeling under the complicity of the Nazi atrocities on Jews. Historians believe 1954 as the year modern Germany was born. We hope same is the case with Spain and that it rises from the ashes like a phoenix. Spain was the better football team and they deserve a chance to be a better and united nation. Football indeed is the beautiful game.