Is the World Cup really worth skipping work? This writer played hooky to see what the fuss was about

Let me start out by saying that I’m not much of a soccer fan. The last time I played it was in junior high school more years ago than I care to share. My only experience watching a live match was at the 2000 Copa Libertadores in Buenos Aires when Boca Juniors beat Palmeiras. While much of that night is a haze of one too many Quilmes with my cousins, I do remember it being intense.

I’m also not a fan of playing hooky. I’m the guy in college who would only miss class if I was on my deathbed. I still on occasion wake up in cold-sweats from a nightmare that I forgot to attend a class for an entire semester, receiving a GPA-wrecking, big, red F.

Thus, I couldn’t understand why friends were cashing in precious PTO days to watch a World Cup match when the United States isn’t even in the tournament. Like any good semi-investigative journalist would, I decided to do the unfathomable. I ditched work early to watch the Argentina vs. Nigeria game. But, I didn’t want to watch it from my neighborhood sports bar. Instead, I wanted to go where the fans of Argentina (my adopted team) were – Parrillada Che Gaucho on Old Pineville Rd.

I was a little intimated as I stepped into Che Gaucho. The game had already started and most of the tables were filled with fans staring intensely at the many TVs that adorned the soccer-memorabilia-covered walls. The Spanish commentators were the only sounds heard other than the occasional sizzle of meat from the parrillada. A thickness hung in the air. If Argentina didn’t win the game, they’d be eliminated.

Normally, I’d belly up to the bar and chum it up with those around me, but Che Gaucho didn’t have much of a bar, so I opted for a one of the only tables left in the far corner. Nobody seemed too chatty, anyway. Watching soccer isn’t like watching a football game. There’s no down time to catch up with friends between plays. You just watch, not even diverting your eyes to glance at your phone because if you do – like what happened to me as I tried to rally some friends to join me – Lionel Messi just might score.

As the announcers shouted the infamous “goal” until they ran out of breath and started over again, the restaurant erupted with cheers of “Ar-gen-tina! Ar-gen-tina!” Strangers became friends and high-fived and hugged those around them. It was in that moment that I felt part of something more than I ever have rooting for the Carolina Panthers or my beloved Miami Hurricanes.

Argentina’s fans weren’t simply rooting for a sports team, they were rooting for their country. While that country may have abandoned most of those in the room with a corruption that constantly plagues the nation, the national soccer team – helmed by one of the best players in the world – is something they could be proud of on an international scale.

Did I come away from the experience a fan of soccer? No. Maybe that’s because I didn’t really get an understanding of the game, as there was nobody there to explain it to me. If there was, my Spanish skills are probably a little too rusty to be conversational. That wasn’t the point of my experiment though. My point was to see what all the fuss was about, to decide if skipping work to watch a sport that lingers on the periphery of American’s attentions was worth it.

The answer to that question is a resounding yes.

Skipping work to watch the World Cup was a chance to step out of my comfort zone, to experience a new culture (or in my case, to became re-acquainted with one I’d forgotten), to eat food I normally don’t eat (mmm… blood sausage). Most importantly, it was an excuse to kick back with a couple of beers while my colleagues were stuck behind a desk. Playing hooky isn’t so bad after all.

This story was originally published July 1, 2018 at 11:09 PM with the headline "Is the World Cup really worth skipping work? This writer played hooky to see what the fuss was about."