I hope Spain wins on Sunday.
I hope Lamine Yamal—Spanish/Catalan, Black, and Muslim—steps onto the podium waving the Palestinian flag.
I hope Borja Iglesias steps with his nails painted onto the podium waving the LGBTQ+ flag.
I hope our Prime Minister, Pedro Sánchez, joins them to celebrate, as one of the few (non muslim) world leaders to speak out against the Israeli and US-led genocide that has been unfolding in the Middle East for decades without any sort of punishment or repercussion.
And I hope Kane and Messi are left wanting when it comes to becoming world champions, because they don't deserve it.
If Kane wants to, he can go back to playing golf with that orange-cheeto pedophile. And Messi can go back to laughing at his jokes when he talks about bombing innocent children.
Because it is one thing not to speak English and pretend not to understand when that son of a bitch says "bombing or bombs" (Spanish: bombardeo o bombas, are pretty similar, if not almost identical). But it is something else entirely to have maintained a neutral stance regarding Catalonia your whole life—even during the worst moments—without ever saying whether you supported the referendum or not. (A referendum is a vote to find out what the citizens want; you can support a referendum for Catalonia or the Basque Country, like me, while preferring that they don't become independent—preferring that they remain part of your country because, to you, they are part of your land, your culture, your life and your friends).
Yet he never made a statement, despite having lived in Catalonia since childhood, received medical treatment from FC Barcelona, and been raised at La Masia. He refused to speak Catalan and signed a contract clause stipulating that if the Catalan people achieved independence, he would be automatically released without having to pay his buyout clause.
So yeah, It doesn't matter to me how good a player is, or what achievements or Ballons d'Or they have. There is something that stands above everything else, and that is humanity. For me, from that day on, Messi ceased to be my favorite; and although we always say that nothing comes before the club, there actually is something—and that is being a good human being.
For example, even though I’m still hurt by Alexia leaving Barça, her actions off the pitch—helping girls from disadvantaged backgrounds play soccer—mean she’s still in my good books.
And that is why I hope that this World Cup—which has been an absolute fucking disgrace, featuring players who are rapists—whether awaiting trial, already convicted, or having gotten off scot-free (like CR7)—and characterized by the INHUMANE treatment by the US and FIFA toward Muslim, African, and Latino players and fans (or anyone who wasn't white)...
And above all, the treatment of Iranian national team and Iranians fans:—a people living under a DICTATORSHIP who do not necessarily share their leaders' views but are subjugated (and if we Spaniards know anything, it is what it’s like to suffer under a fucking dictatorship)...
So yes, I hope Spain claims victory on Sunday and that the world realizes Spain is not the Spain of 600 years ago; it is—as Lamine puts it—an "integrated society": multicultural and multiracial, a place that embraces all religious faiths, as well as atheism and agnosticism, and all gender and sexual identities—men, women, and children, whether born here or arrived from abroad. It is about time people got to know the real Spain—the Spain of ordinary people, the working class, the majority—rather than the image a handful of stale far-right politicians try to sell.
And I say this as someone whose people were nearly exterminated 600 years ago, from 1402 to 1496, by the Castilians when they arrived in the Canary Islands; Because, unlike the Americas, we were never considered part of the Kingdom of La Nueva España, but rather slaves—and we were treated as such, subjected to rape, murder, and torture, and even brought to the point of losing our language, as the tongues of parents and children were cut out to prevent them from teaching or learning our indigenous language, Guanche.
And because of that, I have a love-hate relationship with identifying myself as a Spanish citizen, especially when the Spanish far-right people refers to us as *Moros* or Africans—as if that were meant to offend us (what a fucking nonsense, considering we are geographically in Africa and have never denied our Amazigh origins 🙄).
Despite all the work that Spain still has to do and improve, I am left with the impression of a people who put humanity above all else. So yeah, VAMOOOOOOOOS ESPAÑA!!! ❤💛❤⚽✨
s-u-f-j-a-n-s-t-e-v-e-n-s
turnnoffyourmind
gracieabrams
gummygunk
