I was ready to hate this World Cup - but nothing can destroy its joy |
Boston is my second home. I have visited my Italian-American family in Massachusetts 30-plus times. It is the most visitor-friendly and European of the great American cities. So, when the fixtures for this year’s World Cup were confirmed, and England were assigned a game at the New England Patriots’ Gillette Stadium against Ghana, we were excited to go – especially as another game was relatively nearby in New Jersey, close to New York City, where I lived for five years.
And then came the ticket and travel price fiasco – and the horrible realisation that Fifa boss Gianni Infantino was gaslighting the world in his craven attempt to appease Donald Trump and garner as much profit as possible for his brazen organisation. I was resigned to not going (and no one I know is going either) and relatively uninterested, especially as my beloved Italy has failed to qualify for the third World Cup tournament in a row.
And then came the opening........