The US soccer team played magnificently today in the first half against Brazil, a country that has won five world cups. I could not believe my eyes as the US team scored two goals against Brazil in the first half. The first US goal was a bit of a fluke, but it was a goal nevertheless: the pass and a deflection into the goal. The second goal was a brilliant move that the US player Donavan performed as he confidently positioned the ball and fooled the Brazilian defender into going the wrong way, and then he turned and shot the ball into the corner of the goal. The Brazilian goalie had no chance of getting his hands on that ball. Donavan celebrated the goal by pointing his fingers with both hands to his chest, and one could read the words on his lips, "Me, me, me!" Indeed, in the game of soccer many goal scorers take all the credit themselves for scoring a goal.
Then came the second half, the dismayed Brazilian team came back and scored their first goal in the first two minutes of the game. It was stunning; they scored so quickly, in a game that takes several minutes of play before even an opportunity to shoot at the goal arises. The Brazilian team dominated the game after that and scored two more goals to win the game and the tournament finale. Some of the American players, who had made it to the world cup championships for the first time in history of the sport, were crying, as they thought that such an opportunity may never arise again, for a US team to have another shot at coming so close to winning the world cup in soccer.
However, what really amazed me is that the Brazilian captain, as the world cup championship trophy was being presented to him, placed a tee shirt before himself that said: "I love Jesus." As soon as the ESPN cameramen saw that shirt, they immediately cut above the tee shirt so no one could see what the words on the shirt said. There must have been many cameras on the Brazilian team as they celebrated the win and carried the trophies and the medals on to the field again for the pictures; but not a single shot was aimed at the tee shirt that said: "I love Jesus." The director and the editors of the broadcast almost made sure that the words could not be discerned. They avoided close shots of the captain of the Brazilian team that carried the tee shirt, even though he had scored the winning goal. Finally, the captain put the tee shirt on and it would have been visible if it were not for all the fancy cutting that the broadcasters performed to keep the TV audience from seeing the words glorifying the Lord.
I decided to come close to the television set to see what the words were and then for the first time, when the Brazilian team posed for the pictures, there it was; for a split second; the tee shirt that said: "I love Jesus."
If the US team had played as desperately as the ESPN broadcasters and camera operators of the game had kept their lenses off the words on the tee shirt, the US would have surely won. The US team only lost because they did not glorify Jesus anymore. It is as if the whole country has decided to reject Jesus and any mention of his name in the media. Indeed, throughout the Presidential campaign of 2008, both parties had eliminated the name of Jesus from their public statements.
The FIFA organization world cup soccer tournament was played in South Africa and the games were televised throughout the world. Brazil is the champion again, two years in a row, and it is good to see that the Brazilian team players invariably point their fingers heavenwards whenever they score a goal. The tee shirt with the words, "I love Jesus," was a sign that whenever the Lord is glorified that team and that country wins.June 28, 2009