I was excited to see underdog Belgium sneak into the Olympic semifinals. I was also, unfortunately, not surprised that Nigeria trounced the poor young Belgians, and then sent them on to certain death in the bronze medal game. But in honor of the Belgian's pluck, I asked a friend and former colleague, beer blogger Joe Stange, who has lived in Brussels for the past couple of years, to share with us the reaction of average Belgians to Tuesday morning's loss:
A politician here famously said the only things Belgians have in common are the king, beer and football. One would hope the Olympic soccer team's medal hopes might rouse this divided country and pack 'em into pubs to watch. I didn't see any evidence of that here. Now they'll play Brazil for the bronze, which is perhaps typical Belgian luck. I don't expect much anticipation for Friday either.
Meanwhile, World Cup qualifying starts next month. Let's just say that expectations are low. In my neighborhood, people were more excited about local club team Royal Union St-Gilloise, relegated this season to the 3rd Division. So they might actually be competitive this season.
Well, at least they still have the king and beer. Santé!
-Joe Stange
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