There are many reasons why it took me so long - feasibility being the top one - but I guess one could say the stars aligned for 2023. However, the Women’s World Cup in 2023 is the first one I have really been to, aside from one group stage game in the women’s 2019 tournament in France. Needless to say, I have watched every World Cup, men’s and women’s, since 1990. (I would love to hear what your first world cup memories are!) Ciao, the official mascot for the 1990 men’s world cup Photo by Peter Robinson/EMPICS via Getty Images FIFA Women’s World Cup 2023 in Australia and New Zealand I think it must be like a gambling addiction, except you are gambling with your feelings once you get the taste of supporting your team and they are winning, when they lose, you are willing to do it all over again no matter how much it hurts, just for the chance to feel the euphoria of winning. Sitting there in a crowd of destitute people, it was a poignant moment in my young life. But what I will really never forget is when Italy lost to Argentina in the semifinals in penalties. Up to the semifinals, it was pure joy - cars driving by honking late into the night, newspapers plastered everyday with player’s faces - you could feel the fervor constantly. I was in Italy, the host country, that summer visiting my family and although I did not actually go to any of the games, I could watch the games projected onto a big screen at our small town’s soccer field. The first World Cup I clearly remember was the men’s tournament in 1990. The World Cup was also pretty much the only time I could see women playing back then. However, there was always the World Cup, and I think it was what started my obsession with the sport. When I was younger, as a half Italian, half American that spent most of the year in the United States, there were very few opportunities for me to watch soccer. FIFA Women’s World Cup 2023 - my view before the game from Eden Park in Auckland New Zealand for the Spain vs Sweden semi-final The FIFA World Cup But to start, I will give you a bit about my history with the FIFA World Cup. And it would take pages and pages to tell you all about it, so I will try to give a shortened version of highlights. If I had to sum up my adventure in just a few words, I could say it matched the FIFA Women’s World Cup 2023 slogan: “Beyond Greatness.” Three years later, I was able to go to New Zealand for a month to watch the tournament as well as see amazing wildlife and landscapes and learn and experience so much about the country and culture. Nevertheless, I started planning that day to go. I can remember being so excited about the potential of going to two countries I have always wanted to visit to watch the sport I love so much, but also feeling unsure if the tournament would even be able to happen. Three years ago in the summer of 2020, when FIFA announced that the Women’s World Cup 2023 would be hosted by Australia and New Zealand, the world was still in a pretty precarious place due to the COVID-19 pandemic.
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