After the Big Game

Yesterday was devoted to Soccer and Christmas shopping. 

Both were successful.

I was very happy that the United States played a great match against Iran and won, moving on to the Round of 16 at the World Cup. I was very impressed with the generally good sportsmanship shown by the players despite all of the geo-political swirl surrounding the game. 

Sadly, though, the results of the match could have dire consequences for the losers. 

Iranians face retribution after World Cup loss against USA - New York Post

Conversely, one media outlet reported something very different about the mood in Iran after the game:

Celebrations erupt in Iran after world cup loss, people wave - Mint (which I believe is an Indian news reporting organization)

The euphoria of the win is dampened by the injury report. Both the US players in the image of the goal being scored are injured. Pulisic, who scored, and Sargent were removed from the game. Their status for the Saturday match against heavily favored Netherlands is day-to-day.

For the evening, Chris and I went to the nearly deserted mall for some Christmas shopping. I had expected crowds and tight parking, but that was not the case at all. It was wide open parking lots and few holiday shoppers inside of Arundel Mills.  

-- Bob Doan, Odenton, MD