why on earth are random romanian soccer players popular in Singapore?
The standard reactions/responses I used to get anywhere in the world, when telling people that I was from Romania were (in this order of frequency) :
1. "Oh, dracula - does he really exist?";
2. "Oh, Hagi - very good player !";
3. "Oh, Nadia - she was a very nice girl" ;
4. "Was it bad for you during communism? "(smart one..)
Of all these, the only one connected to soccer is number 2, and it's not about romanian soccer in general, but about our best ever player, the only romanian who really made it to the hall of fame of soccer. Otherwise, people don't know much - even in Europe- about romanian soccer and players, quite understandable, given our (lack of) results in the last years.
Now, I cannot find an explanation for the fact that in Singapore, lots of people are familiar with names (and additional information) of average to mediocre romanian players !!! In 80% of the cases when a cab driver asks me where I'm from, I get another expert remark related to the recent evolution of some dude I've hardly heard of.... There is one romanian guy here coaching one professional singaporean team , but don't think he could have spread the word out so easily..
it's sweet, people knowing things about Romania outside of the four typical lines....of course, it turns a bit sour, when I need to clarify that my favourite team is Steaua BUCHAREST, not Steaua BUDAPEST...but, hey, that's an old one, already got used with it..
1. "Oh, dracula - does he really exist?";
2. "Oh, Hagi - very good player !";
3. "Oh, Nadia - she was a very nice girl" ;
4. "Was it bad for you during communism? "(smart one..)
Of all these, the only one connected to soccer is number 2, and it's not about romanian soccer in general, but about our best ever player, the only romanian who really made it to the hall of fame of soccer. Otherwise, people don't know much - even in Europe- about romanian soccer and players, quite understandable, given our (lack of) results in the last years.
Now, I cannot find an explanation for the fact that in Singapore, lots of people are familiar with names (and additional information) of average to mediocre romanian players !!! In 80% of the cases when a cab driver asks me where I'm from, I get another expert remark related to the recent evolution of some dude I've hardly heard of.... There is one romanian guy here coaching one professional singaporean team , but don't think he could have spread the word out so easily..
it's sweet, people knowing things about Romania outside of the four typical lines....of course, it turns a bit sour, when I need to clarify that my favourite team is Steaua BUCHAREST, not Steaua BUDAPEST...but, hey, that's an old one, already got used with it..
3 Comments:
BUDAPEST! BUDAPEST!
Come on Albert, you should know better that for a lot of people it is rather hard to distinguish both cities. Remember the Portuguese team in ITC in Romania?
Anyways, enjoy the fact they recognize that Dracula is from there eh?. Hugs from cold brussels
Yeah, Rafa, how could I ever forget that nightmare?
Stucked in a full of snow, traffic jammed Bucharest, running between the airport and the train station, and praying that they hadn't taken the bus in the end...:):)
It was fun in the end, though...
Hey Albert,
Now Steaua and Rapid Bucharest offered reasons to talk about romanian soccer.
Fortza Steaua!
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