78 Years of Solitude (Part 4)
– by Mario Crescibene
Part 4
A man runs around like a little boy beating a shamanic drum as a large group of Colombians sitting around the TV at the local corner-shop leap to their feet as Colombia scores a goal against Ghana. I am seated in the middle of that mayhem, proudly pounding away at my snare drum, decked out head-to-toe in yellow, blue, and red.
Earlier that day, you could feel the tension rising. In each round of the World Cup, Colombia had played the last game of the round.
That in itself added the unique fervor of watching everyone else discover their fate — and then finally learning yours. With each game we won, you could feel the collective consciousness begin to hone in on a blossoming dream. Maybe — just maybe — this team could make a run.
Colombia has always been a team on the cusp of greatness. We lost to Argentina 1-0 in the hard-fought finals of the Copa America in 2024. Any Colombian will tell you that we had our chances to win that game. We had the heartbreaking World Cup in 2018, when we got knocked out by England in penalties in the round-of-16. And of course, there was the magnificent run in 2014 with James and Falcao when Colombia made it to the quarterfinals.
This year, we had the heritage with James Rodríguez. We had the current star in Luis Díaz. And we had the future with Richard Ríos and Gustavo Puerta. But we knew that we would need luck if we were to make a run. Yet with a little luck… anything is possible.
We saw a great start against Uzbekistan winning 3-1. We then beat a feisty DR Congo team. And when we drew with Portugal in a critical final game to win the group — and suddenly, with the group stage complete, a path to glory revealed itself:
The round of 32 was set with a first-round game against Ghana. We knew we could beat Ghana.
Then we would most likely play Switzerland. And we could beat Switzerland.
Which would most likely mean a rematch with Messi and Argentina. And as we showed at the Copa America… we could beat Argentina…
You could see we had a path that would take us to heights that Colombia has never known…
And then after all the buildup of watching the other round-of-32 games take place — there I was beating away at my drum — as Colombia took the lead against Ghana. Reality was finally aligning with our collective dream.
When the final whistle of the game sounded, and Colombia advanced to the round-of-sixteen, the whole barrio became a fiesta. Salsa music blared from every house, everyone from the neighborhood dancing in the street in celebration, children kicking a fútbol around — envisioning their own heroics someday for the selección colombiana.
And yet, when we met our next foe in Switzerland, our collective dream shattered. The all-too-familiar curse of an anemic offense and squandered opportunities ended our World Cup hopes. The path that had opened slammed shut in and instant — as reality crashed the party.
We see a similar story laid before us looking at the Guardians’ second half of the season. We know that we have the path we need: the easiest schedule in baseball. We know that we have the heritage in José Ramírez. We have the current stars in Steven Kwan, Gavin Williams, and Cade Smith. And we have the future in DeLauter, Bazzana, and Messick.
But just like Colombia, having the path does not mean you are destined to walk down it. You have to take advantage of the opportunities you are given. And if you don’t — just like what happened to Los Cafeteros — the dream can end, before the party has even begun.
