The meeting of Japan and Croatia in the poems of Sop

Japan and Croatia will be a good match. There is no doubt. If the Croatian vice-world champions are certainly no surprise, the Japanese left everyone speechless with the masterpiece of closing their group in first place. Miracle, miracle! one would say by borrowing the title of a poem by the Croatian poet Nikola Šop (1904-1982) which perfectly summarizes Japan’s journey in Qatar. The first verse goes like this: Inclined we observe / the night upside down. Which is more or less what the Germans and Spaniards must have thought after facing the Japanese samurai. In short, distorted hierarchies. Who would have thought? Now Hajime Moriyasu’s boys have a lot to gain because they have nothing to lose. It seems to hear the echo of his voice which, with the words of Šop, encourages the players in the locker room: What used to be above us, in the sky / infinite, high, / now deeply unwinds, / moves, sways below us. / By now, nothing hangs over us anymore. / We forgot the clouds, the winds, the rains. / Of the inverted spaces here rises the top. / Are we not ourselves / ourselves breath.

Šop has much more in common with the Japanese than one might think. After moving to Belgrade at a very young age and earning a degree in classical philology, in 1941 he suffered the trauma of the first German bombing. To save himself he tries everything: he throws himself from a window on the second floor of the building where he is. He lives. But due to his injuries he will remain bedridden for the rest of his life. From that misfortune the author begins a new human and literary journey that will lead him to become the greatest Croatian metaphysical poet and one of the most important in all of European literature. From a confident Franciscan-inspired religiosity, his poetry expands towards unsuspected cosmic dimensions, in constant tension towards the absolute, a search that will lead him to compete with philosophy, theology and even with astrophysics.

The attitude of Šop takes up that Zen concept enclosed in the term “gaman” which means to endure, to be patient. But there’s more: the poet has not suffered passively what happened to him. With poetry (which derives from the Greek verb poiéo, to do) he has triggered an active movement. The same summed up by a verb that fully embodies the Japanese spirit, ganbaru, whose meaning can be summarized as “doing one’s best” and even more than one’s best. The word emphasizes “bearing hardships boldly.” It means “to commit all of oneself to a goal in order to complete it”. It is no coincidence that “Gambaro Kobe” was the slogan-wish used to encourage people who were trying to rebuild their lives and the city after the 1995 Kobe earthquake.

Football is certainly quite another thing. But the followers of Holly and Benji are giving their compatriots such authentic emotions that we are sure they will remain in the hearts of the fans for a long time. Because it’s one thing to win the Asian Cup (4 times) or finish second in the Confederations Cup, it’s another to finish first in a world group with two super-powers of European football.

If the premises are respected, tonight we will see two teams challenge each other head on. Some of the Croatian heroes of the last world final have retired (Mario Mandžukić above all), others, like Luka Modrić, have four more years in their legs but still class to spare. Despite this, in the wasteful Lukaku’s last match against Belgium, they gave us the football we like: little tactics, continuous reversals, the desire to win, some beatings and frenzied racing. The ones the Japanese have sported so far that have made them look lighter than the others. A tactic that was anything but casual: with Spain they started off like a diesel but, once triggered, they didn’t give up an inch. Like that of the ball which, despite the usual misconceptions, the Var saw on the line and which allowed the referee to validate the winning goal.

It won’t be easy for either team to win. After all, we are at the World Cup. And, however it goes, the best thing will be to have the pride of not holding back and savoring every second on the pitch. Why, after all, as the poet writes Shuntaro Tanikawa, to be alive / is to come across all good things / to be alive to be alive now / […] it means being able to cry / being able to laugh / being able to get angry / it means freedom. And then there is only one imperative: gangbare! And may the best man win.