I know that soccer might not be everyone’s favorite sport to watch (for the record, it’s not mine either). But I always tune in for the big tournaments, like the Copa América, which is an international tournament for North and South American countries held once every four years.
Because of how much progressivism has infected sports, you may have expected that a tournament with this big of a following would take every opportunity it reasonably could to spread wokeness or “pride.” But on Thursday night, the exact opposite happened.
Two pastors delivered prayers in the name of Jesus, ahead of the opening match between defending champions Argentina and Canada (which Argentina won, 2-0). Paraguayan pastor Emilio Aguero Esgaib read a prayer in Spanish, and another pastor (who was unnamed), read out a prayer in English.
Here’s the full English version of the moment. It will give you goosebumps.
“God we ask your blessing over the tournament, the nations represented, the teams, players, and families. May your peace, your protection, be upon all, in Jesus name, Amen,” the prayer concluded.
I could not be more encouraged by what I just saw. Of all the major soccer tournaments, this is probably the third-biggest, behind only the Euro tournament (Europe’s version of Copa América), and the World Cup. Before any team played a second of soccer, two men boldly proclaimed the name of Jesus to a stadium full of over 70,500 fans (at its peak, over 1.5 million people watched the game on television as well).
Maybe that Christian influence won’t be enough to get you to watch the tournament or become a soccer fan. But it’s still a major score for the sport nonetheless.
