The Pulse Newsletter 📣 | This is The Athletic’s daily sports newsletter. Sign up here to receive The Pulse directly in your inbox.Good morning! Make time today for the biggest sporting event in the world. Inside:
The Final: 3 Stories before the World Cup finalToday, at 3 p.m. ET in the Meadowlands, Argentina and Spain will play for the World Cup. Here is perhaps the world’s beefiest FAQ on the matchup. Here is The Athletic’s big batch of panelist predictions. And here is a mega-preview that zeroes in on the tactical matchup but also makes some time to discuss the work of 16th-century Iberian explorers.This morning, I am wistful that the spectacle is ending. This has been an awesome showcase of American community, with our own USMNT support and other countries’ diasporas springing up exalting watch parties all over the place. My favorite World Cup moment was probably the night I wore a bunch of Mexico fans’ micheladas as perfume as El Tri scored three second-half goals against Czechia. I was at a watch party at a swap meet near L.A., surrounded by a few thousand happy Mexican-Americans. (Thanks to my pal Hector Diaz, a son of Mexican immigrants, for the invite.) I hope you had a similar night in some bar, plaza or stadium. This World Cup was an occasion to see so many people happy. I’ve also gotten to read a lot of good writing. We have thrown hundreds of soccer links into your inbox this summer, but today, I’m sharing a small set of my favorite Athletic stories. If you have the time, sit with them for a few minutes this morning and feel the soccer wash over you.The tragic death of Andrés Escobar, as told by his brother: ‘After 32 years, I still cry for him’ — by Felipe Cardenas, July 1 And, in the Medellín neighborhood of Belén, local children play football on two full-sized pitches overlooked by a statue of Andrés. They never saw him play but his name and likeness are why the Unidad Deportiva de Belén Andrés Escobar, a sports and recreation center, exists for aspiring athletes.
