Episode 15: Nuestro Naranjito (1) Episode 15: Our Naranjito (1) Épisode 15 : Notre Naranjito (1)

**Martina:** In June of 2018, 32 teams from around the world met in Russia to face off for the biggest competition in soccer… or as it's known in Latin America and much of the rest of the world: “fútbol.” The competition was the World Cup, or la Copa Mundial. Peruvian writer and journalist Toño Angulo Daneri hadn't seen his country play since 1982, when he was just 12-years old.

**Toño:** Ese año la Copa Mundial fue en España. Toño: That year the World Cup was in Spain. En el Perú, para cada partido había una gran reunión familiar. In Peru, for each party there was a large family reunion. Reíamos y comíamos mucho. We laughed and ate a lot. La televisión nos hipnotizaba. Television mesmerized us.

**Martina:** Peru tied its first game against Cameroon, and then again against the powerhouse team from Italy. Peru's third game, against Poland, would define whether they'd go on to the next round. Peru lost five to one.

**Toño:** Perder 5 a 1 contra Polonia era como volver de un mundo feliz y lleno de color a un país gris y triste. Toño: Losing 5-1 against Poland was like coming back from a happy and colorful world to a gray and sad country. Además, la situación en el Perú estaba difícil: comenzaba una década de terrorismo, bombas y casi 70 mil muertes. In addition, the situation in Peru was difficult: a decade of terrorism, bombs and almost 70,000 deaths was beginning.

**Martina:** Little did Toño know then that he'd have to wait 36 years before he'd get to cheer for Perú in another World Cup. For Toño, it's clear what ended his country's decades-long losing streak...

**Toño:** Naranjito: el juguete favorito de mi hijo. Toño: Naranjito: my son's favorite toy.

**Martina:** His son's favorite toy.

**Toño:** Y claro que sí, lo llevé a Rusia conmigo. Toño: And of course I did, I took him to Russia with me.

**Martina:** Welcome to the Duolingo Spanish Podcast — I'm your host Martina Castro. Each episode we bring you fascinating first-person stories from Spanish speakers across the world. The storyteller will be using intermediate Spanish and I will be chiming in for context, in English. But these are not language lessons, they're real life lessons through language.

**Martina:** Toño has a theory as to why fútbol fans love the sport so much.

**Toño:** Primero, es increíble ver cómo los jugadores controlan la pelota con los pies. Toño: First, it's incredible to see how the players control the ball with their feet. En otros deportes, como el béisbol y el básquetbol, se juega con las manos. In other sports, such as baseball and basketball, the game is played with the hands. No es tan difícil controlar una pelota con las manos. It is not so difficult to control a ball with your hands. ¿Pero con los pies? But with the feet? Eso es muy difícil.

**Martina:** Second, and maybe more importantly, in a continent historically poor and governed by corrupt politicians...

**Toño:** … el fútbol nos pone al mismo nivel de los países más poderosos. Toño: ... soccer puts us at the same level as the most powerful countries.

**Martina:** On a soccer pitch you can see Mexico beat the United States… Or Argentina, which lost a war over the Falkland Islands with England, beat their former enemy.

**Toño:** Es solo una ilusión, sí. Toño: It is just an illusion, yes. Pero el fútbol se trata sobre todo de eso: de ilusiones. But that's what soccer is all about: illusions.

**Martina:** Which brings us to the biggest deal in fútbol: the World Cup. It's played every four years with 32 teams from all over the globe.

**Toño:** La Copa Mundial es muy importante. Toño: The World Cup is very important. Más de mil millones de personas miraron la final del 2014. More than one billion people watched the 2014 final.

**Martina:** Yes, over 1 billion people. Compare that to the Super Bowl of 2018, just over 100 million people watched that game.

**Toño:** Solo los mejores equipos juegan en la Copa Mundial. Toño: Only the best teams play in the World Cup. Los países tienen que competir en campeonatos regionales para clasificar. Countries have to compete in regional championships to qualify.

**Martina:** And historically, Peru has had a really hard time even qualifying.

**Toño:** Para Perú clasificar es muy inusual. Toño: For Peru to qualify is very unusual. Pero cuando pasa, es extraordinario. But when it happens, it is extraordinary. La última vez que pasó fue en el Mundial de España del año 1982… y todavía lo recordamos. The last time it happened was in the 1982 World Cup in Spain... and we still remember it.

**Martina:** Every four years since he was a kid, Toño thinks back on that 1982 World Cup in Spain. As soon as the playoffs—or eliminatorias—begin for a new World Cup, he starts to dream again. As soon as the playoffs-or playoffs-begin for a new World Cup, he starts to dream again. Perú in the World Cup… Perú en el Mundial.

**Toño:** Muchas cosas cambiaron estos últimos treinta y seis años. Toño: Many things have changed in the last thirty-six years. Terminé la universidad. I finished college. Terminó el terrorismo. Terrorism ended. Me mudé a España, donde conocí a mi esposa y tuvimos a mi hijo, Gabriel, que ahora tiene cuatro años. I moved to Spain, where I met my wife and we had my son, Gabriel, who is now four years old. Una noche, cuando Gabriel era más pequeño, nuestros amigos nos dieron una caja de regalos. One night, when Gabriel was younger, our friends gave us a box of gifts.

**Martina:** It was a cardboard box full of kids' books, board games, photos, postcards, and novels. Since they knew the three of them loved fútbol, Toño's friends also included a fútbol-themed gift.

**Toño:** Era un coche de juguete. Toño: It was a toy car.

**Martina:** A toy car.

**Toño:** Tenía el logo de Naranjito, una naranja con una gran sonrisa. Toño: It had the Naranjito logo, an orange with a big smile.

**Martina:** That orange with the big smile was the mascot for the 1982 World Cup. Each world cup has a mascot, like the Olympics. And this little car was an original souvenir from that world cup when Perú's dreams were shattered.

**Toño:** A mi hijo le gusta el fútbol y los coches de juguete. Toño: My son likes soccer and toy cars. Ahora Naranjito es uno de sus juguetes favoritos. Now Naranjito is one of his favorite toys.

**Martina:** Gabriel also loves fútbol. In the evenings, after getting home from work, Toño and his wife take Gabriel to the park and kick around the soccer ball. Toño says realizing his son loved to play his favorite sport was like a gift.

**Toño:** Es algo que nos hará compañeros por mucho tiempo. Toño: It is something that will make us partners for a long time. Cuando estoy con mi hijo, solo necesitamos una pelota y un parque para estar felices. When I'm with my son, we just need a ball and a playground to be happy.

**Martina:** About a year ago, Toño and his son were playing in a park near their house and some grade school kids challenged them to a game.

**Toño:** Corrimos como locos durante media hora, pero perdimos 4 a 6. Toño: We ran like crazy for half an hour, but we lost 4 to 6. Mi hijo no sabía qué pensar. My son didn't know what to think.

**Martina:** At that moment, Toño thought back to a lesson his own father taught him, to help him see that winning isn't everything in fútbol. When they would watch Perú play, sometimes Toño's dad would encourage him to cheer for the other team.

**Toño:** Mi papá me enseñó que el fútbol es para divertirse, como jugador o como espectador. Toño: My dad taught me that soccer is for fun, as a player or as a spectator. Perder no es el fin del mundo. Losing is not the end of the world.

**Martina:** But the thing is… when it comes seeing your team play in the World Cup, winning does start to matter. Because, if your team doesn't qualify, they don't go. So when the 2018 World Cup playoffs began, the “eliminatorias,” Toño was watching closely.

**Toño:** Solo 4 países en Sudamérica clasifican a la Copa Mundial de fútbol. Toño: Only 4 countries in South America qualify for the soccer World Cup. Después de siete partidos, Perú era el último de la tabla. After seven games, Peru was at the bottom of the table.

**Martina:** Perú's best chance to play in the World Cup was to win its game against Ecuador.

**Toño:** Los partidos eran de madrugada, muy temprano por la mañana. Toño: The games were early in the morning, very early in the morning. Yo los veía en mi cama con mi computadora. I would watch them in my bed with my computer. Para no despertar a mi esposa ni a mi hijo, tenía que celebrar en silencio. In order not to wake my wife and son, I had to celebrate in silence.

**Martina:** It was always that way. Since Toño lived in Spain, games that started at 9 p.m. in Peru aired at 4 in the morning in Madrid. That morning, as he prepared to watch the game against Ecuador, for some reason Toño decided to watch with Naranjito as his good luck charm.

**Toño:** Quiero aclarar... no soy supersticioso. Toño: I want to clarify... I am not superstitious.

**Martina:** Well, at least he's not superstitious in the traditional sense of the word.

**Toño:** Puedo caminar por debajo de una escalera. Toño: I can walk under a ladder. No me da miedo que un gato negro se cruce en mi camino. I'm not afraid of a black cat crossing my path. Tampoco creo que romper un espejo cause siete años de mala suerte. Nor do I believe that breaking a mirror causes seven years of bad luck.

**Martina:** But being the sport's fan that he is, Toño has always invented rituals that he repeats until he convinces himself that they can influence his team's chance of winning. For example...

**Toño:** Si veo un partido en un bar y Perú pierde, no voy a ver más partidos de Perú en ese bar. Toño: If I watch a game in a bar and Peru loses, I will not watch any more Peru games in that bar.

**Martina:** Or if he happens to wear blue socks to play and he makes a goal, not only will he go on to use those same socks for every game, but he'll also try to remember the exact order he put them on.

**Toño:** ¿Primero el pie izquierdo o el derecho? Toño: Left foot or right foot first?

**Martina:** Toño is a proud “futbolero,” someone obsessed with fútbol, and he doesn't take any chances when it comes to winning.

**Toño:** Un futbolero es como un niño: usa su energía en cosas que no tienen sentido para otras personas, pero, para él, tiene mucho sentido. Toño: A soccer player is like a child: he uses his energy on things that don't make sense to other people, but to him, it makes a lot of sense.

**Martina:** So that's why, on the morning of that key game between Perú and Ecuador, it made sense to Toño to have Naranjito by his side.

**Toño:** No sé por qué lo hice, no puedo explicarlo. Toño: I don't know why I did it, I can't explain it. Durante el partido, miraba a Naranjito en momentos cruciales, como cuando Perú estaba en el ataque y casi mete gol... During the match, I watched Naranjito in crucial moments, like when Peru was on the attack and almost scored a goal...

**Martina:** Or when the other team was closing in, and they needed a strong defense..

**Toño:** Perú hizo el primer gol y le dije gracias a Naranjito. Toño: Peru scored the first goal and I said thanks to Naranjito. Después, Ecuador hizo un gol y toqué a Naranjito, nervioso. Then, Ecuador scored a goal and I touched Naranjito, nervous.

**Martina:** And then, 12 minutes before the end of the game, Peru made its second and winning goal.

**Toño:** ¡Gol! ¡Gol! ¡Goool de Perú!, grité en silencio. Peru's goal, I shouted silently. Corrí por toda mi casa como un loco. I ran around my house like crazy.

**Martina:** He ran with his right fist punching the sky in celebration, and his other hand tightly clenched around his now dear Naranjito.

**Toño:** Naranjito era el juguete de mi hijo. Toño: Naranjito was my son's toy. Pero ahora también era nuestro talismán para poder ir al Mundial de Rusia del 2018. But now it was also our talisman to be able to go to the 2018 World Cup in Russia. Después del partido contra Ecuador, todo cambió para el equipo de Perú: empezó a ganar los partidos y a acumular puntos. After the match against Ecuador, everything changed for the Peruvian team: they started winning matches and accumulating points.

**Martina:** There were incredible moments like when Peru beat Uruguay in its own stadium. Or when Peru tied twice against Argentina, which arguably has the best player in the world, Lionel Messi.

**Toño:** Yo estaba seguro de algo: ganamos esos partidos solo porque Naranjito estaba conmigo. Toño: I was sure of one thing: we won those games only because Naranjito was with me.

**Martina:** The morning after Peru won a game, Toño would recap the highlights for his son Gabriel as he made him breakfast.

**Toño:** Mientras yo hablaba, miraba a Naranjito sobre la mesa: nuestro talismán de la buena suerte. Toño: While I was talking, I was looking at Naranjito on the table: our good luck talisman. Gracias a él, íbamos a clasificar otra vez a una Copa Mundial. Thanks to him, we were going to qualify again for a World Cup.

**Martina:** And as Peru continued to win, Toño's friends in Madrid would insist he go out and watch the games with them in bars that stayed open into the early hours of the morning. Toño was hesitant to do this.

**Toño:** Sabía que mi obsesión con Naranjito era infantil e irracional. Toño: I knew my obsession with Naranjito was childish and irrational. Nunca le hablé a mi esposa sobre Naranjito, por ejemplo. I never told my wife about Naranjito, for example. Pero no solo tenía verguenza, también tenía miedo. But I was not only ashamed, I was also afraid. ¿Y si la suerte del talismán no funcionaba fuera de la casa? What if the luck of the talisman didn't work outside the house? ¿Y si algo le pasaba a Naranjito? What if something happened to Naranjito?

**Martina:** What would he say to his son the next morning? “Hey surprise, there's no more Naranjito?” No way! It wasn't worth the risk.

**Toño:** Hasta que una noche, Perú jugaba su último partido de las eliminatorias contra Colombia, el partido más importante de todos. Toño: Until one night, when Peru was playing its last game of the qualifiers against Colombia, the most important game of all. Entonces rompí mi tradición: fui a un bar con Naranjito. Then I broke my tradition: I went to a bar with Naranjito.

**Martina:** Peru was losing until about minute 74 of the game. In that noisy bar, Toño couldn't hear anything but his inner voice, saying...

**Toño:** “Si Perú pierde, va a ser por traer a Naranjito a un bar. Toño: "If Peru loses, it will be for bringing Naranjito to a bar. Me iré de aquí, buscaré un lugar tranquilo y lloraré sin control”. I will leave here, find a quiet place and cry uncontrollably."

**Martina:** As the game approached the end, everyone was desperate for a goal. Two of Toño's friends knew about his good luck charm so they asked him to take Naranjito out of his pocket.

**Toño:** Tomé a Naranjito con mis manos en el aire, como a un objeto poderoso. Toño: I took Naranjito with my hands in the air, like a powerful object. Era como una experiencia mística. It was like a mystical experience.

**Martina:** Not long after, Peru scored a goal to tie the game. Everyone in the bar went wild.

**Toño:** Nos abrazamos, algunos lloraban. Toño: We hugged each other, some of us cried. Yo quería volver a mi casa, despertar a mi hijo y darle un beso. I wanted to go home, wake up my son and give him a kiss.

**Martina:** Toño's joy reminded him that no matter how far he was from his country, he still belonged to that tribe of Peruvians losing their minds with pride that night. And through him, his son belongs to it, too.

**Toño:** El empate contra Colombia nos dio suficientes puntos para jugar contra Nueva Zelanda por el último lugar en el mundial. Toño: The draw against Colombia gave us enough points to play New Zealand for the last place in the World Cup.

**Martina:** The pressure of 36 years without qualifying for the World Cup could've been enough to make Perú falter in that decisive game. But it didn't. Perú won 2 to 0, becoming the final nation to qualify for la Copa Mundial.

**Toño:** Como futbolero, soy irracional…¡pero no tanto! Toño: As a soccer fan, I'm irrational…but not that much! Yo sé que Naranjito no terminó con la mala suerte de Perú en 36 años, ¡pero no me importa! I know that Naranjito hasn't ended Peru's bad luck in 36 years, but I don't care!