Praise for Spain’s Quixotic Team

With the courage of Picasso, urgency of Goya, poise of Velazquez, and intricacies of Miró, the Spanish soccer team played and won. Further, however, the team was quixotic, for it included Catalans and a Basque and nevertheless united a nation. Indeed, the team played with the determination of Sancho Panza, steadiness of Rosinante, the mysticism of Dulcinea, and finally, the elegance, selflessness, and gentle spirit of Don Quixote de la Mancha. Generations from now, children from all over the world will want to hear the story of the Spanish soccer champions. And one can always begin by saying, “En un lugar de Sudafrica, de cuyo nombre no quiero acordarme, no ha mucho tiempo que vivia …” (“Somewhere in South Africa, in a place whose name I don’t want to remember, not long ago lived …”).—Luis Jose Stephens