Happiness is Dennis Bergkamp

Day -490. WorldCup2018

Everybody has their escape, be it a physical place to go to or a mental state to distract from the goings on in his of her immediate surroundings. The need for an emotional change of pace happens often. My thing, if not obvious after 500 days, is a special moment on a football pitch.

Sometimes it's the sound of a football stadium singing together to celebrate or remember. Or it could be a moment of sportsmanship in a sport derided for its proliferation of greedy, selfish players. And at other times It's a demonstration of how a goal, the essence of football, can make so many people so incredibly happy. Add an incredible bit of skill and there is even more exuberance for having watched a player perform to the best of his her abilities on a big stage.

I remember, and never tire of watching, Tardelli's 1982 celebration, or Schillaci's passionate reaction to every goal he scored in 1990, or the Cameroon players skipping and dancing after scoring against Argentina in 1990, or the Bulgarians' incredible joy at beating Germany in 1994.

And I have watched some incredible goals since 1982. The particular one that came to mind today, as I searched for a happy moment, was Dennis Bergkamp's last minute winner against Argentina. To score a scrappy winner in the last minute is big. It's huge. Who cares how it went in? But to have the calmness to execute a bit of skill like this in the last minute of a 1-1 round of sixteen match takes a unique talent. Cue the incredible bedlam amongst the Dutch supporters.

And there is one more part to this goal. Listen to the Dutch commentator. How can you not feel his joy with him, even 18 years later. Happiness, pure happiness. It would be my prescription to cure many an ailment, more than any drug.