WELLINGTON, NEW ZEALAND — “Hello from the future!”
This was the greeting of Dan Gannon, KAXE/KBXE’s volunteer coordinator Thursday, July 27, to Heidi Holtan and Kari Hedlund.
Gannon joined the KAXE Morning Show 13 hours ahead of Minnesota time. He is traveling in New Zealand with his partner Aili Kultala, enjoying the landscape and lots of FIFA Women's World Cup soccer.
"The place went absolutely bananas."Dan Gannon
His experience was dramatic from the beginning while attending the first game of the tournament in New Zealand. Norway’s team was the heavy favorites, while New Zealand was winless through five previous tournament appearances.
“This country is completely rugby crazy, completely rugby crazy,” Gannon said. “And their soccer teams aren't very good. There's no professional league, and so a lot of Kiwis kind of don't really care one way or the other about soccer.”
The match did sell out, he said, but only in the days just before it took place.
“When we were at the game, it felt like being at a U.S. soccer game like maybe 25 years ago,” Gannon said. “Like at one point, the crowd was chanting, ‘Defense, defense,’ that you would hear at American football game. That was really bizarre.”
In the end, the crowds went wild as New Zealand pulled off a massive upset and beat Norway 1-0 for a first-ever World Cup win.
Gannon said, “The place went absolutely bananas and now they've been the talk of the country ever since.”
The Bemidji travelers felt as if they were present at a historic moment in World Cup history.
“Lots of sad Norwegians leaving the stadium that night,” he said.
Listen to the entire conversation above to learn about adventures, soccer, new friends and food poisoning “from the future” in New Zealand at the Women’s World Cup, from a Minnesota perspective.