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, Donio Angulo Bainédi.

I hadn't seen his country play since 1982 when he was just 12 years old.

That year, La Copa Mundial was in Spain.

In Peru, for every game, there was a great family reunion.

We laughed and ate a lot.

The television was not hypnotized.

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.

Perder 5 to 1 against Poland was like returning from a happy and full of color to a sad and sad country.

In addition, the situation in Peru was difficult.

It started with a terrible terror, bombs and almost 70,000 deaths.

Little did Donio know then that he'd have to wait 36 years before he'd get to cheer for Peru in another World Cup.

For Donio, it's clear what ended his country's decades-long losing streak.

His son's favorite toy.

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'll be chiming in for context in English.

But these are not language lessons. They're real life lessons through language.

Donio has a theory as to why football fans love the sport so much.

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