When a large red balloon floated out onto the field during one of the opening games of the World Cup yesterday, goalie Alisson Becker of Brazil wasn’t going to let it delay the action. Becker, better known to fans simply as Alisson, nonchalantly popped the balloon, picked up the pieces, and got back to business. It seems like the logical thing to do, but somehow it has captured the Internet’s imagination and has become a meme literally overnight.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?time_continue=1&v=X9wsat2Eicc
Maybe it’s the bright colors, maybe it’s the authority with which Alisson ends the balloon’s short life, or maybe it’s the fact that it’s so easy to see the situation as a metaphor. Whatever the case, people quickly embraced the image, and it’s rapidly spreading across Twitter.
— Alex Quinn (@alxqnn) June 17, 2018
Alisson v The Balloon is You v Monday… 💪
— AS Roma English (@ASRomaEN) June 18, 2018
#mondaymotivation #ASRoma pic.twitter.com/yslf3FvcmY
https://twitter.com/BrazilStat/status/1008458086619770880
Balloon is my self esteem and Alisson is my mom pic.twitter.com/Z7XeB0khBV
— Duna 🇵🇸 (@DunaSherdo) June 17, 2018
And someone really cranked it up a notch by creating this .gif that reverses the whole situation.
https://twitter.com/Sennesation/status/1008472105342722053
For what it’s worth, the game ended in a tie, with Switzerland and Brazil each scoring one goal. Not the outcome either team was hoping for, but they still fared better than the balloon.