In the summer of 1996, an amiable kid from Kansas with the physique of a car antenna walked into Sports Illustrated. My new office mate came bearing a bag of Krispy Kreme donuts for us to share, a Kansas ball cap, a quiet confidence and an evangelist’s passion for soccer.
Grant Wahl, who died suddenly after collapsing at the World Cup in Qatar, was quick to explain that this great love, foreign to so many in the office, and in his beloved home state, stemmed from an undergraduate trip to South America. He watched club teams train, snuck into stadiums, watched Boca Juniors and somehow got to write about it for credit.