Why would the rest of the world? Everyone will be watching the World Cup after all…
For many, the Olympics are nothing, the World Cup is everything. A country’s emotions all ride on the fortune of 11 players going out to do battle with the country on their chest (and thank God, without sponsorship).
For the world, THIS is football, not soccer- and they’ve got the billions of fans worldwide to prove it.
Rich and poor will stop their griping and thank (or swear at- depending on the scoreline) God for a round ball, 11 players, and 90 minutes of feverish action, punctuated by the referee’s blast and injury breaks. In Brazil, Rio De Janeiro stock brokers and favela-dwelling shoe-shine boys will unite as they both gasp in awe at the skill of Ronaldinho, the Brazilian who plays football with a smile. He plays the way God intended it. His bad game is everyone else’s exceptional one.
In France, the “oohs” and “aahs” will be tied into the footballing genius that is Zinedine Zidane, the world’s best- and most expensive- football player, as he makes his step-over move that’ll cause every kid to copy it- and fail. In England, whole city blocks will celebrate or commiserate, depending on the result. Knowing their knack of screwing things up, it’ll probably be the latter.
Not only that, but watch out for Argentina, the hosts Germany, Spain, Portugal, Italy, perennial dream-destroyers Holland, as well as emerging nations Australia, Greece, and yes, the good ol’ US of A. After the USA’s done, Freddie Adu’s going to be a man, or one of the Italian defenders is going to make him his woman.
And here’s my challenge to you America–watch it and be part of it. Be part of something that will live in your heart forever, and change your mind about the round-ball players you see in the high schools. Watch as dreams are made, penalties are missed, and every minute counts- day after day. I promise you that after the World Cup in 2006, the Super Bowl’s going to seem that little more boring. Every four years throws up its loved and hated- Maradona in 1994, anybody?
Come on America, come join us as we dance to football’s beat. The baseball season will only be two months old, and there’s always another crash to be seen on the NASCAR circuit. And who cares about Arena football anyway? The US Open Golf is going to be at that time, but we all know who’s going to win- Tiger Woods.
“But there are no advertisements” I can hear you complain. The people who should really be complaining are the real football fans themselves- 1/3 of all tickets to the games will be taken up by corporations.
“Honey, I can’t wait to see the England-France game” I can hear the New York trader saying to his sweetheart on a phone from Munich, “Do you think they’ll win by a touchdown?”
Not unless the score’s England 7, France 0.
9 replies on “In June 2006 no one will care about America”
SuperBowl In case you didn’t know, the Super Bowl is the most watched world-wide event. I agree, the World Cup can be fun to watch, but nothing compares to the Super Bowl because it’s two teams, win or go home.
come on If that is the reason you voted against his article, then you are shit. You don’t vote against someone’s article because you disagree with what he said. Also, he did not say anything about the popularity of the Super Bowl. He just said that the World Cup should be as popular.
If this is not why you voted against his article, please elaborate as to why you voted against it.
Dear God…. Here we go on my opinions on football.
Whilst I know that the figures say that the Super Bowl is the world’s most watched game, I would argue that more people CARE about the World Cup Final. You should go to a country where soccer is the biggest game in the world. Americans generally think that a bastardised version of rugby (which, in essence, football is, as baseball is rounders) is more important than something that is played around the world.
I think, though, the real problem is that few people in America realise that THERE ARE COUNTRIES OUTSIDE OF AMERICA. Christ, half of America didn’t know that World Cup was happening in their country in 1994- how embarassing is that from a country that claims to “love their sport?
And you know what? Win or go home….well, that would be about every game of the World Cup. Because if you don’t win a game in the group series, you’re likely to go home. Oh, and when it gets to the second round, quarter finals, semi finals and final- then lose, and you go home.
And by the way, I love football….both versions
WOW I hadn’t read that reply of accusing me of being “shit”. I didn’t vote against this article first of all. I never voted on the article. I simply posted a response because I was killing time looking at the different topics people were writing about. Besides that, the article has some nice lines in it, but the introduction needs to draw you in. And another point, I didn’t like the tone of the article. Regardless, this is my opinion and the fact that anyone would come out and say that I am “shit” for expressing it, well that’s kind of messed up in a country where we have free speech. As long as I present my arguement respectfully, then I should be able to comment on anyone’s articles as I wish. All I said was that the Super Bowl is the most watched game in the world. These are facts, statistics. I didn’t invent them.
About shit ‘n’ all Hey– let’s not go around calling each other shit, OK?
Thanks for voting for my article, people.
Love Super Bowl, Love World Cup Final.
Go Steelers, Go England
sorry…. I was in a bad mood (and I didn’t actually call you shit), but I am pretty sure you voted against it. But anyway, I’m sorry. I was having a bad day and you did come off sounding snotty in that post. Yet again, I am truly sorry.
Thanks Thank you. And if I come off sounding snotty, I apologize for that. The comment was not meant to sound snotty at all. I’m just a big football fan. I played the sport, have been watching it since I was six, and I coach it now at my high school. I believe, and this is totally my own opinion, that football is the toughest sport to play. This opinion is hugely biased because I don’t know enough about soccer to really get into a debate about which sport has more strategy or whatever. I have watched the world cup before, and I’ll watch it this year, although the only reason being because one of my best friends is Argentinian and he holds massive parties at his house. True there is alot of passion in the sport of soccer, but what about teams like the Green Bay Packers where there is a waiting list for season tickets of at least thirty years?
thank you about the Pack, isn’t the waiting list to be a vendor about 50 years? I laughed when I heard that, but I’ve been told it is true.
You did just give me an idea and the motivation for an article explaining why wrestling is the toughest sport, so thank you!
Sorry again; I was in a bad mood.
Actually….. Football is extremely tactical. It’s hard work, to be sure, and probably the most physical game in the world along with rugby and rugby league.
Soccer is wonderful- it’s the game of kings. And a good reason why you should be getting Fox Soccer Channel.