Read the opposing arguments from Babe Ruthless and Loyal Homer.
The entire world will tune into Johannesburg, South Africa, on June 11 as the 2010 FIFA World Cup officially kicks off. Over the following 30 days, 32 teams, each representing 32 different nations, will participate in the single greatest sporting tournament in the entire world.
Even with the global passion for this sport, the single most populous nation that is represented in the 2010 World Cup – the United States of America – ironically does not carry the same level of passion as does the rest of the world. Whatever the reason, the United States does not show nearly the same fervor as is seen elsewhere.
So for all of you American sports fans out there, here are three reasons for why the World Cup is the best sporting event of this summer. And, more importantly, why you should watch it.
REASON #1: 6.5 BILLION People Can’t Be Wrong
Soccer is the most popular sport in the world. It is played by young and old, women and men, and in countries from Canada to Zimbabwe to Japan. There must be a reason that people from the Arctic North share the same passion as those from the Rainforests of South America, the Saharan Desert, and the Australian Outback. Yet, many Americans remain ignorant of the game, and consequently fail to capitalize on an opportunity to BOND with our neighbors.
It makes me think that we are missing out on something!
Reason #2: There is Nothing Wrong With Fitting In
To put it into terms that many Americans can understand… think about the last time you played fantasy football with a guy who doesn’t actually follow the NFL or college football. You know who I’m talking abou, the guy who takes a kicker in the first round of the draft and doesn’t know the difference between Steve Smith of the Giants and Steve Smith of the Panthers.
You probably wouldn’t have even invited him, except that you work with him and he overheard you talking to a couple of guys about it, so you felt guilty about excluding him. But now your draft is loaded with awkward pauses, dirty looks, and a group of ten other KNOWLEDGEABLE football fans who are getting frustrated while you explain the difference between a forced fumble and a fumble recovery.
You don’t mean to judge, but you just can’t help it. You think less of this person, and ultimately end up avoiding them around the office, so as not to be associated with them anymore.
Well, in soccer terms, the United States is THAT avoidable guy. We are the ones that the rest of the world talks about behind our backs. We were only invited to play because our parents were friends with their parents, and so they were FORCED out of guilt to include us, but it is clear that we are just not part of the “cool” crowd. And the real shame is that they would happily welcome us into their group if we just shared something in common with them by paying a little more attention to soccer.
Reason #3: The U.S. Has a Shot
The United States soccer team has the potential to be very successful in this tournament.
In no way am I suggesting that the United States would (or should) be a favorite to win. However, they are also much more than simple underdogs. I would instead like to think of them as a dangerous sleeper (like Butler in the NCAA Basketball tournament) who CAN beat any team, including the best in the world, on any given day.
Their grouping in the first stage includes a suspect English team that has shown a propensity for choking on the big stage when the game matters most, and is rounded off by Algeria and Slovenia (both of whom required last minute heroics against very long odds just to reach the round of 32).
Meanwhile, the United States has played some of the most consistent and impressive international soccer of recent years. Last year the team actually reached the championship match of the FIFA Confederations Cup, which included a stunning 2-0 victory over Spain (the then top-ranked team in the world), and carrying a lead late into the championship game against Brazil (the CURRENT top-ranked team in the world). They have competed in the last three championship matches for the international confederation they belong to (the CONCACAF Gold Cup), winning two out of those three.
Currently ranked number 14 in the world, they have proven the capacity to beat the very best, and could very easily find themselves moving into the second stage of this tournament. From there, ANYTHING is possible!
All of those reasons point to the same conclusion: The 2010 FIFA World Cup will be the best sporting event of the summer, EVEN for American sports fans.
In just one month, 32 teams will represent their respective 1.5 BILLION compatriots in a competition before the eyes of more than SIX BILLION fans, and when all is said and done, one team will stand victorious as the greatest team in the world’s greatest event.
Hi there,I like your site and it looks very interesting and easy to read,really!. I came from Argentina. I love the Soccer and cannot wait till 11th June, can you?.But there is a problem camming from FIFA. It is that doesn´t choose the best teams in this planet for the World Cup which it should otherwise don´t call the World Cup a final, if you want to play football for the soul of competition then go to the olympics games. this is basically what the World Cup is turning to, and it su…, ire needed to beat portugal to be in and is not, japanese beat lowly teams as bahrain, qatar, kuwait, to be in, is this justice I dont think so, just because you are in the World Cup it doesn´t mean that you have the quality to be in like japanese can attes. Any way, I desire to see a great final on 11th July and my favorite winner team is England,and my favorite player is Ricardo Kaka.Good blog and keep going.Cu!
Thanks for the comment! We appreciate it! Give the website a look around and we welcome your feedback.
Bleacher Fan is our resident World Cup expert but be sure to come back tomorrow as we have a rather interesting debate on England’s coach!
I agree with you to some extent on the qualification requirements for the World Cup. An example is Russia, who is truly one of the top teams in the world, but they will be sitting out of this tournament because they lost to Slovenia in a shocker.
On the flip side of that argument, though, is the fact that Russia HAD an opportunity to play in the World Cup, but lost. If they couldn’t beat Slovenia, do the REALLY deserve a shot at the World Cup? Maybe not.
However, Japan did come out of their conference as one of the best clubs, and deserves the right to compete, just like Argentina, France, Spain, etc. After Australia, there just aren’t any other really challenging teams that play in Asia/AFC. You can’t penalize Japan or the Korean teams because they played weaker opposition. They qualified through success in their respective league, just as Brazil (for example) had to qualify through success in their league.
In addition, we currently have scheduled a World Cup debate on Friday as well.