Jun
28
World Cup Mania
Every four years, the world winds down to a near screeching halt for nearly a month. From Perth to Madrid and Seattle over to Tokyo, people spanning all walks of life stand transfixed as their country’s best warriors go to battle on the green turf. Futbol or fuzbal or football or soccer or whatever you might call it depending on where you’re from, has not become the current global phenomenon that it is now overnight. By far the most popular sport in the world, it is followed by more than 3.5 billion people. But what makes the World Cup different this time around, is how social networking technologies, which were still in their infancy stage four years ago, have suddenly transformed futbol into something the whole family can follow in real time, even if they happen to be spread out across the globe. Case in point: my Dad in Arizona and me in Slovenia are both cheering for the Netherlands – whether that’s because of our Dutch ancestry or because we both fell in love with Amsterdam, take your pick!
But the World Cup is bringing more than families together – it is uniting entire countries! Here in Slovenia, the country was all abuzz and its streets completely empty when the relatively obscure team suddenly took the lead in Group C after beating Algeria. They followed up by playing their best offense in a long time against the United States, making it 2-0 at the half, only to tie in the end and tragically end up losing to (under-performing) England! (We) Slovenians were especially proud that their quaint country of only two million people (a.k.a David) could up against a world superpower and almost beat the Goliath. Strangely enough, a friend noticed that the final score of 2:2 was exactly two halves 
. And yes, I got plenty of flack from everyone, apparently you can’t cheer for more than one team without running the risk of being branded a traitor! Meanwhile, the US team also demonstrated that they were not to be trifled with, playing the kind of soccer that might actually get potential fans of non-Latino heritage in America more interested in the sport. But alas, none of it was meant to be, and with Mexico’s defeat last night at the hands of Argentina, the entire North American continent is now officially out!
Luckily there are some great matches left, and though as usual the Latino nations are quite dominant (think Brazil ), Germany and Netherlands are strong, while underdogs Uruguay and Paraguay still can’t be counted out… According to game manufacturer EA though, Spain is predicted to win it all. So tell us, have you been infected with World Cup fever, watching games even during odd times at night? And who will take global bragging rights this year?
