World Cup Mania

There are very few sports that we here in the US watch that can actually be called 'international'. I mean we tend to call our championship teams in the NFL or baseball or even basketball for that matter, "world champions" although our teams don't really play anyone outside of our own country. Sure you can argue that at least some teams in baseball have gone to countries like Japan and the like to take on international teams but it isn't for the prestige of being a true world champion. It's for that reason that I've taken an interest in wanting to see the World Cup this year. It's true that soccer (I know it should be football but to prove that I'm an American... I shall refer to it as soccer), is gaining popularity here in the United States but it is still well below the level of near obsession that it holds in the rest of the world. Still, in having watched a couple of the early matches of the competition so far this year I can see why it can't be exciting.

Now the average person may say that nothing much really happens other than shuffling the ball from one side to the other until perhaps some lucky person gets a shot at the goal. But to me that's what makes it the most interesting. In the span of a few short seconds, the score can suddenly shift the momentum from one side of the field to the other. For example, the match between Ghana and Serbia was relatively even until an errant handball foul against Serbia gave Ghana a chance through a penalty kick. What was looking like a tie ending suddenly became a victory and put fire into the hearts of the Serbian players. Suddenly there was a greater sense of urgency among them and that's what made those final few minutes so much more enthralling.

As someone who has watched American football for a number of years, I can understand the strategy and skill behind what is going on and I'm sure that there is just as much going on behind the scenes in soccer games but it's not all that readily apparent to the casual fan. In reading some of the news about the early matches I was surprised to read a bit about how some of the players are a bit upset with adidas (manufacturers of the official balls for the games) and the fact that many of the balls seem to be moving erratically through the air despite the assurances of adidas that these are the most accurate balls to have been produced for the World Cup.

I couldn't understand why that appeared to be a point of contention until I read some of the associated stories and found that many players were upset given the fact that because of these erratic ball movements, teams like the United States (and even Ghana) managed to score goals and either tie or win games that they weren't supposed to. Now perhaps the players and fans of the world need to remember that in addition to skill and talent among the players, something is also chalked up to luck. Sometimes all it takes is just a bit more luck on one side of the equation or the other the completely change the outcome. We may not all like it but it is what it is. I can only hope that this doesn't serve to take away from the fun and enjoyment of the tournament overall. I mean from what I understand there have been numerous occasions where teams that weren't expected to win ended up knocking off teams that were perennial favorites. But then isn't that the whole point? To prove which team has the greater luck and pool of players in a given year?