The teams I am following this World cup are Mexico, Denmark and USA. (and Canada but bye bye) Denmark made it to the quarterfinals of World Cup in 1998. They had a good game against Cameroon and they believe they are strong: a bittersweet game since Cameroon has also just made it to the quarterfinals in the past too....an emotional match against England in 1990. (anyone else remember that game?) We'll see..Denmark play Japan on Thursday. It's been amazing to see football become more popular in the US since the last World Cup. I mean four years ago...I didn't know anyone in Chicago who watched football. Now several groups of folks have become big fans. Pop culture in the US also has adopted soccer. On a late night BRAVO talk show geared for reality tv shows...the host, Andy Cohen, has a weekly "fave futballer". Vanity Fair has featured Beckham and last month the World Cup players on their cover. The game Farmville (with 80 million players) on Facebook now has soccer items you can buy...like a duck playing soccer, or a cow soccer referee and soccer balls and trophies.
The World Cup captivates more people around the globe than any other event, sporting or otherwise. Every four years, in pubs and corporate boardrooms, thatched huts and flophouses, fans of “the Beautiful Game” gather around televisions and transistor radios—and now, for the deep of pocket, iPhones and 3-D flat screens—to cheer for their heroes. They watch and listen by the billions, holding their breath at every corner kick, falling to their knees or leaping for joy at every goal scored. That this year’s tournament is in South Africa, where apartheid was the law of the land until 1994, only adds to the heightened sense of celebration—this is about a whole lot more than just soccer. May issue, Vanity Fair
7 comments:
Last time around, living in Little Azores, I got into soccer a little, cheering on Portugal. My neighbours had the games on in the garage and there was always good food and cold beer involved. Now, not having a team to cheer for, I've tried watching more objectively. It's a pretty good game, but coming off NHL playoffs (now that was fantastic!), I find soccer has pockets of incredible excitement couched in a lot of non-eventful passing, punctuated by the excitement of the occasional red card and the odd obvious dive. Never mind the annoying horns.
I'm watching a few of the world cup games (I'll watch more when they get down to the nitty-gritty and I can jump on a bandwagon), but I'm not ready to buy onto the beautiful game stuff. Of course I'm outnumbered. Your readers are welcome to pop over and berate me over at my place.
I've been an on again/off again fan of soccer/football since a teenager. However, the coverage of international soccer here has been atrocious for years - unless its the occasional English Premier league game or the World Cup (and decent coverage of that, only recently), we get no exposure. Its sad really because it is a great team sport, I think more so than some of the more popular sports here in North America (football, hockey, etc). Like Mr. Anchovy, I wouldn't necessarily call it "beautiful" but I love watching it.
I'm cheering for Italy - they're my international team. I'm glad to see that South Korea advanced today. I hope Ghana makes it through as well. Their group, D, includes Germany and Serbia so tomorrow is bound to be exciting!
Soccer to me seems the only civilized sport out there - well, perhaps baseball - and then there's skiing - well, never mine, of those games featuring a ball.
Oh, these boys are beautiful!
Mr. A, a good point is that soccer is very social! I think of friends, neighbours and company surrounding the World Cup. I really miss being in Toronto at this time where so much of the city is involved in the games. Yes, it's a little early in the Cup for all out excitement...but I am enjoying the background and following several teams. We're up early to watch the US game in the morning at a pub down the street...and for Denmark/Japan. I am also stoked for the Portugal/Brazil match.
Karen, Italy is a lot of fun and its the whole sense of being similar to the Olympics...many times one gets into the international feeling. I'm pretty into into Mexico....don't tell anyone but I hope they make it farther than the US ha ha! And the oldest player in the league is Blanco on their team...i dig him. Soccer is so accessible and I know so many families that play it...a few years ago i was taking my nephew to his soccer games. I kept laughing because watching kids play is like herding pigeons.
Gardenia, I think they are the best looking athletes period, okay giving swimmers a run for their money...but there is something just lovely and lightweight about the futbol build and oh la la those bodies and faces! Yummy!
drool ;-)
Love the placement of the stars!
drool ;-)
Love the placement of the stars!
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