Don't give up on the World Cup
Image courtesy of
FIFA
FIFA
For starters, did you know that the USA team was ranked fifth coming into this year’s World Cup? Did you know that the USA got to the World Cup by classifying first in CONCACAF and winning games in the final round against other World Cup qualifiers such as Costa Rica, Mexico and Trinidad & Tobago? Did you know that one of the reasons that soccer has advanced in the US is because there actually is a professional soccer league? MLS no longer stands just for the Real State Multiple Listing Service it also stands for Major League Soccer!
Maybe, you think that soccer does not have a US tradition like other American sports. But did you know that at the first World Cup in Uruguay in 1930 the USA Team was there? And they finished third in the tournament right behind powerhouses Argentina and Uruguay. And did you know that the USA has pulled some amazing upsets over the years in World Cup matches? Like the upset against England in 1950 that was misreported as a 10-1 English win by the British media and a win against dark-horse favorite Colombia in 1994 to advance to the second round (An infamous game I was lucky to witness at the Rose Bowl accompanied by some rabid Colombian friends who had to share the Stadium with a crowd of mostly Mexican-Americans rooting for the USA team)
Of course, your last recourse is to claim that soccer is a boring game with low scores, slow play and stupid rules. Well, I got you there too! If you think that it is only because you suffer from the same sports malady that affects all people who have never played a sport they criticize. You never played the sport as a youngster so you don’t understand how difficult it is to score a goal and how talented you must be to be a striker. Or the level of endurance and intelligence that is necessary to be a mid-fielder. Or the level of mental and physical toughness it takes to be a defender or a goalie. As for the rules, they may be stupid but they are fairly clear; the difficulty stems from their interpretation and enforcement by the referees. Soccer is one of the few sports where the conduct and expertise of the referees does determine the final outcome of the game. For the knowing soccer fan, referee performance is just to be as closely watched as that of the teams.
Maybe you did not play the sport in your youth but I have seen you at your children’s games. I have seen you kick the ball back and forth with your daughter. I have seen you screaming at the top of your lungs when your son almost scored a goal. I have seen you console your goalie after a tough loss and I have even seen you questioning the occasional off-sides and penalties.
So why have you shown lack of interest in the World Cup? Because the English language coverage sucks! The drowning, serious monotone may work for the NFL but what we need are characters like the great announcers of Baseball and Basketball. It’s interesting to watch Alexi Lalas, Eric Wynalda and Julie Foudy on EPSN doing the side-kick analysis. These guys and gal were in a couple of World Cups as part of their USA teams so they know what they are talking about. But what we need is a guy that screams Goooooool! for 30 seconds or his current counterpart who prefers a long cannonade of Gol, Gol, Gol, Gol, Gol!
That is why I watch the Spanish language coverage and that is why I am thoroughly enjoying this World Cup. I get to watch the pre-game silliness of TV hosts dressing up and cheering for Mexico one day and for Ecuador, Brazil, Costa Rica or Spain the next. I get to watch some goofball pull silly tricks at the German venues and get the fans into a state of frenzy. I get to listen to a game narrated by guys with passion for the sport and I get to listen to comments that I do not hear or read anywhere else.
While watching the Brazil vs. Japan game, I already knew that Zico , a great Brazilian player, had closed his playing career in Japan and has been the coach (“Director Tecnico”) for Japan since the last World Cup. What I didn’t know was that Santos , the left winger was also a Brazilian born, Japanese citizen. I also learned that Scolari , better known as Felipão in his native Brazil is now the coach for Portugal. And Saudi Arabia’s coach Paqueta is also from Brazil. The coaches for Tunisia and Ivory Coast, Lemerre and Michel are both French. Iran’s Coach Ivankovic is from Croatia and will probably be sacked after Iran’s lackluster performance. Coach Suarez from Colombia is loved by his Ecuadorian team and the nation as a whole, since he has been instrumental in getting Ecuador into the World Cup for the first time. La Volpe the Argentinean who coaches Mexico has had a tenuous relationship with his team and things will not get better after Mexico’s elimination by Argentina. It probably does not help that New Age La Volpe has tried to use hypnotism and Feng Shui to improve his reluctant Mexican team, that he left beloved Cuauhtemoc Blanco off the team and instead included Argentinean born Franco and Brazilian born Zinha.
You probably already knew that some of the best soccer players in the world now playing for their national teams ( Ronaldo, Robinho, Roberto Carlos & Julio Cesar from Brazil; Zidane from France; Beckman from England; Casillas & Raul from Spain) happen to be teammates for what is considered the best club team in the world, Real Madrid (I hope no one from Barcelona reads this post!) But do you know who el conejo, el ratón, el payasito, el gringo, el pato, el apache, el borrego and la pulga (The rabbit, the mouse, the little clown, the gringo, the duck, the apache, the ram and the flea) are? These are all nicknames that I heard during what has to be one of the best matches of the World Cup, Argentina vs. Mexico. The Univision announcers know the players so intimately that they give them nicknames! I can’t think of a single USA player that has a nickname!
So who is my favorite to take the Jules Rimet cup? As I watch what I think should be final World Cup game, Germany vs. Argentina I have to go back to the team I have been rooting for since watching soccer on a black and white TV as a child in my native Venezuela. Being from the only South American country not totally crazy about soccer (Beisbol rules!), I have to root for Pelé’s team.
By the way, do you know what the US Spanish language TV calls the USA Team? "El Equipo de Todos" (Everyone's Team!) And that is why I'm truly disappointed that the USA did not advance past the first round!
PS: My friend Adam took me to task because I posted about the World Cup and I did not mention Ronaldinho, best FIFA player for the last two years. I did not want to do that because I would have to list all the Barcelona players in the World Cup. Here it goes: Ronaldinho from Brazil; Brazilian born Deco from Portugal; Marquez from Mexico; Messi from Argentina; Puyol, Xavi & Iniesta from Spain. After what transpired in this match, I think the most interesting instance of club teammates playing for their national teams has to be Manchester United's Wayne Rooney from England and Cristiano Ronaldo from Portugal.
Posted by Sri Alexander Valarino on 6/30/2006
