World Cup Begins

Well, the biggest sporting event in the world has begun. No, it's not the Superbowl or World Series. Its the World Cup, and to everyone outside of the U.S., that implies Soccer (or Football as it's called by the rest of the world). I didn't fully realize until I moved out of the U.S. just how popular soccer is. Actually, it's more like a religion than a sport in most countries. And I must admit that I have not given it much of a chance. Since we moved here, I have probably watched a grand total of 10 minutes of soccer. Now that the World Cup has started, I took this as a great opportunity to dive in head first and I like it more than I thought I would. For those of you who know almost nothing about the World Cup, which I imagine is many of you, I thought I would give you a brief rundown.

The World Cup takes place once every four years, this year it is held in Germany. During 3 years in between, 197 countries compete in a series of qualifying matches, resulting in 32 "all-star" teams representing their country competing in matches held in 12 cities throughout Germany. There is a group phase in which all teams play three games. They then proceed to a knockout phase which will reduce the teams by half to 16, then single elimination down to 8...4....2....and ultimately 1 winner. The tournament started on Friday, the 9th. Germany won the first game against Costa Rica, 4-2. In honor of our friends in Costa Rica, the Salas family, I wore my Costa Rican jersey, but it proved to not be enough. Sorry guys. The U.S. plays their first game tonight against the Czech Republic. While everyone thinks that their country will win it all, it's hard to bet against the Brazilians. They are the reigning champions and have appeared in 7 of the 17 World Cup finals, winning 5 of them (the most of any country).

the games are not without political intrigue. Saturday's game between Mexico and Iran sparked several protests in Nuernberg. As you may know, the president of Iran has said on more than one occasion that the Holocaust never happened and that Isreal should be, "wiped off the map". The Iranian president is not in Germany, but there has already been speculation that if Iran makes it out of the knockout round (which is not likely), would he come. If he did come, how would he be treated by the German government because of his comments. It will be very interesting to see what happens if that is the case.

So, there you have it. Whether you wanted to know or not, now you do. For those of you who are true World Cup fans, forgive my crude and simple explanation. Help me cheer on the US tonight. The game is on at 6pm central European Time, which is 11am Central Time in the States. Go U.S.A! (Austria is not in the World Cup, so I have no conflicts in who to pull for!)