World Cup Preview

Wait a second. Let me get this straight. America is actually starting to care about the World Cup? No, I’m not talking about the minivan-driving suburbia-hailing soccer moms and their families. I’m referring to mainstream America.

In a market already saturated with everything from the interesting (NFL, MLB) to the irrelevant (no, people watch the WNBA… I swear), Americans are beginning to find a little time to let the beautiful game into their life. If there’s one thing America is built upon, it is democracy, and I suppose that Americans have decided that several billion people can’t be wrong.

A couple of tell-tale signs that the World Cup will, at the very least, draw more American viewers than Rome Is Burning:

1) The morning after the USA's historic 3-2 victory over Portugal in their opening game of the 2002 World Cup, I was worried that it wouldn't achieve top headline status on ESPN.com because the NHL playoffs were going on. THE NHL PLAYOFFS. Seriously, can you even name the 2 teams that are playing in the Stanley Cup finals right now. Now, ESPN.com is running regular stories leading up to the World Cup even deeming the tournament worthy of the vaulted status of a section on the “spotlight” portion of the webpage.

2) Every important “American” publication has given significant preview coverage of the World Cup - Sports Illustrated, ESPN the Magazine, the Houston Chronicle… all went into great detail to provide their loyal readers with in-depth coverage of the World Cup. ESPN gave it a full 15 pages worth of coverage. No, seriously. That’s 15 pages that could have been devoted to Albert Pujols’ torrid start to the season or Shaq’s resurgence in the NBA playoffs. I guess America is curious if Ronaldinho will lead Brazil to an unprecedented 6^th World Cup title.

3) Sportscenter televised the unveiling of the US World Cup roster live (yes, it

was on the 6 p.m. show, and yes, it was 30 minutes into the program… but that’s beside the point). The point is that even 4 years ago, the thought of Dan Patrick interviewing Bruce Arena (the US Head Coach) as the roster was revealed was implausible if not downright absurd.

As if I needed any more reason to be excited about the World Cup. But for those of you out there who remain skeptical about devoting your precious television viewing time this summer towards the World Cup (what else are you going to be watching, Room Raiders…), I’ll give you 5 reasons to watch.

5) England

The entire country suffers from an acute case of extreme pessimism every time the World Cup rolls around. And not without good reason. I mean, England has only won 1 World Cup in their entire history (1966 – the World Cup was held in England which gave them a significant advantage), and they’re the people that invented the game of soccer. Imagine for a second that the World Baseball Classic actually meant something, and then imagine if the US only won it 1 time over the next 80 years.

Every 4 years, the English side is loaded with talent, yet they always seem to fall short. Combine this with the fact that England has the mast passionate obsessive fans in the world, and, all of a sudden, Alex Rodriguez playing in New York is a cakewalk compared to the pressure that the England players face each World Cup. 2006 is no different as the team is considered to be one of the favorites despite the fact that the playing status of their star wunderkind forward Wayne Rooney (think a slightly lesser version of Lebron) is up in the air due to a broken metatarsal bone.

Will Rooney be fit to play? Will England be able to compete with the best if he can’t? Will the Queen’s men finally bring the trophy home to their starved fans? Undoubtedly one of the most intriguing teams to follow throughout the World Cup.

4) Germany

Perhaps the most boring style amongst the traditional soccer powers. Think soccer’s version of the 2000 Baltimore Ravens – fantastic defense, offense good enough to get by. Why then does Germany crack the top 5? Because they’re vulnerable.

No host country (the World Cup is in Germany this year) has ever failed to make it out of the group stage. Think about that for a second. In all 19 World Cups, every single host country has at least made the second round, even the United States made it in 1994. Some would conclude that the host team must have an advantage, and this is true to some extent. The host team has the comfort of playing in familiar surroundings and in front of thousands of passionate supporters. They also tend to be the beneficiary of some ‘questionable’ officiating (I’m looking at you South Korea).

There is, however, a flip side. No team is under more pressure to perform than the host country. Partly because they’re playing in front of all their fans and partly due to the success that host countries have enjoyed in past World Cups, the host country is always expected to show well. In Germany’s case, one of the most respected soccer nations in the world, they’re expected to show very well. Anything less than a quarterfinal appearance will be considered a national embarrassment that ranks somewhere between the Berlin Wall and World War II. That’s only a slight exaggeration.

If this vulnerable German ties or loses to Costa Rica in their opening game (first game of the World Cup, 11 a.m. June 9^th), I don’t know of any adjective other than uber to describe the pressure that this team will be under. Do I think that scenario will arise. No. But if it does, Germany vaults to #1 on this top 5 list.

Due to the deadly combination of laziness, work, and watching season 1 of 24 (damn you Jack Bauer), the final 3 reasons to watch the World Cup were unable to be completed before the start of the first game. Have no fear, though, reasons 3 through 1 will be up within the next day or two.