Not That Anyone Cares But Me…

Last Wednesday, the US Men’s National Soccer team had a big win over Guatemala. We are on the road to the World Cup! But there are still some major hurdles before getting there. Go Sam’s Army!

There are three things in life that can bridge the differences between even the strangest of strangers. These are coffee, beer and soccer. For some reason, America has forsaken the latter of the three. Sadly, with a nation of 250+ million people, we can’t gather up 11 talented dudes to be at a competitive level with the rest of the world. Even Costa Rica, with a population of 3.7 million has a decent, world-class team.

I don’t know the reasons for America’s distaste for soccer (though I do have theories), but I do feel the winds changing. Last World Cup we (the US) made it to the quater finals, losing to Germany is one of the greatest matches ever played. (For the non-soccer-savvy, the World Cup occurs every four years (a la the Olympics), where all nations vie for the 32 seeds of competition. Then they engage in a month long extravaganza to become the top nation in soccer! Next World Cup is 2006 in Germany.)

So if the US does well this time around and all you bandwagoneers start getting all hopped up on soccer fever, I say phewy on you. Part of the awesomeness that is the world cup is watching your team progress through the elimination process for the two years prior to the world cup. Seriously, nearly every of Earth’s 200+ countries tries for the 32 seeds. It takes a long time to whittle all that down to 32.

Lastly, for the soccer-super-unsavvy, if you do ever travel outside of the United States (I highly recommend this), remember that EVERYONE else in the world calls soccer “football.”