On June 9th, Munich, Germany will kick off the most watched sporting event in the world, the 2006 World Cup. From across the globe, 32 teams will do battle on the field where their weapons of mass destructions will be talent and brilliance with a football. These skills and tactics will be displayed by using the head, chest, and feet.
Most continents will be represented and six past winners will take part as host Germany will lead a 14-deep European contingent, and holders Brazil will lead the South American football kingdom.
I reminisce a day I spent with family on a Plattsburgh City Beach listening to the 1994 World Cup quarterfinals between Brazil and the Netherlands. Being unable to find a television nearby to watch the game, at least 20 people of different nationalities gathered around a bench where an elderly Italian man had a small radio broadcasting the game. People's eyes were light up with joy and anticipation.
What's the big fuss with the World Cup or soccer, you may ask? Well, it's not dubbed the world's greatest game and pastime for nothing. For many, the tournament represents a time to put conflicts aside, whether cultural or political. For others, it is to watch a country humiliate another. But for some, it's to give a nation the boost it has been striving to get on the political field.
Take the 2002 game between defending champion France and former French colony Senegal, for example, held in Seoul Korea. Senegal stunned holders France with a 1-0 victory with a first-half goal from Papa Bouba Diop.
The significance of that game was more than met the eyes as Senegal was playing its first game ever in the contest. That upset was so big the West African country's president Abdoulaye Wade declared a national holiday. For many in Senegal, that match suddenly became bigger than winning the tournament.
Could you imagine President Bush declaring a national holiday after the Red Sox won the so-called World Series, ending 86 years of drought? Not a chance! Baseball is an American institution, but as I recall, there are only two teams from two major leagues (covering the United States and Canada) to partake in them.
Could you imagine citizens of major cities of North America parade around the streets if the National Basketball Association's (NBA) Detroit Pistons win another championship? Detroit certainly, but other cities, who are you kidding?
Do you think Canadian Prime Minister Stephen Harper will ask for a moment of silence the year the Ottawa Senators ever win the Stanley Cup? Right, eh? Nope.
Well, that's what soccer represents in most parts of the world — frenzy, hope amongst pain and sorrow, light in the corridors of darkness. It is indeed a Beautiful Game as brilliantly said in Pélé's (soccer great) autobiography: My Life and the Beautiful Game.
Unlike the National Football league (NFL), who penalizes players for excessive touchdown celebrations such as carrying a Sharpie, the Fédération Internationale de Football Association (FIFA) is not so harsh with its players when scoring. At the contrary, fans look forward to see what nation will bring the most creative dance or act.
As Papa Bouba Diop scored the only goal of the Senegal agaisnt France match in 2002, he took off his shirt and threw it on the grass. Soon after that, his teammates and him performed a dance around the shirt as if it was on holy ground.
Who could forget Julius Aghahowa of Nigeria in 2002, who, after pulverizing the Swedish defense, did summersaults that any gymnast could envy?
What about the unforgettable Brazilian player José Roberto Gama de Oliveira, better known as Bebeto, in 1994? After scoring, he used to cradle an imaginary baby in honor of his newborn child, and his teammates quickly followed.
Perhaps the best of them all was from Cameroon's Roger Milla in 1990, who performed a dance called Makosa. After scoring four times for his country in five games, he used to move his hips as if possessed by dancing Gods. Please keep in mind that hit show "Dancing with Stars" wasn't on at that time — he would have made Drew Lachey look like a fool. Soccer never fails to do what other sports don't do often — entertain the public.
Whatever comes next in the celebration scale at this year FIFA World Cup will be a tough act to follow. To this day, many individuals will ask how is a net so big yet the score is so low? My response to them is this: as a friend once told me, "it's not necessarily the score that's matters when its comes to soccer, it's what happens before and after a goal."
Most of the world is waiting anxiously for the start of this competition held every four years. The only exception is the United States, who ironically has great players in its 2006 World Cup roster. Unfortunately, we fail to impel the love of the game to the population. Perhaps the arrival of new immigrants devoted to soccer will help America understand why the real football is indeed a beautiful game.
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