So, you tell me you´re not much of a soccer fan, eh? Don´t understand the rules, too slow a pace, not enough scoring, and what´s with all those guys falling after barely being touched, writhing in pain. What a bunch of pansy pants! Well, my Anglo-American, football-first friend guess what? You´re about to be inundated with all measures of real football fans, not the kind played with a pigskin mind you, but the kind where the very idea of a 1-nil score can send the collective pulses of a nation into the critical zone. That’s right, the Fédération Internationale de Football Association (FIFA) is bringing the big enchilada to our shores.
World Cup fever is coming to America, and South Florida is going to play a starring role.
With no fewer than seven contests, including the quarterfinal and third place matches set for Hard Rock Stadium, we locals will witness the pulsating sounds of Brazilian fans doing the samba, Colombian fans chanting in unison "Si, si, Colombia! ¡Sí, sí, Caribe!," or even the famous English soccer cheer of "Ole, Ole, Ole, Ole ... Ole, Ole." There´ll be no escaping it - and why should there be? After all, it (not the Super Bowl World Series or March Madness) is the preeminent sporting event in the world, with an expected viewership for the final approaching 2 billion (if you´re counting, that´s means almost 20% of the world´s population will be watching so, yeah, to paraphrase the great Ron Burgundy, it´s kind of a big deal). To help you get ready, at least with a view to the South Florida portion of the event, we offer this basic primer for the newest football fans (and yes, it´s called football in the rest of the world - not soccer).
The tournament is comprised of 48 teams, broken down into 12 divisions called groups. Each group contains four teams. From each group, two teams will emerge and enter what is known as the “knockout” stage. Simple enough, right? That’s when it’s “win or go home” time. The Americans qualify for the party by virtue of being the host country, something which happened once before in 1994, when Brazil took home the trophy after defeating Italy in a shootout. Joining the USA in Group D will be Paraguay, Austria and Turkey, not exactly the group of death – therefore our chances of advancing are decent. But the Americans enter the competition ranked 16th in the world, having played to a 7-7-2 record over the previous year’s practice contests (called "friendlies") and do not figure to be in the mix at the end. No, your favorites will be the usual suspects: defending champion Argentina, France, Spain, Portugal, England, and the Brazilians look to be the strongest squads, but in the World Cup there’s always a surprise. A team like Japan, Morocco or even Mexico could break though, so be on the lookout for upsets. Locally, the action starts on June 15, when Saudi Arabia faces Uruguay. The featured Hard Rock Stadium matches will be Brazil vs. Scotland on June 24, and Portugal vs. Colombia on June 27. Good luck getting tickets for that one. With a nod to our passionate Latin American sporting culture, FIFA blessed us with both a quarter-final match on July 11, and the third place match on July 18. The final takes place in East Rutherford, New Jersey on July 19.
So, buckle up vaquero, you´re about to be a first-hand witness to the craziest, nuttiest, most memorable sporting event this side of Eden. Ain´t it great?
Let´s GOOOOOOOOOOOOAAAAAAAAAAALLLLLLL!!!!!!