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World Cup for the
Clueless
... I Thought You Said This Was
Football! By
Mike Sarzo
For Outsports.com Now that
summer is upon us, you may be wondering just what some of our friends,
many of whom are from foreign countries, are getting excited about.
There's a chance that a lot of them are talking about the
World Cup of soccer and I'm sure that some of you out there are
wondering what the fuss is all about.
Well, despite the fact the sport hasn't completely caught on past
youth leagues in this country, soccer, which the rest of the world
calls football, is the most popular sport in the world. The reason
that this game can call itself football in the face of the NFL is
simple: The players use their feet most of the time! What a novel
idea!
I won't bore you with the nuances of football (for the rest of this
piece, that's what I'm calling it), but with only three substitutions
allowed for the 10 field players for the entire 90 minute game, it's
safe to say players need a lot of stamina.
Many of them also have
great legs and great asses, but that's a subject for another column.
The event: The 32-team tournament runs from May 31 to June 30
in South Korea and Japan. The final in Japan on June 30 will be seen
by a worldwide television audience in excess on 1 billion people.
Television:
The games in the USA will be on ESPN, ESPN2 and ABC. All games will
also be shown on Spanish-language Univision. Since the US is 13 to 16
hours behind South Korea and Japan, many of the games will start in
the wee hours of the morning.
The basics: 11 players per
team, including one goalkeeper, defenders, midfielders and forwards.
Two of the most popular formations are four defenders, four
midfielders, and two forwards, which is a strong all-around set-up,
and three defenders, five midfielders, and two forwards, which is a
bit more offensive minded. There are a number of variations, but the
purpose is the same as it is in any sport: To score more than your
opponent. Now, was that so hard?
The format: The teams play three round robin matches against
teams in their respective groups, and the top two teams from each
group advance to the second round, which is single elimination. In the
opening round, ties are possible, but in later rounds, two 15 minute
overtimes and a penalty kick shootout could help decide the winner.
Teams With a Chance to Win: (defending champions), England,
Argentina. Teams With a
Chance to Be Pathetic: United States (finished 32nd of 32 World
Cup teams in 1998), Tunisia, Senegal.
Teams to Watch From a Sporting
Standpoint: Brzzil (they play with a flair that few countries
throughout the world can match), France, England (they may be more for
the football-knowledgeable fan to appreciate, unless you count staring
at Michael Owen or David Beckham appreciation).
Teams to Look at for All the Other Good
Reasons: England (the aforementioned Beckham and Owen), United
States (they may suck, but at least they're cute).
Brazil won the World Cup four times, more than any other country.
Perhaps the United States's best moment came in 1950 when their ragtag
team shocked England 1-0. The U.S. did make the semifinals the first
time the World Cup took place (in 1930), but the team's 1990 World Cup
appearance was its first in 40 years, although it has made the last
four (though it got an automatic bid in 1994 as the host nation). The
U.S. has also had four different coaches in its last four World Cup
appearances (Bob Gansler in 1990, Bora Milutinovic in 1994, Steve
Sampson in 1998, and Bruce Arena this year).
As a side note to the U.S. semifinal appearance, the American roster
was dotted with English players because England was ineligible to
compete since it withdrew from the sport's governing body, FIFA. That
first World Cup also drew 13 teams, as opposed to the 32 that now make
up the sport's greatest competition.
Related:
World Cup
cuties
May 28, 2002 |
