The 2014 World Cup begins in three days, and this spectacle is sure to captivate long-standing fans of the game. However, the World Cup also has a way of converting non-believers into die-hard soccer acolytes. I, myself, joined the fold of the soccer-obsessed during the last World Cup. Since then, Nicholas and Cate have also become quite the devotees of the beautiful game.
For new fans of the game, the World Cup is about much more than the world's best players giving their all on the field, or pitch. The World Cup is also about national identity, history, and triumphs and failures of past Cups.
Pamela Druckerman, an American author living in Paris, captured the wonder that is the World Cup beautifully in a piece in the New York Times today entitled, "We are the World (Cup)." I could not help but appreciate the similarities between her children who have become soccer aficionados and my own children, especially Nicholas. Her children and mine are collecting stickers in the Panini sticker album (Note to the grandparents, this makes a great gift for a certain soccer-obsessed eight year-old).
Both her kids and mine seem to possess a messianic devotion to soccer trivia and history at such a young age.
Why shouldn't they be excited! The World Cup only comes around every four years, and each tournament is bigger and more popular than the last. Regardless of one's station in life, race, religion, nationality, soccer is something we can all appreciate. What better way to spend one month than living this dream with players and fans, alike, from 32 lucky countries.
Let's hope that the next month is a memorable one for soccer. Let's hope that dreams come true for some deserving souls, especially if they are from Argentina. Let's hope that millions of new people come to appreciate all that is beautiful about this, the most beautiful of games.
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