It’s going to be a
befuddling month for our country.
Who’s good? Who do you cheer for? If you’re anything past second-generation Canadian, you tend to forget any
love your family had for the mother country. I just end up cheering against Italy (they’re so loud! My
sleep!) and for the underappreciated African teams. Considering the last World Cup, that doesn’t work out too
well.
Maybe it’s because Canada never makes a blip on the international scene of soccer that we have no idea. Maybe
it’s because we get ostracized simply due to the fact that we call it soccer. The fact of the matter is,
unless you wholeheartedly pay attention to the not-often-covered European leagues, you have no idea what’s
going on.
We’re the only developed country in the world with this confusion. Sure, some European countries don’t
qualify for the World Cup, but few people in Sweden have a grandmother from Ukraine who ignites allegiance to
another team. Canada has a blend of people with passionate heritage and awkward background. It can be
downright weird to be the latter. Sometimes I find myself cheering for Brazil when their whole nation would
be disgraced at how fast I sunburn.
I’d sit it out if I could, but everyone in the world watches. Not to mention, it’s wonderful to celebrate
with a winning culture in Canada. Nearly every city has citizens rooting for dozens of teams. That’s
something special. A friend of my family is going to Portugal while the World Cup is on, but she said she
prefers to cheer in Canada: The lack of competition and jest is boring.
So we should cheer. It’s settled. But who this year? The following is a compilation of interesting storylines
heading into this World Cup that may help you along.
England — Not only its politics have brought the drama. Defender John Terry had his
captaincy stripped after having an affair with the ex-girlfriend of an international teammate. That teammate,
Wayne Bridge, has now declined to play for the team. Other major players are injured and the team was
recently spied on and taped in a secret team meeting.
South Africa — The host country has never failed to reach the second round of the
tournament, but they recently tied 111th-ranked Namibia 1-1, adding to the fact that it will be an
uphill battle to get past Mexico, Uruguay and France in Group A.
Italy — Can the heroes repeat their 2006 victory? No team has repeated since Brazil did in
1962.
Spain — Always a big-name
team, but they’ve never won a World Cup. Yet with the Euro win in 2008, they could finally achieve their
greatest dream.
Argentina — After struggling to even qualify for the World Cup, they just beat Germany in a
pre-World Cup matchup. Perhaps they’re finally finding some chemistry that can restore former glory.
United States — Definitely an underdog, but they rarely qualify for the World Cup. Whether
that makes them deserving of your support is uncertain, but if they win even one game, expect big news.
Ghana — They were Africa’s best performers in 2006. You can be sure that any African team to
get to the knockout stage is going to have the whole continent behind it.
France — Everyone still remembers Zinedine Zidane’s head butt that changed the course
of 2006’s final. If France goes deep, can they play well enough to redefine what the world remembers about
them?
I think I’m going with Ghana on this one. Everyone loves the underdog.•
Photo courtesy of CLF / Flickr
