The Cup
by Jorge Vargas
During the Rwanda genocide, a top US military commander stated that 85,000 Rwandan lives were approximately worth the life of 1 US soldier, meaning that given the fact that 800,000 Rwandans died, the US should have been willing to accept 10 military deaths in Rwanda in 1994. Furthermore, the United States is refusing to budge on global warming policy because it could hurt the US economy.
Economy. Worth. What does this have to do with the beautiful game known throughout the world as football, and within the United States as ‘soccer’? 2006 had many well-known sides on it: Italy (the champion), France, Brazil, England, Argentina, Germany (the host), Spain and Portugal. Mexico made its usual weak appearance until Argentina knocked them out in the second round – Mexico holds the record for most early exits in the World Cup, a fact that Mexicans try to hide when they’re bragging about how they qualified after defeating Panama and Guatemala.
The only major surprises in the initial group stage of the World Cup were seen when Ecuador qualified to the second round at Poland’s expense and when the Czech Republic exited in the first round.
Of the 4 countries that went to the World Cup from North-Central America and the Caribbean, only one made it past the first round – Mexico – and that team failed to make it further than the 2nd round. Of the four Asian countries, none made it past the first round. Of the five African countries, only one made it past the first round and that one – Ghana – was then subsequently decimated by Brazil.
Of the four South Americans that went, three made it into the 2nd round, and two of those three made it into the Quarter Finals – one of them, Argentina, even provided the whole world with a match against Germany that will likely live on in legend. And, of course, the top 4 teams were European.
No nation outside of South America and Europe has ever made it to the World Cup final match. Furthermore, nine of the 17 World Cups have been won by South American sides – five for Brazil, two for Argentina, and two for Uruguay. The remaining eight went to Europeans.
Sure, there are flukes, from time to time, such as when the United States made it to the quarterfinal, and those flukes are remembered and will go down as legends – although let’s not forget that the US didn’t face a single tough rival in the 2002 World Cup until it played, and lost to, Germany. The flukes are there, but they’re called flukes for a reason. For every crazy run by an underdog, there are dozens of instances where Saudi Arabia loses 8-0 to Germany or Brazil defeats Ghana 3-0.
FIFA has done something extremely irresponsible with the World Cup, and it has all been for the sake of profit. Why does the North American Footballing Federation suddenly command more respect in FIFA than its South American counterpart, when the latter fields much stronger sides? Does it have anything to do with the fact that the North Americans – i.e., the United States – provide FIFA with a larger market? Why are so many Asian teams going to the World Cup when almost all of their efforts are, at best, described as weak? Markets again.
FIFA has forsaken the talent found in the South American sides for the markets found in Asia. They have stopped listening to the fans who want a return to the classic matches of the 1970 World Cup when every game was a final match, choosing instead to field 32 teams in each tournament, leading to amazingly boring matches such as Iran vs. Angola or Korea Republic vs. Togo – both played in 2006 – or dramatically lop-sided matches such as Germany-Saudi Arabia – played in Korea/Japan 2002.
Football is a work of art. Football is a dance. There is beauty in the movements of a player who is able to dodge two defenders and still score a goal within a span of three seconds while also out-running the midfielder who wants to foul him from behind. What Costa Rican player could possibly hope to do that playing against Germany? What Angolan could do that in his wildest dreams?
If FIFA wants to provide credible tournaments, it has to cut down on the number of teams from regions that aren’t competitive. How can you award a region that, thus far, hasn’t done anything to deserve it? When a North American team hoists a World Cup, maybe then, and only then, should it have the right to field as many sides as South America.
