Impossible Is Nothing

I've been allowing the World Cup "Soccer" experience to marinate before putting fingers to keyboard. Now the group stages are over I think I'm ready to share what it's like to be here while the world's biggest party takes place over in Europe.

To be fair, it's been far better than I thought. For the first time TV networks are showing every World Cup game and as a result interest is high. I know plenty of American's caught up in "the fever". I've stood in bars with locals who had no clue what was going on but were quite happy to shout and cheer with the rest of us. Crowds gather in Times Square for games on the big screens. Even the press have got the hang of berating their own players and manager - it's only a matter of time before the coach is filmed in a hotel room taking bribes from an Arab sheikh. But at the end of the day we can't forget that this is a nation that once hosted the tournament and gave the impression that they didn't quite know what they had signed up for; where, during that '94 opening ceremony, Diana Ross kicked a penalty at an open goal from all of 4 yards - her miss put women's football back twenty years; and where they have introduced an amalgamation of grating sporting lexicon into their commentary:
"That stretches Germany's shutout streak to 281 minutes as their dE-fense continues to dominate."
"The USA have fallen O and eight in World Cup play in Europe."
"He's fouled him inside the eighteen yard zone but it should never be a penalty..."
"The score here, one to nothing."
"It's finished two-zip in this game."
"Michael Bollock [Ballack] has had at least five good strikes on goal."

"Ladies and gentlemen, we're going into overtime!"

And, like the news, it's not too easy to hear what's going on within the other squads. The focus is firmly on the US team. I can't help but think back to '94, there must have been a hell of a surprise when 32 teams turned up at the airport, "Yeah I know it's a World Cup but our World Series baseball involves only one nation... well two if you include that team from Toronto."
I'm sorry Americans, you've got to understand that the rest of us become football snobs when we watch here.

But it has been interesting. At the end of the day New York's the melting pot within the world's largest melting pot. There are bars in the city affiliated to every team in the tournament. The British pubs are obviously busy for any game, those in Little Korea draw in red shirted fans for their matches - high pitched squeals with every chance, goal and near miss. The blue shirted French take over the hip bistros and cafes shouting and gesticulating at any play that falls short of perfectection. Manhattan's restaurant kitchens seem to rely on workers from Ecuador, there wasn't much food being served when their games were on. For the Italy/USA match last weekend every bar in Soho was spilling onto the street. It's all sporadic and focused in specific places but you know it's on. That's not to say I wish I wasn't home - there's nothing like a World Cup in England during the summer, when the country blooms red and white. I can imagine the flags hanging from bedroom windows, on the cars, vans, lorries and buses. The mad dash from work to meet friends for the game,

the roars and cheers coming from the pubs; those great commercials on TV as you're heading to the bar at halftime and can hear a charasmatic Cantona, or the chubby Pedro laughing when Jose picks Beckenbauer for his team. That Adidas tagline would have me believe otherwise but I think we all know it's going to be harder than it's ever been for England this tournament.

I'll leave you with this one bit of video. We also get to enjoy Spanish commentary here. This confirms that the South Americans are unbeatable not just on the football field but off it too. A superb team goal and some fantastic commentary that wouldn't be out of place in an opera (you certainly don't need to speak Spanish to appreciate it).