The magic of the World Cup

For a month the World Cup fever has taken over the sporting world. Duncan Foster shares his passion for the beautiful game.

On June 12^th the whole sporting world stopped, and all eyes focused on the Arena Corinthians in Sao Paulo. The World Cup had begun. The quadrennial football event that grips the entire planet was in full swing. The opening ceremony was spectacular and no less than what was to be expected from the carnival-loving Brazilians, and the opening match of the 2014 World Cup was nothing short of mesmerizing.

The hosts, Brazil, played against a very organised Croatia, the football was flowing, and there was drama all the way to the final whistle, with Brazil claiming a highly controversial first win of the tournament. All the anguish and disputes over the hosting of the tournament in Brazil were instantly forgotten and the nation, regarded as one the powerhouses of football, was in full celebration. Throughout the world, whether you were a huge football fan or not, billions of people went to bars, sat at home, watched on mobile devices and instantly became completely engrossed in arguably one of the greatest sporting events the world gets to see.

Whether your nation is competing at the World Cup or not, if you are a sports fan, you will watch as many matches as you can. With worldwide broadcasting of all the games, billions of fans will watch each game. The sporting fan loves all the drama that football contains. The recent arguments for advances in technology to provide more correct decisions will only take the drama out of the game. The drama is what we love, the discussions, the disagreements – everybody has an opinion, and everybody is an expert. This year there is another twist to the game, with the weather playing a huge part in the performances of players. In some matches, referees are allowed to stop the game for water breaks if the temperature exceeds 32 degrees with >80% humidity, and yet other games are played in 15 degrees, just days apart.

Fans love goals, and this year the tournament is on course to be the highest scoring tournament in the 84 year history since the first World Cup in Uruguay in 1930. Since then, 8 different nations have won the coveted golden trophy, with Brazil leading the way with 5 titles. European nations have won 10 titles and South American countries 9. This year already there have been plenty of controversial decisions, an abundance of great goals and excitement, countless last minute goals that change the outcome of not only the match, but also the group standings, and we are only 11 days into the tournament. No one can predict the twists and turns that will happen until one nation is crowned World Champions on July 13^th in Rio de Janeiro.

I am currently playing soccer in the USA, and I watched the USA throw away qualification from the group stage with a game to spare when they conceded an equalizer with less than 30 seconds to play against Portugal. The entire bar went from jubilation to deflation in an instant, with the draw feeling like a loss so late in the game. No other sport provides so much excitement and drama. The passion for arguably at least the 5^th smallest sport in the USA is incredible.

I am originally from the home of football, England, so it has been a woeful World Cup for us, and I have taken an incredible amount of stick from our terrible performances. I am sure the same is happening all over Australia and the world, as the buzz travels internationally. This is all a part of the tournament, the ups and downs and the interactions with people from other nations; everywhere you go strangers mention the previous results and drama. World Cup fever has truly taken over the world.

I recently wrote an article titled The Power of the Underdog, and this phenomenon is most definitely present in the World Cup, like when Australia played against Netherlands, who demolished the reigning world champions Spain 5-1 in their opening group match.

An easy Netherlands victory was predicted by all the so-called experts in the media. An Australian teammate told me that judging by their group, the Aussies are there for a holiday and just trying to compete, and yet in the 54^th minute, when Australia took the lead, the hopes and passion of one nation threatened to cause a huge upset. Ultimately, the Netherlands ran out 3-2 winners, with the overall skill and tactical level of them being superior to the Australian team. However, for the 4 minutes that Australia was ahead, and for most of the match where the score was level or within one goal, there was always a chance of the underdog overpowering the strong favorite through grit, determination and hard-work.

The underdog phenomenon is another aspect of the World Cup that captivates fans across the world. In the tournament, anything can happen. The stronger team on paper before the game means nothing, you can be sure that every player on the pitch will run themselves into the ground to cause that upset, and sometimes, just sometimes, the world gets to see the magical moment when a perceived inferior team beats the perceived superior team.

These brilliant moments, the controversy, the last minute goals, all the goals being scored, the great saves and blocks, all the drama, and quite simply all the excitement is what makes entire countries stop when kick off time comes around. Even if your team is knocked out, you cannot help but watch every game as intensely as when your nation plays, and if your team goes out, you automatically pick up another favorite to follow for their duration.

This is why the World Cup is quite simply an incredible month of football.