World Cup Fever!

Yes, it's that time of the year again! The time of year when 1.3 billion people set aside their daily routines to watch a sport that has more viewers than the Olympics itself - The Fifa World Cup! Now, personally, during the 3 years and 11 months that the World Cup isn't on, it would be a cold hard lie to call myself much of a soccer fan, but just as with any sport that ties the world together, I cannot help but catch the infectious "footie fever" whenever that time of year comes around.

So far, the matches have been fairly uneventful with the British beating Paraguay by a measely point (note: a pathetic win for Britain never stops the English hooligans from driving by in their Union Jack-covered cars and honking at random people), and Germany easily managing to win it's first match against Cosa Rica, but it seems like today, the matches will begin to get interesting. The tip of the iceburg peeped out yesterday during the match between Sweden and Trinidad/Tobago. Most of the world expected this to be an easy win for Sweden, a country with significantly more experience in world soccer than Trinidad/Tobago. However, to everyone's surprise - though it should hardly be surprising because it happens every year - the star team was nearly shot down by the fiesty newcomers. In the end, the final score was a tie of 0-0, igniting tears of joy on the Trinidad/Tobago side. It may have been the first time in history that a team cried for joy at the prospect of a tie, because it simply meant that they did not lose. Today, three more matches will take place between the Netherlands and Serbia, Mexico and Iran, and Angola and Portugal. I am particularly keen on the Mexico/Iran match since Iran was the team that beat Japan in the last world cup. I am also considering buying some flags to stick on our car myself...it never hurts to be a little bit patriotic!