Jake, I hate to burst the bubble but the author of letter is himself no better than the 'nerds and bullies' he apparently so despises, and in his rush to spit venom at the rest of the world, and in particular Europe, shows extreme ignorance by displaying a remarkable lack of knowledge about that which he chooses to so 'knowledgably' to criticise. His diatribe has more holes than the netting at the back of the goals he so clearly hates.
The World Cup is a world party to which an invite has always been extended to the USA to join. Personally I like the idea of a major English speaking nation that people in the UK can relate to being a part of the global footballing culture, but if the USA was not then it would be no great loss.
As for 'every four years', the event that is taking place right now is the World Cup FINALS. An elite clique of the footballing world don't just get together once every four years to determine who is the better team, the World Cup takes place over the four-year period leading up to these finals. 198 of the 207 national teams that are members of FIFA, the governing body of world football, competed in qualifying tournaments for a place in this event to be one of the 32 countries who are now taking part in these final series of matches in Germany.
Better tell that to the tens of thousands of Chinese people who attend matches at each of China's top football clubs, and the millions more who follow them.
"China is the last major east Asian football power to start a professional football league. Football has been one of the most well supported sports in China ever since it was introduced in the 1900s. The game has developed steadily, culminating in the historic World Cup qualification for the men's national team in 2002 held in Japan and Korea."
en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Football_in_ChinaSO?? In Wales football lags behind rugby (and probably sheep shagging too). That doesn't make it any the less important as a national sport.
If this guy had spent a little time checking the facts he'd have saved himself the effort of having to talk out of his arse.
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Egyptians take soccer, which they call "football," very seriously. Competitions are held among the country's many teams and are broadcast on radio and television with great enthusiasm. National soccer teams also compete in regional soccer competitions with teams from other Arab and African nations."
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The most popular sport in Turkey is soccer. Matches are played on weekends between September and May. Like their counterparts in Europe and Latin America, Turkey's soccer fans are wildly enthusiastic. Celebrations can sometimes turn into riots.Wrestling is another favorite sport in Turkey. A unique Turkish variety is greased wrestling, which makes it harder to hold on to one's opponent. Other popular sports include hunting and shooting, skiing (the oldest Turkish ski resort is on Mount Olympus, the legendary home of the Greek gods), and cirit, a traditional sport that involves throwing a javelin while mounted on horseback."
"Libyan sporting events tend to be very strenuous and spirited. Popular sports are camel and horse racing
and football (what Americans call soccer). Camel racing and horse racing have been popular events for thousands of years. Competitions are held on racetracks in rural areas. Football is both a spectator sport and a participation sport. Libya has a national football team that competes in regional matches with other Arab and African teams. Other popular sports are basketball and track and field events."
"Palestinians in the Occupied Territories have little time or space for organized sports activities.
However, soccer is popular and is played in schools and during free time in the many fields of the West Bank. There has been little attention given to organized, professional sporting events."
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Soccer is the favorite sport in Iraq. There is also growing interest in boating, basketball, volleyball, weight lifting, and boxing."
"Afghanis are very competitive and take their sports seriously. Winning is a question of personal and family honor. Afghani sports also tend to be violent, although injuries are rare. A favorite Afghani sport is called buzkashi, or "goat pulling." Two teams compete for possession of a headless animal carcass (usually a calf). Teams have been known to number up to 1,000 players.
Another popular Afghani sport is wrestling, or pahlwani. Modern sports introduced in the twentieth century include tennis, golf, cricket, basketball,
soccer, and field hockey."
www.everyculture.comAs hard as I look I don't see any mention of baseball.
Football is the national sport of most African nations. In fact football is now so big in Africa that South Africa bid, and were chosen, to host the 2010 finals. Russia, including its previous incarnation as the Soviet Union, has missed the World Cup finals only four times since it first qualified in 1958. In 2002 it was that 'non-footballing country' of Japan that knocked them out of the finals. Russians love football and their stadiums are filled to capacity on matchdays. Many Caribbean countries, including Jamaica's 'Reggae Boyz', who England beat in a pre-World Cup friendly two weeks ago, compete in the CONCACAF (the Confederation of North, Central American and Caribbean Association Football) Gold Cup every four years. Competing countries include :
Anguilla Antigua and Barbuda Aruba Bahamas Barbados Belize Bermuda British Virgin Islands Canada Cayman Islands Costa Rica Cuba Dominica Dominican Republic El Salvador Grenada Guatemala Guyana Haiti Honduras Mexico Montserrat Netherlands Antilles Nicaragua Panama Puerto Rico Saint Kitts and Nevis Saint Lucia Saint Vincent and the Grenadines Suriname Trinidad and Tobago Turks and Caicos Islands U.S. Virgin Islands USA
So clearly no interest there then.
And here's the worst of the bullshit :
Oh really? This is the full list of the 207 members of FIFA. Each of these countries has a national football association and fields a national team :
Afghanistan, Albania, Algeria, American Samoa, Andorra, Angola, Anguilla, Antigua and Barbuda, Argentina, Armenia, Aruba, Australia, Austria, Azerbaijan, Bahamas, Bahrain, Bangladesh, Barbados, Belarus, Belgium, Belize, Benin, Bermuda, Bhutan, Bolivia, Bosnia-Herzegovina, Botswana, Brazil, British Virgin Islands, Brunei Darussalam, Bulgaria, Burkina Faso, Burundi, Cambodia, Cameroon, Canada, Cape Verde Islands, Cayman Islands, Central African Republic, Chad, Chile, China, Chinese Taipei, Colombia, Comoros, Congo, Congo, Cook Islands, Costa Rica, Croatia, Cuba, Cyprus, Czech Republic, Côte d'Ivoire, Denmark, Djibouti, Dominica, Dominican Republic, Ecuador, Egypt, El Salvador, England, Equatorial Guinea, Eritrea, Estonia, Ethiopia, Macedonia, Faroe Islands, Fiji, Finland, France, Gabon, Gambia, Georgia, Germany, Ghana, Greece, Grenada, Guam, Guatemala, Guinea, Guinea-Bissau, Guyana, Haiti, Honduras, Hong Kong, Hungary, Iceland, India, Indonesia, Iran, Iraq, Israel, Italy,Jamaica, Japan , Jordan, Kazakhstan, Kenya, Korea DPR, Korea Republic, Kuwait, Kyrgyzstan, Laos, Latvia, Lebanon, Lesotho, Liberia, Libya, Liechtenstein, Lithuania, Luxembourg, Macau, Madagascar, Malawi, Malaysia, Maldives, Mali, Malta, Mauritania, Mauritius, Mexico, Moldova, Mongolia, Montserrat, Morocco, Mozambique, Myanmar, Namibia, Nepal, Netherlands, Netherlands Antilles, New Caledonia, New Zealand, Nicaragua, Niger, Nigeria, Northern Ireland, Norway, Oman, Pakistan, Palestine, Panama, Papua New Guinea, Paraguay, Peru, Philippines, Poland, Portugal, Puerto Rico, Qatar, Republic of Ireland, Romania, Russia, Rwanda, Samoa, San Marino, Saudi Arabia, Scotland, Senegal, Serbia and Montenegro, Seychelles, Sierra Leone, Singapore, Slovakia, Slovenia, Solomon Islands, Somalia, South Africa, Spain, Sri Lanka, St. Kitts and Nevis, St. Lucia, St. Vincent and the Grenadines, Sudan, Surinam, Swaziland, Sweden, Switzerland, Syria, São Tomé e Príncipe, Tahiti, Tajikistan, Tanzania, Thailand, Timor-Leste, Togo, Tonga, Trinidad and Tobago, Tunisia, Turkey, Turkmenistan, Turks and Caicos Islands, US Virgin Islands, USA, Uganda, Ukraine, United Arab Emirates, Uruguay, Uzbekistan, Vanuatu, Venezuela, Vietnam, Wales, Yemen, Zambia, Zimbabwe
That doesn't look like any kind of Western European/South American bias to me. The reason that the World Cup has only, for now, been won by European and South American teams is because, with a few exceptions such as when England won in 1966, France in 1998, and Uraguay in 1930 and 1950, Germany, Italy, Brazil and Argentina are consistantly the best football countries in the world. Argentinean and Brazilian players have the most amazing individual skills, and the Italians and German's are masters of executing on-pitch winning strategies. Also, In a FIFA survey it was found that around 240 million people regularly play football... that's MORE than the population of Western Europe and about 100 million less than the population of South America. As it's highly unlikely that every other grown man and woman in Western Europe and South America is playing in some kind of organised football match once a week or so it seems to me there must be a whole lot of people in the rest of the world making up that 240 million.
For someone to be defending someone else must be attacking, and as football matches are won and lost in the midfield there is as much horseshit in that statement as there is in the rest of the letter. In the World Cup finals the top two teams from each group of four proceed to the next round. Teams need points so you see a lot of attacking football with the 'smallest' teams usually throwing everything they can at their stronger opponents. The same is also true of the following knockout rounds, and this is why the underdogs so often appear no weaker than the favourites. This is what makes the finals so exciting to football fans. But if the author perceives football as a defensive, low scoring sport, so what? That makes it somehow less valid as a sport than trying to hit a little ball with a bat? Or progressing up the field of play via a series of set pieces? Or bouncing a ball on the floor until you are in a position to throw it through a hoop? There are sports I like, and there are those that I don't. I enjoy American Football and Hockey, but I would rather sit and watch paint dry than watch baseball, and I generally feel the same way about cricket. Does that make them any less enjoyable, or relevant, to those who do appreciate the skills of those who take part in them?
Simon