A Word or Two on World Cup 2006

Well, the current status if the World Cup has all but lost its luster for the Americans after they received a humiliating loss at the hands (and feet) of a vastly superior Czech republic team whose attacking offense and stingy defense made our poor team look like amateurs on a world stage.

There is still hope (there is always hope!) that they can beat a strong Italian team and rebound to beat Ghana and perhaps find a berth in the next round as a runner-up...right?

Regardless, the spectacle that is referred to as the pinnacle of soccerdom has gotten underway in Germany. Quite frankly though, there have been few surprises. The teams that have been expected to win and dominate have been doing so from the start and show little if any signs of slowing down anytime soon. The German, Czech, English and Brazilian teams have all had relatively good starts in their series matches. The Japanese ran into a very strong and determined Australian team and the "Socceroo's" upset a heavily favored Japanese National Squad 3-1.

My excitement over the whole party has faded just a little. In defense of my fading enthusiasm I am allowed to be a little upset at the poor showing of the United States team after I expected them to be much better. They still have a chance and I hope that they come out and beat the Italian team handsomely!

It has been really neat to see everyone at the cantina and in the chow hall watching the games. Not necessarily the American contingency, but also all of the other soccer fans from all around the world which find themselves here on this tiny outpost in Africa much the same way we do. Our British Marine brothers who often root against most of the teams the Americans are rooting for just for the sheer pleasure! Our Korean fans - especially the one officer in our chow hall who watched the game and danced a dance in a crowded chow hall when the Korean team scored it's final goal late in the second half of the game against Togo. At the end of the game, he held a small South Korean flag over his head and the chow hall erupted into impromptu applause for his outright zeal and passion for the game!

We have Pakistani, Indian, Kenyan, Nigerian, German, and French representation as well as almost every country in Latin America (just in our little unit alone!). Funny how a sport such as soccer can really bring all the world to a small stage!

I am thankful that I was at least able to view this spectacle - really, there was a point where I didn't think we would be able to watch the games. But, thanks to some very quick thinking Marines here on post, a contingency plan came to fruition and we are now able to watch EVERY game without any interruptions.

With all things taken into due consideration, I will see that Germany has been an excellent host and that the games for the most part have been pretty exciting. There are so many stories to tell at how these players, many of them from very poor areas of the world have risen above to become the cream at the top and have found themselves on the threshold of claiming the most precious of trophies in the world today! Still, I cannot help but wonder if I will ever in my lifetime see a USA team up there on the winners pedestal. They have a tough mountain to climb ahead of them, but I know with the next game I will be right there chanting and perhaps screaming at the television, "Go USA!"

"Adam bayad hamisheh omid dashteh bashad" (one must always have hope)...

("GO USA, GO!")