Four years and already counting..

I can’t believe it’s already over. Spain became the 2010 World Cup champions yesterday by beating the Netherlands 1-0 on a goal in the 116th minute by world-class midfielder Andres Iniesta. As it was ending and I watched the closing celebrations, I couldn’t help but be a little sad. Not because I wanted the Netherlands to win, but because I know one of the best months in all of sports had come to and end.

In my opinion, this tournament brought us more than we could have bargained for. We saw the United States unite a country by the winning their group in thrilling fashion and attracting more attention to soccer in the states than ever before. We saw the defending champion Italians fail to advance from the group stages and the sheer embarrassment the French squad brought to their country. We had extremely controversial refereeing and spectacular last-minute finishes. Blood, sweat, tears, passion, and sheer desire all left on the pitch. Vuvuzelas that sounded like a pack of 6 trillion bee’s buzzing around your TV. Instant replay became the center of debate and surely some sort of review process is going to be implemented for the 2014 tournament in Brazil. Yes the 2010 South Africa World Cup definitely had its own flavor, whether you liked it or not.

Some critics will say the level of play in this tournament might have been sub par. A lot of teams didn’t live up to expectations and the hype was overshadowed by bad refereeing and controversial calls. Some critics don’t care enough to even comment on the tournament, and couldn’t care less about it all together. However, the beauty of this tournament is whether you are a soccer fanatic/hooligan or someone who doesn’t know an ounce about the sport, for one month you are drawn to it one way or another. Even if to say how boring you think soccer is and complain about the pathetic diving and fake injuries you see, you can’t help but watch. For one month, all politics are pushed aside and you root for your home country with passion and excitement. For the majority of Americans who don’t know a single thing about soccer or even care for that matter, you found yourself sitting around your TV’s, or in a local pub screaming for the United States to win. Lots of fans were running to the closest store to buy some sort of USA apparel to represent our country and root them on. You had hopes they would keep the dream alive and took this opportunity to be patriotic and support your country, the land you love. The United States vs Ghana match was the single most watched soccer game ever in the United States. The country cared, and everyone was involved. It was a time to rally behind something special in a country that’s seen its better days. It was a time when race, ethnicity and politics were thrown out the window. You found yourself high fiving and hugging complete strangers wherever you were when Landon Donovan scored that miraculous goal verse Algeria. That’s the beautiful thing about the game of soccer or as the Europeans call it, Futbol. There is more passion behind this sport than any other. It unites people, it’s inspiring, it brings people together. Sure there might be some aspects to the sport you don’t like, but every sport has that. Soccer is truly the only global sport, and for one month every four years it takes center stage. In my book, it doesn’t get any better. Now I don’t know about you, but I’m already counting down the days till 2014 in Brazil.