1 ball and 22 guys

There is something remarkable about what kind of sports American people love and the people of the rest of the world.

The rest of the world loves soccer but the Americans love sports like basket ball and baseball.
What is so remarkable is that soccer is played with the feet and the sports the Americans love with the hands.
There is no explanation for that.
In fact, it is puzzling.

Besides this major difference, the other observation one can make is that the sports the Americans love, have no worldwide importance.
Outside the USA, basketball and baseball are minor sports of no importance.
Therefore they are not on a worldwide level.
Painfully and shamelessly in the USA a competition of baseball is called "the world series", but the world has nothing to do with it.
It is a national American event bombarded with aplomb into a most important global thing which it is not.

Soccer though is loved by most people in the world except Americans who are too busy reading books or checking garage sales.

Now, the Dutch soccer team at the world championships currently taking place in South Africa
have beaten the team of Slovakia and has proceeded to the last eight.
On Saturday they will play Brazil that is a most dangerous adversary.
The Brazilian soccer team has been world champion several times.
Nevertheless, the Dutch people believe that this time they have a serious chance to become a world champion.
Stronger than any team in the world and that includes the United States who were not very unsuccessful in South Africa.

In the end, it is not much more than eleven guys running after a ball to be put in a cage as often as possible.
And eleven other guys running in the opposite direction with the same intention.
But soccer goes really deep in the feelings of the ones that love this sport.
Especially when it is a world championship and national teams play.
Suddenly nationalism and chauvinism come alive.
The way the nation is seen becomes related to the results at the world championship.
People believe they have a strong country with a beautiful culture and tradition and that they are clever and superior.
And this is expressed and learned from the results of their national soccer team in South Africa.
If they win, they feel they are all the best in the world.
If they lose, they feel the silly-billies of this planet.

Like recently when Mexico had to play Argentina.
The Mexicans lost 3-0 and the national coach said that they were not a country of winners.
And now the Mexicans believe they are good people but never winning.

But if the Dutch become world champion, be aware.
Every Dutch person will believe he is the king of the world.
While it is just soccer.



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