largest collective human experience ever...

The 2018 World Cup (WC) just concluded with well over 3 billion people watching worldwide (it was 3.2b in 2014). The USA viewership was down 44% from 2014.  

The WC happens every four years with 32 countries competing in the world oldest sport. It used to be called the beautiful game and this year one team returned that moniker to some its former glory. 

I have a lifetime of soccer behind me from NCAA and in 1954 I tasted my first champagne and cigar in Germany when they won the World Cup. I also celebrated four years ago when Germany won it again. I was utterly sad this year when Germany failed to make it out of group play - for the first time ever. A 2:0 loss to South Korea did them in. South Korea? I didn't even know they played soccer :-)! kiddin'...

I think the reason why 3+ billion people tuned in, is because most of them played soccer at least when they were a little kid. One can roll up a piece of paper and kick it around on any surface and make a game of it. What other sport is that easy and simple to stage?

And then there's the superstar young kids that come out of dirt poor beginnings without parents to shuttle them to every weekend game, enroll them in big $ summer camps, hire personal coaches and nurse them along.

In the USA we have the greatest youth soccer leagues in the world, yet we have never gotten to a quarterfinal in the WC. Why? Probably many reasons, but the one i like is that in high school with teenage hormones raging, the football quarterback still received way more idolization than the captain of the soccer team. And soccer requires flow and stamina and sophisticated understanding of subtle strategies. Most soccer players will run about 15-20 miles during each game... and they develop a 6th sense of where their teammates (and the ref :-) is. Basketball gets close to this but it barely has continuous play for more than a couple minutes.

FWIW: my2018 WC observations

And that was one of the many stories of this year's WC. None of the big teams with superstars made it through. France had the 2nd youngest team and their two young stars, products of french ghettos guided them through to the finals where they barely won against the beautiful team of Croatia... which (in my humble opinion) France did not deserve to win since Croatia dominated in 3/4 of the game. Croatia's flow and original creativity was a beautiful thing to behold. Over and over again they came from being down to tie it up and win it in overtime or on penalty kicks.

This year's WC will be remembered more for who didn't make it through to the semifinals. All of the top ten teams except for France lost out before that. Not a single superstar played even in the quarterfinals. Gone were Ronaldo, Messi, Neymar, Suarez etc. Gone were Germany, Spain, Brazil, Portugal, Argentina, Uruguay - who on another day could each have won (and have) the whole thing.

This year's WC sends a message once again that true soccer is alive and well in the world. Several super underdogs, most notably Croatia, Russia, Japan, even England made it way way further than anyone predicted.

I can't resist putting my own spin on the Finals game yesterday:  Croatia got robbed.  A Griesman dive - he wasn't touched turned into an early goal.  And then the VR review of a corner handball was outrageously reviewed and a penalty awarded.  But France did have two beautiful goals from their young stars.  Without those two unearned goals tho Croatia would probably have won.  Just about every soccer analyst agrees that Croatia WAY outplayed France through 70% of the game - it was beautiful to watch. 

The reason for all this? money - or lack of it. The WC pits country teams not league clubs against each other. These country teams only get to play 10-15 games each year and they earn a pittance. On the other hand, league clubs play 50-60 games together each year and their superstars earn upwards of $100million per year. The big teams like Barcelona, Real Madrid, Bayern Munich, Manchester, PSG, Juventus, Roma, etc. surround their superstars with other stars from all over the world that can feed them elegantly in front of the goal. Country teams cannot - they are stuck with their home grown talent for better or worse.

Take Real Madrid and/or Barcelona with their four headed snake of a front line: Messi, Ronaldo, Neymar, Suarez - well that was a couple years ago and all these players have moved on to more money elsewhere.

And then there's FIFA. What good can someone say about them? That Sepp Blatter is gone, that the USA Feds indicted and jailed a few of their corrupt leaders? They are still tied to corporate sponsors and secretive deals.

This year's WC say video replay on the soccer pitch for the first time. It came off rather well. It was used in the final game to award France a penalty kick on a Croatian hand ball, that otherwise would have not been called. It was used in some flopping (faking an injury), and in some offside calls. Most of the time it took less than 60 seconds for the review.

I still don't like FIFA for all their corporate sponsorships (just like the NFL, NBA, NHA, etc) and the strict guidelines for teams' behavior. England was fined $70k for a couple players not wearing authorized socks, Croatia was fined $70k for drinking the wrong kind of beverage (water! not Coke), and Russia was fined $10k for some racism banners their fans waved in the stands, and others...

FIFA also has one of the worse social justice practices of awarding Coca-Cola a lifetime forever contract to provide (free coke) drinks to poor 3rd world country kids.

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Soccer is the only sport where uninterrupted playing occurs for 45 straight minutes. No commercials, minimal stoppages, no time outs...The 3D moving chess game of strategies and counter strategies is a beautiful thing to behold.

Soccer is gaining popularity in the USA - slowly. I think a lot of that has to do with Hispanic and foreign citizens that inherited the love of the game from their parents. American TV viewing audience this year was at an all time low - the USA team did not qualify. But, the main reason is that the standard American sports viewer has an opportunity every 3-4 minutes to take a quick break while play is interruped by something.... not in soccer. You take your eye off the flowing game, and a couple seconds later a goal could be scored.

The next WC will be in Qatar in November 2022 and then the USA/Mexico/Canada in 2026. The Qatar location is very controversial - not only don't they have a national soccer team, the average temperature in the summer hovers around 120F. FIFA has moved that to November. And Qatar's record on human rights among other things is horrid.