Give Soccer A Chance

You know how there's always that one food you think you hate? You hated it as a kid and possibly through your teenage years, and through some ill-fated turn of events you're confronted with this food again. You must consume this food or risk appearing like an ungrateful bastard.
My food was green beans and it was at my cousin's wedding that I felt compelled to eat them for the first time in about ten years. I always thought I hated green beans. I never liked them as a kid so I assumed that dislike would carry over. Wrong. Green beans are delicious. At my cousin's wedding it was either green beans or hunger. I chose green beans and I'm so glad I did because I had no idea what I was missing.
I know it's a bad analogy, but let me say this, Americans, when it comes to soccer, you don't know what you're missing. I know, games end in ties, even 0-0 ties. Three total goals is an offensive explosion. There's times when the ball is kicked back and forth for a minute or so. But trust me, just try it, you will find it delicious.
The beauty of World Cup soccer is the way the tournament is constructed. There's 8 groups, each consisting of 4 teams. Each team plays the other once, resulting in 3 games per team in the opening round. 3 points are rewarded for a victory, 1 for a tie, and 0 for a loss. The two teams with the most points in each group advance to the next round, resulting in a 16 team bracket exactly like the Sweet 16 in college basketball.
From there on it's win or go home, if the game is tied, they go up to two 15 minute overtimes before heading to a best of 5 penalty shootout. Just think of all the opportunities for drama. Not only can a strong team potentially be knocked out in the opening round if they blow just one game, but in single elimination anything can happen.
I was a typical American. I didn't like soccer because I liked football, basketball, and baseball. I didn't like soccer because I wasn't supposed to like soccer. Soccer was boring, there wasn't enough contact, and definitely not enough scoring.

Long story short, I gave soccer a try in 2002. It was about one or two in the morning, I was eating Doritos and drinking Pepsi like a normal 15 year old does at that time. I was searching for something to watch and nothing was on except the US versus South Korea. Luckily, I had tuned in just before they started and I watched the entire game, hooked. The US struck first, on a mohawk-sporting Clint Dempsey goal in the 24 minute. They held a 1-0 lead until the 78th minute when the hometown team tied it up. The game would end in a 1-1 tie and I didn't care. I was so enthralled with the action that the fact that there was no winner didn't matter to me.
After the game I began reading anything I could find about the World Cup and US national team in particular. Little did I know, the US team had already played a game and defeated Portugal, one of the favorites to win the entire thing in 2002. The US would go on to lose to Poland in their third game, but move on to the next round with a 1-1-1 record, good for 4 points. They then pulled off an improbable upset of Mexico before they were finally defeated by eventual runner-up Germany in the quarterfinals.
I cannot explain the excitement that came with rooting for South Korea to beat Portugal in their opening round matchup. Had Portugal won, the US would not have advanced to the next round. That's one of the great things about group play, and why I think ties make things more interesting. Because the US and South Korea game ended in a tie it opened up the possibility of either Portugal or the US advancing. Had Portugal beat South Korea they would have advanced, but because they didn't the US was able to lose to Poland and still advance, all because of the tie.
Saturday's US-England matchup was probably the most hyped US match ever, so if you didn't check it out, there's probably no convincing you. England scored their first and only goal in the 4th minute, looking like they were about to have their way. Then in the 40th minute, England goalie Robert Green let a routine ball by Clint Dempsey bounce off him and into the net. The game ended in a 1-1 tie, a victory for the US who most expected to lose.
Some things take getting used to. For me soccer was one of those things. Do yourself a favor and watch with an open mind. You'll be surprised at how entertaining soccer is.