Interesting observation on international appeal of soccer/football. Of American sports, only basketball has international appeal. And Americans don't follow or understand the interest in the World Cup. 1 in 5 people worldwide watched the World Cup Final match in 2002, but only 1 in 75 Americans did.
One other aspect of World Cup - it is not just about soccer, it is also about nationalism. In that way, it is similar to the Olympics. There are the individual stars, and there are the national identities.
"Soccer, by contrast, is the one form of mass global culture that is not made in America. Bring together a Swede, a Nigerian and a Korean teenager and almost all they are likely to have in common is American culture. They will talk about the latest Hollywood blockbuster, what Ben and Angelina are up to and the latest American music. And, of course, if they can communicate at all, it will be in English.
Soccer will be the other thing they have in common. And they will talk about the recent Barcelona-Arsenal match and the World Cup. Most American teenagers would be left out of the conversation when talk turned to sports."
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If I may, I would like to use your example of the reach of soccer to almost every culture in the planet in a blog about Global Culture. If you're interested, please check it out at global-culture.org
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