Fred Bowen's "The Score" column,
May 31, 2002, Washington Post

Soccer Commands World Stage

I'll admit that I am not the world's biggest soccer fan. But I love the World Cup.

The world's biggest, and best, sports championship starts today when the defending champion, France, takes to the pitch (that's soccer talk for the playing field) against Senegal. Throughout June, 32 teams from around the globe will battle for soccer's biggest prize. More than 1 billion fans are expected to watch the World Cup final on June 30.

The World Cup is the Super Bowl, the World Series and any NCAA championship you can think of all rolled into one amazing event. What makes the World Cup so much better than regular soccer games? Let me tell you.

First, everybody plays in the World Cup. Usually, soccer's biggest stars are scattered all over the world playing in a dozen big-time soccer leagues. There's the Premiership in England, Primera Liga in Spain and Serie A in Italy. And that's not even mentioning Major League Soccer in the United States or all the other top leagues in Europe and South America.

All these soccer leagues are fun, but soccer greats such as Brazil's Ronaldo, England's David Beckham or France's fabulous "ZZ" (Zinedine Zidane) hardly ever play against each other. Well, don't worry, all the stars come out for the World Cup.

Second, there are no "friendlies" in the World Cup. Soccer is full of exhibitions, tune-ups and tournaments (sometimes called "friendlies") that don't mean a thing. Remember all those practice games before the World Cup, when the national teams were just going through the motions and trying out new lineups? The score of those friendlies are forgotten five minutes after the referee's final whistle.

Every game in the World Cup means something. Once the final 16 teams survive to the second round, every game becomes do-or-die. One loss and you go home. Every save, every header, every corner kick is pressure-packed. That's what makes the World Cup so much fun.

Finally, folks aren't just playing and rooting for the greater glory of some pro team such as Manchester United, AC Milan or the New York/New Jersey MetroStars. In the World Cup, everybody is playing and rooting for a country. So Samuel Eto and the other Indomitable Lions of Cameroon will be playing for the pride of their African nation. Clint Mathis and Claudio Reyna will be wearing the red, white and blue of the U.S.A. That is always special.

So there you have it. The world's greatest stars, playing for their countries, before billions of fans on soccer's biggest stage.

The World Cup is not just another soccer tournament.

Read all about it -- Everything you need to know about the World Cup is in a special section in today's Washington Post.

© 2002 The Washington Post Company