OFFSIDES!

“Le Coupe du Monde:” World Cup
“Football” Soccer

A couple of weeks ago, I could not have told you what “offsides” meant, or the significance of yellow and red cards, penalty kicks, who Christiano Renaldo was, or any of the like. Now that the World Cup has begun, soccer is in full force all over the world, not excluding Clermont-Ferrand. I have never boasted to be a soccer fan (usually quite the contrary), but with 3 games a day, and little else entertainment, I now often watch a ball get kicked around for 90 minutes at a time.

While soccer has its certain followings in the U.S., it is a huge sport here in Europe. (They don’t know about baseball or basketball!). Since the World Cup has started, I have learned the essential rules of the game and discovered how the tournament works: 8 groups of 4 teams each play each other, the 2 top teams from each group go on to a 16 team single-elimination tournament. I have also learned who I am supposed to cheer for (Obviously go U.S.A!, Allez la France, boo England, and anyone else playing against those teams). However, I think the most important tidbit about soccer that I have come across in the last 2 weeks is the article I found online, “The Top 15 Sexiest Soccer Players in the World Cup.” Now, before each game, I check my list to see whom I should be watching on the field. Soccer players don’t wear masks or helmets, so it’s easy to get a good look at the boys too. Sweet deal!

I need to go look to see who’s playing today…