Filed under: WC 2010
Love of country: US makes it to last 8. I’m not deluded enough to hope for anything more than this, but The World Cup is one of the few places where I can indulge my occasional nationalism and my persistent under-doggism at the same time. Go US (and please, get a decent nickname).
Afrophilia: Ghana, Cote d’Ivoire, or Cameroon make it to last 8. This is the African Cup. The teams (and countries, for that matter) are all underdogs, and the two strongest teams according to conventional wisdom (Ghana and Cote d’Ivoire) have the toughest group draws. Still, I have to hope. And I’ll root for Nigeria too if they’re the only ones who make it out of the group stages, but my heart won’t be in it.
Avoiding Heartbreak: South Africa makes it out of group stages. So the host nation has never failed to make it out of group, and even though SA is one of the weaker African sides, I can’t stand the idea of them being the first country ever not to do so. I just want to give the country a big hug of sympathy, which may mean I’ve secretly given up on them already. Whoops.
Irrational Affection: England wins it. What? I can’t root for USA to win, I’m in theory more British than anything else, and the British have had enough Cup bad luck to generate an underdog affection despite, you know, actually being an international soccer force.
If nothing else: Spain or Portugal wins. I prefer it be Spain just because if Portugal wins, it stands to reason that Cote d’Ivoire didn’t make it out of group play. However, it would be the first Cup (I’m pretty sure) for either country, and I’d rather either one than Brazil or Germany (Actually, my ‘if nothing else’ might best be summed up by, please don’t let the winner be Brazil or Germany). And I know there’s a reason that one of those two teams is always in the final, but, you know, my heart is not a meritocracy (at least not where sports are concerned).
Oh come on, it would be awesome: North Korea beats Brazil in group play. I just can’t imagine anything better than this upset in terms of shaking up the Cup a bit and setting the tone that anything could happen.
Vive l’espoir!
