Football - One World

Viva Italie!

Italy won the FIFA world cup football championship 2006 in German grounds at the famous (or rather infamous) Olympiastadion where Adolf Hitler watched an man of inferior skin color win four gold medals decades ago. I will spare the details of the match but the best part of the match, in fact, the the best part of the championship is the fact that it brought the entire world together. According to the commentators an estimated one billion people watched the match live. Unlike the sport called football in this part of the world, where it is more mud wrestling than anything else, this event is watched by people of all kind. The Boston City Center ground was packed with at least a thousand people watching the match on a wide screen TV. "Is that Boston? I'm didn't know that Boston had that many football fans" said one of the men who waatched the match with me. I was a bit surprised when another gentleman made this remark "This is the real championship. This is much bigger than super bowl or world series". I felt that there are people who recognize the fact that there are events outside the borders of this country that not only stand for a great sporting event but also a great cause for human unity. I felt very good about it. The broadcasters did a wonderful job by playing a song from U2's "One game changes everything" campaign. From Africa to Russia and Australia to Argentina, this event united the entire world for at least a brief period of time.

Of course, there are some elements of shame in any great event. One man's stupidity led not only to his disqualification but also to a sever blow in the face of a team, a country that palyed so well that it might have won otherwise. I guess any coin will always have two faces. But the true spirit of sportsmanship and world unity stood out during the past few days.

Bill Clinton was at the game with his daughter!