Where Caring about the World Cup is Way Cool!

I'm a soccer fan. I have been since I was a little kid and kicked a ball around with my dad in our hallway, garage, and yard. Growing up in America, the World Cup wasn't really all that big. I remember more of an excitement over the Women's World Cup than the Men's, and that I was the only one of my friends who would get really excited that soccer was on.

Being in Europe for this World Cup is exhilarating. There are flags hanging out of windows, stuck onto cars, and available for purchase on the streets. Everyone seems to have some kind of patriotic gear and are always talking about the matches. There is a giant screen set up where people from the city can all gather to watch the live match. And shops have capitalized on the World Cup fever with soccer themed everything. When a goal is scored and when a game is won, the streets erupt with car horns and people making noise.

Anyone who has been watching knows that it has been an interesting World Cup with lots of big teams (hello, Spain???) leaving the tournament earlier than expected. Many goals have been scored at the last minute, just enough to tip the scales from uncertainty to victory, and many players have dramatically rolled around in the grass looking for a free kick, penalty, or maybe a few minutes break. In fact, the major criticism that I have heard throughout this World Cup is about soccer players pretend falls. When you watch the replays, it becomes pretty obvious pretty fast that they're a bunch of fakers. In a game that takes a lot of skill, endurance, and team work, it is a shame to see its reputation being spoiled by the very players whom you want to admire. This led me to wonder what would a player of integrity look like? What if there was a player who only stayed down if he was well and truly injured? What if there was a player who never cried wolf? Who fell and got back up again? Maybe then we would admire him not for his fancy hair, fancy foot skills, or flashy jersey, but because of play and not his playacting.