World Cup

There is a once every four years international sports competition going on right now that is not the Olympics. We hardly know it exists in the US but the rest of the world prepares for and follows it closely. It is the soccer World Cup (which Germans often translate into English as "foot ball.") I was in East Africa during the last World Cup and it was playing on radios, people were talking about it, and at night they gathered into restaurants/bars or whatever public structure had a TV playing to watch the games. Normally there is almost a cultural phobia about appearing nationalistic in Germany. As a general rule Germans do not fly the German flag and here opt for the regional Scheswig-Holstein flag instead. But that has all changed with the World Cup. Now cars are driving around sporting the two "patriot" German flags sticking up from each window. German flags and stickers are hanging up in random places, windows, balconies, car doors, rear windows. All kinds of German flag colored toys and wrappers are at the grocery store. At work there is a pool going following the games. Last weekend there were spontaneous car horns and yells from the town as a goal was scored by the German team. Apparently, Germany is doing well this year.

I am learning something about how it is structured. There are four groups of four teams. The US is with England (why not UK? or EU as a whole?, each US state doesn't get its own team), Slovenia, and Algeria. From each of these four groups one team will go on to a tournament for the final world cup game. Last time it was won by Italy.

The US is also doing OK. We tied England 1-1 this time around, down from beating them 1-0 the last time we played England in the the world cup (link).

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Update, it is eight groups of four teams and two from each go on to the playoffs...I guess. I am still confused.