Play Qatar…

The Cast

By The Fillerbuster

November 18, 2022

Play Qatar…

(Disclaimer:  I am just going to call the sport “soccer” in this segment.  Very American.)

I remember reading a Pele biography over and over when I was old enough to read.  It was a short book, and I lapped the pages at least 50 times.  Sure, I played soccer, but so did every kid my age in New Jersey.

Pele went on to become possibly the greatest soccer player ever.  He scored at four different World Cups, and played the game with the same type of beauty that Jim Brown ran in football, Michael Jordan dunked in basketball, Wayne Gretzky weaved around players in hockey, and Mickey Mantle chased down fly balls in baseball.  I went on to other sports, stopping in between to be the best soccer player on the worst team and the worst player on the best team.  True story.

Then, I went to college at the University of Virginia.  They had just won the NCAA title in soccer, won it three of my four years at the school, and the cool thing to do was to attend soccer matches at the time.  I even got dumped by Melissa Stark after two dates, who ended up dating soccer player Ben Olsen.  Anyway, it was sort of a way of life there.

My skills of the game are long gone, but my appreciate continues.  I call myself “Country, not Club.”  I am not even sure that is a thing, but I say it anyway.  It means that every four years, I go nuts for the World Cup, but don’t really keep up on all of the leagues throughout the year (side from tracking which Americans are where).  It is the world’s game, and one must appreciate it even if they don’t host 4am World Cup parties like I have done many times (it was much easier when I was a bartender).

So, here we are, folks.  It is the most exciting world sporting event.  Politics and religions get put on the back burner as soccer becomes the focus.  And you should embrace it if you haven’t in the past.  This is just a short blog, but I planned on giving you a few reasons to tune in.

WHERE:

• This is the first World Cup to be hosted in the Middle East.
• They just banned alcohol outside the stadiums and Budweiser is a sponsor of FIFA.  That won’t go over well.
• The reason why the event is being held in the winter is because of the extreme heat in Qatar in the summer.  In their bid submission, they even had plans for all airconditioned venues along with a fake sky cloud (true story) to block the sun.  The fake cloud didn’t make the cut.
• The air conditioning is solar powered, folks.
• The last World Cup in Russia costs the hosts $5 billion.  This one cost the host $200 billion.

THE STRUCTURE:

• The Group and Knockout Stage structure is better than most professional playoff systems out there. It is so fair, thought out, traditional, to the point system there is. I love watching it play out.

THE USMNT:

• Don’t get your hopes up that the United States will win or even make it too interesting.  But, everyone has a shot right now.  Let’s just be happy if the USMNT gets out of their group.  England might go unscathed, Iran will be a very tough out, and Wales is…tricky.  Personally, I think the United States and England advance out of the group, and a great tourney would be for the USMNT to win one game in the knockout stage.  That is my ceiling.  Anything beyond that would be revolutionary and other worldly.
• We have stars, all.  Pay attention.  Christian Pulisic is our best and most exciting player.  He doesn’t get the time he deserves with Chelsea, but he is ON the high level squad.  We also have Giovanni Reyna, the son of Claudio Reyna.  Claudio helped pave the path for Americans to play overseas, and he also happens to be a Virginia alum who played in three World Cups himself.
• Why are we not as good as the rest of the world?  I think people can complicate the answer, but I like to simplify it.  In other countries, it is weird if all of the great young athletes DON’T want to be soccer players.  In the U.S., sports like basketball, hockey, baseball, and our football call to the young lads.  Therefore, our most skilled athletes typically choose other sports.  I am sure Steph Curry would have been a great forward for our team right about now.  I feel like LeBron would have liked to be a defensive player.

THE WORLD:

• Cristiano Ronaldo and Lionel Messi are not only the best of our era, but in the conversation with guys like Pele for best all time.  This might be their last run.  They don’t have a World Cup title on their resume.  In fact, there are quit a few people in that conversation.  Watch Neymar from Brazil, Kevin De Bruyne from Belgium, and Robert Lewandowski from Poland try another run at the elusive World Cup trophy.
• Messi is actually about to overtake Diego Maradona for the most World Cup matches played all time.
• The favorites are Argentina, Brazil, England, and France, all, so you can be intelligent in World Cup conversations.
• The next favorite is probably Spain.  Enjoy all the one name athletes from Brazil and Spain.
• England has Harry Kane, a mainstay, but also has some incredible young talent that won’t fear this stage.
• Kylian Mbappe from France is like watching Allen Iverson or Tim Hardaway dribble in their prime.
• Denmark’s Christian Eriksen doesn’t care as much about a title as just being back on the field.  He had cardiac arrest on the field at Euro 2020.
• Brazil is the favorite, but oddly they haven’t won it in 20 years.  That is a long drought.

BETTING:

• I am a betting guy, so here is a heads up on how hard THAT is.  It sounds easy to just pick a winner, but remember…if the regulation time ends in a tie, then your winner bet is a loss.  Very irritating.  One of these days, I might just bet every match as a tie and see how I do.
• Do “draw no bet.” You get your money back if they end up in a tie, and you win if your team wins. It is rooting for a team while having a safety net. You have to bet a little more, but you then don’t get mad if it ends in a draw and THEN your team wins.

LASSO:

• And c’mon. If you aren’t an American who now appreciates soccer more after Ted Lasso, then you are missing something from the show. And, if you haven’t seen the show Ted Lasso, then I don’t even know you or want to. Best show in years.

There is a LOT more to tease you with, but this is just a short blog.  Hope you got enticed and tune in to the best sporting event in the world.  We hope the USMNT goes on one of the most unbelievable runs ever.