The Ultimate Goal: Unite Us

I am a closet soccer fan. Closet meaning that I come out every four years, tirelessly watch soccer for a month, and than hide my fan hood until the next World Cup rolls around. The World Cup, which is knocking on the world's doorstep, is the biggest global sports event that unites 32 nations as well as soccer fans everywhere, for one month of heart pounding competition. When Germans shake the hands of Frenchmen, and Koreans shake the hands of Argentines the World Cup is more than just soccer; more than just a game. The World Cup puts men of different racial, cultural, and economic backgrounds onto the same stage, as they compete not only for goals, wins, and the famous golden trophy; but for social change and ultimate world unity, that is just above the horizon.

South Africa, a country who's history is plagued with countless years of racial prejudice, tension, and division, plays host to the very event that contradicts its own past. How fitting that a country that has spent so long mending its own wounds, can now assist the world with its facilities and unimaginable insight. The South African soccer team itself, is the negation of what so many men before have tried to prevent; South Africa being represented by black men. Years from apartheid South Africa, where blacks were legally inferior, they are still fighting the same fight today. With racial turmoil that still remains, hope can be drawn from this year's World Cup venue and the team it has produced.

All of the countries in this years World Cup have found themselves engaged in some sort of war or conflict in their history. In the upcoming month, all can be put aside. As a sport that takes back seat to the "big four" in America, soccer is about to take hold of the world and bless us all with its versatility and grace. A Universal Language in the form of a game; a game, that can change the world.

JD