Expert Blogs

While the pitch is the stage and the players are the actors, it's the supporters who invariably win rave reviews at any World Cup.

Finally there is a break in the action at the FIFA World Cup.  After 19 consecutive days of high stakes soccer, the clock has ceased to tick and the eight teams that remain reload for the quarterfinals.

It seems so strange.

For Canadians it's difficult to side with Americans when it comes to fun and games.

It's an even more problematic alliance at global sporting summits.

In the beloved passion of hockey, at the most critical moments, the men and women clad in uniforms bearing "Old Glory" present the greatest threat to those who don the Maple Leaf.

Only one week into its' run the World Cup in South Africa has already delivered more drama than a full season of the most popular soap opera.  And here's the difference - this is reality TV.

The World Cup stands alone.

 

There is no need to qualify the title of this tournament with FIFA, (the governing body of international soccer), or to identify what sport we're talking about in the first place.

 

We all get it.

When afforded the opportunity to meet a bona fide World Cup legend nervousness ensues.  It's like encountering Bobby Orr or perhaps Jack Nicklaus.

 

Eusebio da Silva Ferreira is, after all, just a man.

 

But he happens to be the most revered player in Portuguese football history. So famous that he is referred to throughout the world by a single moniker.

 

Everyone in this game knows Eusebio.

Just about a month to go until the wildly anticipated FIFA World Cup kicks off in South Africa. 

 

For so many fans it promises deliverance from the ordinary, even gossipy progression, of professional soccer or football or whatever it is you want to call it.

Robben Island, South Africa - There is a small, flat island in the ocean 12 kilometres off the coast of Cape Town with an incredible soccer history.

 

Here, the prisoners of South Africa's Apartheid regime, including Nelson Mandela, broke rocks in a quarry as punishment for opposing racial segregation.