South Africa, Here We Come

With the college football and NFL seasons fully underway (including the evergreen Favre soap opera), is anybody in the U.S. paying attention to World Cup qualifying? Perhaps not, however the soccer (or football or Fußball) results rank always as front page news in Europe.

In case you're not quite up to speed, South Africa hosts World Cup 2010 next summer. Last week saw the (nearly) final round of qualifying games across the globe. The United States national team officially qualified, no great accomplishment among the weak North and Central American qualifying group against the likes of Honduras, El Salvador and much-feared Trinidad & Tobago. Somewhat surprisingly--albeit a pleasant one for the Swiss--Switzerland also qualified from the competitive European group last week. After a series of botched games and early exit as co-host of the European Championships in summer 2008 (primarily because of the crushing social pressure they heaped on themselves, very Swiss of them), this World Cup 2010 qualification feels somewhat redeeming to this tiny but nonetheless proud country constantly on the European bubble surrounded by talented, confident giants like Italy, Germany and France.

Perusing the newspaper on a tram last Thursday, the day after official qualification, I thus found this typical "local interview" clip quite amusing. Several Swiss and several non-nationals (Argentinean and "loathed" German) are asked about their dream opponent next summer. The German (lower right) gives a great loathed German answer, he wants Switzerland to play reigning world champ Italy. The Argentinian babysitter (middle right) thinks Switzerland v. Argentina would be interesting (it might). But my favorite... the 24-year-old Swiss hairdresser (featured top left) wants an "easy opponent like Chile, USA or Australia, otherwise the Swiss may lose all their games." It's funny because she's right; the USA probably boasts roughly equivalent skill to Switzerland.

There is however an X-factor: while the U.S. historically bombs out terribly in Europe (ranking virtually last in France 1998 and Germany 2006) they can improve markedly on "neutral", i.e., non-European, grounds as evidenced by their sometimes lucky, sometimes surprisingly good run in Japan/Korea 2002. As mega-fans of World Cup atmosphere and attendees in France and Germany, Steph and I already booked our (rather expensive) tickets and hotels in South Africa next summer. After planning our travels on those previous occasions around seeing a (ultimately disappointing) U.S. game, we're instead taking a loose approach: staying in stunning Cape Town and its surrounding wine regions rather than risking soccer's unpredictable fortunes; raucously attended bars and cafés broadcast all the games on TV regardless. Steph visited Johannesburg and Cape Town on a work trip earlier this year, but this will make my first journey to the African continent.

Fun stuff and definitely something to look forward to... USA! USA! USA!