It's Coming Home

"You give me a 7 year old and I'll show you a man" or somewhere in that line was used in the first season of shameless. Where that line originated is neither pinpointed in the series or of any relevance to this piece right here. Where am I going with this you ask? Well it's now part of the media focus and presumably part of the community's general knowledge that it's here. It's finally here. Not on home soil of course but through mass media we have lowered our envy "level" to "okay la, boleh tengok mane2" from "pergh, if only I was there". I'm talking about the FIFA World Cup in South Africa.

This is when man becomes boys instead of the other way around made popular by that R&B group in the states. Ha ha. Everybody has their favourites with different reasons behind it. Be it because of birth right, association to the country, love from a young age or because of a single player (Ronaldo anyone?). (As I'm writing this, I have no idea where this is going. Ha ha.) Personal favourites become less important as the tournament goes on (especially if the team gets kick out early) because of one factor, and that is my friends the basis of the tournament itself, the world's showcase of football.

Under the guidance of fair play other issues are put aside as one ball is kicked around to the amazement of millions if not billions. People gather from all different parts of the world and from different backgrounds to watch this one sporting event. With media coverage of enormous proportion, everybody will be glued to watch the game or at least to hear news about it even if they don't fancy football that much. As our ever rapidly moving society goes, if your not in it, your out of it. So for those of you football noobs (at least world cup noobs) here is some conversation tips if you want to be relevant. In a society that is multi-layered, all our goal is just that isn't it? To be relevant. (But that's another story).

1. Brazil is ALWAYS favourites coming into ANY world cup. Even if the selecao have neglected their samba ways. Heck look at the squad for USA '94.

2. Other favourites include Spain, Argentina (even with maradona at helm) and England.

3. Unfortunately for England, their record shows that the last 3 tournaments they competed in, they lost on penalties in the quarter-finals in each. General knowledge for others. A curse for fans of the Three Lions.

4. The offside rule is still foreign to everyone out there, even for the officials. So don't feel too bad. Ha ha.

5. And one of the most cliche phrases of all, never count out the Germans.

If there are any more, I'm sure they will pop up in the comment box below. So with these knowledge in hand let's watch a sporting event that unites the world (for a month or so). Along with general knowledge of the game, ready in hand the following items:

1. Snacks
2. Drinks (just because we're only watching doesn't mean we're not "in it" and for those who are choking on the aforemention snacks.)
3. A vuvuzela (Just to annoy the heck out of everybody sitting next to you or in a radius of 5km. Yes, 5KM!)
4. Your team's jersey (that you wear only in the duration of the competition)
5. And lastly any type of headache's reliever for the next day (or next few hours in some cases.)

Like the competition, I come every four years. So see ya in 2014! Ha ha. I bid you Adieu.