2010 FIFA World Cup: World Cup, World Importance

We've been waiting for this for four years. And now, it starts.

The celebration concerts and the opening ceremony will be over. The real business of football begins.

It's World Cup time, and you don't want to miss a thing.

From the big guns of Spain, Italy, Holland, France, England, and Germany to the minors of the Koreas and New Zealand, 32 teams will believe they have a chance to lift the trophy.

When all is said and done by mid-July, one country will be celebrating and the rest of us wil be wondering what went wrong.

We'll wonder why our superheroes didn't step up, why the injuries happened when they did, and we can be sure to blame a manager or two. We'll be talking about the ball, the refs, and penalties. Hopefully not too many.

But you know what? It's also going to be a celebration of the beautiful game.

We'll see some crazy goals, brilliant goals, and stupid goals. We'll see penalties, passing, and pageantry. We'll scream at the top of our lungs, while getting earache from hearing the loud horns that accompany every crowd. We'll scream abuse at our favorite player, and cheer on the villain. At the World Cup, nothing will matter except winning.

We'll be able to marvel at Messi, roar on Rooney, and applaud at God's creation, Kaka.

Wait a minute, aren't we all God's creations? Yeah, but these guys (and many, many others) were created better at football than you were.

In theatre they say "break a leg," but for 32 football teams, they'll be saying: "For Chrissake, don't. "

But like the stage, the World's Cup's a way to escape.

For me, it will be, anyway. A way to escape the fact that my wife's will be going through her first round of chemotherapy during the tournament.

For others, it'll be a way to escape the fact that they feel jobless and feel hopeless. Hell, an England win will probably stop a few people wanting to throw themselves off the local bridge, while if Italy loses then you can expect a few calls to Samaritans Onlus , the Italian suicide hot line. Spain and Brazil fans will expect to win, while the Germans probably expect to win on penalties. Do they ever lose that way?

I'm ready. Are you?