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In football, after the Superbowl they crown the winners "World Champions" and the same idea is implied for basketball in the NBA and baseball in the MLB. However, these sports are heavily dominated by Americans with perhaps the exception being baseball to a certain extent. However, the real international sport is soccer...it is played all over the world. I've been to Ecuador seeing kids playing soccer in the slim streets of Quito and pick up soccer games in basketball courts in Madrid, Spain and Paris, France.
There is nothing like the fans in soccer outside of the United States. I remember attending some of the qualifying games for Ecuador for the 2006 World Cup. I had to arrive 4 to 5 hours before the match just to get a good seat in my own section. The sound was just deafening once the game started with chants, roars, and when the home was winning at the end of the games a series of "Ole"s. In Europe, it's just as hardcore, maybe even more with hooligans and hardcore fans.
Every four years, the UEFA European Football Championship takes place and the Euro 2008 kicked off on June 7th in Austria, Switzerland. So far, the tournament has started off with a bang with a surprising Netherlands 3-0 victory over the 2006 World Cup Champion Italians.
So stop being so American...and tune in. Come and watch the stars of the world like Ronaldo (Portugal), Van Nistelroy (Netherlands), Torres (Spain), and Ballack (Germany) play in one of the most anticipated soccer tournaments besides the beloved World Cup. You might even learn some acting tips...
There are 4 Groups and the teams are as follows:
Group A: Portugal, Czech. Republic, Turkey, Switzerland
Group B: Germany, Croatia, Austria, Poland
Group C: Netherlands, Italy, Romania, France
Group D: Spain, Sweden, Greece, Russia,
Here is a list of the current standings
ESPN 2 (finally catching on to soccer) has been showing the majority of the games and you can see the schedule of the Euro 2008 here.
...see, Soccer Mom's Know Wassup
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