Well, here’s my advice: don’t listen to the purists. This year’s World Cup has been one of the most glorious spectacles in sport precisely because of the upsets, the surprises and the thrilling rise of unpolished outsiders. This World Cup is, in fact, the first truly to deserve its grandiose name. When the lords of football brought the tournament to Asia, they certainly had their minds set on globalizing the game. But they could never have imagined four giants falling in the first round as four neophytes from the corners of the globe raced into the Cup’s final rounds. South Korea and Turkey, which entering the tournament had won just one World Cup game between them in 48 years of trying, both stormed into the semifinals with victories on Saturday. The remaining football powers–Germany and Brazil–are still the favorites to walk away with the trophy next week. But that doesn’t diminish the achievements of the little guys, or the enormous psychological boost they have given both the World Cup and their homelands.
The huge red banner that Korean fans hung from the seats in Daejeon stadium last week seemed wildly optimistic: gate of hell, grave of giants! South Korea, ranked No. 40 in the world before the tournament, seemed to have little chance of beating Italy, the stylish three-time champions. But when mop-haired Korean star Ahn Jung Hwan headed home the golden goal in the game’s 117th minute, capping a 2-1 come-from-behind victory, the words were suddenly, prophetically true. Four days later Korea did it again, edging the talented Spanish side in a controversial match (a clear Spanish goal was disallowed) that ended in penalty kicks. The Spaniards, like the Italians before them, caught a glimpse of hell: millions of delirious Korean fans–aptly known as the Red Devils–dancing in the streets as their team advanced farther than any Asian side in World Cup history.
Why so many fallen giants? Aficionados may focus on the fine points: burned-out stars (too many games); conservative coaches (too much pressure); disjointed teams (too many egos). But the bigger reason is that the globalization of football has closed the gap between the traditional powers and the rest of the world. More and more players from the sport’s developing countries are now honing their skills in the European leagues. “The soccer world is shrinking,” says U.S. coach Bruce Arena, noting that more than half his players have contracts with European clubs, including three in Germany, the very country that knocked them out on Friday. When Senegal stunned its former colonizer, France, 1-0, did you notice that all 11 of Senegal’s starters play in the French professional league? Then there’s Ahn, the Korean hero. He plays with Perugia in Italy’s Serie A. But the day after his goal sent Italy home, Perugia’s owner called Ahn a “traitor” and vowed not to renew his contract.
The World Cup, of course, has always been as much about national pride as football prowess. Even as the game goes global, the reactions to it remain intensely tribal. So the Italians feel betrayed, the Argentines sink deeper into their funk and the French feel, well, tres bleus. The emerging football nations have been bathing in patriotic fervor. In Senegal, a country so poor it can hardly fund a national team, the Lions’ exuberant run has been greeted as an act of God.
But how long will the good feelings last? Turkey’s feats on the field have given fans a moment of gleeful escape before what seems sure to be a round of political and economic turmoil. For South Korea, long in the shadows of Japan and China, its stunning World Cup success has given people “a sense of liberation,” said Chung Mong Yoon, the chairman of the Korean football association, explaining the massive outpouring of euphoria in a country that actually prefers baseball. Few people really believe that the World Cup will single-handedly save these countries, or that the feel-good effect will last forever. But with their performances, these outsiders–raw and unpolished as they may be–have ensured that this year’s World Cup will endure in our memories as one of the most exhilarating and unpredictable moments in sport.
