World Cup Diary: Latin America Reigns

So, we now have the quarterfinal line up: four Latin American teams are in the next round. Brazil and Argentina were expected. Paraguay and Uruguay have also qualified. The only Latin American team that didn’t make it was Chile, but they were matched against Brazil, a tall order.

Europe has had a relatively poor showing. Only Germany, Spain, and the Netherlands are in. All three were expected to get this. France and Italy were upsets early on, which is reflective of the two erstwhile powerful countries’ general malaise. After Greece, these are two nations that could be at risk of going bankrupt!
England also looked shabby and in disarray, perhaps also burdened by the national debt?

Spain, however, looks strong and nimble, and has risen above the country’s economic dysfunctions. Germany looks very good, as does the Netherlands.

And I am so glad that Ghana has come this far, offering Africa a team to root for in this round, while they host the cup on their continent.

But after Japan’s loss to Paraguay today, Asia has no representation in the tournament. This ain’t good, and needs to change. I am pretty sure that people are thinking about how to get the Asian countries more engaged in soccer, since the media and entertainment industry business potential of monetizing the hundreds of billions of eyeballs that would generate is not lost on people who watch these things.

Over the next decade, soccer will become a big sport in Asia with big money involved.

Watch this evolve!

This segment is a part in the series : World Cup Diary