The Cup is cool

After enduring boring NBA finals', several one-sided tennis slams, steroids in baseball and a cancelled hockey season in recent years, soccer fans now get their chance to celebrate. World Cup month has finally arrived!

While the Cup's enormity has no equal in European and South American sport particularly, it's pleasing that nations with less "football" experience also choose to party. Take the U.S., for example, who dominate the baseball and basketball universe traditionally, get no bigger audience than on Super Bowl Sunday, and who are now in the 2006 World Cup to compete. Yes, compete.

Perhaps more importantly to U.S. TV execs and advertisers, America has the chance to win over a whole new generation of fans. If soccer can grow its popularity further in the States, there's no telling where the game can go in this part of the world. For soccer’s sake, I'm rooting for a few red, white and blue wins.

Australia is in a similar position. Having missed Cup qualification the last 32 years, the Aussies are taking a giant Adidas boot forward in battling the likes of Brazil and Croatia. A single victory in the strong Group F, also featuring Japan, will only lift the Aussie's profile at home where rugby historically dominates.

Canada, without a qualifying team and still focused on the Stanley Cup Finals, has its World Cup interest buoyed by a potent multicultural base. In Toronto alone, national flags from every corner of the globe are waving atop cars, and local pubs have been preparing Cup events for weeks. World Cup fever knows no borders.

Everyone’s invited to the Cup party and predicting the finalists is part and parcel of the celebration—and you thought Idol was addictive. Everybody's an expert during these tournaments, everyone has a tip. I particularly love the media "experts" who pick winners based on international profile. England-with Captain Beckham-has a high profile, for instance, so is a popular bet. Italy, with its calendar models, has an inflated profile too, so we know that at least females are backing them. Brazil, based on a powerful soccer brand has a high profile as well, and is thus the most heavily backed competitor since Seabiscuit.

But where this prediction method fails, is in recognising teamwork. Many pundits are suggesting, for example, that teams such as Japan and the USA won't get past the first round. Surely, "team unity" will carry these sides in good stead?

Conversely, while squads like France and Spain have had great success in recent Cups, is this enough to make a semi-final prediction for either? I’d suggest no. Experience is one thing, but age, and ageing stars are another. It's every four years, after all, anything can happen. And usually anything and everything does. Bring it on!