I am not a planner {ask my wife, who is a perpetual planner – it drives her crazy}. I am definitely a more laid-back, last minute kind of guy so when I am going to make the effort to plan something its a big deal. So what could possibly inspire me to plan? The WORLD CUP! It’s only every 4 years, it’s the only tournament where all the teams from around the world are in it at the same time and it’s a big enough deal that teams are training now, even though it is still 2 years away {which is impossibly cruel – I don’t know why they can’t make it every two or alternate with the Women’s World Cup so we get a tournament every 2 years}.
If you look at history and the importance of any tournament you can see that World Cup means more to everyone as it allows a country to prove they are the best for the next 4 years. The fact that its every 4 years has to be the number one reason why it means so much and then the fact that the players are representing their country which will always be their country is huge. Playing for clubs is where they get their deep pockets but players usually end up playing for 3 or more clubs in their career but only one National Team {Country}.
You always hear about players like Pele, Maradona & Zidane not only because they were the best during their time but they won the World Cup. I think now with so much money being made by the players from the clubs that some players play harder for their club than their country. This may not be true but it certainly seems like it when you watch them play. I won’t mention any players or teams but there are some who just don’t play well in the World Cup games they play in and I think because they make so much money for their clubs that they play harder for them. {Hmmm… it seems like there could be an entire conversation on the unethical influence of a country’s club on their star player from another country…}
On the other side you have Countries like the African nations who play harder than anyone because it’s their way to shine and be seen to sign for a big contract and be able to help their family and friends back home. When you are already on a big club making big money it’s very hard to play with the same fight as someone who is from a poor country playing with a smaller size club or league. Everyone knows that the word cup will be the place where a few new stars are born and more history will be made.
Update 2014: Case in point: James Rodriguez was the player who fit this description..He scored lots of goals & his country {Columbia} went far into the tournament and played pretty fútbol from game 1. Now just from this event and this country doing so well you see even more Columbians being brought into leagues all around the world. So this is why the World Cup is so important because it affects so many people of all ages and places.