The ever-growing injury list has been a concern. When you think of France without Frank Ribery – although they definitely didn’t miss him in their unfriendly friendly against Jamaican on Sunday – you think of a possible Uruguay without Luis Suarez (again, they don’t seem to be missing him much yet) and you imagine that World Footballer of the Year Cristiano Ronaldo might just miss this one if his muscles don’t catch up to his brain, it is heartbreaking. That Diego Costa isn’t at 100 per cent is also a worry.
It’s heartbreaking to think of players like Radamel Falcao, whose injury won’t see him represent Colombia at the show, or Theo Walcott whose dream of playing in his first World Cup was shattered a couple of months ago. After being selected to go to Germany in 2006 but not featuring and then being omitted in Fabio Capello’s South Africa-bound squad in 2010, we all knew that this would be Walcott’s opportunity to shine on the world stage. But that wasn’t to be.
It’s heartbreaking when you think of some great players who weren’t even selected because they just didn’t make the cut for their national teams, like Jesus Navas and Alvaro Negredo, like Samir Nasri and Ashley Cole.
It’s not just the absence of great players that will be felt, but for us here in Africa, the fact that we won’t sleep for a month should be a cause for concern. In Eastern Africa the matches will be played at 7pm, 10pm, 11pm, 1am and on rare occasions, 4am.
Yeah yeah yeah so there are concerns, but who cares? The World Cup is known as the “greatest show on earth” for a reason!
12 amazing venues to look forward to from the Estádio do Maracanã in Rio de Janeiro to the Estádio Beira-Rio in Porto Alegre. Hopefully the Arena da Baixada in Curitiba will get the nod, but there are other options.
We have what I know will be an amazing opening ceremony. Even though J-Lo has decided not to sing the anthem live, Pitbull will still be in the house.
We have football fans all over the world who will forget about their differences, if only for a month, to support what is sure to be a great contest.
But most importantly we have the great players who will make it to the World Cup to look forward to. From Lionel Messi to Sergio Aguero, Gonzalo Higuain, Neymar, Edison Cavani, the ever magical Africans Samuel Eto’o and Didier Drogba, not to mention one of the world’s greatest midfielders Yaya Toure.
There’s Robin Van Persie and Cesc Fabregas, Juan Mata, Wayne Rooney and Daniel Sturridge. Mario Balotelli and Andrea Pirlo, Thiago Motta and Diego Forlan. Karim Benzema and the in-form Paul Pogba, Edin Dzeko, and the entire amazing German national team. And I must mention Kenyan born Belgian star Divok Origi. The list is endless.
In just about every World Cup a new star emerges and we don’t even know who that will be. A star who few will be watching at the start of the tournament, but that everyone will be talking about after 13 July.
There are so many questions right now that will only be answered as the tournament goes on. Will this be the World Cup where an African team finally gets to the semifinals? We can dare to dream. We can even dare to dream of an African team winning the global showpiece.
For now we have questions like who will score a hattrick and who will win the golden boot? Who will get the first red card and which coach will be the first to be fired? And at the end of the tournament, will it be hosts Brazil, Argentina, Germany, Spain, the Netherlands or a surprise team lifting the artistic trophy?
So as we get hung up on what may not work at Brazil 2014, it’s time to move our focus to what is sure to excite us – the football.
This is the greatest show on earth and I am ready for the action. Are you?
Let the games begin!
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