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World Cuppers
While China does not have a team in the World Cup this year, they are still very enthusiastic about the tournament. It could be argued that they are more into it now that national pride is not at stake because four years ago, they failed to score a goal in any of their matches.
While I personally like to pull for the underdogs (Serbia-Montenegro, Mexico, and Togo are my teams!), most Chinese like to side with the winners, and I would have to estimate that over half the country is cheering for Brazil. Then Italy, then Argentina, then Spain, perhaps in that order. I guess backing a powerhouse team makes them feel good about themselves, again, not having to worry about being embarassed about losing 3-nill to some team like Algeria.
They sure were happy when Australia upset Japan in their first match, the cheers could be heard ringing through the entire 1.3 billion population! It is funny to hear reports of white-collar workers quitting their jobs so they can go home and watch the games all night and sleep it off all day.
They rebroadcast the matches during the day, but what fun is it watching the action when you know how it turns out? Still, viewership must be very high. I wonder how many Chinese are gathered right now, this afternoon, with their trouser pants hiked up above their knees, T-shirts pulled up exposing plenty of belly flesh, fanning themselves to keep the heat and humidity at bay, all the while smoking a cigarette, and yelling at the TV screen when their favorite team is scored on?
In the next World Cup they qualify for, the national team will play in front of 3 billion Chinese eyeballs, and at their first goal, it will be bedlam here. Their first victory will bring about pandemonium. Making the round of 16 would lead to hysteria! (You get the picture). I wonder how many years it will be by the time China hosts the World Cup? Shall I hazard a guess of 12 years from now? Maybe the Chinese team would be ready to put on a good show by then. Oh what fun it would be!
last modified Jun 21, 2006 at 0:24
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