世界杯来了，部分地球人都疯了，SSP编辑部也吵起来了。“巴西必胜！”“不，才不是呢，是德国！”“你们都不对，我希望英国赢！！！”......

　　The World Cup began on June 9. When Germany and Costa Rica kicked off their match, over one billion people watched it on television. It means that one out of every five people in the world watched the game. And I was one of them.

　　I grew up in Canada. When I was young no one played “soccer”, as we called it; we played baseball and ice hockey. I didn’t know how popular football was until I went on a trip in 1974 to Europe and North Africa and Asia. But everywhere I went, people were watching football on television!

　　Soon I was watching the games with them. I decided to support the Netherlands. I remember watching them win while I sipped mint tea in Morocco. I remember watching them win while I drank strong coffee in Turkey. And I remember crying in Iran when I saw them lose to Germany in the final. Germany was the host country that year just as it is this year.

　　The World Cup really is for everyone. Even people like me who know nothing about football get excited by the World Cup! In 2002, the World Cup was held in Japan and South Korea. I was surprised to learn how popular it was among girls. In Japan, as many women watched the games as men. And in Korea, the number of women watching the games was greater than the number of men!

　　China doesn’t have a team in the World Cup this time, and neither does Canada. So who will you be supporting? There are a lot of countries to choose from. And there is a lot of excitement to experience: thirty-four teams, sixty-four games, thirty-one days...one big (football-mad) world!