What makes FIFA better than all?
With the FIFA Football World Cup just 3 weeks away, fans all around the globe are gearing up for what they term as the biggest event in the football universe. But is the event better than any of their contemporaries as well? A short research proves that is exactly the case!
Unlike the recently concluded T20 Cricket World Cup, FIFA’s event is a lot more competitive because of the way the teams qualify for the event. Only the hosts and the defending champions have the liberty to NOT play the qualifiers whereas the rest of the sides, including the last event’s runners-up has to play the qualifying round in order to make it to the event.
Out of all the football playing nations, only 32 are selected for the World Cup where players give their 100 percent for their national sides. The best 32 nations get to play against each other in tightly contested event where no one can predict a result due to the fast paced competition.
The players also bring on their experience from playing for clubs in Europe as well as representing their sides in the Euro Cup which helps them understand their opponents as well as give them useful tips to their team mates, and the coverage the Fifa World Cup gets is the highest in the world. Fans from Australia, Europe, Asia, Africa as well as North and South America tune in at the same time to get hold of their favourite stars and teams when the matches are played. This is certainly different from the small scale Hockey World Cup where 12 teams made it through qualifiers and rankings, as well as the Cricket World Cup, which is not only a day too long but also predictable due to Australia‘s domination. Which is also faulty when it comes to team selection as well.
The 9 Test playing nations in cricket along side the former test playing Zimbabwe are guaranteed a place in the groups of 50-over cricket World Cups played every four years. Three to four new teams, that come through after reaching the semi finals of the ICC Trophy get a chance to prove their mettle against the cricket giants, and in 9 cases out of 10, they go empty handed. Only Zimbabwe and Kenya had managed to cause an upset in the World Cup as minnows, the Zimbabweans in 1983 and 1992, defeating Australia and England while the Kenyans in 1996, beating the West Indies, but was Kenya rewarding after reaching the semi finals of the 2003 edition of the Cricket World Cup? No, they outraced all to reach the last 4 and their performance spoke loads against their talents, but they were denied a test status by ICC for reasons unknown to others. Had they been a white nation or one from the Sub Continent, they would have received the Test Status as soon as they would have reached the semis!
Excellent management, brilliant qualification process and outstanding coverage are one of the reasons why fans brace the football World Cup as the best in the world, even though it features only 32 teams. People in the Indian Sun continent may not have proper representation in the event and this would have counted as a drawback, but they are as big a fan of Cristiano Ronaldo and Wayne Rooney as any one in Portugal or England. They are as saddened on Michael Ballack’s injury as the Germans and they have as much to say as a Brazilian on Ronaldinho’s axing! May the best team win!
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