Loyalties

The World Cup is upon us. Opening ceremonies and the first matches are today. What I am most excited for is tomorrow-because tomorrow England plays the US! What a game this will be! Peter and all his friends are gearing up to watch it and so am I. They asked me which team I will be cheering for. Here my loyalties were called into question. Am I a patriot or a redcoat, Peter wants to know? This should have been difficult, I should have been torn but to be honest I knew all along that I want England to win. I want England to go all the way.

My first World Cup experiences were in England. I honestly didn't know anything about it until I moved to England. So while a lot of my friends are excited about it this year I know that it is nothing compared to the excitement that is going on in England and around Europe right now. It's an absolute frenzy I tell you. Flags everywhere. Party food discounts at Sainsburys, Waitrose, and Tescos.* Jerseys and face-paint on everyone. The matches will be on in every restaurant and pub (that doesn't close for the games- yes people actually take off work).

*Mom those references are for you.

It would be really nice to see USA make it out of group play... but not at the expense of England. See there are 8 groups consisting of 4 teams each (32 teams total). England and the US are in the same group. The 4 teams play each other and based on goal differences only 2 teams advance from the group to the quarter finals. England will definitely advance and USA will have to play really well against Slovenia to secure second.

My hopeful predictions: 1. England 2. USA 3. Slovenia 4. Algeria.

At the risk of offending everyone in America I will say this: the World Cup is bigger than the Superbowl because the entire country is cheering for one team! It is awesome!

USA plays England tomorrow at 2:30 pm on ABC !

For more stats and history visit the FIFA website.