Kentucky Wildcats Basketball: Kentucky Fans’ Guide to the World Cup

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In 7 days, the World Cup begins in Brasil. You likely are aware of this, unless you live in a cave. It’s possible you are a soccer fan and you cannot wait to cheer on the U.S. Men’s National Team. Maybe you’re looking for a reason to become a soccer fan and think the World Cup is the perfect excuse to start following the beautiful game. Or perhaps, you’re simply wanting an excuse to blow off work every day for the next month and start drinking at 12 pm. In any event, I present to you the Kentucky Wildcats’ Fan’s Guide to the World Cup:

The #USMNT: This may come as a surprise to you, but we’re not very good at soccer. Though, to be fair, we’re much better than we were between 1954 and 1990 when we failed to qualify for the World Cup. The U.S. has qualified for 7 straight World Cups, beginning with Italia ‘90. In 2002, we made it to the quarterfinals, our best showing in the “modern era”. But, we’re in the Group of Death and many think we’ll fail to make it out of the group stage. The odds may not be in our favor, but we’re a scrappy bunch who have some talent and a desire to win. In basketball parlance, we’re the mid-major Cinderella of the NCAA Tournament. No one expects us to win, but we’re certainly capable of doing so.

Italy, the “Duke University” of International Soccer: Duke basketball players like to flop on the basketball court as they desperately try to draw fouls. Italian soccer players like to flop on the soccer pitch as they desperately try to draw fouls. Unless you went to Duke, there’s really no reason to cheer for them. Unless you’re Italian, there’s really no reason to cheer for them.

What Indiana and England Have in Common: Indiana haven’t been relevant to college basketball since the 1980s. England haven’t been relevant to international soccer since the 1966 World Cup. Both sets of supporters think they’re more important to their respective sport than they really are.

If Butler Can Almost Win It All, Surely So Can Ivory Coast: Butler University made it to the NCAA Championship game in 2010 and 2011, in part because they had the right mix of players—a handful of stars surrounded by a strong supporting cast. Ivory Coast are very similar—a handful of stars (Didier Drogba, Yaya Toure, Wilifried Bony) surrounded by a strong supporting cast. The Ivory Coast, or  Côte d’Ivoire, may very well surprise everyone and find themselves in the final with a chance to win the World Cup.

Brasil, the “Kentucky Wildcats” of International Soccer: The Seleção are the favorites to win the World Cup. They are the inventors of the “beautiful game” style of futbol. They are led by a young star. This Brasilian squad may be the most scrutinized team at the World Cup. They have a rabid fanbase who live and breathe with every victory. Winning the World Cup would mean everything to their fans. And if their rivals Argentina win it instead, on Brasilian soil? Well, it’d be like UofL winning the NCAA Championship in Rupp Arena.