In praise of... football's global village

http://www.theguardian.com/commentisfree/2014/jun/17/in-praise-of-football-global-village

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There is so much more to the World Cup than football. It is because of the world's premier sporting occasion that so much is widely known about the stark contrasts of Brazil. And through focus on the teams now gathered there, we know a little more about the world itself. Many televised games are preceded by short films providing colour and context. The Bosnian team, for example, is there for the first time. The mini-documentary screened by the BBC before Bosnia's loss to Argentina on Sunday was notably moving. The dawn of football's global village can be dated to 1978, when Spurs paid £750,000 for two Argentinians, Osvaldo Ardiles and Ricky Villa. We worry for home-grown talent, but generally we applaud the skills of foreign players. Save for grumbles about accents, we have also this week been enjoying their punditry. Football has made the world smaller. The unfamiliar is now familiar.