SPORTS June 5, 2006 Issue

WE ARE ALL CONNECTED

LYLE YOUNG

BETWEEN JUNE 9 AND JULY 9, the football World Cup will be held in various cities in Germany.

Thirty-two teams have earned the right to represent six world zones that together cover the so-called developing South and the developed North (Ecuador and the Netherlands, for example), varying religions and cultures (think of Iran and Italy), and countries having different economic circumstances (contrast Togo and the United States).

Love of the game, however, will bridge many differences. If television viewership figures match those for the 2002 World Cup in Japan and South Korea, one billion people—one sixth of the world's population—will watch the final in Berlin on July 9.