Tuesday, March 16, 2010

The Beautiful Game

Soccer is Everywhere...and for good reason.

European Imperialism has been a strange thing.  It is terrible and vicious, and resulted in the subjugation of millions of Africans and Asians until the last 50-60 years.  It squelched independence movements, and resulted in many cultures and languages being lost forever.  But once the imperial age subsided, with the conclusion of the world wars - a strange thing happened.  The world became smaller, and culturally more unified (for both good and bad).  Basically, globalization has taken over virtually every nation on earth - especially in urban areas (I mean, you can get a Starbucks Mochachino in Thailand, Chile, and the United Arab Emirates these days.  And Starbucks even had a location in the former imperial palace of China, in Beijing, until 2007)  And the fact that Great Britain (inventors of soccer, or "football) once owned 25% of every person on earth, it makes sense that soccer is the most popular sport on the planet.  

So, to that end, check out this pretty sweet photo gallery of kids from all around the world (including: Sudan, Vietnam, Nigeria, Cameroon, Pakistan, Afghanistan, Yemen, Brazil, Spain, China, Israel, etc..) playing "The Beautiful Game."  Click here.

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