Among the good, the bad, and the in-between:
1. An all-European WC finals.
2. Former colonial powers England, France and Belgium have teams that include stars from Africa....and adoring fans as well.
3. Whatever vestiges of the past remain, the WC games themselves have to help the assimilation process. Be it England, Belgium or ( and especially) France.
4. And for all the former USSR entities, tiny (4Million) Croatia has to be both a huge favorite and severe underdog throughout the former Iron Curtain, and beyond. It could even be that for once, all those now "free" entities might be pulling together for one team. (ie The former Yugoslavia alone which in its own right couldn't have been formed from a more disparate group of peoples.)
5. My own family came from Hungary. I don't know for sure, but it would have been more fun than usual to be a bug on a Budapest wall...preferably a sports bar....to hear how the fans there were cheering during the Russia-Croatia match over their beers and tokay wines.)
1. An all-European WC finals.
2. Former colonial powers England, France and Belgium have teams that include stars from Africa....and adoring fans as well.
3. Whatever vestiges of the past remain, the WC games themselves have to help the assimilation process. Be it England, Belgium or ( and especially) France.
4. And for all the former USSR entities, tiny (4Million) Croatia has to be both a huge favorite and severe underdog throughout the former Iron Curtain, and beyond. It could even be that for once, all those now "free" entities might be pulling together for one team. (ie The former Yugoslavia alone which in its own right couldn't have been formed from a more disparate group of peoples.)
5. My own family came from Hungary. I don't know for sure, but it would have been more fun than usual to be a bug on a Budapest wall...preferably a sports bar....to hear how the fans there were cheering during the Russia-Croatia match over their beers and tokay wines.)
