World Cup Soccer: The globalization of soccer

From Mexico Raśl Escalante comments: "The US played extremely well in a very conservative strategy that paid off. The Mexican side completely lost its head in the last 20 minutes of the game. Although it definitely stings to lose to the US, they did deserve to win that particular game.

I'm relieved to learn that England has also been at one time eliminated by the US, although as the saying goes: "mal de muchos, consuelo de tontos".

I'm not sure if there is any precedent in World Cup history to the number of favorite teams that have been eliminated. Today mighty Italy was sidelined by host Korea playing energetic football. The top three teams considered to win the Cup are now out of the competition (Argentina, Italy and France), as well as outside contenders such as Portugal, Croatia and Poland. Of the traditional greats only England, Brazil, Germany and Spain remain, out of which only England seems to be in top form (Spain nearly fell apart in the last 40 minutes of their match against Ireland). Meanwhile upstarts like Senegal are looking very well and are very likely to reach the semifinals.

As a commentator said today, the results of this World Cup are just another sign of globalization".

My comment: Now I have another problem - find an English proverb corresponding to "mal de muchos, consuelo de tontos". Any suggestions?

Ronald Hilton - 6/24/02