Football – one of the most spontaneous, simple and well-know games – is both a sport of extreme economic importance and one which is widespread and incredibly influential. The World Cup Anthem will be the soundtrack to the summer, the flags will become consumer goods and the team colours a fashion trend. During the World Cup even laymen become enthusiastic spectators, new football stars are discovered amongst the boys playing on the streets of Brazil and the national identity becomes an out and out legend: we are all Italians, Germans and Argentines when we shout for our team at the top of our voices or is it perhaps that we are searching for a sense of identification and lost love for our country? Is football a game between cultures, a game which allows us to overcome “national differences” without violence? After all crimes and homicides are prohibited on the football pitch.

Or perhaps football can be described as giving a competitive edge in the world of politics? How else can one explain the rise of Silvio Berlusconi from President of Milan to Prime Minister? Other fundamental questions can be added to this on: whose face will Totti spit in this time? What kind of look and hairstyles will the Beckham’s adopt? Who will be the new star of this World Cup?

The World Cup is for everyone. The World Cup is much more than just a sporting event. An emotion. A festival of humanity. For many the substitute for a religion. A universal cult which unites us all has developed and spread around the phenomenon of football. The important thing is that neither the fame nor the honour be lost. One last question: who is all this for? For oneself, for one’s country or for the fans?