1-0

“There are quite a few more important things happening in the world today than this football game, but at the moment I can’t remember what they are.” That’s how John Motson introduced the BBC’s coverage of today’s England-Argentina World Cup match. I can remember some of those other events, but I have to confess that I haven’t paid much attention to them today.

Along with the rest of the country, I was glued to the television from 12.30. Against a team reckoned by many to be the favourites for the World Cup, England deserved its 1-0 victory. Given the number of chances England had, it could easily have been an even more decisive victory.

For the rest of the world, the most glaring example of American exceptionalism at the moment isn’t its attitude towards gun control, capital punishment or abortion, but its failure to embrace the true world game. The team sports that matter in the US are hardly played elsewhere in the world, so Americans don’t really learn the passion, gut-wrenching tension and excitement that can arise when nation competes against nation. I’m appalled by mindless jingoism, but I’m stirred by the World Cup.