The World Cup is coming.

There's no way around it for a soccer fan. Not that any would want to find one. We wait four years for it. It is every player's dream, casting a mighty shadow over the entire sport. It's the World Cup. 31 national teams, having completed a taxing, three-year qualifying process, arrive in South Africa to join the host country in competing for a foot-high gold statue whose size pales in comparison to its significance. At tournament's end, it will be presented to the world champions of the most popular sport in the world. One manager and 23 men will carry victory back to their homeland, a victory that will be savored, flaunted, and remembered forever by millions of their countrymen. It's only a game, but it is a beautiful one. And this game, soccer, football, futbol, voetbal, fussball, calcio, sokker--will, for one month, be able to lay claim to the most transcendent sporting event in the modern world. This, ladies and gentlemen, is the 2010 FIFA World Cup. Welcome to Africa.