[GirlySports]

A really good soccer article from Peter King!

http://sportsillustrated.cnn.com/201...#ixzz0r8Ll44zT

If I were home in Boston right now, I'd have been paying passing attention (that might be putting it mildly) to the World Cup. If I'd seen Italy's Daniele De Rossi score the equalizer against Paraguay and shed immediate tears of joy, I'd have said, "Emotional Italian.'' If I'd been watching the camera pan the North Korean players during their Anthem Tuesday night and seen one of them, overcome, bawling like a baby, I'd have said, "That's what living in a totalitarian state does to you,'' or something reactionarily dumb like that.

But I'm not there. I'm here. And when Maicon scored the impossible-angle goal for Brazil Tuesday, I jumped out of my seat in the upper deck at Ellis Park here. I had to stifle an "Incredible!!!'' I never do that an NFL game. I don't know what to say about the experience of covering a World Cup -- this is day 12 of my time in South Africa -- other than you've got to be in the middle of it to understand it. I'm sure ESPN is doing a heck of a job back home; it has to be leaps better than the local coverage, which is college-TV-stationish. But ... well, let me tell you this story to explain: My wife, Ann, is with me on the trip, and I can tell you that, other than the Steelers and a little about the Red Sox, she cares nothing about sports. But the other day, when I was out working, she had the TV in our room on, and there was 20 minutes left in Slovakia-New Zealand. She was preparing to go out to exercise, and then she heard the announcer on the TV say New Zealand had never scored a World Cup goal in its history. So she stayed for a few minutes, rooting for New Zealand, and when the Kiwis scored just before time expired, she hollered in excitement.

There's another vuvuzela, by the way. Right outside the window here.