It is held once every four years and billions of people watch it on television.

The World Cup is the world’s most celebrated tournament.

Thirty-two countries trying to become the champion of the world’s game, the “beautiful game.”

Youngsters begin kicking a soccer ball as soon as they can walk.

Names like Pele, Maradona, and Ronaldinho are known in every corner of the world.

Businesses come to a screeching halt in many countries when their team is playing so everyone can watch.

“The World Cup brings your country together. It’s like a national holiday,” said former Husson College and Mount Desert Island High School girls soccer star Bea DeYcaza of Guayaquil, Ecuador.

DeYcaza pointed out that a truce was called between warring factions by the president of the Ivory Coast after the African nation qualified for its first World Cup.

In small countries such as Ecuador and the Ivory Coast, soccer is like “religion,” according to DeYcaza.

“That’s what people live for down there,” said DeYcaza. “It’s a pride thing.”

Ecuador qualified for the World Cup for the first time in 2002 and has qualified again.

There are several reasons behind soccer’s international popularity.

First and foremost, it is the primary sport in many countries.

All it requires is a ball and a makeshift goal so youngsters in poor or sparsely populated countries can play.

You don’t need expensive equipment, a manicured field, or wooden goalposts.

Anything can be used for goalposts.

Soccer can be played on a beach – beach soccer has actually been televised – as well as a field, playground, alley, gymnasium, or patch of dirt.

The fact the World Cup is held every four years, like the Olympics, results in a progressive fervor throughout the qualifying matches leading up to the World Cup.

The sport also receives tremendous media exposure worldwide.

DeYcaza said Ecuadorian sportscasts air highlights of games played in the world’s most prominent leagues like the English Premiership, the Italian Serie A, and the German Bundesliga.

And they will particularly highlight any Ecuadorian players in a high-profile league.

In the World Cup, matchups between countries that have very little in common besides soccer are intriguing.

Group F, for example, will feature Australia, Japan, Croatia, and Brazil.

Soccer is growing in America and being ranked fifth in the latest FIFA world rankings is a nice feather in our cap.

But we will need to fare well in the World Cup to maintain the respect we have earned worldwide.

There is more interest in soccer in our country than ever, but the interest still pales in comparison to football, baseball, and basketball.

There are just not enough goals or scoring chances for us.

Here’s hoping the World Cup provides us with some entertaining and creative attacking soccer.

Everybody is so defense-conscious and so well organized in the defensive third, scoring chances are hard to come by.

Let’s hope the referees clamp down on infractions that thwart scoring chances but, by the same token, issue yellow cards to players who dive to try to earn free kicks.

It’s dishonest.

Larry Mahoney can be reached at 990-8231, 1-800-310-8600 or by email at lmahoney@bangordailynews.net.