How It Feels To Reach The World Cup Finals...

204 nations entered the running for a place at World Cup 2010. From Burundi to Guam to Tahiti, everybody wants to be involved in the planet's most popular spectacle. "Around half the planet watched the 2006 World Cup final," writes David Goldblatt in his seminal masterpiece The Ball Is Round. "Three billion human beings have never done anything simultaneously before." But only 32 nations make the finals. The other 172 can only watch and dream.

Qualifying, therefore, is an achievement as rich and fulfilling as it is uniting. It prompts wild outpourings of spontaneous glee and brings together millions in joyous unison. In some countries, warring factions down arms for ninety minutes only. Tribes divided by decades of bloody rivalry become allies, partners, compatriots. It means something.

So with the last few remaining places up for grabs tension was as high as it could possibly be. And for the victors, elation and relief combine to create a heady mix of emotions. Don't take my word for it - witness for yourself:


Algeria (played in Sudan):





Slovenia (Maribor):



(Ljubljana):



Uruguay (Montevideo):



These are just some of the scenes inspired by qualifying for a World Cup (not to forget the elated brilliance of radio commentators when Honduras made it). And that's just for getting there. Now I'm not sure how you feel about international breaks and the like. Perhaps you see them as inconvenient interludes interrupting the ebb and flow of the 'real' stuff at club level? It's an interesting point of view, held by many. And if we're talking of the grim, dull spectre that is the modern international friendly it's an opinion with a lot of merit.

But when it comes to the sharp end of qualifying for a major international tournament like the World Cup, few occasions in the sport are more thrilling, more poetic or more suspenseful than a do or die clash for entry into an event that occurs but once every four years. 203 days now remain until South Africa 2010 gets underway. Somebody start the countdown.