So, I'll be honest, I have never been a huge soccer fan, but watching the last three

weeks of the World Cup has blown my mind.

There was Iran's shocking win against Wales.

There was the last minute almost comeback by the Netherlands against Argentina.

There was Morocco, this Cinderella team with its incredible and fallible goalie, the

first African or Arab team to ever make it to the semifinals.

And then there's me, a person who still cannot explain what offside's means.

And all of a sudden, I am turning on the games while I'm sitting at my desk at work.

I am gasping at the screen when a goal is scored, and I am planning my schedule around

watching Argentina play France in the final on Sunday morning.

So I cannot even imagine what it must be like to actually be there.

You know, I'm not a sports reporter.

My job is to write about geopolitics, about the world and global affairs.

And that's my colleague, Ashantharur, who's been at the World Cup these last couple of

weeks.

But of course, as a soccer obsessive, I made the case to my editors that this is something

of tremendous global importance that becomes a vehicle of meaning that really transcends

sport, and the fact that it wasn't cut there itself was made it, you know, a particularly

unique experience.

Ashanthurur came on the show a few weeks ago to talk about Qatar and the controversies

over human rights issues and allegations of labor abuses.

That has been a theme ever since this country won the bid to host the World Cup.

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