World Cup brings back special memories

This FIFA World Cup will be a little less thrilling for me this year because the three teams I usually root for — the United States, Italy and Ireland — didn’t qualify.

But of course I’ll still watch the matches, which kicked off on Thursday in Russia, because there’s really not another sporting event that creates so much vivid excitement.

China — despite spending billions on its own professional league, coaches and foreign players, and with its business titans buying top-flight professional clubs around the world — will be watching from home, too.

But China’s spending a lot on advertising.

Chinese companies’ ad outlay of $835 million for the monthlong tournament is double that of the US, according to media group Zenith.

The US failed to qualify for the first time since 1990 but it had a credible 1-1 draw with France on June 9, one of the World Cup favorites, in a friendly match in Lyon.

Isn’t it peculiar that the world’s two largest economies (economic strength is usually an indicator of international soccer success) couldn’t make the 32-team tournament?

I became a soccer supporter somewhat by accident.

I had always been an ardent fan of American football, having played in high school, until I got a strong dose of what the rest of the world calls football in the summer of 1982.

I was on an overseas study program in Florence, Italy (if you can call studying visiting museums and sitting on a or terrace, sipping wine, when $1 commanded 1,800 lire preeuro).

It happened to be during the World Cup, which unfolded in Spain that summer. Whenever the Italians scored, the spontaneous eruption in the streets of Florence was something to behold, and in all the games during the tournament, you could literally hear roars of joy or groans reverberating off the terracotta roofs of the medieval city.

It was in the pre-flatscreen TV days, and many

(fans) watched on rickety black-and-white sets, sometimes hooked up with extension cords, on the piazzas’ cobblestone streets.

Even better, the Italians, or the Azzurri (the blues), won the World Cup that year, defeating West Germany.

That was the summer that I embraced the beautiful game.

This year, there are a few teams I wouldn’t mind seeing win.

Mexico. El Tri plays a fluid, exuberant brand of soccer, but always seems to have some bad luck or questionable refereeing to haunt them. At the 2014 World Cup, they got a raw deal against perennial powers, the Netherlands.

Then there’s England. Every four years, English fans believe it’s the year they’ll get that second bauble to recreate the glory of their only World Cup triumph in 1966. They look strong this year, but their passionate followers usually feel that way.

There are the usual favorites of Argentina (with the irrepressible Leo Messi), Brazil, Germany and Spain. Belgium, France and Portugal (with the fantastic Cristiano Ronaldo) could make some noise, too.

And although they’re facing 30-1 odds, imagine the media conspiracies that would surface if the Russians won the World Cup? They did win their first game, 5-0, on Thursday against Saudi Arabia.