Gooooooooal!

The world is about to go footballistic.

In some countries, there will be mass delirium, in others, much weeping and gnashing of teeth. Like the Olympics, the Fédération Internationale de Football Association World Cup (only in North America is “the beautiful game” called soccer) is staged every four years and is every bit a television spectacle.

A quarter of the world’s population tuned in to the 2002 World Cup. This year’s extravaganza, which gets underway June 9 in Germany, is likely to surpass that. Gooooooooal! Movies and books about football, on the other hand, are structured to provide a reliable payoff. Especially in feature films, the game is mostly a vehicle for wish fulfillment: the triumph of the underdog or the follow-your-dreams parable.