Psst! I know what can unite our nation!

It is a question that has been asked since the time of Lapu-Lapu and is the question that everyone keeps asking up to this day. Everyone has his own theory on how we can unite our nation.

As far as I can remember, the only few times we were united was when we deposed two presidents. But were we really united? Some people still think that those two presidents should still be president.

So what can unite our nation? Is it the death of Abu Sayyaf spokesman Abu Sabaya? Nope, some people think he swam to safety and is in Pakistan enjoying his wealth. Is it the re-capture of Pentagon gang leader Faisal Marohombsar? Nope, some people think that if he gets captured again, he’ll "escape" for the second time.

Is it Tony Award winner Lea Salonga starring in another Broadway musical? Or is it new MMDA Chief Bayani Fernando finally getting rid of garbage and traffic? Or could it be Manny Pacquiao knocking down another opponent? Or Efren "Bata" Reyes winning this year’s World 9-Ball Championship?

Here’s what I think: With our country in political chaos, what we need is...soccer.

I started following the World Cup only in 1998, when the competition was held in France and France beat Brazil, 3-0. I saw how the French gathered on the streets to celebrate their victory, and immediately, Zinedine Zidane, who scored two goals in that game, became a hero. Before this, all I knew were Pele and Diego Maradona and I couldn’t even tell who was from Brazil and who was from Argentina.

Then when Korea qualified for the semi-finals this year, millions of Koreans trooped to the streets to celebrate their team’s victory. Even if they lost to Turkey in the battle for third place, the nation is still overjoyed over the fact that their team delivered the highest Asian place finish ever in the history of the World Cup. This, despite the arrest of the son of the Korean president for bribery and a recent sea battle with North Korea. This is a good example of a nation where politics and sports don’t mix, unlike in our country where our sports programs are riddled with politics. When it comes to the contest of who can talk the most and argue the loudest, we can win hands down.

Read the papers and catch glimpses of the World Cup on TV, and you realize how soccer really captures the hearts and spirit of a people more than any other sport in the world.

If I sound like a lifestyle writer trying to do sports, it’s because the only time I ever got close to sports writing was way back in 1980 when I joined the Philippine Collegian, the official school organ of UP. My associate in the sports section and I left after one year because practically everyone in the editorial box was accused of being a subversive and eventually got arrested by the Marcos government. We couldn’t afford to be in that environment lest our parents become nervous wrecks. My dad was in business while my associate’s dad was a town mayor who belonged to the ruling party. But I must say that it was my editor at the Collegian, Roberto Coloma (who now heads the Singapore bureau of Agence France Presse), who cradled my writing career. I think that if it weren’t for Bobby, my articles would end up in any anyone’s trash bin. Going back to soccer...

In almost every country in the world, except maybe for ours, you can see people from all income classes enjoying the game of soccer. In the Philippines, it is only the elite schools that have soccer teams, which is an irony because you don’t need a lot of money to play soccer. It is not a sport like polo or golf where you have to put your allowance into country club memberships and expensive golf clubs, not to forget raising a horse. Soccer is not even close to swimming where you have to rent a pool for practice.

This is the reason many people cannot understand why we don’t just develop sports programs that don’t need too much funding. One respected columnist said that it is our penchant for wanting to get results without effort that prevents us from pursuing a sport that produces very low scores, 0-0, even after 90 minutes of game time. We can blame the Americans for introducing basketball to us (we blame the Americans for everything anyway) even if they knew that we didn’t have the height. But in the end, we must admit that we are obsessed with basketball because the points come every minute. The way we run after points is the way we run our everyday lives. Many people want to get rich the easy way, as in without putting in hard work. So in our midst comes the proliferation of jueteng lords, drug lords, smuggling lords, kidnapping lords and provincial warlords.

Brazil is not what you can call a rich country – in fact, it is currently in an economic crisis – but when it comes to claiming the World Cup, they are rich with enthusiasm. Those who were able to watch the Brazil-Germany game Sunday night saw how ecstatic the Brazilians were when they beat Germany 2-0. We also saw how distraught the Germans were, especially goalkeeper Oliver Kahn, arguably the best goalkeeper in the world. He just sat and leaned against the goalpost, wondering how and why it all happened.

I read somewhere that silver medalists turn out more frustrated than bronze medalists. In fact, the bronze medalists don’t feel frustrated at all because their only goal is to win a medal. But the silver medalists lose their chance for the gold.

I was able to watch the Brazil-Germany game at "Green Planet," a bar in Makati along Jupiter St. owned by some Atenean lawyers. It was my husband’s birthday and he decided to celebrate it with his office gang by asking me to watch the game with him live via satellite. It’s not every girl’s dream to watch a soccer game on her husband’s birthday, so he should thank me for my interest in soccer. There were hardly any chairs available as the place was unbelievably packed. So I sat on my husband’s lap, all 130-plus pounds of me, and for the first time he didn’t complain about my weight.

The crowd was clearly rooting for Brazil. My husband was one of the few rooting for Germany. He says he can’t stand Ronaldo’s hairstyle. I think my husband unconsciously fears the day when his hair will be as sparse as Ronaldo’s without having to cut it.

Why do the Pinoys love Brazil? Because the Brazilians play soccer with so much flair and passion while the Germans are stoic and very scientific in their approach. We Pinoys like to do things with flair and passion, but we are far from being strategists.

Another reason is that the Brazilians owe their victory to Jesus. Their banners proclaim, "100% Jesus;" "God is Brazilian." Whenever our athletes win a match or our movie stars win an acting award, the first thing they say is, "Maraming salamat sa Lord!"

Lastly, as one of my husband’s colleagues said, the Brazilian team is like the Chicago Bulls with Michael Jordan and Scottie Pippen or the LA Lakers with Shaquille O’Neil and Kobe Bryant – full of personalities. Brazil has the three R’s – Ronaldo, Rivaldo and Ronaldinho. It’s hard to remember any name from the German team, except for Oliver Kahn, the goalkeeper. Over here, we Pinoys just plainly and simply idolize personalities, be it sports, politics or our everyday lives.

If Brazil has the three R’s, we need our version of the three R’s too. I mean, if we want this nation to move forward and be united, we need to improve on our Reading, ‘Riting and ‘Rithmetic. And of course, Soccer.