I’m hoping for the upset-happy World Cup to strike a different chord Friday morning when the U.S. takes on Germany.

Sure, I’d love to see us beat the Germans. I’ll admit it; I’ve jumped on the bandwagon just as much as anybody. But let’s remember the consequences that a win Friday, which puts us just two wins away from the soccer heavens, could lead to.

This is perhaps the most violence-inducing sporting event of all time – at a global scale no less.

Just last weekend a man was stabbed to death over a bet on the World Cup. No, it wasn’t in Mexico . it was on our soil. Lexington, South Carolina. From the report, it appears that the people involved with the incident had international heritage. That gives you an idea of the craziness involved with this sport.

If you followed the World Cup coverage in 1994, you probably heard of the Colombian soccer player that was killed upon his return to his native land after scoring in the wrong goal – ultimately leading to Colombia’s elimination from the tournament. That’s pretty embarrassing for the team, but murder?

I guess that eye-for-an-eye thing applies to the heart in Colombia and it crosses the literal-figurative language barrier whenever necessary.

In comparison, I seem to recall an ISU basketball game a couple years ago in which the Cyclones had a chance to advance to the Final Four, but lost. For instances like these, we might stagger out in the streets and think, “What the hell are we out here for again?” In other countries, their national soccer team loses and somebody’s going into a coma in the near future.

And you thought the guy who painted himself from head to toe in Cardinal and Gold was the ultimate “football” fan.

Every day you can log on to a sports Web site covering the World Cup and see stories of violence.

It’s like a tradition.

I’ve seen more than one game story from the Associated Press end with a “violence report.”

When the Chicago Bulls were in their prime, winning all those championships, the police had to worry about rioting in the post-game celebration. But I’m not at all concerned about the riots that might result from a World Cup championship game win.

In fact, I’m worried about the lack of excitement it would bring the U.S. sporting world. That might just be the thing that would piss off foreign countries the most.

Do we really need the rest of the world even more upset with us right now?

Just imagine the reaction we would have as a country. I’m pretty sure ESPN wouldn’t know whether to pick the U.S. World Cup championship game win over the Detroit Tigers-Pittsburgh Pirates game for its Sportscenter Showcase and would put it to a vote.

That’s America for you.

To some Americans, the news of a world soccer championship would be about as interesting as a feature story on Tiger Woods’ dental plan.

This isn’t the case in, well, virtually anywhere besides here.

Soccer is other countries’ religion for a month, said one international Iowa State student from Jordan.

His country isn’t even participating this year, but soccer is still bigger in Jordan than it is in the United States. If we win, there’s a possibility that Jordan will be more angered than we will be happy, and that’s disturbing.

Germany’s assistant coach Michael Skibbe said he’s convinced that the Germans will win on Friday, so maybe this issue will turn out to be a moot point for another four years. But the U.S. will be back, they’ll surprise everyone again and non-Americans will get pissed again – for some reason or another.

Then again, I’m a student who supposedly thinks lightly of the consequences. Go USA!

Jeff Raasch is a junior in journalism and mass communication from Odebolt. He is the sports editor of the Daily.