The Commisar notes both the Euro 2004 goings on in Portugal (something that I am aware of every time I step out my front door here in sunny Portugal) and then goes on to talk about the World Cup. One slight error turns up and I feel I have to correct the good gospodin, plus those other nyekulturny people who live in the land where soccer is so grievously misunderstood. The quote actually comes from the WaPo:

The next World Cup won’t actually begin for another 726 days, but the U.S. national team’s laborious route toward securing a berth in the 2006 tournament in Germany is about to begin.
With wonderful memories of their 2002 World Cup efforts still dancing in their heads, the Americans have reassembled in Columbus, Ohio, to play the Caribbean island nation of Grenada today in the first of probably 18 qualifying matches over the next 16 months.

Errrrr. No. What we all refer to as the World Cup is in fact the World Cup Finals. The whole thing, including the US v Grenada, is part of the World Cup. This makes it rather different from the World Series, as no one knows who will be in it ’till the fall (other than that they will come from N America of course) while we do know who will be in the World Cup every four years: everyone who can stitch a national team together. What we don’t know is who will reach the finals.
OK, foreigner taking glee in pointing out ignorance of US media over.