If you frequented a sports bar between June and July 11 and heard someone yell "touchdown," you were either in a bar showing reruns of last season's football games or someone forgot that he was actually watching a soccer game. "Goooooooooool" would have suggested that.

If you watched any of The World Cup, you would also have witnessed the ongoing debate on why football is called soccer.

In the USA, while American football hardly involves any feet other than those you run with, the ball is being carried or tossed somewhere.

All that aside and no matter what they call handling of round balls or those that look like an egg, these were some exciting four weeks for those of us who love the game; and that is pretty much the "rest or the world.”

Things virtually came to a standstill in many countries whenever their team played. Companies shut down and sent employees home or organized viewing parties with big screens, BBQ and one or more kegs of beer to survive through at least 90 minutes of uninterrupted action on the field. Depending on which side you were on, it always ended with "joy drinking" or "devastation drinking.”

Many companies made The World Cup part of their marketing and tried their best to capitalize on the hype. Business mails exchanged between parties referenced the cup. Rather than asking, “How are you doing,” you would be asked, "Who do you think will win?”

To describe what was going on at public viewing parties in Rio, Amsterdam, Madrid, Buenos Aires, Mexico City Berlin and many other cities across the globe is almost impossible. One would have to be there and see to believe.

Virtually millions of people waving flags and following the event on multiple huge screens virtually blow any other sporting event, including the Olympics, out of the water. To see what people do and endure to see The World Cup is almost a religious experience.

A huge convoy of cars painted in the typical Dutch club color orange left Holland on April 13 to make it to South Africa before June 11. Of course, a double-decker entertainment bus with beer on tap was part of the convoy that made it through dozens of countries along the way. Other people hitchhiked their way to Johannesburg and had to camp out where ever possible.

It always amazes me and gives me goose bumps when I see millions of people come together to enjoy something they care about. The numbers concerning the game are staggering, so I would think there is nothing like soccer on the planet.

Soccer, after many years of “starvation” in the United States, keeps growing here at a steady rate, and cities like Dallas have applied to host The World Cup 2018 or 2022. They have recognized that this four-week event makes the Super Bowl appear like a warm-up party! Host countries see the incredible benefits behind  hosting the world's biggest sporting event.

I think I have figured out why soccer has not yet made it to a firm spot in regular mayor network programming. Unlike football, where the actual action is being stretched to 3-1/2 hours with constant beer and other commercial interruptions, you can't have 22 people standing around on a soccer field while someone is pitching products or another "exclusive beer" of this and that team. This would make soccer a six-hour or longer event!

It was fun, and many people have to adjust to the vacuum the world cup has left behind. They are devastated and need a shrink to help them deal with withdrawal.

Let's not forget that soccer has done a lot for education, freedom, ending hunger and providing a better understanding between peoples of the world (excluding hooligans), and it continues to do so. Unlike some religions, soccer does not divide, it brings people together.

South Africa has done a wonderful job. The host country has shown its incredible beauty, and with it the genuinely friendly and inviting nature of its people. Many visitors and hundreds of thousands of TV viewers have vowed to come back or go to South Africa. If this happens, the sport has accomplished another goal: It will have created friends and helped move people out of poverty.

Soccer is not just a sport, it is so much more.

Hans Mecker is North American sales manager for Messebau Keck’s Keck Exhibits USA. He can be reached in Dallas at hmecker@keck-exhibits-USA-com or 817-563-1334. He is also president of The Global Exhibit Alliance (www.gea247.com).