Football envy

The essay “Football Envy at the UN” by Kofi Annan, proposes the idea that passion shown towards soccer during the World Cup should also be shown towards global issues. If people could only have the same fervency for human rights as they do for soccer who knows the impact it could have? This thought provoking idea is developed in Annan’s essay by comparing soccer’s intense competitiveness, teamwork, cross pollination and equality to the lack of with UN issues. In this easy read essay, Annan is able to effectively persuade the audience to agree with his opinion by organized comparisons, strong word choice, and appealing to the audience through a popular sport. However, Annan’s essay is flawed by the lack of evidence shown towards the negative side of soccer. From the beginning of the essay Annan uses concrete comparisons between soccer and the UN to persuade his readers. The comparisons are organized so that soccer is explained first and then UN issues are discussed after. By using soccer examples first in the comparison Annan engages the reader, and then smoothly introduces the serious content of the essay. This organizational style enables UN issues to seem approachable and easy to solve. If the World Cup can have “cross pollination between people and countries [with] more and more nationals teams now welcoming coaches from other countries…” (Annan, 2006 pg. 208) without struggle, why can’t human migration also occur just as easily? The examples demonstrate that people put lots of time and dedication towards soccer and not enough towards global problems. Fans know “who scored and how and in what minute of the game” (Annan, 2006 pg. 208) and it makes the reader feel guilty that they aren't doing the same to help improve human rights. People just need to switch their point of interest and invest their time into something more meaningful. The arguments are also organized in growing population which show the importance of communities coming together to