It's a strange thing how the World Cup seems to dominate all other sporting events when it is going on.

Even more than the Olympic Games, this festival of football captures the world's attention.

Wimbledon, the US Open in golf, Test cricket and other events all seem less significant when the world's best footballers take each other on.

Of course, football is the world's most popular game, and its most democratic. If you have a ball and four objects (shoes ... shirts ... pebbles ...) and someone to play against, you have a game. That sets it apart from the most other sports, which require equipment and special training in which to excel. Not so football.

But the World Cup also seems to represent all of the joy and despair that draws us to sport in the first place.

The Netherlands' defeat of favourites Brazil on Friday gave the supporter of the (admittedly only just) underdog something to cheer for, while the agony of Ghana's defeat later the same day was as compelling a moment.

Some people will no doubt feel that the World Cup is not so special for Bermuda because it is unlikely that a Bermuda team will ever compete in it. And it is improbable; while small countries like the Netherlands and Uruguay (described in many news stories as "tiny" when it has a population of 3.5 million and a land mass of 68,000 square miles) do succeed at this level, countries with a population of 65,000 people and a land mass of 22 square miles do not, at least not in the world's most popular team game.

In a way, that's a blessing. Most Bermudians have the option of supporting the team of their choice, rather than the team of their birth, at least for the duration of the World Cup. So the free-flowing style of the Spanish and Brazilians will draw their supporters, as will the grit and discipline of the Germans and the "total football" of the Dutch.

Of course, for those residents who were born elsewhere, loyalty to birth countries will come first, and it has been fascinating to watch the rise and fall of car flags around the Island. Even when the Island seemed to be overrun with Portugal and England flags, it was possible to see the flags of countries from all corners of the world on display. That shows how cosmpopolitan and outward looking this "tiny" Island is.

Then too, South Africa deserves huge credit for the success so far of the World Cup. Fears about crime and infrastructure seem to have been misplaced and there have been very few problems or glitches, at least off the pitch (the refereeing is another matter and a problem for FIFA, not South Africa!).

Often the financial benefits of sporting events are overstated and the costs of upgrading stadiums and so on tend to be underestimated. But there is no doubt that this has been South Africa's coming out party.

As Duncan Hall's reporting for this newspaper has demonstrated this is an outstandingly beautiful, multi-racial country which is making a real effort to solve some of the problems of its past while taking its place as one of the leading nations of Africa and the world.

It may not be perfect, and it also faces astonishing challenges, but no one watching the World Cup will wish South Africans anything but the best after being guests in their home.