By almost any measure, the United States can be called the center of "globalism" -- the new supranational approach to almost everything. But there is one glaring exception -- the universal, and universalizing, game known everywhere else as football, here as soccer, writes PNS correspondent Mark Jacks. Jacks is a radio producer and journalist.

Kofi Annan, if only you played the game as well as Ronaldo. Put grass on the floor of the UN General Assembly, replace the suits with soccer shirts in the national colors, and see what happens.

Soccer is the truly global sport. It gave me much of my sense of being a citizen of the world. It lets me share a history and value system with millions of others -- yet in a way that lets "national" personality or culture shine through.

Today's soccer star is a global citizen as well. Every "national" team includes at least one member from another country who has become a citizen. Top Latin American players may come from a village half the size of a US university campus to play in Monaco, Paris, Moscow.

Nigeria's coach Bora Multinovich speaks four languages and has coached four different countries from as many continents to the World Cup. Watching African players being interviewed in Spanish reminds us that language need not stop us from communicating.

This mobility has worked to the benefit of the developing world as well. The Liberian player George Weah -- African, European and World Player of the Year in 1996 -- has used his wealth and status to finance a national soccer team in his war-torn country.

As a child, I relived World Cup winning moments by naming myself after members of the winning 1970 Brazilian team -- Pele, Tostao, Rivelinho. In 1966, I read all I could about England's crowning moment, witnessed Argentina's win in 1982, -- my whole life can be summarized in four-year cycles. This is why in almost any major city you see so many non-Brazilians wear that country's green and yellow.

Nations do establish an identity. Brazilians mesmerize their opponents with samba-like shakes, shimmying toward a win. Jamaica's "reggae boys" make us feel, in the words of Bob Marley, "don't worry, 'cause every little thing is gonna be all right."

Teams from the African contingent -- South Africa, Nigeria, Cameroon, Morocco -- play with passion, energy and flair, a drum beat now part of the backdrop for all their international games.

Where else does the old world meet the new world, the third world stand tall before (and often vanquish) the developed world? When Spain lost the opening game, I consoled my Spanish friends over a German beer and a Chinese meal.

Some European teams call to mind the old order of superpower states, exuding confidence. The Germans were efficient, smooth. England plays at times as if it was without emotion. Nothing is more amusing than hearing the Europeans express excitement and surprise when underdog nations from the developing world threaten with quick, incisive attacking play.

As an African with British roots living in the United States, I know that my status sometimes depends on the color of my skin -- but not when it comes to talking soccer. I sit comfortably with people of all nationalities, sharing their knowledge and passion, ecstasy and disappointment.

The success of "my" team, Nigeria, doesn't really matter anymore. I can always tell my children that Nigeria would have won the World Club if.....

That I know will be a conversation piece between me and many a stranger, a source of lively debate among people sometimes divided by tribalism.

Sadly, soccer's "new internationalism" carries with it the underbelly of the old nationalism. When English fans ripped up Marseilles, we were seeing the game hijacked by thugs -- political extremists disguised as soccer fans. Not long after, my Scottish friend muttered "Arab bastard" as the Moroccan players scored a third goal against Scotland. And in Europe I have witnessed fights, stabbing, other violence, listened to racist chants, heard the name-calling, most of it directed at "foreign" (usually black) players.

Still the World Cup has brought me closer to many nationalities. The fact that it has not captured the popular imagination here in the United States is not surprising -- what can you expect of people who call a national tournament "The World Series?" The United States may be the world's leading force for globalization, and the creator of a global culture. But it cannot claim true leadership so long as it does not join the universe of soccer.