As an English-born, naturalized Canadian citizen who lives in the U.S., nations don’t mean that much to me.

Except when it comes to soccer.

Because in soccer different nationalities, cultures and races serve to remind me not how different people are, but how much many share an obsessive interest regardless of where they are from in a ball rolling around a pitch chased by 22 sweaty people.

And there are few places like Southern California where it’s possible to find so many folks from different nations all watching soccer in a relatively small geographic area.

So I had to write about it.

Clarification: The Iranian election occurs two days – June 12 – after the second Iran World Cup qualifier this month.