Fútbol and the Catholic Faith
One thing that has always impressed me about international soccer, even before converting, was the open display of piety among athletes from Catholic lands:

Germany's Miroslav Klose makes the sign of the cross after scoring the third goal during the Germany v Costa Rica Group A soccer match at the World Cup stadium, Munich, Germany, Friday, June 9, 2006. The other teams in Group A are Ecuador and Poland.

[image and text from this Yahoo! News Photo]

I was not a big fan of Klose after the quaterfinal game against the US in 2002, but after seeing this act of devotion, I've warmed up to him, all the more so due to the continent from which he hails. After all, we expect such superstitious and offensive displays from backward South Americans, not from progressive Europeans. The player's Christian name suggests his ancestry lies in one of the less-enlightened parts of the Continent.