Superbowl XLII was a thriller no doubt with a tremendous twist in the tale. I can’t take anything away from it. What irks me no end though is when the winning team declares themselves "World Champions".

YES, you’ve won the National Football Conference and YES you’ve beaten the team that won the American Football Conference but you could hardly call yourselves World Champions. There are 32 teams in the NFL, all of them from a single country, the USA [LINK]. To me, in order to be called "world champions" you actually have to win a competition involving other countries.

This sort of arrogance is not limited to American football either. Basketball and baseball are guilty also.

Did Manchester United declare themselves "World Champions" when they won the Premier League?

Did Kerry declare themselves "World Champions" when they won the All-Ireland?

If you’re playing a sport that’s indigenous to your country, with no other countries invited or involved, you can hardly call yourselves world champions when you win. Am I wrong?