There’s an argument going around among the Left about how we should approach the World Cup. The accepted wisdom says that we should only root for teams that come from former colonies, and under no circumstances should we root for the United States. I can’t really buy this argument. After all, we’re talking about soccer teams, not armies. To view the World Cup in this way is to invest it with more significance than it should have. What’s more, the young people playing these games have nothing to do with what their governments may have done in the past. (I can’t help but point out here that after Algeria lost to the U.S., one of their players slapped a female reporter in the face. Just because someone is from a former colony doesn’t necessarily means he’s saintly.)
Of course, there will be obnoxious displays of patriotism. However, American fans are by no means the worst offenders in this regard. And we won’t have to worry about the tea baggers hopping on the soccer bandwagon. Like their leader, Glen Beck, they probably think that soccer is a foreign plot to corrupt their precious bodily fluids. Which, if you think about it, is actually a good reason to root for the U.S. team.
Update: It’s clear that the U.S. have a way to go before becoming a soccer powerhouse. Ghana simply had a better team. American fans can at least find comfort in the thought that the U.S. didn’t embarrass themselves the way France and Italy did.
At the bar where I watched the game, there was a small group that rooted for Ghana. So much for the claim that American fans are too nationalistic. By the way, I’ve been told that the British tabloids are pumping up England’s game against Germany as a replay of World War II. Oh, brother.
Update 2: A British blog claims that the game was a defeat for U.S. imperialism. I don’t think so. Obama & Co. aren’t going to lose any sleep over a soccer game. However, Dave Zirin has a good article about why it has emotional meaning for Africans.
The Spanish Prisoner 
June 27, 2010 at 10:39 pm |
As a British Left, let me completely distance myself from any ‘Left’ who would ever conflate a government with its football team.
It is but gross anti-Americanism, a complete opposite of internationalism (and the same as any other ant-countryism), by those that would argue such.
I supported England as I’m English (it’s not a war or political situation, it’s football) and was neutral in the Ghana v USA game although tended towards the USA later, when Ghana started timewasting.
June 29, 2010 at 11:30 am |
I read somewhere, soccer (what we call football) was even considered “pro-communist” in the US by some that during the McCarthy witchhunt in the 1950ies
June 30, 2010 at 8:44 am |
This is the first time I’ve heard that. Do you have any sources?
June 30, 2010 at 9:09 am |
I’ll have a look if i can find the source
June 30, 2010 at 4:36 pm |
On a related note, a video in Catalan talking about Pinochet’s relationship with futbal. I get only half of it, but what I get is interesting. I’m wondering if their is a further analysis available (and in English!- sadly I am a product of US public schools).
July 1, 2010 at 8:22 am |
I’m afraid that I don’t know any Catalan. Can someone give me the gist of what is being talked about?