(I’m listening to “A Few Good Men” by the Dropkick Murphys)
The World Cup 2010 draw is out as of December 4, and fans of the qualifying national teams will begin to closely assess the strengths and weaknesses of the others in their group in an effort to predict if they will make it past the first round.
International football and globalization are intertwined, with some of the most talented players and coaches leaving their homelands for opportunities in faraway lands. As an American, I definitely can’t complain. For example, the LA Galaxy got David Beckham, along with his wife, Posh Spice. It was like a two-for-one deal for us. As for “exports,” American Afshin Gotbi was picked to coach Iran’s national team back in April.
But in the World Cup, everyone gets repatriated back home, and the usual regional and internal football rivalries take a back seat to the full-scale international competition. It’s not just an interesting time for football. It’s also a great time to be an amateur political scientist, witnessing the interplay of nationalist and patriotic fervor in the fans.
The World Cup is a “war game,” says Swiss anthropologist Fabrizio Sabelli. But that’s not a bad thing, he says. Societies sometimes need to rediscover “a sort of collective feeling shared at a celebration and above all the thought of a potential victory.” And after the World Cup is over, “no one talks about it anymore and people get back to their daily lives.”
Former U.N. Secretary General Kofi Annan welcomes the national pride spurred by the World Cup and wants to see it channeled into improving human development indicators in each country.
However, during the last World Cup in 2006, Expatica.com journalist David Gordon Smith was alarmed at expressions of nationalism and patriotism. There is a “blind unquestioning loyalty” toward the state at work here, he says, and history has shown that the state will effectively tap into that reservoir when it wants to wage war. Plus, in this age of globalization, if you are a non-citizen, you automatically become an outsider whenever you are surrounded by patriotic fervor.
Tufts University Professor Daniel Drezner offers arguments in favor and against World Cup patriotism in his 2006 Washington Post article. The University of Southern California’s Center on Public Diplomacy likewise sees the sport as having “the power both to unite the people of the world in a shared passion, and to divide citizens of opposing countries in unfettered nationalist zeal.”
What do you think? Is the patriotism that gets fueled every four years by the World Cup a good or a bad thing? Is it just a game, or when England, the former U.S. colonial master, plays the United States in the first round, should we fans be looking to somehow avenge either the 1781 Battle of Yorktown or the 1814 burning of Washington, DC?
Money has a stranglehold on all things human and has brought upon institutions and individuals alike the curse of identity crisis. World Cup as a prolonged drama packed with thrill and suspense is just the thing media moguls need to generate unprecedented revenues.
Sport as a means of recreation and exercise is an unknown phenomenon. Sportsmanship is not a gift that comes from play fields any more.
World Cup can unify everything, the show is very influential and can make the world more peaceful
This South Africa 2010 World Cup also makes a statement by being on the African continent.
http://www.sportsfeatures.com/soccernews/story/46828/mandela-gets-his-hands-on-world-cup-as-trophy-lands-in-south-africa
Yes I definitely think that patriotism will be high and especially this edition will attract new fans even just for the fact! It is a very good thing.
There is often a fine line between patriotism and patriotic narcissism. Movies like Green Street Hooligans explore the realm of overly-fanatic fans that are actually criminals, gangsters, and vandals. Like online social networking sites and reality television, patriotism can be used for good or evil. It’s important for soccer fans all over the world to remember there will always be a few rotten apples in a barrel; just because a group of fans from one country torched a bus and rioted outside the stadium, they do not represent the people of their nation. So, support your team with dignity, pride, and enthusiasm. And when Italy wins, don’t be too upset! ahah!
The only reason why these experts see some negative in the patriotism expressed during the FIFA world cup is because the US doesn’t get to be hero. Far away, developing nations get to be main actors and since this is no World Series, then that is not good for US exceptionalism. We all praise US for good basketball, baseball, and all other areas where the US is the leader. Let the soccer playing countries have their moment of glory.
The football is aunifying factor as it brings people from diverse background to learn team work esprit de corp and the spirit of friendship,it can be use as atool for social change and promote health living in communities.
Go America….today America vs. Algeria