Friday, June 09, 2006

The World Cup: A Cultural Smorgasbord at the World's Greatest Game

The ANNOTICO Report

 

With the rise of globalization, national identities are becoming more and more blurred. The World Cup serves to allay those feelings of cultural annihilation. In spite of the rise of globalization, each nation’s team still has unique characteristics that make for interesting comparisons.

For example, the Italians are known for their passionate play and tend to wear their hearts on their sleeves. They can be expressive, let’s say, to the opposite team and even to their own teammates. This can sometimes include rather poetic pleas to the referees.

 

The German team, this year’s host, displays the same kind of precision you find in their train schedules. The passes are crisp, the attack methodical.

In contrast, the favored Brazilians play with a flair that reminds you of Carnaval. To their fans, the beauty of the game is at least as important as the final score, although they manage to have enormous success while seeming to have a lot of fun.

The French have incredible talent, but are sometimes prone to bouts of self-doubt, which always reminds me of the introspective excesses of their great artists and philosophers.

The celebration of cultural differences is not a glorification of ethnic purity. Even though a player must be a citizen of the nation he plays for, most of the teams are of mixed ethnicity these days. For example, France’s star, Zinedine Zidane, is of Algerian descent, and the French national team has players of African, Indian, and Caribbean origins. Yet the team is unmistakably “French.”

 

Enjoying the cultural scenery of the World Cup adds another dimension to the sport itself. While stereotypes are undoubtedly dangerous, recognizing the variety of approaches makes the experience a little like a quick trip around the globe.

 

THE WORLD CUP: A CULTURAL SMORGASBORD

 

Des Moines Register

Jerry Anderson
Special to the Register
June 9, 2006  

 

Although the prospect of seeing fantastic soccer is a draw for true fans, for me the World Cup tournament is a chance to bask in a cultural smorgasbord without leaving my living room. And in a world that seems to be becoming more monocultural every day, it's a rare treat.

I won't try to convince you that soccer is the world's greatest game. Many Americans sneer at soccer as an elitist sport, even though around the world, the poorest of kids find joy in the simple game by playing in the dirt with bare feet. No special equipment is needed : just a ball and a couple of sticks for goals. Part of its beauty is its simplicity.

Others find the game boring, seizing on the 0-0 draw as the equivalent of watching paint dry. I could wax poetic about the beauty to be found in a goal-less draw, but I won't. Even if you think soccer in general is not for you, though, let me tell you why the World Cup is different.

Of course the games themselves are o! ften epic battles, with their turning points burned forever into the minds of fans worldwide. When Argentina legend Diego Maradona used the "hand of God" to coax in a header in the 1986 quarterfinal against England, or when Italian star Roberto Baggio missed a crucial penalty kick in the 1994 final, another legend was born.

For the world's premier players, the World Cup is typically the defining moment of their careers. Unlike Olympic basketball, where some of the best players decline to play or seem like they are treating it as a second-rate vacation, the World Cup is what soccer players live and breathe for. And, unlike the "World" Series, this truly is the championship of the world.

But aside from the sheer intensity of the matches, for me, the World Cup is about culture. With the rise of globalization, national identities are becoming more and more blurred. You can get off a plane in Frankfurt or even Beijing and get the same Big Mac you could get in Des Moi! nes. Want to get famous Turkish coffee in Ankara? They have a Starbucks, for heaven's sake. On a visit to Oxford, England, rather than finding myself in some quaint bed and breakfast, I ended up in a Holiday Inn. In Mexico, you can buy your groceries at Wal-Mart. Is there no "there" anywhere?

The World Cup serves to allay those feelings of cultural annihilation. In spite of the rise of globalization, each nation's team still has unique characteristics that make for interesting comparisons.

For example, the German team, this year's host, displays the same kind of precision you find in their train schedules. The passes are crisp, the attack methodical.

In contrast, the favored Brazilians play with a flair that reminds you of Carnaval. To their fans, the beauty of the game is at least as important as the final score, although they manage to have enormous success while seeming to have a lot of fun.

The Italians are known for their passionate play and ! tend to wear their hearts on their sleeves. They can be expressive, let's say, to the opposite team and even to their own teammates. This can sometimes include rather poetic pleas to the referees. When the United States plays Italy in the first round, watch for an Italian player to fold his hands in a prayerful attempt to have the call go his way.

The French have incredible talent, but are sometimes prone to bouts of self-doubt, which always reminds me of the introspective excesses of their great artists and philosophers.

The culture watch extends to the fans as well. When I attended the 2002 Women's World Cup match pitting the U.S. against Nigeria, the stands were full hours before the game with fans decked out in colorful costumes, dancing endlessly to the beat of African drums. The party lasted throughout the game, even though the U.S. won 6-1.

So does the American team, with all of our multiculturalism, still have defining characteristics? Absolutely,! and our strength stems from that diversity. Just as our society weaves the qualities of various cultures into a resilient, colorful fabric, the U.S. national soccer team blends the talents of players with diverse styles and strengths for an impressive final product - from the rock-solid defense of Eddie Pope, to the impressive speed of DaMarcus Beasley, to the creative playmaking of Landon Donovan.

The American team is also known for the "can-do" spirit that has characterized our culture from the colonial days. Until recently, American teams could rarely match the pure talent found in other parts of the world, where kids learn to kick a ball before they can walk. But for sheer determination, guts, and effort, the United States team is second to none. When our team takes the field, they are a reflection of the country's own proud spirit.

The celebration of cultural differences is not a glorification of ethnic purity. True, every member of Iceland's women's n! ational team has blonde hair and a name ending in "dottir" and you will not confuse their team with the Nigerians. If a goal was scored by Gudrun Gunnarsdottir, you knew which team it was for. Nevertheless, even though a player must be a citizen of the nation he plays for, most of the teams are of mixed ethnicity these days. For example, France's star, Zinedine Zidane, is of Algerian descent, and the French national team has players of African, Indian, and Caribbean origins. Yet the team is unmistakably "French."

Enjoying the cultural scenery of the World Cup adds another dimension to the sport itself. While stereotypes are undoubtedly dangerous, recognizing the variety of approaches makes the experience a little like a quick trip around the globe. If everyone and everything were the same all over the world, what would be the point of going?

In our pluralistic, globalistic society, it is somehow comforting to me to know that when Sweden plays Ecuador, it won't be! hard to tell which team is which, and the fun of comparing the variety of ways to kick the ball into the net will begin.

 

 

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Jerry L. Anderson, 46, has been a law professor at Drake University in Des Moines since 1991.

Anderson, who lives in Indianola, learned to love the game of soccer when he lived in Germany.

This week, teams from 32 countries will gather in Germany for a month-long feast of soccer fantasy.

Every four years, the greatest players in the world take the stage to determine which country?s team is the best.

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