This past Saturday I joined a couple hundred of my closest friends at the Amsterdam to watch the USA and England play their first match of the 2010 world cup. An hour or so before the game there were already chants of “1776”, “1812” and “1950”. Not to mention rousing choruses of “Over There” (copies of the lyrics were handed out prior to the match). Anytime there was a shot of Wayne Rooney or David Beckham jeers and curses were shouted at the screen. This is international soccer done right.
I’m sure most soccer fans in the US have wondered why Americans have never embraced soccer with the passion that other countries have; the answer is history. Not that there is not a history of soccer in the US, their certainly is (although not as long or as storied as our European or South American friends). Instead the problem lies with the history of our nation itself. But before I go into more detail I’d like to look for a moment at some of the great soccer nations in the world.
In my mind when international soccer is mentioned four countries immediately come to mind; Argentina, Brazil, England, and Germany. Besides the common winning traditions in these countries what is the other thing that binds them together? Hate. Argentina hates Brazil and England, Brazil hates Argentina, England hates Argentina and Germany, and Germany hates England. Of course in the world of modern soccer the hatred is not as prevalent among the players, many of them play together on their club teams. But among the supporters there is a deep seeded rivalry, and rivalries like these help to stir up the emotions of the people. I have friends in Argentina who are not serious soccer supporters (at least not as far as Argentines go), but whenever Argentina is playing Brazil or England they are as soccer mad as anyone.
And what fuels these rivalries is complex. Certainly much does stem from events on the pitch, but it also comes from their histories or cultures or politics. Argentina and Brazil each see themselves as the major power in South America, yet they have vastly different cultures. Argentina and England fought a war within the lifetime of some of their players. England and Germany have fought two wars within the last century and each would assert itself as the predominant power in Europe.
So if we as Americans would like to whip ourselves into a frenzy over an international match, who could stir up so much hatred? Our CONCACAF rivals and closest neighbor Mexico would seem a likely fit or in the wake of the last World Cup’s opening match Italy has certainly bred some distain (remember Brian McBride’s bloodied head). But there is a problem with these, yes we have fought wars with both nations, but the number of Mexican Americans and Italian Americans are far too high for wide spread hatred of either team to flourish (although I still strongly support a nice friendly rivalry with Mexico).
During the cold war we could have viewed the USSR as a rival, but both the US and USSR were irrelevant in the soccer world at that time. Now perhaps countries such as Iran or North Korea would suffice, but while the US is now a player in world soccer both Iran and North Korea remain irrelevant (despite NK’s surprising World Cup qualification).
So again we return to merry ol’ England. Sure they are now one of our closest allies, but we did fight two wars with them at the dawn of our countries history. And in our two World Cup meetings we have shocked the soccer giants. But most importantly most (if not all) English Americans do not feel the close ties to their country of origin as many others do. This again is because of history. Those who left England for American did it largely because they chose to, whether hoping to make it rich or to start at Utopian new world. While many people from other countries came to America out of need, they did not wish to leave their homelands but came in search of a better life and therefore retained strong ties to the countries of their births. Of course I am not suggesting that we hate the English as a country or as a people, just as a soccer team.
So let’s wave our “Don’t Tread on Me” flags, don our Minutemen garb, and curse at the Queen. And pray that we meet again this World Cup, in the finals.
