Soccer as a Microcosm of Nations

As Americans we are coming late to a game that seems to drive the rest of the world crazy. In another decade, soccer will become one of the dominant sports here in the U.S. just like the rest of the world.

Rolling along with this trend, I have begun to watch soccer partly as fun sport, but also partly as an interesting way to look at global relationships. The subtle interrelationships of peoples and nations are revealed in the dynamics of the game as well as fans. It becomes a lesson in history, sociology and psychology in two action packed 45 minute periods.

Watching Russia defeat the Netherlands in the Euro 2008 Quarterfinals was an exhilarating non stop joy ride. Both nations brought their best to the table in a showing of boisterous national pride.
Soccer also brings out all that is good about nations and cultures. You can learn quite alot about a nation by the way it aproaches its favorite sport. Often the pagentry surrounding matches bring out the best a culture has to offer. Half the fun of watching sport from other nations is the fascinating window it gives you. In this vein, I am anxious to watch the upcoming Tour De France. It is not only fun to watch the competition, but also to have a front row seat to France itself.

Along with the positive nationalism associated with national pride, there is always a dose of its disturbing opposite. The jingoistic sister of national pride, where "us" against "them" becomes a pseudo proxy war fought on the soccer field.
This was evident in the recent match between Germany and Poland in Euro 2008. The ghosts of World War Two hang over this rivalry like a fog that won't go away. Fans on both sides draw disturbing parallels between this game and battles and wars dating back to 1450 (the last time Poland defeated Germans in battle). That war and sport are often very similar in the minds of some is not a revelation. It is just that the passions that are stoked by games between peoples and nations with unsettled history seems to reveal unhealed wounds that seek some sort of payback.

How Soccer Explains the World: an Unlikely Theory of Globalization explores the interesting dynamics of soccer clubs as they reflect deeper currents in society. This is a fun and interesting book that gives us a new way to look at the relationships between peoples and nations. Mr. Foer's look at the culture and character's surrounding soccer in places like the former Yugoslavia and the U.K. will cause you to never look at soccer the same way again.

Mr. Foer's book is filled with interesting anecdotal stories of clubs across Europe and Asia. The book left me engaged, but wanting a more systematic, comprehensive and less anecdotal account of soccer. Maybe Mr. Foer will bring us a follow up that will present a more overall look at soccer in all its sociological splendor.