Watching the U.S.-Chile last night, I couldn’t help feeling that we’ve finally entered the era of bilingualism in U.S. football. The game was a showcase of new players from both sides, pitting two teams in the midst of promising and exciting development. (You can read a great analysis the debates and controversies surrounding Chile’s team, and it’s coach, by Jeffrey Richey here). It was fast, open, and especially in its second half thoroughly entertaining. The fans were, it seemed, pretty evenly split Chile and U.S., and both sides had good chants, decorations, and flags. Like a real game, someplace in the world.
The first goal, by Chile’s Esteban Paredes, was a true beauty, incredibly set up and finished, impossible to stop by entering goalie (a dual citizen of Jamaica and the U.S.) In the second half, U.S. newbies Juan Agudelo (born in Colombia, he moved to the U.S. when he was eight) and Teal Bunbury (son of Canadian footballler Alex Bunbury) proved electric, and managed to squeeze out a goal thanks to a penalty kick. To top it all off, there was the hilarious Spanglish commentary on Telefutura, complete with a spontaneous song to Bunbury.
Is the era of truly American fùtbol, hemispheric in scope, within reach?
I found this video, produced by the Qatar bid, to be a fascinatingly constructed piece of work, transforming Zidane’s biography into an endorsement of the need for a Middle Eastern World Cup. In it, Zidane returns to his childhood home and talks about his career, and repeatedly refers to the difficulties he faced because of “his origins” as a child of Algerian immigrants. The video was, according to those whose opinion truly counts — bookies — enough to push Qatar’s bid over the top. Zidane, meanwhile, apparently netted 1.9 million pounds, or about $3 million dollars, for his role as ambassador for the Qatar bid. Once a symbol of a now seriously tattered vision of the emergence of a tolerant multi-cultural France, Zidane is transformed here into a spokesman for the “youth of the Middle East,” of their hopes, and of their need for “an event like the World Cup” to show them what possibilities lay ahead. “Football belongs to everyone,” declares Zidane at the end of the video. And now 2022 belongs to Qatar.
It’s not totally clear whether this makes politics a video game or a football match. But either way the message is pretty clear: you have played the game, Mr. President, and lost. But to whom is the message directed, precisely? In a series of political events in which Facebook and Twitter have once again played an important role, the photograph suggests people are well aware they might be photographed, and ready to make the image apt for travel and comprehension.
David Beckham, conquerer of nations, retires By Anthony Lopopolo For once, David Beckham had nowhere to go. There was nothing left to conquer. Winning in four different countries, this 38-year-old, though still capable, got the chance to depart the game as a winner, on his own terms. Paris is the last stop of his playing career, after all the success along a […]
Beckham’s boots for his final game David Beckham plays in the final match of his career today. As he heads into retirement, he carries the pride of Great Britain. Typical Becks. […]
Can Católica go full circle? By Joel Sked Small moments can have significant consequences. Like one 90 minute game of football – good or bad. The 2011 Chilean Primera División Apertura play-off final second-leg was one of those games; contested between great rivals Universidad de Chile and Universidad Católica. UC had finished the regular season – 17 games – […]
I've long wanted to write about Justina Cassavell. My sister has been the cross-country coach at Voorhees High School in New Jersey since the mid 1990s. She is also the head track coach (boys and girls). She announced her resignation yesterday - within minutes it seemed, the story was posted on NJ.com.Under her leadership, the girls cross-country team h […]
The (not-homophobic side of the) sports world has invested a lot of magic in the currently-professional-and-playing-out-gay-male-athlete. It's no wonder, given how elusive that athlete has been.Jason Collins comes out decades after Stonewall, he comes out long after Ellen DeGeneres came out while professionally-active-and-on-television and then recovere […]
NBA center Jason Collins came out in this week's issue of Sports Illustrated. People are celebrating him as the first man in a "major sport" to come out as gay. That is true only if we limit our examples to the US.Justin Fashanu was the first athlete to come out as gay while still playing as a pro. The first black footballer to earn a million- […]
My online course “Culture of Soccer” launched today at Michigan State University. With 120 students enrolled, it recognizes and nurtures younger Americans’ growing appetite for fútbol. It may even be read as a “‘rejection’ of U.S. isolationist/exceptionalist attitudes,” as @OhioGooner put it to me on Twitter. But it’s also important to note that the course [ […]
Guest Post by *Marc Fletcher Gloomy skies and wet weather greeted the Research Forum on South African Football held at the University of Johannesburg (UJ) last month. The bleak conditions made for an intimate crowd, but the academics, journalists and sports practitioners in attendance were rewarded with three strikingly different presentations on varying asp […]
Police in riot gear battle protestors in the streets of Rio de Janeiro. Aggressive slum clearance threatens favelas. Gentrification at Maracanã Stadium. FIFA exclusion zones around World Cup venues. Sound familiar? As readers of this blog know, South Africa staged a successful World Cup in 2010, marketing the country globally to tourists and foreign investor […]
