Many clubs in the world have extremely strong ethnic identities. Everyone knows that Celtic represent the Catholic half of Scotland (and most of Ireland for that matter) while Rangers are supported by the Protestants. But some clubs take their club’s identity to another level and only have players of a certain nationality or ethnicity. Here are several examples:

1. 1. Athletic Bilbao represents that city in Spain. They also see themselves as representing the entire Basque region and as such only use Basque players (there have been some exceptions, click here for more information).
   2. Chivas of Guadalajara prides itself on using only Mexican players. Throughout its over 100 year history, Chivas have never fielded a non-Mexican (this is contrast to their biggest rivals, Club America, who make a habit of bringing in expensive foreigners). Ironically, Chivas was founded by a Belgian, Edgar Everaert, although their current owner, is Mexican vitamin magnate Jorge Vergara.
   3. Vergara is also responsible for another club exclusively fielding players of one nationality. In 2003, the Mexican purchased the Costa Rican team Deportivo Saprissa and implemented the same policy which had given Chivas such popularity in his home country. Since Vergara took over, Saprissa have fielded only Costa Ricans.
   4. Jorge Vergara also attempted to implement a similar policy when he founded Chivas USA of MLS in 2004. Vergara initially said he would field a team of all Latinos. This policy was quickly scrapped as Vergara realized that it would lead to a rather unsuccessful team.

I’m sure there are other teams with such a strong ethnic identity and which field teams of players exclusively of one ethnicity or nationality, but they escape me right now. In the cases of all the teams above, it is interesting to note that their decision to field only a certain type of player is based on both sporting and business concerns. While they see it as a point of pride that players of a certain stripe succeed, the clubs also gain support from those who agree with their exclusivist policies. Chivas especially has obtained its status as the most popular team in Mexico in part because of its policy of fielding only Mexican players. Ethnic identity is not just a matter of pride, it can also be a money-maker.

Everyone, their mother, and me have had their say about Beckham coming to America. But leave it to Stephen Colbert to come at it from a completely new angle.

Says faux-rightwing nut job pundit, “Even though he’s an immigrant, I’m fine with him coming over here. He’s just doing a job Americans don’t want to do: play professional soccer. But the problem is, he’s getting paid $250 million to do it. Immigrants are supposed to work for less, not five times the rest of the team’s salaries combined. I would hate to see what he charges to put up drywall.”

Watch the video yourself here. And keep watching the video to see Stephen’s hilarious plan to get back at fans of the minor league Oshawa Generals. A little background: fans of the Saginaw Spirit recently voted to name their mascot after Colbert, calling it “Steagle Colbeagle the Eagle.” Oshawa fans familiar with Colbert’s fear of bears, threw teddy bears onto the ice to taunt the comedian. In response, Colbert is urging Saginaw fans to throw copies of GM’s 2005 financial report onto the ice to taunt the Oshawa team, which is based in that relies heavily on its local GM plant. Too funny.

One of the more unique traditions in soccer is the captain’s armband. The only other sport I’m aware of in which the captain of a team is visually denoted is hockey (a ‘C’ on the shirt).

Soccer captain armbands are, for the most part, utilitarian. The Premier League prefers a thin armband with a lion, taken from the unofficial three lions symbol of England.

In Continental Europe, however, captains tend to use a thicker armband, often with just a large C on it.

Captain’s armbands have been used to promote messages, as FIFA did at the 2006 World Cup. There, the armbands worn by all captains promoted FIFA’s Fair Play message (I never noticed that he had taped over the fair play message on his armband; should this have been seen as a hint of what was to come?).

But my favorite two captain’s armbands represent the areas in which they are used. Ajax and Barcelona both use armbands that are distinctive in world football.

Ajax uses an armband that has two red stripes surrounding a black stripe on which 3 white Xs are superimposed. Ajax is based in Amsterdam, which might some people (including me, I’ll admit it) some interesting initial thoughts about the meaning of the design. The actual significance of the design comes from far before Amsterdam gained a reputation as a city of sin. The Amsterdam city council informs of of the true meaning of the crest:

Three crosses form the core of Amsterdam’s city crest. These are St. Andrew’s crosses, named after the apostle St. Andrew who is said to have been martyred on such a cross. The shield on which the crosses stand consists of three vertical stripes in the colours red - black - red. The crosses are in the black stripe.

In any case, Ajax captains are quite distinct wearing this armband, as modeled here by Jaap Stam.

I’d also like to get in a plug for the folks at AjaxUSA, with whom I traveled to Amsterdam in 2005. While in Holland, I purchased several Ajax armbands and gave on to our youngest group member, Sean, on his birthday (6, if I recall correctly). He wore it around everywhere for the rest of the trip.

Like Ajax, Barcelona is a club intimately tied to its homeland. The club prides itself as being “more than a club” and has been a symbol of Catalonian identity since its inception (I recommend Barca: A People’s Passion by Jimmy Burns for those interested in further reading on Barcelona). This status is reinforced by the armband worn by the Barcelona captain, which is, in fact, the flag of Catalonia. Modeled here by Carlos Puyol (if that can be said of someone as ugly as the Barca centerback).

I have noticed recently that other teams in Spain (Zaragoza and Valencia are two I saw this past weekend) also have captain’s armbands based on the regions they come from.

I would love to see more teams follow this lead. Here’s to a global movement to encourage teams to develop unique captain’s armbands that represent something unique about themselves. Who’s with me?

FIFA is divided into 6 confederations (well, 5 and a half now that Australia has left Oceania), each representing a region of the world. They are: AFC (Asia), CAF (Africa), CONCACAF (North and Central America and Caribbean), CONMEBOL (South America), OFC (Oceania), and UEFA (Europe).

Most of the member countries of each confederation are based on geography, with a few exceptions. Most of these anomalies are of fairly inconsequential teams, at least in terms of soccer pedigree. Suriname, Guyana, and French Guiana are members of CONCACAF despite being firmly placed in South America, Kazakhstan (very nice!) recently “moved” from Asia to Europe (presumably in order to suffer more humiliating losses than it had previously), while Australia grew tired of beating up on American Samoa, Vanuatu, and the like and left Oceania to join Asia.

But the most interesting geographic anomaly in the world has to be Israel. Despite being located in the heart of the Middle East (and how could you forget that today?), Israel is a member of UEFA. While FIFA strives to be apolitical, it is often the case that the soccer governing body’s work is reflected by and even shapes the politics of the day. How else can a country that borders countries that are all members of the Asian confederation be considered European?

The answer is simple to anyone with even a cursory knowledge of Middle Eastern politics. Israel is the only Jewish state in the heart of the Arab world. At a time of great conflict in that region, soccer games between Israel and most of its neighbors would have the potential to cause serious problems.

Religious and ethnic conflict have blighted the history of the Middle East for thousands of years and have grown even more intense since Israel’s founding. With several wars, an occupation, and enough vitriol spewed on both sides to fill the Dead Sea, relations between Jews and Arabs are not, let’s say, genial.

So perhaps it is a bit of a surprise that it was only as recently as 1994 that Israel was fully inducted into UEFA. But which confederation hosted Israel prior to this? Well, it turns out the Israeli national team is nearly as nomadic as the Jews themselves.

The current Israeli Football Association was founded in 1928 as the “Palestine Football Association.” Its first official international match was a 7-1 drubbing at the hands of Egypt (click here for a complete list of Israel’s international matches). At this time, Israel / Palestine was a member of the Asian confederation and (unsuccessfully) attempted to qualify for the 1934 World Cup against Asian opponents Egypt, Greece, and Lebanon.

After the founding of the state of Israel in 1948, the newly renamed team played its first match against none other than the United States (a 3-1 loss in a game played in New York). The opponent was not a surprise, as the Americans were the first country to recognize the newly created state.

During the 1950, 1954, 1958, 1960, and 1966 World Cup qualifying cycles, Israel competed in Europe, never making it to the finals. However, at the same time Israel competed in Asia for Olympic qualifying matches and in regional competitions. Despite being situated in the Western part of the Asian confederation geographically, Israel was placed in qualifying groups with mostly East Asian teams. The intent was obvious: to avoid fixtures that might spark conflict.

But politically sensitive placement could not achieve the goal of avoiding match-ups between Israel and its rivals. On several occasions at the Asian Nations Cup, Israel was drawn against countries with whom they shared a high degree of enmity. It seems amazing today, but in 1968 Israel went to Iran, losing 2-1 to the hosts in the semi-finals.

Soon after, teams began to refuse to play Israel. In 1974, North Korea (huh?) and Kuwait refused to play their matches and Israel won by forfeit (interestingly, Iran — pre-Islamic revolution, of course — took on Israel and again won, this time 1-0).

Israel went through World Cup qualifying in 1970 as a member of the even more geographically remote Oceania region, this time making it to the finals of the tournament, their only ever appearance. In 1974 and 1978, Israel returned to Asian qualification, though against East Asian opponents as before. 1982, it was back to Europe. 1986 and 1990, Oceania again. Since 1990, Israel has attempted to qualify for the World Cup from Europe and it seems likely they will remain here in the future.

Israel’s soccer nomadism is not self-imposed; it has been forced to globe trot looking for a home nearly since its founding. The geographically natural place for Israel to play is Asia, but the idea of Israel playing away in Tehran, Damascus, or Riyadh today is nearly inconceivable. Indeed, Israel’s neighbors refused to play against the Jewish country, thus leading to Israel’s expulsion from the Asian confederation. After being kicked out of Asia in the early 1970s, Israel remained unaffiliated for over 20 years.

It is sad but true that politics weasels its way into soccer despite the best efforts of FIFA and others to keep them separate. Having Israel play in Europe to avoid conflict surrounding matches against their enemies is the most sensible solution for now. But one can only hope, foolish as such hope might seem today, that future peace in the Middle East might be solidified by games between Israel and its neighbors.

I’m currently reading Lawrence Wright’s masterful book The Looming Tower. It’s a superb narrative account of the history of al-Qaeda and how we arrived at 9-11 and the current state of conflict the world finds itself in. While most of the book deals with Islamic extremism and has no relevance to here, there are a couple of interesting morsels. Did you know, for example, that Osama bin Laden was a soccer enthusiast growing up? According to Wright, “Bin Laden, being tall and fast, was the striker always in front” (p. 79). And, even at a young age, soccer was never removed from his religious views.

When [Osama and friends] played soccer, Osama would bring along tuna and cheese sandwiches for the other players, even on days when he was fasting. His commitment and composure commanded respect. Out of modesty, he stopped wearing regular soccer shorts and took to playing in long pants. In deference to his beliefs, the other players followed suit. They would often go to play in the poorer districts of Jeddah. During lunch, even if he was fasting, Osama would divide his teammates into different groups, named after companions of the Prophet, and quiz them on the Quran. “The Abu Bakr group wins!” he would exclaim. “Now, let’s have cakes.” (p. 77)

I don’t think I can remember the last time a soccer story was on the front page of most major American online news sources. So it was quite a surprise to see a story related to MLS’s LA Galaxy splashed across the home pages of New York Times, CNN, ABC News and other high-profile news sites. What was not a surprise was that the player generating this press coverage is the world player with perhaps the highest profile in the world: David Beckham.

In addition to Beckham’s name recognition even among non-soccer fans in this country, what surely brought much of the press coverage was the size of the salary the new Galaxy recruit signed. 250 million dollars is quite a chunk of change, to be sure. But the contract’s details are slightly more complicated than has been let on. This post on MLS Underground quotes from a Wall Street Journal article which says that Beckham’s actual salary is closer to $10 million per year, with the Spice Boy also pocketing half of the Galaxy’s jersey sales profits as well as a cut of ticket sales. Beckham will also be getting close to $20 million in endorsements. Altogether, this may add up to $50 million a year over 5 years, pushing the total to $250 million. (Ives Galarcep is similarly skeptical about the $250 million figure.)

But the real question is not whether Beckham will become simply rich or uber-rich; it’s whether his arrival will benefit MLS specifically and American soccer in general. I have spoken with many friends and fellow soccer fans in the past couple of days and they are not convinced he will be a good thing for American soccer.

But I disagree: I think Beckham’s arrival will push MLS and American soccer to new heights and take them closer to world-class status. Here’s why.

Sports are, lest we forget, a business. A large part of business is brand awareness and this is built by media exposure. In its 10 years of existence MLS has struggled to establish itself in the minds of the American public. Until this past season, it had to pay to have its games broadcast, as opposed to leagues like the NFL and NBA that sell their rights for multi-million dollar figures. MLS has been known to soccer people, but has struggled to push outside of this small circle of fans.

I am sure that surveys about familiarity with MLS taken January 10 (the day before Becks was signed) would be far lower than those taken today. MLS has scored an incredible coup in getting its name into major media (I am convinced that quoting the $250 million figure was intended to cause sensation in the press, despite it being simply a projection of Beckham’s future earnings).

But many are concerned that MLS has overpaid for a player who is past 30 and has never been as good as his hype. This concern makes sense if one considers Beckham’s arrival in purely sporting terms. Clearly, though, he was signed as much for his name recognition and potential to earn MLS money as for his soccer skills. LA Galaxy jerseys may not be seen much outside of LA, but Don Garber and co. are hoping they will soon be seen around the world. They have reason to think this may be the case.

In the summer of 2003, a certain David Beckham signed for Real Madrid in a 17.8 million pound (roughly 35 million dollars) deal. This was considered exorbitant even then, when Beckham was in his prime as a player. But Real Madrid bought the player as a soccer player and as a way to boost their brand. Los Merengues used Beckham’s popularity to boost their replica jersey sales and overtook Manchester United (not coincedentally, Beckham’s former team) as the richest club in the world. Beckham clearly can have an effect on the bottom line, and the Galaxy will hope to replicate Madrid’s success in this area.

But what about Beckham’s role on the field? He is a marketing juggernaut but he wouldn’t have risen to prominence if he weren’t a half-decent player as well. Some worry that Beckham is coming to MLS simply to earn money and won’t put any effort into his playing. I doubt it. I’ve never been a huge Beckham fan, but no one has ever questioned his work ethic. Unlike other aging Europeans who have come to MLS, I can’t see Beckham “pulling a Matthaus” and half-assing it on the field in order to experience life in the US. I take Beckham at his word when he says he wants to help build American soccer. A large part of doing this will be how he performs on the field, and I am sure he will give his all.

Another concern voiced in the wake of Beckham’s signing is that he will be too good for MLS. While there is concern that he may dominate the league (Ives Galarcep points out that he will go up against MLS left backs, who are, for the most part, weak), soccer is very much a team sport and Beckham is not the type of player to completely take over a game (a point Stefan Fatsis made recently on NPR).

Comparisons between Pele coming to the NASL in the 70s and Beckham coming to MLS have popped up, with some worrying that American soccer is again relying on aging stars to achieve success. I think theses comparisons are incorrect. One of the reasons the NASL went bust is that it never developed American players. Developing young Americans has been one of MLS’s largest successes (it should be noted that Clint Dempsey signed with England’s Fulham one day before the Beckham announcement in a deal worth a record 4 million dollars). Beckham will step into a league in which he will undoubtedly be a star, but he will have to work hard to achieve success. MLS may not be Spain’s La Liga or England’s Premier League, but it is a good, solid league.

In the end, I think Beckham’s arrival will boost MLS because it will boost the awareness of soccer in this country. With more people aware of the game, I think MLS can make the jump from a minor sport to one of the “big four” (can we remove hockey from that group yet?). Concerns about Beckham’s desire to work hard on the field are unfounded as he has shown throughout his career. And having a star such as Beckham on the field will raise the level of MLS players and hopefully encourage the future stars of American soccer to take up the game.

As for Posh Spice … not everyone is as excited about her arrival as the paparazzi to whom she’ll undoubtedly give new work.