What I’m Reading: March 24, 2007

For my weekly roundup, I generally try to choose stories that fly under the radar. Which is a good thing today because one of the stories that interested me most was about the Israel vs. England game, being played as I type. By the time this is up, you’ll probably know the result of the match, but did you know that some English Jews are not sure whether to support England or Israel? At least that’s what the headline of a Guardian article (Lion or Zion?) would suggest. In fact, though, the text of the article suggests that most English Jews have little trouble making their choice to go with England. Jamie Levy of London sums up the collective feeling:

“There’s definitely a conflict of interest, since I’ve got a tremendous affinity for Israel, but I’ve supported the England team all my life. There’s no question of switching sides – it’d be as heinous a sin as going from Spurs to Arsenal.”

Sticking with the Euro 2008 qualifiers, the Estonian blog Itching for Eestimaa covers that country’s game against Russia. The game itself is not likely to be a classic, but the political undertones are fascinating. The blogger Giustino describes the conflict that have emerged since the collapse of the Soviet Union, as Russia has struggled to come to terms with the newly independent republics who were once a part of it.

It’s not a qualifier, but Montenegro’s friendly with Hungary is worthy of attention because it’s the first game ever for the newly independent Balkan republic. Jonathan Wilson at the Guardian describes how the country is preparing for its first ever match. As the country that produced the former striker (and current Real Madrid sporting director) Pedrag Mijatovic, Montenegro has the pedigree to punch above its weight.

Mijatovic in his playing days for Real Madrid

Moving to Asia, the AP had a long piece on why (men’s) soccer hasn’t caught on in China. The current Olympic coach, Ratomir Dujkovic, suggests that soccer hasn’t made it because the Chinese need a winner to cheer for and the national team has only a single World Cup appearance (in which they failed to score) to its credit. Corruption and mismanagement in the domestic game have also caused a problem. Interestingly, however, Chinese fans can and do criticize those in charge of the game. As Chinese soccer expert Rowan Simons says, “Football is open to a level of criticism you won’t see elsewhere.”

Until things are cleaned up, the Chinese face the distasteful prospect of seeing their Korean and Japanese neighbors and rivals succeed. Perhaps it will be this desire to become a global competitor that will bring success to Chinese soccer, much as it has done for the economy there. Journalist Yan Qiang says, “If the Japanese and South Koreans can do a better job, it leads the Chinese fans to wonder why its team doesn’t perform better.”

Simon Kuper, author of the classic Football Against the Enemy, focuses his weekly Financial Times column on television viewing figures around the world. A few of the most interesting findings:

• Smaller and more homogenous countries have larger television audiences for their matches. In Holland, for example, “Dutch regional, linguistic and class divides are relatively small. The nation as family feels represented by its team.”
• The number of fans watching Spain’s national team is relatively low, which supports the idea that regionalism in that country leads to a lack of support for the team (and possibly its historical underachievement).
• Soccer fans in South America are some of the most dedicated TV viewers of their teams. Kuper doesn’t explain why this may be the case, but I would guess that, because their club teams are often seen as selling clubs to the wealthy teams in Europe, a country’s national team one place where South Americans can compete on equal footing with the rest of the world. Their players clearly have the talent (or else they wouldn’t be bought up by European club teams) and national teams give them a chance to show this off to their compatriots.

Part of the problem with the domestic game in South America is poor organization. In many countries, this lack of organization has led to extreme levels of violence by fans. Nowhere is this more apparent than in Argentina. The Washington Post ran an article in their World section this week on the problems that country is having cleaning up the violence waged by extreme elements of the barra brava fan groups which provide support for their teams. The teams are not without blame, though. The Post writes that :”such gangs are rumored to receive money, tickets and jobs from the clubs.” Most worryingly, these Argentine fan groups are sharing their “expertise” with like-minded folks around Latin America.

According to a report this week in Olé, an Argentine daily newspaper devoted to soccer, leaders of some of the country’s major barrabravas have shared their methods with fan groups in countries including Colombia and Mexico, charging money for courses in how to extort from team officials, use weapons and generally wreak havoc. The article quoted Rafael Di Zeo, considered a leader of a barrabrava of the Boca Juniors club, as saying that groups such as his are considered “the Harvard” of hooligans worldwide. “They come here to learn,” Di Zeo said, according to the article.

Argentine police arrest fans tied to violence in that country

The Argentine official in charge of cleaning up the soccer-related violence in the country is none other than former referee Javier “The Sheriff” Castrilli. Castrilli was known as one of the most strict referees around during his time in black, but in his new role in the Interior Ministry he faces far larger problems.Eliminating entrenched problems that may stretch to the top of Argentine soccer is far more of a challenge than controlling twenty-two professional soccer players (and that’s no easy task).Big-ups to my friend Keddy who alerted me to the new movie The Offside about female Iranian fans who sneak into soccer stadiums (they’re officially barred). Both the New York Times and NPR review it (trailer available at Rotten Tomatoes). It’s only showing in New York and LA now. If it comes to Washington, I’ll definitely check it out and review it here.

An Iranian girl pretending to be a boy in order to watch the national team play

With March Madness in the air and college basketball mascots shaking their money-makers on the hardwood, the New York Times had a piece titled Fuzzy Madness: Mascots Gone Wild. There is a soccer mention in the article:

In British soccer, there were the infamous hooligan mascots of the 1990s. They include Cyril the Swan of Swansea City, who ripped the head off Zampa the Lion of Millwall and kicked it into the stands.

Cyril plays rope-a-dope with Zampa

I’ve played soccer in some amazing locales (the top of a 4000 foot mountain in Guatemala being my favorite), but never one like this. From an NPR story about a small community in Maine trying to reinvigorate itself by hosting a training center for winter athletes comes this picture. The original caption reads “Students on a field trip to The Nordic Heritage Center in Presque Isle, Maine, play a game of soccer in the snow.”

Finally, a mention of a great website I’ve come across. It’s called Albion Road and it is a soccer encyclopedia of sorts, with information on clubs, national teams, and leagues around the world. Definitely worth a visit.

This entry was posted on Saturday, March 24th, 2007 at 6:59 pm and is filed under What I'm Reading. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.