What I’m Reading: April 1, 2007

One of my pet peeves is when people discuss American soccer as if it were monolithic. Yes, it is true that much soccer is played by wealthy, white kids in the suburbs, but if you travel to nearly any area with immigrants you will see soccer being played. Soccer is big in this country, but it is hidden to many people.

The popularity of soccer in the US was shown in the announcement that Mexico’s recent supercásico, Chivas vs. America, drew 4.3 million viewers, the most for a professional club match in 13 years. Yes, there are a lot of Mexicans in this country and yes, many Mexicans like soccer.

The Mexico vs. Ecuador friendly also drew the interest of a couple of media outlets. The San Francisco Chronicle sent reporter David White across the bay to check out the atmosphere at the game. White described the game as “a Latin-flavored block party, only the size of a suburban city, as 47,416 futbol fans — the overwhelming majority bathed in the green, white and red of Mexico … [who] came together to celebrate sport and culture.” NPR also got in on the act, with their reporter recording the sounds at the game.

Ecuadorian fans cheer their team on

The fact that Mexico can consistently draw huge crowds when playing in the US got me wondering if there are other countries that can do the same? Can Turkey draw a crowd when playing in Germany? Senegal when playing in France? Other ideas, anyone?

As many of you have probably noticed, I am particularly interested in stories related to conflict and, conversely, conflict resolution. Given the nature of the Middle East today, many stories of violence and soccer are coming from that region. The situation involving the British sailors currently being held by Iran has the potential to lead to even more conflict between the UK and the Iranians. Neither country has done a good job of reducing the tension and the Houston Chronicle reported that in Iran this week “some 60,000 soccer fans chanted ‘Death to Britain’ at a match in Tehran.”

Recent anti-British protests in Tehran

Iranian anger toward the UK is not new: the Anglo-Persian Oil Company (which has since become BP) was deeply resented by many in the Middle Eastern country in the mid-1950s, which led to the election of nationalist Mohammed Mossadegh. Mossadegh attempted to renegotiate what many Iranians saw as unfair contracts with the British oil company, which led to the CIA toppling him and reinstalling the Shah. The US may have been the one to overthrow the democratically-elected Mossadegh, but it was the British involvement that led to much of the anger toward the West in the first place. When, nearly 30 years later, the Iranian Revolution occurred, the US received the now well-known label of “Great Satan.” But less well known is that Britain is commonly referred to as “Little Satan.” This nickname was shouted again this week in the streets of Tehran along with the “Death to Britain.” I want to stop talking about Iraqi soccer players getting caught up in the violence wracking that country, but the stories just keep coming. This week, it was an eyewitness report from an Iraqi translator working for NPR who witnessed gunmen opening fire on teenagers playing soccer. Saleem Amer reports:

Two vehicles came and parked close to the parking lot. Four or five men left the vehicle, and we hear the noise, the shooting of the machine gun, it was so close, so loud and it was continuous. I start looking and they are shooting on the kids. Eight of the kids fell already on the ground. The guys kept shooting - they just wanted to make sure that everybody is dead.

There is a tiny bit of hope in the Middle East, even if it is constantly hidden under reports of horrible violence. When England traveled last week to Israel to humiliate themselves once again, several reporters went off the beaten path. Kevin Mitchell of the Guardian wrote a great piece about a soccer tournament which brins Palestianian and Israeli children together in sport. Mitchell harps on the theme that children have a “decency [that] disappears to once little boys start growing facial hair.” The tournament was “the football played by children behaving like grown men ought to.”

Reconciliation after conflict also popped up in a story about Didier Drogba winning the African Player of the Year award. After winning the award, the Chelsea striker went to the northern city of Bouake, home to a separatist movement in the country. While there, Drogba said

I have come here to offer you a golden ball, it’s the golden ball for the whole of the Ivory Coast. In June the whole Ivory Coast national team will be at Bouake for the match against Madagascar (in an African Nations Cup qualifier). 3 June will be a memorable day: it will be the victory for Ivory Coast football, the victory of the Ivory Coast people and quite simply there will be peace.

Didier Drogba shows off his award in Bouake

The effects of civil war can be horrendous. For evidence of this, one need only look back a little over 10 years to Rwanda. This week, a BBC article wrote of the lack of good players in the twenty-something age range because so many were killed during the 1994 genocide. Coach Michael Nees bemoans the fact that many of his potential players were killed, a blight on the Rwandan national team as well as the world that let it happen.

The Rwandan national team

More in the mold of a cold war, the low-level conflict in Korea since the separation into North and South has seen periodic attempts at reconciliation but no breakthrough as of yet. Another small step in what we can hope will lead to reunification occurred when the North Korean U-17 national team traveled to Jeju Island for a month-long training camp. Sadly, attempts by local residents to reach out to the team - including deliveries of of hallabong fruit and sushi-grade fish - were ignored. The media didn’t fare much better with the team avoiding local reporters. Said an official from the South Korean Football Association, “In their dictionary there may be no words for ‘media service’ or ‘photo session’.”

North Koreans, don’t you want some hallabong?

If the conflict between North and South Korea is comparable to a Cold War, what is the word to describe a conflict which doesn’t exist? Though there hasn’t been actual conflict over Macedonia, the name of that country is disputed. Some in Greece think that Macedonia should only be used to refer to the Greek province of the same name. A mention in the Christian Science Monitor’s “Reporters on the Job” segment had this soccer-related story that illustrates the difference.

For correspondent Nicole Itano, clashing views of history in the Balkans is not confined to the classroom (see story). The taxi driver she uses to get around Athens, for example, will order passengers to get out if they refer to the Former Yugoslav Republic of Macedonia (FYRM) as simply “Macedonia.” The reason: Greeks say that the kingdom of Alexander the Great, known as Macedonia, was part of present-day Greece. “Many Greeks are upset at what they see as an attempt by a Slavic country to appropriate his legacy for itself,” Nicole says.

During a Greek broadcast of a soccer match between England and Macedonia, Nicole says, the station superimposed the letters FYRM (pronounced “feerim”) to “correct” the scoreboard’s rendering of the teams: ENG vs. MAC. “That’s how touchy these issues are,” she says.

And finally, from Eastern Europe to Central Asia, where I found an blog that gives me the opportunity to use one of my favorite characters ever, Borat. That’s because Kazazkhstan beat Serbia in a Euro 2008 qualifier. Only one thing needs to be said about that.

Very nice!

Speaking of soccer results leading to national merrymaking, Peru’s U-17s qualified for the upcoming World Cup. According to the blog Journal Peru, the team’s results in the qualifying tournament were enough to send the country into uncontrolled ecstasy. Wolfy Becker writes that the team, which won only a single game in the tournament but qualified anyway, has become the darling of Peruvian media, being reported on constantly. And even if the team is unlikely to win the U-17 World Cup, they have proven one thing, says Becker: “Peru is already the world champion in celebrating!”

Peruvians welcome their U-17 national team back to the country

Back stateside, the MLS season starts next weekend. A couple of stories about the league came out this week. The Wall Street Journal took a look at the economic development of the league, saying that MLS has quietly (not including Beckham’s signing of couse) established a base for success. Meanwhile, Ian Plenderleith at US Soccer Players says that MLS must focus on improving the on-field product. Plenderleith quotes deputy commissioner Ivan Gazidis saying that the infrastructure is now established and that “the most important thing in MLS’ development over the next five years is going to be the game itself.” As someone who’s watched MLS since the days of the Wiz and the Clash, I agree 100%. I love MLS because it produces the national team players of the future, but the on-field product is often lacking. Now that the financial foundation appears in order, improving the game is vital.

And finally, for those interested in the just released Iranian movie Offside (which I discussed last week), I came across a website with fantastic pictures of female football fans (who are restricted from watching many games). Definitely worth a peek.

This entry was posted on Sunday, April 1st, 2007 at 4:30 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.