It is often said that soccer is a hooligan’s game played by gentlemen. It is certainly a social game, and watching it as a televised sport in isolation, to my mind at least, is quite tedious. However, together with a crowd of rambunctious revelers, either at the stadium or with a pint of artisanal brew at a pub, the entire event becomes quite a lot of fun. It is, first and foremost, a community sport. On this last trip I remember going into bars to watch games where the audience was often more entertaining than the game. If this planet has any one sport that could be called “Earth’s game”, it must surely be soccer. There were 204 nations which tried out for the FIFA world cup, more than is represented at the UN. It is an enormously watched global event.
Whereas many other games, particularly many Olympic sports, can simply by virtue of the expense involved in the related equipment be the exlusive domain of first world countries, soccer just requires a couple of posts and a ball. I have seen children play soccer in Eastern Turkey with just a couple of rusty cans demarcating the goal posts and a ball which appeared to be made out of plastic shopping bags and packing tape. Compare this to the cost and infrastructure implied by an ice skating rink and outfitting an entire team of hockey players. Or for that matter the various classes of sailing in the Olympics, where the boat alone is worth over a million dollars, and no team ever shows up just with one boat. The same goes for equestrian sports, and most winter sports: it is a rich man/nation’s game.
This afternoon I was on Commercial Drive amongst a very pro-German crowd and that team did not fail to impress. Their precision passing and tight text-book perfect combinations made short work of the Australians, resulting in a humiliating 4-0 loss. The Germans are going to be a very tough team to win this year, and clearly the Eurocup loss in 2008 has not been forgotten. I was on The Drive on that eventful afternoon, and it was quite the party.Recall that Spain had not won in over 40 years, and it was miraculous that they had advanced as far as they had. They first had to beat Italy, and I made it a point of being at an Italian café on the drive to see this, because I was convinced the Italians would win. Miraculously, Spain advanced to the final round against Germany. I remember thinking, “Nooooo!!! Not the Germans! Anyone but the Germans!” so I was prepared for a loss that afternoon. Much to my surprise, The Drive became rather polarized – the pro-German fans seemed to congregate around pubs and restaurants South of 1st, and the pro-Spain fans north of first. Police were as thick as thieves on The Drive, no doubt expecting the worst. As usual I had a bicycle with me, and flitted back and forth between the two camps. The game was a nail biter: the Germans playing their particular brand of precision soccer, with everything carefully choreographed and planned, the Spanish improvising and playing a rigorously offensive game, maintaining the lion's share of the ball possession. In the end, Spain won 1-0, but not without many close calls on both sides. In actuality it could have been a win to either team, so closely were they matched.
I followed this fellow around, clearly drunk, clearly Italian, and captured in glorious CycloVision. Half way through his rant he notices he's carrying his flag upside down...
