I do not wish to sound anti-American here, because I am not. But for me, the World Cup has not been about national pride, because Americans have very little of that when it comes to soccer. The World Cup is no Olympics that dominates our TV screens—the World Cup is only being broadcast in the United States on ESPN 2 and on Spanish-language stations. The bars in New York are full of fans, but they are wearing jerseys from every country in the world, speaking an array of languages and singing British soccer anthems at the top of their lungs. I’d like to go to Texas or Alabama, or even West Chester, and see how many people are watching it in the bars there. See how many people who even own cable have the dial turned to ESPN 2. (Not ESPN 1, but ESPN 2—ESPN 1 was showing competitive bowling yesterday during the afternoon World Cup game.)
Since I went to the bars on the fateful day 2 weeks ago and got interested in the World Cup, what’s been a bummer for me is realizing how few Americans really care about it. It’s exhilarating to watch people from other places—England, Germany, even my next door neighbor from Costa Rica—who are enthusiastically addicted to the games. The World Cup holds so much significance for every other country in the world, whether it’s a country who has a team or whose team is still struggling to qualify. I wish we Americans could get behind something like that, a sport with international importance that brings true joy and unity to a country. Unfortunately, I see more and more that we cannot, or maybe we’re just unwilling to do so.
And then people get bummed when we lose. Our American pride is injured because we’re not the best. We’re the most powerful country in the world and we cannot even win the World Cup, we can’t even come close. The loss today genuinely saddened many people, and it should. The whole country should be devastated, as any country would be, but we are not.
And that is why I so appreciate the team that beat us—Ghana, who has struggled for so long to qualify for the World Cup. A country who is just as obsessed with the sport as any other, and whose dedication to its players and the true nationalism it represents is something that we, as Americans, lack horribly. Beyond that, being beaten by an African country is so symbolic painted against the history of hundreds of years of American racism and slavery. It’s a triumph of true equality, a sign that we can all compete equally, and even the underdog can win. And finally, I hope that this loss serves to humble Americans. I hope that it helps us turn our noses down a little bit and climb off our high horse of superiority. I hope that people take it with a slap in the face, feel humbled and understand that we all live on one big flat ground, and that the United States is not situated on an ivory tower that can’t be brought down.
I can hope for these things, but I will not hold my breath. Perhaps if the World Cup meant more to us, these wishes would come true. But since it carries so little meaning for so many people, I believe today’s loss will be forgotten quickly and with little lost on the way. I wouldn’t be surprised if the bars in Texas weren’t even broadcasting that game today, and besides, the people in Accra will celebrate a lot better than we ever could.
posted by iliza @ 4:02 PM
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