City’s international ethos has made for an exciting World Cup
I love this year’s World Cup and wish it would never end.
But end it must. On Sunday, France and Croatia will meet in Moscow for the final game of the quadrennial tournament, which began in June.
After that, I’ll probably resume ignoring the world of soccer. Like many Americans, I don’t care about the sport. Frankly, I find it hard to watch.
Pelé, the great Brazilian player, called it o jogo bonito — the beautiful game. But I call it an odd mix of terrifying and boring. The standard game runs for 90 minutes. If neither side has scored, or the two are in a tie, they play for an addi- tional 30 minutes. If that doesn’t help, the matter is resolved by penalty kicks.
For spectators, then, the sport is an exercise in unremitting nervous tension, even if you’re not invested in the outcome. Literally any moment could be decisive. The overwhelming majority of them aren’t. And sometimes the game culminates in a ritualistic act of psychological violence against the goalie, who has, in most cases, done nothing wrong.
Watching the World Cup, though — that’s fun, especially in Houston. A 2016 study from Gilt Edge Soccer Marketing concluded Los Angeles is the country’s top soccer market. But Houston, which ranked second, is more international and less cliquish.
The latter quality comes in handy during a World Cup as unpredictable as this one has proved to be. Germany, the top-ranked team in this year’s tournament, exited after losing to Mexico and South Korea during the group stages. Brazil, a five-time winner, was knocked out by Belgium in the quarterfinals.
There were also a number of upsets in the round of 16. France knocked out Argentina. Uruguay ousted Portugal. Most dramatically, Russia sent Spain
home, after a nail-biting batch of penalty kicks.
Italy, which has won four times, failed to qualify for this year’s festivities.
The same was true of the United States, meaning that Americans who decided to follow along had to think globally.
Many of us do that anyway, of course, during the World Cup. For example, I usually root for Switzerland, which is my father’s country of origin, or for Mexico, which is my state’s country of origin. If neither is an option, I just root for some other team, for some other reason.
U.S. not at its best
This causes me no distress or feelings of disloyalty. The United States is great at many things, but soccer has never been one of them. I think we can afford to be honest about our own weaknesses and limitations.
And lately, of course, the United States is going through a bit of a rough patch. On Wednesday, President Donald Trump kicked off the NATO summit in Brussels by labeling our allies “delinquent” in their obligations and accusing Germany of being a pawn of the Kremlin.
Vice President Mike Pence spent the day in Kansas City, where he spoke at a rally for a proTrump PAC, and was heckled by several people protesting the administration’s “zero tolerance” approach to immigration, which has led to several thousand family separations.
Meanwhile, England and Croatia were facing off in the semifinals, so I surveyed my colleagues to find out who they were supporting.
Several were rooting for Croatia, because they had been impressed by the fortitude and scrappiness the team had shown up to that point.
“I know nothing about Croatia,” said another, who rooted for England.
Another colleague was taken aback to learn that I had rooted for Russia during the quarterfinals. That was understandable enough, on his part. Russia is our geopolitical foe. Croatia, its opponent in that match, is among our beleaguered NATO allies.
But I had considered the choice carefully, while trying to decide whether to wear black or red to watch the match last week.
Geopolitical intrigue
Russia is the host country for this year’s World Cup, but it’s not exactly a powerhouse when it comes to soccer. When their team beat Spain’s, the Russian fans were astonished and overjoyed. I was happy on their behalf. And it had occurred to me that Russia’s leaders might feel less temptation to meddle with foreign elections if they had healthier outlets for their competitive instincts.
Some readers, I realize, might not find that line of reasoning persuasive. But I have a friend who had decided to root for Belgium because he happened to be wearing a red shirt during its semifinal match with France on Tuesday. Another friend was rooting for Belgium on the premise England would likely beat Croatia; if so, this year’s World Cup final would be thematically relevant. “Brexit!” he explained. As for me, I had decided to root for France, which is among the countries I appreciate. My family lived there when I was a baby. But I appreciate Croatia, too. The country is one of our allies, and its football team has fought hard for its place in the finals.
And I’m glad, in a way, the United States didn’t qualify for the 2018 World Cup. Americans who have followed this year’s tournament haven’t been able to default to nationalism. We’ve had to think about the rest of the international community, and our own place within it. That’s a worthwhile exercise, especially these days.