Iris Publishers-Open Access Journal of Archaeology & Anthropology | The Football World Cup is not About Nations
Competing but About People Getting Together
Authored by Phil. Ing. Cosmin Minea
I saw Poland’s dramatic loss, 1-2 with Senegal, together with
two Polish friends just before going out to have a glass of wine
on the Rhine’s wonderful bank in Mainz. But unsurprisingly, even
without a TV in site, I could not escape the World Cup. From time
to time, two men dressed in Russian t-shirts jumped from the ship
docked nearby, crazily shouting and screaming. At one point, their
shouts were cheerfully returned by another two men, in Polish
t-shirts, that just happened to pass by. I soon learned that Russia
was leading 3-0 against Egypt (and would end up winning 3-1), in a
game that pundits predicted much closer.
The next day I woke up to read a high-spirited email from a friend in Birmingham who detailed the World Cup games from the previous day and how the teams we randomly chose to support performed against each other. Later in the airport I was following Portugal’s difficult game against Morocco while reading an interview with this German sport philosopher (?!) who explained how the fascination with football comes from the paradox that humans compete against each other while totally restraining their most well-exercised and physical ability, handling.
World Cup is simply in the air. Everyone jumps, talks, screams in a special way these days. I definitely feel I cannot escape it. So, I won’t even try.
The brief flashbacks from my stay in Mainz reveal I believe why the World Cup is special. Obviously, it is an exceptional event in many ways. It engages so many emotions and passions, people are exuberant, more than for the Olympics for example, whole cities, public squares and pubs become one in support of a team. But there is something more to it, that ever since I began study the nature and development of nationalism, never ceased to amaze me. The football World Cup has inherently the beautiful paradox that countries are competing against countries in fiercely disputed games but fans from all over the world actually come together, united in shared passions and emotions. From the eventful street of Moscow or Sankt Petersburg to the quiet and uneventful streets of Mainz, Germany, one can see fans of different nationalities having a bear and a chat together and rarely an argument. Spanish and Portuguese, or Russian and Germans, are laughing and joking, playfully teasing each other. They interact in a way they never would if the World Cup did not give them the opportunity.
To read more... Journal of archaeology
To view more Journals...Iris Publishers
The next day I woke up to read a high-spirited email from a friend in Birmingham who detailed the World Cup games from the previous day and how the teams we randomly chose to support performed against each other. Later in the airport I was following Portugal’s difficult game against Morocco while reading an interview with this German sport philosopher (?!) who explained how the fascination with football comes from the paradox that humans compete against each other while totally restraining their most well-exercised and physical ability, handling.
World Cup is simply in the air. Everyone jumps, talks, screams in a special way these days. I definitely feel I cannot escape it. So, I won’t even try.
The brief flashbacks from my stay in Mainz reveal I believe why the World Cup is special. Obviously, it is an exceptional event in many ways. It engages so many emotions and passions, people are exuberant, more than for the Olympics for example, whole cities, public squares and pubs become one in support of a team. But there is something more to it, that ever since I began study the nature and development of nationalism, never ceased to amaze me. The football World Cup has inherently the beautiful paradox that countries are competing against countries in fiercely disputed games but fans from all over the world actually come together, united in shared passions and emotions. From the eventful street of Moscow or Sankt Petersburg to the quiet and uneventful streets of Mainz, Germany, one can see fans of different nationalities having a bear and a chat together and rarely an argument. Spanish and Portuguese, or Russian and Germans, are laughing and joking, playfully teasing each other. They interact in a way they never would if the World Cup did not give them the opportunity.
To read more... Journal of archaeology
To view more Journals...Iris Publishers
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