Why the World Cup Makes Me Wish I Wasn’t American

It has been said that “patriotism is the last refuge of a scoundrel,” I suppose this has merit if you consider some of the things that have been done in the name of patriotism, but if that is indeed the reason behind such a statement than patriotism could easily be substituted with a word like greed, religion, or even love.

However you prefer to define patriotism, a big component of any definition is love of country. I love my country as much as anyone but watching the World Cup makes me wish I wasn’t American. The truth is that America is not and probably never will be a soccer (which from here on will be properly referred to as “football”) country and frankly I wish that it was. This wish however has little to do with the game itself. Football is often referred to as “the beautiful game” and over the last couple of years as I’ve grown into more of a fan there are definitely some unique things to love about the game but a simple enjoyment of any game or type of sporting contest merely comes down to personal preference. The bottom line is that there is no objective way to determine whether football, or any other sport, is “better” than another in and of itself. The World Cup makes me I wasn’t American because I envy the national passion it inspires in other countries.

Even if it is only for one month every 4 years, the World Cup (at least in appearances) invokes positive national fervor that we, as Americans, generally cannot relate to. This not to say that we Americans are not passionate, because Lord knows we are, but the reality is that sport does not bring us together as football does in most (if not all) other lands. In the rest of the world, when a country’s team takes the pitch for a Cup match, all other activities in said country virtually stop. Millions of eyes become glued to TV’s and radios and (to semi-borrow the slogan of this year’s tournament itself) “one game means everything,” Shops, stores, and businesses often close so that people have two hours to focus entirely on the match. I even read once that the Catholic Church in Brazil decreed that all churches within that country are open for prayer during the half-time of Brazil’s matches. Granted, to some people this notion seems utterly kooky, but as any rabid sports fan can tell you, the kooky things we do to ensure a victory is what makes being a fan so great.

The fact that this year’s Cup is taking place in South Africa brings the unifying power of football into even greater focus. Unless you’ve been living in a hole for the past several decades, you know that the racial and economic troubles of the Republic of South Africa have been well documented and unfortunately persist to this day. These problems do not cease when the South Africans play but they do seem to take a back seat for a few hours. To me, the most enduring and powerful image from the Cup coverage so far came during the very first match. During the South Africa-Mexico match, when South Africa scored, the camera cut to the crowd to show world renowned humanitarian Bishop Desmond Tutu literally dancing in the aisles with his country folk while he was decked out (again literally) from head to toe in South African colors. If that doesn’t make you smile and even choke up, check your pulse because you might be dead.

Again, when I say that the World Cup makes me wish I was from another country it is not meant to be some philosophical criticism of the ole US of A but just as a lament that my two passions for my country and for sport don’t intersect often enough. The Olympics are probably as close as we come but given that there are so many different sports encompassed within it never quite feels truly unified in the sense of one game or one sport meaning everything.

When it comes to football, we may be getting there. For Saturday’s match with England, I attempted to go to a bar because watching sports is generally more fun around other people. When I got there things were so crowded that I could not get in. I was encouraged by this but the cynic in me thinks the crowd was a combination of general interest, novelty of the first game, and that it was a Saturday. The draw with the Limey’s is good for the team (even if it was the result of shoddy goal keeping) but if and when the US team crashes and burns general interest in soccer within this country will once again plummet. Alas there is probably little hope that Americans will stop going to work and stay home to root for Landon and the boys, but one can dream and/or paint themselves in full body red, white, and blue in the meantime.