a clarification

ahh, the beauties of china (and, apparently, these days, of immigration-fearing america)

it was brought to my not-unaware attention, as a result of comments in my last post, that the iranians and english have long histories of zealous patriotism and xenophobia and, thus, my efforts to cheer them on in their world cup footballing endeavours come june could be regarded as unseemly.

while this point of view is well-scrutinized, it is also well-rubbished by the fact that my whole point was this: in a time where xenophobia is rampant the world over, where racism and patriotism are fast becoming synonyms ("raciotism"?), where nations the world over (save for futbol-ignorant america) are ramping up toward a fever pitch to rally around their flags for the good of the cause, i have chosen, as i always do, to disregard heritage and cheer for whomever it is i please.

i cheer for the african teams because, in the snobby world of futbol, they're regarded as mere lily pads upon which the larger, more-pedigreed futboling nations of the world can trample in their efforts to win the most-coveted (though ugliest) trophy in world sports.

cheering for angola to win a game or two and advance to the second round is to cheer for Hope to win, to cheer for their poverty to be alleviated, it is to cheer for former colonists as they face off against portugal, their former masters.

to cheer for togo is to cheer for one of the smallest countries in the world, to cheer for a major underdog (whose president is the longest-serving president in africa today, though longevity doesn't equate to credibility...), is to cheer against korea because their run to the semi-finals four years ago has left the fans and futboling association here feeling they are the upper-crust of futboling society and to be brought down back to earth by an african team (in korea, the "africa" is thought of as a country, not a continent home to more than 50 countries, full of countless cultures and languages, replete with environmental and cultural wonders that mystify the senses) that the koreans feel have nothing on them.

to cheer for cote d'ivoire, ghana, or tunisia is to cheer for teams with underrated talent, striking futbol, and passionate followers. it's a push for futbol in africa to be recognised for the emergent force in world futbol that it has become.

to cheer for iran is to be true to my dissident mindset, to look defiantly in the world's (i.e., the american government's and most of the american people's) eyes and say, "sod off!" people don't like to mix politics and sports, but they are often inexorably mixed because that's the nature of people. fortunately, i can point to the fact that iran's futboling prowess is underappreciated by most "upper-class" futboling nations and it's my hope that they will show the world that futbol played in the desert, in one of the cradles of civilisation can truly be top-shelf.

to cheer for england is the anomaly, the enigma, the head-scratcher, isn't it? it seemingly is to cheer for all of the things that i stand against, but living abroad and traveling the world over has brought to me greater appreciation of englishmen and -women, something i wouldn't have had--didn't have--a decade ago. it's to cheer for the inventors of footie, for a team that has more expectations on its shoulders than all the rest of the nations in the 32-team tournament have combined, for a team that would make a great history to repeat their only world title way back in '66--and what great symmetry it would be, at that: england beat germany in the '66 final in england, and england has a chance to win again in '06, in germany. oh, and to cheer for england is to cheer for the best english futboler in a generation, who doens't play like an englishman--wayne rooney.

so, there you go... fight on, africa! fight on, you persians! fight on, soldiers of st. george's cross!