The World Cup: A Collision of Cultures

With four groups in full swing and more joining the competition every day, fans around the world have begun to sample the breadth of soccer flavors available.  While personal preferences may vary, no one can fail to recognize that within sides, regions unite and culture emerges.  Between sides, those cultures collide.

The dynamism of the game –the ebb and flow – that constancy of movement within a side is aesthetic perfection.  It is truly a game which cannot be captured by word, whether spoken or written.  It cannot be contained in an image, whether moving or still.  Its purest form isn’t even possible from the seats in the stadium.  The experience on the pitch reveals truths about more than a game; it reveals truths about culture and life itself.  Concepts like the unpredictability of luck, the transcendence of teamwork and the balance of polarities like risk and reward are ever-present in the world’s game, rendering it irreducible to any statistical conclusion.  Each of these factors, one no greater than another, contributes to the creation of a medium for the fanatic’s spirit, the artist’s masterpiece and, above all else, the collision of cultures.

Perhaps, the most storied manifestation of cultural carryover onto the pitch is seen through the oranje-tinted lens of the Dutch.  More than any other sporting endeavor, their Total Football mirrors their culture with epic accuracy.  To them, managing their landscape is not art; it is the chief concern of national security.  Their neurotic management of geography, using all manners of dikes and drainage, has carved a country from the bottom of the sea. As the saying goes, “God made the world, but the Dutch made Holland.”  In the process though, the Dutch also built a culture from which a style of play as spatially abstract as it is genius could be born.  In both landscaping and football, they can overlap, compress and exploit space at will, resulting into an oddly unproductive beauty.

There is no contrast to the often fruitless creativity of Dutch starker than their Southern neighbors – the Germans.  Always industrious and performing beyond the limits of their individual abilities, the Germans live and play by the ideal of whole before self.  Whether that whole is taken to mean the nation or merely the nation’s football side, they can be expected to toil on in support with little joy, lots of work and ruthless efficiency.

Effort cannot be mentioned without also noting the nation who praises their talisman center forward for playing double duty at center half.  England step to the table with the predictable pride of a nation that believes itself to have some divine right to the throne.  In war and football, the nation’s trust in all-out effort and lion-hearted bravery seem to stand up, so there may be some honest foundation to their claims to the throne, beyond inventing the game.  Then again, the only recent matches in which those values lead to success with any consistency are those against weaker opponents.  Accordingly, perhaps the sun has begun to set on the British football empire.

While England is eternally confused to see its “dominance” waning, Brazil’s inevitably waxes beyond measure.  Of course, the stereotypical samba has been ingrained on the streets of São Paulo and in the clubs of Rio.  Yet, as this nation continues to emerge economically, so its style of play seems to be transforming.  New leadership means new methods and new objectives, and thus the Seleção appears as hardened and driven as the nation has become.  Even still, while a surface transformation takes place, their cultural foundation remains.  Their wing backs attack more than most teams’ forwards, and their collection of players on the pitch is only a semblance of a formation.  While they pursue power in global politics, the classic Brazilian qualities leave them poised to remain the world leaders in both samba and soccer.

Whereas Brazil is only just beginning to wrestle with balancing this polarity, Argentina has made harmonizing silk and steel its modus operandi in both life and football.  This peculiar parity results in their ambling South American pace of life and is inevitably echoed in their play.  Somehow, the standstill of the el diez and the motoring of the volante (defensive midfielder) combine to overcome management as loco as the government is corrupt.  The outcome is anomalous and extraordinary brand seen in the seats of stadia and the seat of government.

While Argentina has its fair share of corruption, the Italian game steals the show and the chance at a fair game in Milan.  Though the corruption is hopefully a more isolated incident than it is sometimes made out to be, it does shed light on a more culturally significant phenomenon.  That is, the scathing criticism of failure begets a concede-one-fewer strategy.  Considering the discussion began with the attacking antics of the Dutch, the cautious catenaccio of the Italians must bring it all to a nap-inducing, Serie A-style end.  As is the case with every culture and corresponding style of play, the Italians have modernized away from the negative football stereotype in many ways.  Yet, in many ways, these cultural elements continue to exert their influence on the game.

From the Three Lions to the Indomitable Lions and El Seleção to La Selección, national sides reflect national cultures.  The green pitches of the World Cup offer a canvas for the expression of every culture.  In some places, the pitch might as well be a mile long and a mile wide with no goal at either end with beauty taking precedence over the result.  In others, there might as well be a bottomless valley between the two penalty areas, as the ball is pounded from one to the other with mindless vigor.  In every case though, fans will follow the game, and the game will follow the culture.

Evan Fuhs is an assistant men’s soccer coach at Augsburg College in Minneapolis MN, where he is pursuing a Master of Arts in Leadership degree.