So how are you enjoying your World Cup, America?
I’m one of those rare Englishmen: I don’t generally like football. My Uncle took me to a game when I was about six. I was bemused. It made no sense and I was glad when it was over. I just remember being surrounded by noise and confusion, and the sense of being hemmed in by an increasingly aggressive crowd. I’ve suffered from mild enochlophobia—fear of crowds—ever since.
I’m also disinclined to nationalism. I root for the underdog, so will support whatever team’s least likely to win, or which catches my fancy for romantic or ideological reasons, rather than my own national team.
Currently I’m supporting Iran. This is the most put-upon team in the World Cup. It’s based in Tijuana, Mexico, but is playing in Los Angeles. This is because of US visa restrictions. The team was supposed to arrive in the city two days in advance, to give them time to train and get two days recovery time. Not so. They had to fly in on the day of the match, and leave immediately after.
They weren’t allowed to bring technical staff and team officials with them, most of whom were denied visas to enter. The reason? US officials said Iran wouldn’t be allowed to "abuse this system to sneak terrorists into the United States under false pretences."
I laughed at that. It’s a joke, of course. The world’s leading terrorist state—only recently having ended an illegal war in which they assassinated the entire leadership of the country, while killing 120 schoolgirls in Minab—accusing the victims of the aggression of wanting to terrorise the United States.
A member of the FIFA council told a British newspaper that the restrictions were “not correct” and went against the sporting principles of the world football governing body. Speaking anonymously, he expressed anger over the restrictions that have been placed on the Iran team’s entry into the USA. “How can Iran be expected to compete under the conditions they have been given, in which they have to come from Mexico and have to leave the United States within hours of playing every match?” he said. “Every team is supposed to compete under the same conditions. How can they prepare properly for the matches they have to play? This is not fair at all. There is no doubt about that.”
Ramin Rezaeian, who scored Iran’s first goal in their game against New Zealand, and won the “Player of the Match” trophy, spoke to the press about the challenges of having to train in Mexico despite playing their games in the U.S. “I have to thank people in Mexico, they were so nice,” he said. “But actually, it’s so difficult to train in Mexico and play in LA… We’re not happy today because I think we deserve to win the game.”
The other goal scorer, Mohammad Mohebi, said the team expected to arrive in Los Angeles two days before the game, but were deliberately delayed. He said they arrived the day of the match and had to immediately go to training, which left them tired, adding: “These kinds of things, I think, are not a little bit fair.”
The anonymous FIFA member also criticized the refusal of the US immigration authorities to allow Somali Omar Artan, Africa’s top referee, into the United States, to officiate. “Omar was not treated fairly. To be detained for 11 hours on arrival, without any serious explanation? And not to be able to be at the World Cup? It is definitely not correct,” he said. Artan, too, had been identified as a terrorist, despite no specific terrorist organisation being identified.
Despite all that, I’m enjoying this World Cup. Many of the games are relatively high-scoring. It’s rare to see more than two goals in a match, and many games end up with no goals at all, but at this World cup we’re regularly seeing four or five goals per match, sometimes more: 7-1 in the case of Germany vs Curacao (although in that case you have to feel sorry for the underdogs). I even enjoyed England’s 4-2 win against Croatia, and cheered Marcus Rashford’s cool final goal in the 85th minute.
It’s scary to watch. He stops as he approaches the goal. Was he going to stumble? Was he going to mess it up, like so many English footballers have done before? No. He’s taking stock. He weaves the ball, wrong-footing his opponent, calculating the perfect shot before finally letting rip with deadly precision. A perfect goal.
Rashford is something of a hero in the UK. It’s not only that he’s a great footballer: he also campaigns against racism, homelessness and child hunger. He’s of West Indian descent: his father Jamaican and grandmother from St Kitts. His mother was a single parent who worked multiple jobs, sometimes skipping meals to make sure her kids never went hungry. Rashford is a symbol of what multicultural Britain can be: successful, tolerant, serious and committed, all at the same time.
But it’s not only this that’s the cause of my enjoyment. It’s the crowds. It’s the sight of people enjoying themselves. It’s the carnival atmosphere, the sight of people dancing on the terraces, and outside the grounds, showing off their national cultures with unreserved pride.
Here’s three examples:
- 1. Norwegian fans rowing their way up an escalator in Boston, pretending to be Vikings. (You’ve got to laugh!)
- 2. Scottish pipe bands regaling Boston with their sounds while fans drink the bars dry. The Tartan Army slogan is: “No Scotland, no party.” No one expects them to win the World Cup, not even the Scots themselves, but they’re determined to enjoy every moment of their involvement with this historic event.
- 3. A fan of the Democratic Republic of Congo, who stood motionless throughout their entire game with Portugal, portraying a monument to Patrice Lumumba, a Congolese radical nationalist hero.
It wasn’t the well-dressed man in his heroic stance who caught my eye in this particular case, it was the crowd behind him. Look at them: in stark contrast to this individual’s static pose, they’re jigging back and forth with joyous abandon, arms around each other’s shoulders in a synchronized display of national unity, radiating happiness. How can you not love them?
I’m not patriotic, but can see the appeal. I’ve written about the subject before. I came up with the notion of International Patriotism: the idea that we should enjoy our own country’s qualities and achievements, while also celebrating those of other nations. Football’s an example. It comes from Britain, but it belongs to the world. Likewise rock’n’roll: it comes from America, but belongs to the world. And Rumi: he comes from Iran, but belongs to the world.
National culture turns into world culture. Unity in diversity. A recognition of our universal humanity, while enjoying our distinctive identities. The World Cup is emblazoning that across the airwaves. If only all our conflicts could be worked out this way. Imagine: if instead of blowing up other people’s children, we played out our differences on the football field. USA vs Iran: now that’s a match I’m looking forward to. C’mon Iran!