Root for USA Soccer, root for the world

By Dr. Henry Flores, NewsTaco

You don’t think I’m a fútbol fanatic or anything?  Do you?  Well, I am and I mean the “real” fútbol not that other game where you handle the ball (it’s not even round) with your hands and beat each other to death over its possession.  No, I mean the beautiful game of creativity, speed, physicality, pure joy and deep disappointment.  The game where one plays for one’s country, patriotically and until you can’t stand up anymore because you’ve left everything, heart, soul, and mind on the pitch.

World Cup 

Fútbol is the only sport that has a true world champion.  A great number of people don’t even know that the tournament lasts for two years with over two hundred countries participating in regional tournaments.  After all the dust settles the final 32 teams meet in the most viewed tournament, billions of people watch the finals, of the world.  Currently, the tournament finals are being held in Brazil which some say is where the heart of fútbol lies.  Well, you could get an argument from the Brits, Argentines and Italians, maybe even the Dutch, but you can’t argue with a country that has won the World Cup 5 times since its inception.

US Latinos and the World Cup 

It’s really perplexing being a US Latino and watching the mundial, as it’s called in Latin America, because our hybridity causes us to have multiple loyalties.  Take my family for instance.  I’m married to an Argentine but I’m Mexican-American, Chicano.  So who do I cheer for?  If I want peace in the household I have some decisions to make.  First, my family left Mexico generations ago, 18th and 19th Century, so I’m far removed from my roots but when I see El Tri, the nickname for the Mexican national team, my heart pulls for me to cheer.  Then, there is the albicelestes or La Selección, the nicknames of Argentina’s national team, the team of my adopted country and my heart again pulls me to cheer.  Finally, I’m an American more than anything and I’ve got to cheer for the good old USA national team.  My family lets me cheer for the USA all I want as long as I also cheer for La Selección as well.  Thank goodness they haven’t played each other recently or I would really be in trouble.  My family also cheers for the USA as well particularly when Claudio Reyna, Tab Ramos and Carlos Bocanegra played on the team.

Immigrants and the USA team 

I think one of the most interesting phenomena about the USA World Cup team, particularly in this day and age, is that the team is founded in the immigrant tradition.  This is a sport that was imported to the United States by immigrants and the first members of the team were immigrants or the sons of Italian, Irish and German immigrants.  The team played its first match against Canada in 1885 winning 1-0.  The first appearance in the mundial was in 1930 when we actually made it to the semi-finals, thanks to goals scored by the son of Italian immigrants.  We played in the 1934 tournament and then didn’t appear again until 1950 when we surprised England 1-0, the goal was scored by a Haitian immigrant.  However, we disappeared again until 1990 when the “modern-era” of American soccer began.  Since then, we’ve appeared in the mundial regularly.  Of course, we’ve only been past the first round twice, once making it to the quarter finals.  Still, the team’s successes have been due to the Reynas, Bocanegras, Ramoses, Stewarts, Harkes, and Mathiss (oops Mathis was actually a non-immigrant or of a non-immigrant family) but you get my point: past American soccer success has been due to immigrants and it still is.

Today’s Team 

The current edition of the US national team, which won its first game against a very physical and relentless Ghanian team, has a Bedoya, Gonzalez, Rimando, Zusi, Wondoloski, Johanssen, Johnson and Johnson, Green, Chandler, and Diskerud  all immigrants or sons of immigrants.  Eleven of the twenty-three players are offspring of immigrants or are immigrants themselves.  Yes, we have two Johnsons on the team both born of American fathers but raised in Germany.

So, when, and if, you decide to cheer for the USA in this year’s mundial make sure you feel patriotic about cheering for all the immigrants representing us on the international stage and doing it well.

[Photo courtesy of rantsports.com]

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