Is It All For the Game?

Walking alongside your teammates, approaching the opponent who just creamed you to say “good game,” how do you feel? The prime emotions that people attempt to portray are support of the opposite team’s great, strategic game and pride for oneself for being such a good sport. When all that is left of the match is a sweaty uniform and sore muscles, do feelings change? Does the sportsmanship and unity crumble to dust? Do thoughts of hostility against the team that stole your championship game get in your head?

Coaches often explain to their players that the main reason in which they play is for fun, experience, pride, teamwork, and unanimity through one common activity. This idea travels from the little leagues to Worldwide sports events, such as the World Cup. Nationalism is the advanced term describing this “fun unanimity” amongst the many different countries participating in this quadrennial-sporting event. In the dictionary, the word “nationalism” is defined as: devotion and loyalty to one's own nation; patriotism. An idiom that is questionably effective during the soccer/football phenomenon.

No matter if a country is wealthy or poor, big or small, or at war or at peace, each nation brings their best suits to play in the respected tournament, along with their highly supportive and enthusiastic fans. Feuding countries are bound to play a game against each other as they find a common ground they share in the sport they love to play. Even when a team attains a loss under their belt, the warm sense of brotherhood between the teams is still ignited by unity and pride in one’s nation and the support of others. The eagerness to stand behind another nation throughout the games brings each country closer and brings out the similarities between them. For example, America’s hearts went out to Ghana, even with the close loss while other countries became dedicated fans to Germany and Spain. It becomes like a young child’s committed love for their Father’s favorite sports team. The question asked is does the acquired unity, admirable spirit and nationalism during the World Cup diminish into thin air following the competition?

Take the 2010 World Cup’s host country, South Africa for instance. As discussed in the Bloggingheads video, a debate between two World Cup enthusiasts who conversed about the link between sports and nationalism, South Africa is a developing country with limited resources and yet has one of the most diverse populations in the World. They opened their arms wide to visiting fans from diverse cultures. The sense of family and nationalism was felt among all of the teams, whether they were part of the victorious team of Spain or one of the defeated. However the previous question of dwindling nationalism after the competition has ended comes back to prove its point. While researching the subject, I came across an article that elucidated how xenophobic natives were threatening African foreign migrants that were residing in South Africa. The natives believed their government was supporting them in these violent attempts. Because this has happened in the past, it is questionable whether lessons were learned and if the unifying World Cup games shone any light on South African natives.

For this is only one example that crushes the idea of nationalism uniting a country with others. It does not ignore the fact that harmony was reached between the players in this year’s tournament, but it does prove that the spirit of the World Cup did not affect certain South Africans in a brotherly way afterwards. I do not jump to the conclusion that all teams hold grudges against other countries when they return home as the defeated, nevertheless, the threats made by the xenophobes destroyed the welcoming arms that were put before the visiting countries.