Football, a sport standardized by globalization, is becoming more of a sport than a game every day. More methodology, less instinct; more clever, less cunning. The trends are obvious, but in the days of FIFA it was enough to look at other continents to see that there were still some unique characteristics that distinguished them. South American football maintains its prestige by spreading its talent around the world…
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reunion
Football, a sport standardized by globalization, is becoming more of a sport than a game every day. More methodology, less instinct; more clever, less cunning. The trends are obvious, but one need only look at other continents in the days of FIFA to see that there are still identifying characteristics that distinguish them. South American football maintains its prestige by spreading its talents around the world to clubs in different countries. In Argentina, Brazil and Uruguay, in terms of classics, it is rare to find a player who represents the national team and plays in his own league. But, in the early hours of Friday morning, as I watched Argentina take on Uruguay, I rediscovered something that I still consider truly mine after nearly fifty years in Spain: skill and craftsmanship, mischief and ferocity, pride and individuality .
root
9 World Cups separate me from this generation. There was a huge cultural difference between “my” ’86 champion and the Qatari champion. I inevitably wonder where this sense of identification I feel while watching the game comes from. It is nothing short of the same origin, coming from a brand that was registered hotly in childhood. At the end of the last World Cup, Fabian D’Aloisio and Juan Stanischi published a book called ” seedbed, various journalists investigate the origins of the championship. They all feel like kids at a nearby club where they learned the craft, a love of the game and an identity that binds them together. Without academic sophistication or commercial pretensions, each of them distinguished himself in that field in which a certain liberal order enabled them to reinforce the nature that gave them their original advantage. In these clubs they fostered this original talent among their friends. Today they took him on a tour of the best stadiums in the world.
footprints
From this book we get a beautiful idea: great football has a cultural background. In the clubs that are now remembered, great dreams began. Memories and dreams are two important materials that football is made of. In a wonderful foreword, Ariel Scher talks about the celebration of roots and the humility of these community clubs that give to kids around the world. My feeling after watching the Argentina-Uruguay game and closing the book is that football is safe, like all things ingrained. Although money has decrypted it, controversies have conflated it, methods have tried to make it counterintuitive, and technology has invaded it, something wild has survived and given it authenticity. South America always talks about identity, it’s not that it reflects the same football in the river plains and in the Andes, but there is a rhythm, a flavor, a quality that gives it uniqueness. Conmebol’s logo reflects this, in which the outline of the African continent is a fingerprint. Meaning: This is who we are.
always different, always the same
The same is true in Europe. This week I traveled to Girona and Bayer Leverkusen to see up close how two unusual leaders feed off the popular energy of cities that feel special these days thanks to their teams’ success. This is a neater, more luxurious football, but no less attractive and exciting, because the sheen of modernity has not obscured the raw power of the game, which continues to satisfy the inner animal in all of us behind the scenes. No matter how rich a game seems, there’s always wildlife lurking that inspires unparalleled emotions. Every place drags with it its rhythm, its history, its cultural roots. With the same pride everywhere.
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