22 Jun Germany and Greece Take Their Fight to the Pitch
I love soccer (excuse me, “football.”). And I actually really enjoy tournaments like the Euro Championships or the World Cup because they remind me of the very powerful patriotic emotions that still exist, even in this supposedly post-national age, and even in the post-national E.U. Who needs a European Constitution? I will truly believe in the Euro-State when the Europeans give up their national teams and send a single European team to the World Cup. Until then, I am not buying this whole United States of Europe thing.
Which brings me to the recent Germany-Greece match, which took place amid continuing tensions over Greece’s struggles to remain in the Eurozone. With German leader Angela Merkel on hand, German fans did not hold back, taunting the Greeks:
“Without Angie, you wouldn’t be here,” bellowed the German fans, referring to the multibillion-dollar bailouts Greece has received from European partners, first and foremost Germany.
But the Greek fans’ response was absolutely precious:
“We’ll never pay you back,” countered the Greeks. “We’ll never pay you back.”
And they never will…
Let’s get this right:
It is not “soccer”. Pele did not play “soccer”.
It is not “football”. Pele did not play “football”.
The game is futbol.
Here endeth the lesson.
Actually, since it was invented in England, it is originally football. We Spanish speakers call it “fútbol” because its the Spanish way to write it, just like we write “Gol” instead of “Goal”
And strictly speaking, no, Pele did not play “futbol” either, he played “futebol”, the Portuguese way of spelling “football”.
We do agree however, that (with all due respect) “soccer” sounds just awful.