(right) No secret - Mark Van Bommel International Man of Action: Van Bommel captains both the Bayern Munich team and the Dutch national side. His father in law is the Dutch manager.
Despite the 3 of the 4 remaining teams of the World Cup being from Europe, (contradicting predictions on this blog!!!) this World Cup has been more globalized than ever before. More Asian teams went further than before, as was the case with Africa. Still no sign of football life from the emerging world power of China, who appear to be concentrating more on their economy than soccer. Three of the five biggest European soccer nations, however, were defeated relatively early, including the two Finalists from 2006.
My premise that capitalism kills soccer is true and not true. In previous blogs I’ve raised how players run 3-times further per game than they did 30 years ago. The ball is smaller, lighter, denser and faster. The game is consequently far more intense and along with it, capital investment is incredibly high. This I’ve suggested will lead to the decline of countries that buy players and abandon their football-playing (as opposed to football watching) cultures. My main target has been England.
England was expected to do well in the tournament because it’s clubs do well. Well, its clubs have dominated this World Cup: over 118 players in this World Cup play league football in England. That’s one in six of the 700 players.
English teams regularly win the various European league tournaments. But in England, the most developed Imperialist soccer nation, football has become a spectator sport. In last year’s under-20 World Cup England came last in their group behind the world-renowned Uzbekistan. They also had the second oldest team of the 32 teams in South Africa with an average nearing 30. As the country with football’s highest concentration of capital, they have rested on their laurels and collapsed in competitive national football.
But why not Germany too?
Well Germany has maintained its soccer-playing culture and also made adaptions to globalization. Half the German squad are under 24. They are also more globalized: with half the squad either born outside Germany or with one or more parents who are not German. Ten years ago half the squad would have not been allowed to play for Germany under its old stricter citizenship laws. Germany, along with Ghana and Brazil, dominated the Under-20s World Cup in Egypt last year. Germany not only buys the world’s best players it also offers them citizenship.
And we may have the 5th richest league team in the world dominating the Final. If tomorrow and Wednesday’s games are won by Germany and Netherlands, then we may have a Bayern Munich Final.
Netherlands assumed best player, Arjen Robben and Dutch captain Mark Van Bommel, led the Netherlands into the Semi-finals in a surprise victory over Brazil. Robben and Van Bommel both play for Bayern Munich during the league season.
The best players on the German team also play for Bayern Munich. The captain of both Netherlands and Germany are Bayern Munich stars. So the World Cup like the United Nations is kind of like a façade. The United Nations is a gathering of the representatives of countries to make peripheral world decisions, but we know that key world decisions are made not by “elected” governments but by bankers and oil magnates. So too in soccer, all the most important football games are played in the European Leagues and the World Cup is just a circus for capitalism. Or maybe sports under capitalism is the circus.
For this weeks games, I hope Spain gets eliminated after the manager was caught on you tube spewing his venomous racism. That’s all I’m hoping for. It’ll be a good game otherwise.
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