2014 FIFA World Cup™ Round of 16: Germany vs Algeria| Tuesday, Jun 30, 4:00 PM

championing Equatorial Guinea is a sad commentary on how certain phenomena colour our POV. despite being an oil-rich nation, EG is a posterchild for dictatorial abuses. it has the highest per capita income in all of Africa, but income distribution is horrifically inequitable.

but they do speak Spanish.

 

Whatever....I'm going to become an expert in each nation's politics before I choose who to cheer for. What kind of passion is that?

 

I cheer for teams and I'm against others for various reasons but overall I love a well played game even if it is against a team I favor. How a team goes about the business means that much to me. I think the manager of this tourney has to be the Algerian manager.

 

The ref didn't hand us anything. We won fair and square. Nigeria had a couple of chances WITH ONAZI on the field and they still failed to convert. It's sad that Onazi got hurt, but you can't say Nigeria would have won the game with him on the field. Even with him on the field they couldn't score. There were points in the game when it looked like Nigeria would won. There were also parts of the game when it looked like France would run away with the game. Several times France broke through the Nigerian defense in the box. A bad extra pass would end up killing the attacks. It's unfortunate Nigeria went down like that, but they lost. They had their chances with Onazi on the field and they pissed them away. France had several opportunities to score with Onazi on the field and France pissed all of them away too.

 

For me this is easy. I was born in the U.S. and these players represent the best the U.S. soccer community has. This transcends politics and has more to do with soccer.

 

The ref missed a blatant PK

The ref did not call 2 blatant red cards on you guys

Yes those 3 calls is effectively handing you guys the match. You cannot hide the truth.

 

I'm calling bullshit on this....loud and clear.

People don't play for a national team based on religion. We don't have the Catholic team, the Buddhist team or the Jewish team and there is no Muslim team. Just like politics - religion needs to be kept out of sports....pure and simple. Religion is elitist and it excludes people and communities more than it joins people together.

 

Nationality is a political concept.
Culture and religion are not.

Players play for their national team because its the rule. But they have the right to share their joy with anyone they want.

When we qualify to the worldcup, mostefa say that he is proud to represent his club (ajaccio) in the world cup. Nobody tell him anything.

 

Don't exaggerate. Matiudi was the only one that should have red. Again, Nigeria had several chances to win the game and they pissed all of them away before Onazi got hurt. Just accept your defeat and move on. France had a bad day and you guys still couldn't win.

 

historically, i have a number of Mexican/Hispano-hablante chums, some of whom have little interest in futbol, ironically.

i have a long-standing affection for the Dutch team based on their quality. i'm part Scots, Irish, English and German. i cannot bring myself to root for the Germans, but i don't root against them, except if they are playing the US, Mexico or any other country with a flag, and then not so vociferously as against Italy or a certain S.A. team which will remain nameless, but whose cheating, extraordinarily talented player effected a win a long time ago against another team for which i have some affection.

as far as rooting for the US of A, i'm an American. i don't approve of everything America does, but the world without America of 60 years ago would be a worse place than now. i guess i'm in the "my country, right or wrong" camp, but i'm not completely naive about the wrong. you and i would disagree on both counts, i'm sure, but we enjoy the freedom to disagree with each other and with the Administration, unlike in Equatorial Guinea, where the press is vigilantly controlled with an iron fist, and the human rights violations are among the worst on the planet.

 

I think religion sucks...there I said it.

 

I think it depends on the person. I've seen some that have had tremendously transforming experiences and some that it turns into self-absorbed bigots.

 

They forgive you, Cris.

 

Univision will root for Satan if he speaks Spanish.
Anyway, let's not forget that nation states like we have today are a relatively new concept. Not all that long ago, most countries/empires were still the private property of a ruling dynasty, so that flag you were fighting (or playing) for wasn't that of France, or Germany or Nigeria, but of the imperial family the land (and you) belonged to. Literally.

 

in the 2oth century the role of a monarch is more or less a matter of tradition rather than effectual rule. many European nations have monarchs but they are much more figureheads than actually involved in the day to day operations of the government. if that's what you mean by relatively new, of course i agree, but i don't know what you were referring to when you said, "not that long ago".

 

The Equatorial Guinea NT represents also those that are oppressed, even the more reason to wish them success. And since they speak Spanish, my guess is they already play better football than the Brits

 

sure they do.

while your intentions are entirely honorable, i can't support a national team from a nation that is a brutal dictatorship.

 

A dictatorship like equatorial guinea id harmful only for it's own people. While a lot of great democraties are harmful abroad...

 

After learning polish I got a clue for you: München in polish is Monachium

But it's the only city name (afaik) where poles use the latin name instead of the german or polish form

 

man, is that a relief.

still?

in a post-colonial world, i fail to follow your thinking.

 

really ?
if you concentrate a little bit more, you can find...

 

apparently, i'm bete and naif. enlighten me.