Brazil can claim to produce the best footballers in the business and Africa can lay claim to produce the most raw talents but Europe still remains the epicenter of the 'Beautiful game' and its financial hub. As Euro 2008 gets underway, it’s a good time to look at Football's impact on Europe and indeed Europe's impact on the game.
The game was invented by who else - the British, again - and it spread far and wide across the world. It spread not only among the British colonies but also other nations too. This differentiates Football from another British invention - Cricket. Cricket was essentially a game meant for the bourgeois elite as proved by the ‘Gentlemen’s game’ coinage and hence did not capture popular imagination and it came to represent ‘Colonial Britishness’. In contrast Football developed as a worker's pastime and became more famous in the industrial towns of Britain. This is proved by the fact that most EPL clubs were formed by worker's guilds and unions mostly in industrial towns like Manchester and Liverpool. The short length of the game also suited the worker’s as their hectic work hours gave them limited time to play/follow games. Gradually Football began to develop an identity independent of Britain which allowed it to enter and flourish in non-British countries all over the world and through those countries throught the world.
The beauty of Football in Europe is the fact that each country that has taken to the game has given a distinct shape and flavor to it. Hence the type of football played by each country reflects the national character of that country. Take for example Germany, the 'efficient', ‘methodical’ and 'industrious' people they are is reflected in their play which has a great amount of discipline, mental toughness and efficiency. Similarly Spain, Portugal and Netherlands play an attractive brand of football which involves taking risks and going for broke which epitomizes their free-spirited cavalier approach to life as reflected by their world explorations undertaken during the late 15th century. Italy on the other hand plays a conservative 'defend and counter-attack' kind of football with more emphasis given to brilliance and improvisation which directly reflects its national character of promoting art and aesthetics thereby producing brilliant artists and musicians.
Another interesting aspect is the impact Football has on the socio-politics of these countries. Since the end of WWII, much of Europe has been in peace and age old animosities and rivalries have been laid to rest. But much of that old rivalry still exists on the football pitch. England and France have long ceased quarrelling over the colonies but theirs is one of the fiercest rivalries on the football pitch. Similar is the case between France and Germany whose rivalry ran almost as a thread through much of European history. This is indeed the case with many of the European nations. Hence for good or for worse the football pitch has become a virtual battleground for the players and people of nations involved in competitions such as the world cup and the European championships. So Anfield and Nou Camp are the 'battlefields' of today's Europe and not Waterloo and Normandy!
So the next time you watch a football match involving France , Germany or Italy, do remember that there is more to it than just being a ‘beautiful game’.
The game was invented by who else - the British, again - and it spread far and wide across the world. It spread not only among the British colonies but also other nations too. This differentiates Football from another British invention - Cricket. Cricket was essentially a game meant for the bourgeois elite as proved by the ‘Gentlemen’s game’ coinage and hence did not capture popular imagination and it came to represent ‘Colonial Britishness’. In contrast Football developed as a worker's pastime and became more famous in the industrial towns of Britain. This is proved by the fact that most EPL clubs were formed by worker's guilds and unions mostly in industrial towns like Manchester and Liverpool. The short length of the game also suited the worker’s as their hectic work hours gave them limited time to play/follow games. Gradually Football began to develop an identity independent of Britain which allowed it to enter and flourish in non-British countries all over the world and through those countries throught the world.
The beauty of Football in Europe is the fact that each country that has taken to the game has given a distinct shape and flavor to it. Hence the type of football played by each country reflects the national character of that country. Take for example Germany, the 'efficient', ‘methodical’ and 'industrious' people they are is reflected in their play which has a great amount of discipline, mental toughness and efficiency. Similarly Spain, Portugal and Netherlands play an attractive brand of football which involves taking risks and going for broke which epitomizes their free-spirited cavalier approach to life as reflected by their world explorations undertaken during the late 15th century. Italy on the other hand plays a conservative 'defend and counter-attack' kind of football with more emphasis given to brilliance and improvisation which directly reflects its national character of promoting art and aesthetics thereby producing brilliant artists and musicians.
Another interesting aspect is the impact Football has on the socio-politics of these countries. Since the end of WWII, much of Europe has been in peace and age old animosities and rivalries have been laid to rest. But much of that old rivalry still exists on the football pitch. England and France have long ceased quarrelling over the colonies but theirs is one of the fiercest rivalries on the football pitch. Similar is the case between France and Germany whose rivalry ran almost as a thread through much of European history. This is indeed the case with many of the European nations. Hence for good or for worse the football pitch has become a virtual battleground for the players and people of nations involved in competitions such as the world cup and the European championships. So Anfield and Nou Camp are the 'battlefields' of today's Europe and not Waterloo and Normandy!
So the next time you watch a football match involving France , Germany or Italy, do remember that there is more to it than just being a ‘beautiful game’.
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