This match is both a product and a producer of the hype surrounding the so-called special relationship between England and the USA.
As I said in the earlier post re: nationalism, I don't have a favorite team in this game. I'll root for the under-dog, whichever identity is more like David than Goliath. I'm more interested in seeing Algeria and Slovenia advance, so the best outcome would be a 0/0 tie (see earlier caveat on ties and their discontents).
I will watch the game and I expect to be super-annoyed by the jingoism, ethnocentrism, and general geographical essentializations that tend to cloud discussion of the USA and its presumed greatness.
I was in Holland in 2002, watching the World Cup (hosted by Korea and Japan) when Germany played the US (Can't remember if it was quarter or semi finals but it was up there, important game). I asked my Dutch friends who they were rooting for and they said 'it's tough.'
Subscribe to:
Post Comments (Atom)
JPEG is a champ. Big, beautiful, majestic and knows what to do with a ball.
ReplyDeleteI appreciate your comments about nationalism and the cite B. Anderson whose work has long been important to me.
I saw some world cup--must have been not the last, but the one previous to that-- in a hotel bar in Addis and felt completely at ease. Watching the USA play England amongst a crowd of USA supporters was a very different, unsettling experience.
In any case, looking forward to your next post, e