The Dirty Side of Football A.K.A Politics

This past Sunday I witnessed a game that I'm sure would have every American crying out for justice, if only it hadn't of happened in a place all too familiar with football violence. I'm talking about one of Turkey's biggest games. It's the Besiktas v. Galatasaray derby, of course. Just imagine over 70 thousand fans filled inside Besiktas' Ataturk Olympic Stadium (The namesake couldn't have fit any better for what ensued) as they faced their bitter rivals Galatasaray. The visitors from the other side of the Bosphorus were winning 2-1 with stoppage time approaching when all of a sudden Galatasaray's Felipe Melo got a red card. Things were heating up as people slowly started to jump out onto the pitch with one person even running up and trying to hit Galatasaray's Emmanuel Eboue. All this madness took place while the stone faced referee waited to take action since there were only 2 minutes left. However, things got way too carried away and soon fans equipped with plastic chairs stormed the pitch. After watching all the clips of the mayhem online I realized this was nothing new to Turkish football, but then some of the comments written by the Turkish faithful made me think more in depth. Judge the credibility yourself, but according to some comments online a pro government group was apparently responsible for inciting the pitch invasion. This so-called pro government group's goal was to make the Besiktas Ultra fans, known as Carsi  Group, look like the ones responsible. All this ties in to the protests against the Turkish government back in the summer. The Corsi Group doesn't shy away from their involvement in the protests with chants like "Taksim is everywhere" and "revolution is everywhere." Hence, the irony involved with the namesake of the stadium Ataturk. The protesters are against a government that's slowly and manipulatively trying to get Turkey away from Ataturk's Western ideals and more towards a secular Muslim state. Still, without getting too in depth on the history and issues lets stay focused on the football. The point is, one of the biggest games of the season  in the Turkish league ended with the match getting abandoned with politics being the perpetrator. One might argue that it's Turkey and these types of things happen there all too often. That might be the case to some extent, but the Turkish league has really grown in the last couple of years to include huge names in football like Dirk Kuyt, Wesley Sneijder and Didier Drogba, who was one of the players that had to run off the pitch during the ensuing mayhem. Even the sidelines had their draws with the likes of Slaven Bilic (Croatia's former smoking rock star coach) and Fatih Terim (coach of Euro 2008's comeback kings Turkey). Basically the idea here is that no matter how big of a spectacle football is it sometimes is too representative of a society's ills. One doesn't have to look too far from Turkey to get that impression. Just look at the 1990 game between the Yugoslavian League's two biggest rivals Dinamo Zagreb and Crvena Zvezda. Long story short the fighting between the Croat and Serb fans on the field that day showed just how much football was intertwined with politics. Many people to this day still believe that match was a catalyst for what would be the war in the Balkans. However, it never is solely the football that leads to such political tension. It's more like the football stadium and the pitch are the ideal place for any unrest to take place since even in times of peace it's the hotbed of any gathering of peoples. With regard to the fighting in Zagreb, just weeks before the match Croatia had voted in a pro nationalist party, which focused on Croatian Independence. All it took was the perfect place like a football match against your bitterest rivals to incite unrest. Even the World Cup qualifier between El Salvador and Honduras, leading up to Mexico 1970, was regarded by some people as the match that led to war. Though a war did ensue after the heated game it was years of tension between the the countries that really led to the bloodshed. The match itself was just another example of how much a football match brought out the tension within people. In that case, football has to be looked upon as something that can go either towards the good or the bad. It can lead to seeing the beautiful game and feeling the most compelling emotions or it can lead to the dirty side also known as politics.

The Belgian Revolution Part Deux

Vive le Belgium! With World Cup qualifications nearing an end next month the group leading Belgian national football team is really getting ready to shock the world this summer. In the past decade they couldn't even come close to matching their powerhouse neighbors France, Germany or Holland. Now, the rise in Belgian talent has made the country the third most expensive team in Europe. Just looking back ten years ago they couldn't even break the top 60 in the world ranking, but now they're in the top ten. How did all this happen or better yet where do other countries find this type of luck? After doing some research it turns out it isn't based on luck at all. The Belgians actually made their country into this endless supply of talent all on their own. With only 11 million people in the country, here's how they did it. Belgium was pretty good for many decades always qualifying for the big two, World Cup and Euro tournaments, but they never really made a huge mark on world football like their neighbors. Then in 2000 they got the chance of a lifetime to host Euro with Holland. There was hope for the Belgians just like with any host nation, but they got knocked out of the group stage early on. Belgium was quickly becoming another washed up former contender until Michel Sablon, some big shot in the Belgian FA, came along. His staff would talk to the powerhouse neighbors, learn from them, then they would force all the major Belgian clubs to bring up their youth players through their blueprint. This blueprint became a booklet that Sablon passed out to all the Belgian clubs. The aim was to create talent not through winning, but youth development. It didn't matter if your teams lost, as long as your players kept learning and getting better, but wait that must have been crazy. All of a sudden the top teams like Anderlecht, Club Brugge and Standard Liege had to develop players based on some little brochure. Well, that's exactly what happened, but not without controversy and disagreement, still in a miraculous way the clubs followed the blueprint. Fast forward and holy crap I can name over 11 players in the national team even though, while writing this post, I have yet to watch a single Belgian national team game. The miracle doesn't end there though. For such a small country Belgium has had some history of tension between its two major linguistic groups; the French speaking Walloons and the Dutch speaking Flemish. Still, they have been able to manage their differences through coach Marc Wilmots, former Belgian football star and politician, along with Captain Vincent Kompany, better known as the Belgian patriot. In fact, the team is made up of all sorts of different ethnic groups from Fellaini's Moroccan background to Benteke's Congolese roots. The beauty behind all of this is how the national team has been able to use all the diversity to add to their style of play. They can play like a Barcelona tiki-taka team, but they also have the speed and tempo since many of their players play their club football in the Premier League. With all the newly found talent through the Belgian system I only wanted to know one thing. Why don't other struggling countries do the same if it worked for Belgium? Remember, this was all done through the youth development in the Belgian league and all in the past decade. I guess, Belgium does have one advantage or bit of luck that the rest of Europe might not. It's located in the West. It's main city Brussels is the de facto capital of the European Union for Christ's sake. Basically, they have the mentality and means to bring something like this together. I simply can't imagine all major clubs in countries like Poland, Bulgaria or Hungary coming together financially to base all their development on one unified theory like this. Instead, all I can imagine right now is just how big of an impact these Belgians can make in the World Cup. No matter what they achieve or how far they make it I know one thing for sure now. Hazard, Benteke, Fellaini, Vertonghen, Mignolet, Lukaku, Witsel, Mertens, De Bruyne, Van Buyten, Mirallas, Kompany, Vermaelen and countless others will all be names mentioned on repeat by the footballing public during this World Cup. I for one will be watching this second Belgian revolution unfold this summer.

U.E.F.A Ultra Extreme Fanatical Atmosphere

It is that sore cough from a sudden burst of screaming or yelling that lets me know just how much it all means to me. This past week I watched the final round of qualifiers for the 2013/2014 Champions League group stage. Personally, I had so much invested in this one since my side Legia Warszawa were playing. They were on the verge of qualifying for the first time in over 17 years, but fate made sure that number would only grow. With a 1-1 tie against Romanian side Steaua Bucharest away and then 2-2 at home we got knocked out by the away goals rule. I was down and couldn't come to terms with why this had happened. I mean with all our passion and support for the club I thought that the determination and drive would have finally taken us to the promised land. All this emotion led me to point out one major formula that plagues countless other sides apart from just my beloved Legia. A team's fans don't determine how successful the team truly is. Legia's fans put on a great show with a provocative Ultra display. The acronym U.E.F.A was displayed with the words Ultra Extreme Fanatical Atmosphere right underneath followed by a dazzling showing of soccer flares. Note: Legia will definitely pay for this one, but not even UEFA could put a price on that fanatical atmosphere the fans produced. I guess the only thing that consoles me at a time like this is the fact that so many other great clubs in Europe have great fans, but no results on the field. Take for example, Newcastle F.C. where St. James' Park holds, in my opinion, some of the most compelling English fans in the Premier League. However, not even the likes of the great Alan Shearer or King Kev could pull this club into the top of the league. It's a shame though that with the advent of the filthy rich owner investing unlimited sums of money, a club with the most passionate fans doesn't equate to a better performance on the pitch. Don't get me wrong though, a team like Manchester City and their fans waited long for their moment of glory two seasons ago, but still the formula for success doesn't rely solely on the fans. Just imagine if that was the case though. If a team's performance was based on the support they received from the fans. If instead of the twelfth man being some idea it became personified and in fact the team had the real advantage of one more talent on the field. Imagine the likes of West Ham United forever blowing bubbles on top of the league's mantle or how about St. Etienne finally returning as the green giants of French football. The list could continue on into every single league from Den Hague in Holland to Atalanta in Italy, but that's not the point I'm making. The point of this article is just to point out a sad truth. No matter how much passion and love fans have for their clubs it doesn't mean results. However, who needs results when you know you and you're kind are the roughest toughest most hardcore fans around. I guess getting the results are just the cherry on top.

Campeones Campeones Ole Ole Ole

This is it. This is the turning point in my life. I finally found the one thing I'm passionate about and really want to do with my life. Football, futbol, soccer, fussball, pilka nozna, calcio, whatever it's called this word symbolizes it all. However, it's more than just a sport or game that I grew up watching and playing. There's a depth to this phenomenon. There's no boundaries. It's taken a form that goes beyond the simple idea of a game. What I'm implying is that this is what we as people throughout history have tried so hard to capture. It's the simplest thing we all desire in life. Connection. Football connects us with who we are and where we come from. It's such a generic thing to say, but so complex once you really examine how much people invest in it. I can ramble on for days about what it means to me and how it affects my life, but then no one would care to spend so much time reading this blog. Therefore, I only want to make one point. Whatever club or country we support we as people can always say that football makes you get out of the ordinary and into the extraordinary. Football lets us enter our inner selfs, so we can experience adventure and risk at our control. The football match and everything around it provides a theme or feeling that promotes our inner self's adventure. Football is that crusade. It's the Robin Hoods of today. It's adventure and the most intense emotion felt by those who really support their team through everything. However silly or extreme people think I am for loving football, Deep down I will always be a fan. Even if the team I support is relegated to near extinction I will still be singing. Campeones, campeones, ole, ole, ole because I found the thing in this world that makes me feel like a champion and that is the best treasure I have ever found. To anyone who stumbles upon this blog I say thank you for first taking the time to read it. Second, I hope this blog helps other fans find passion in football because it's more than I can describe in one post. All I can say is eeeeaaaooo, eeeeaaaaooo for more than just 90 minutes.