Team Loyalty Runs Deep, But National Pride Bleeds Deeper

by Blez on Jun 15, 2008 8:49 AM BST

There are many out there who bleed the colors of their favorite club. Whether it's Manchester United, Celtics FC, Tottenham Spurs or the LA Galaxy, people all have their favorite football club.

But when I get the most into football is whenever national pride is involved. I grew up in a household that didn't identify strongly with one ethnicity (I'm a combination of Polish Italian and Lithuanian), but because my last name is Bleszinski and my grandmother did make Polish food and my father grew up playing the accordian, I bleed red and white more than any professional football club (it also may explain my inclusion of Artur Boruc's Celtics above). So I'm really excited about Poland being in the UEFA tourney. It's also why I get so into the World Cup tourney when it comes around. My fandom for football is all about national pride.

What is greater for you? The international tournaments like UEFA or the World Cup or watching your Spurs compete against their greatest rivals?

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The National Teams ...

are always more exciting for me. Being American actually promotes this feeling, imo, as ethnic pride is strong here, and local teams mean less (MLS is fine and all, but the tradition isn’t as ingrained as of yet). My wife, who is Danish, only watches football (well, sports at all) if it is the national team. Of course, we’re (the Danes) aren’t in the European Championship, so it is my ethnic mix (Italian, German) or regional loyalty (Sweden) that rules the day here.

by matthiasstephan on Jun 15, 2008 11:23 AM BST 0 recs

it is national futbol all the way for me

I love Spurs and am passionate about the club’s success and failure BUT it is at a whol different level when it comes to national play. I remember being in Hong Kong in 2002 on my way to Japan (I had tickets for the semi and final of the World Cup) and we were watching England v Brazil at a bar full of English fans. When Michael Owen scored for England…wow words fail….it was something else for sure….of course Brazil went on to win and depress us all.

by Left Midfield on Jun 15, 2008 4:40 PM BST 0 recs

So you're originally from England?

by Blez on Jun 16, 2008 3:01 AM BST up 0 recs

yes indeed - I grew up in London

and moved to the states in 1995

by Left Midfield on Jun 17, 2008 6:14 PM BST up 0 recs

1995

What a great year. The year my NJ Devils won their first Stanley Cup.

by Blez on Jun 19, 2008 8:32 PM BST up 0 recs

Definitely national

I was born here in the states, but both of my parents were born in Mexico. I grew up watching the Mexican League and rooting for the Chivas.

I never really got into American national soccer (mostly b/c it’s a joke, IMO), and I always watched the Mexican national team.

Just sitting on the couch with your whole family (about 50 in all lol), seeing everyone’s range of emotions (from happiness to nervousness, to sadness, to anger and back to happiness) and just having a good time, I couldn’t picture anything better. And that’s something that translates in every language, in every country.

I am like your Dan Aykroyd and biglow would be Jane, the ignorant slut. -Chad

by thecoolest on Jun 17, 2008 4:23 AM BST 0 recs

My wife is Mexican

and her Tios are crazy for Mexican soccer, so I also root for that team on the national stage. Unfortunately, they never seem to make it very far. But wow, people really get into it in her family. It becomes an EVENT.

by Blez on Jun 19, 2008 8:32 PM BST up 0 recs

for Americans, it might be more about heritage

Unless you’ve always been a hardcore fan of American soccer, you probably prefer some club team or national team from elsewhere. The game in America isn’t world-class (yet!), so until it gets there, you keep an eye on soccer in the states (I’m in LA, so I vaguely follow the Galaxy). So for me, rooting for the USA or Sweden (half of my heritage) is far more enjoyable because the quality of the game is better than watching MLS.

by yeswecan on Jun 19, 2008 7:51 AM BST 0 recs

Agreed

I’ve watched some MLS games and while I’m not the biggest soccer expert in the world, the soccer doesn’t appeal to me that much. The UEFA tourney has been the best of the best. This Germany/Portugal game is just awesome.

by Blez on Jun 19, 2008 8:31 PM BST up 0 recs

agreed -- the whole tournament has been wonderful

by Left Midfield on Jun 19, 2008 9:51 PM BST 0 recs

I’m going to be a little different and say personally I follow my club a lot more. For this comes a lot from a lack of national identity when I was growing up. I grew up in a Colombian family, and thoroughly enjoyed watching those games. I remember staying up late to watch the ill-fated USA 94 matches. But due to a lack of coverage over here I’ve not been able to keep up with the national team.

However, having grown up in England, I can’t bring myself to follow the English team. I think its a mixture of not being brought up that way and a natural temptation to rile against the constant media hype over here. I also had a bad experience watching the England v Colombia game at World Cup 98.

Point is, no matter how excited I got being at Craven Cottage for the recent Colombia v Ireland friendly, it can’t match being at Emirates Stadium and celebrating with my fellow fans, regardless of nationality. This comes from being born and growing up 15 minutes from Highbury…I guess in a way I follow the team but at a local not national level.

rambling over!

http://www.on-the-bench.blogspot.com - an irreverant take on EPL football (that's soccer!)

by Luis (Tribe Fan in London) on Jun 24, 2008 1:37 PM BST 0 recs

fair points Luis

by the way feel free to cross post your thoughts from On the Bench over here at GF via the diary function!

by Left Midfield on Jun 24, 2008 3:09 PM BST 0 recs

Thanks man…unfortunately that signature was a little old, and On The Bench has died a death in the meantime…the guys who ran it and who I helped by contributing a little, got bored of not being plucked from obscurity and being turned into international football correspondents!

by Luis (Tribe Fan in London) on Jun 24, 2008 3:11 PM BST up 0 recs

ah fair enough....

can’t promise that here either but we are picking up a nice audience and appreciate you hanging out. Feel free to write diaries/comments about anything within the realm of Planet Futbol!

by Left Midfield on Jun 24, 2008 3:19 PM BST 0 recs