During international football competitions like the European Cup, eleven players briefly
become their country, for a time, on the pitch. A nation is a difficult thing to grasp:
unpalpable, mythic, flighty. Historians might labor away to define the precise contours of a
country's culture and institutions, and even sometimes attempt to delineate it's soul, while
political leaders try mightily (and persistently fail) to stand as representatives of it's
ideals.
During international football competitions like the European Cup, eleven players briefly become their country, for a time, on the pitch. A nation is a difficult thing to grasp: unpalpable, mythic, flighty. Historians might labor away to define the precise contours of a country's culture and institutions, and even sometimes attempt to delineate its soul, while [.
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It's a full crew for this week: Kevin, Corey, Isaiah, Christina and yours truly sat down to talk La
Liga and La Liga teams in Europe. We also talked about last weekend's results, this past week's
European action and looked forwad to this weekend's round of matches.
Former Minnesota Thunder player Kyle Zenoni, who also spent time playing in Europe and South
America, has temporarily taken the reigns at the University of Wisconsin Milwaukee. The 26-year old
Zernoni is a graduate of the college and was a stand out player for the Mens Soccer team.
When England recently announced the potential host cities that will host games if that country
is awarded the 2018 World Cup, one stood out: Milton Keynes. The MK Stadium that would host games
is home to MK Dons, among the most controversial teams in England. MK Dons are controversial, of
course, because they are the first "franchise" club in that country.
When I travel abroad, people often tell me that the United States is good at soccer only because
they import foreigners to play for the national team. While this strategy was key in our
development as a soccer nation, it is far, far less common today. The 1990s saw the US scour
European leagues for players with American connections, coming up with gems such as Ernie Stewart
and Thomas Dooley (both of whom had American servicemen fathers) and duds such as David Wagner and
David Regis (the latter was a Frenchman whose late call-up into the 1998 World Cup squad led to
great friction within the team and was a large part of the team's horrible showing in that
tournament).
Japan lost 1-0 to North Korea in their WCQ, their first defeat of the campaign, but it was the
events off the field that will be remembered more than what happened on it.
Arriving in Pyongyang the Japanese team were kept waiting four hours while immigration and customs
did their shit while ahead of the game their national anthem was roundly booed by the reported
50,000 crowd.
We'll have much more tomorrow about our arrival in Guatemala, but so far everything has been smooth
sailing. We got more than 100 bags off the baggage claim in record time. We flew through
immigration and customs. We had a short, easy drive from the airport to a beautiful hotel, where we
were met by a very friendly staff and served a delicious dinner.
Our friends over at MLS Rumors have written a well thought out and exciting article about Miami's
past, present and future. Could MLS return to Miami someday? A must read article, check it out.
"Miami remains a city full of knowledgeable soccer fans and fútbol fanaticos. It is a
cosmopolitan, international city and thought of as a "Gateway to South America".
So, football yesterday and pre-season kicked off with a fairly routine win over a Malaysia
XI.
Two goals in each half gave us a 4-0 win. An early Aaron Ramsey penalty after Jack Wilshere had
been taken down in the box opened the scoring. The second came from a lovely Ramsey pass over the
top of the Malaysia defence, Theo Walcott timed his run and lobbed the onrushing keeper.
Earlier this offseason, I posted a poll and question about what EPL teams you would like to see
do a tour of the United States. Â Since then we have seen Barcelona confirm a three-stop tour of
the U.S., where they will be playing both Manchester United (DC) and AC Milan (Miami).
There's too much MLS tonight. That's not a complaint just a fact. Dallas play Toronto, Philly host
Becks-less LA, and the Whitecaps welcome the Earthquakes to Vancouver to party like it's 1978 in a
NASL redux match. How am I supposed to watch all three of those meaningful matches and the alleged
"Arsenal of MLS"'s random foreign friendly du jour in Montreal tonight?
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Each week on languagecaster's podcast we feature a main listening report. This week, Hans (our
German correspondent) talks about how players for international teams have more choices to make as
they often come from culturally mixed backgrounds.
This week's "Video Of The Week" is from the "More Than A Game" Series, and focusses on the
history of football in France, as seen through the prism of immigration. As Jean-Marie Le Pen
seemed singularly unable to grasp, much of the success that the French national football team has
had has been at least partly due to to immigrant players.
This is the second half (Part I is here) of an interview I conducted with Steve Wilson, author of
The Boys From Little Mexico, a book about immigration, high school soccer and the future, not just
of American soccer, but American culture. Let's...
In 2008, I featured a piece on siblings Alexis and Amber Hernandez. Mexican-Americans who have
grown up in the Central Valley of California, they had at the time both recently been called up to
play for Mexico's U-17s. Today, I return to this story by focusing on the club which helped them to
develop.
Two encounters with foreign fans inspired Los Angeles-based filmmaker Pablo Miralles's current
project, the documentary film about the US-Mexico soccer rivalry called Gringos at the Gate. The
first came at the 2006 World Cup in Germany, where he was on assignment for Los Angeles television
stations.
Here is the 2010 CFU Clubs Championship Cup "travel and immigration
dificulties" timeline:
- Feb 11: CFU announces that total of 15 teams will participate in the
Preliminary Phase of the Tournament, with 5 teams advancing to join the seeded Puerto Rico
Islanders, San Juan Jabloteh, Bayamon FC, River Plate FC and Alpha United for the Second Stage of
the Tournament.
Here is the 2010 CFU Clubs Championship Cup "travel and immigration
dificulties" timeline:
- Feb 11: CFU announces that total of 15 teams will participate in the
Preliminary Phase of the Tournament, with 5 teams advancing to join the seeded Puerto Rico
Islanders, San Juan Jabloteh, Bayamon FC, River Plate FC and Alpha United for the Second Stage of
the Tournament.
Let me sumarize what has happened since my previous update...
Round 1:
In Group B, before even playing, both Bayamon FC (Puerto Rico) and System 3
(St. Vincent) were qualified to the next round as they were the only two teams left in the group.
Elite FC of the Cayman Islands withdrew from the tournament and Defence Force of Guyana was moved
to Group D due to travel and immigration difficulties.
This Post was originally published at Football is a Country. My thanks to them for permission to cross-post.
The French national anthem, La Marseillaise, is, if you think about it, a pretty nasty song. It dreams, in one of its more memorable verses, that the "blood of the impure" will "irrigate our fields.
Continuing the ongoing series "Plight Of..." I continue to look into those working behind the
scenes in Major League Soccer. Think of all the travel MLS teams are tasked with. Someone must
arrange buses to matches, flights, hotel rooms, meeting room arrangements and do it all while
keeping the players and coach happy.
[I]n an article last year, The Economist coined the phrase `Londonism' to refer to what itÂ
regarded as a distinct ideology driven by the office of Mayor. It cited as the central tenets of
`Londonism': enthusiasm for the financial services industry; an openness to immigration; and the
unceasing pursuit of economic growth.
Have to say she's a very lucky woman after just delegated a huge problem of immigration security
and queueing at airports. If the minutes of her meeting with Brodie Clark could prove he'd told her
about the relaxation of finger print checks she'd be out wouldn't she? I mean all the other home
secretaries were told, would she not have been?
Ever since I moved to San Diego in 2007, I have heard rumors of the existence of an African
Soccer League. My attempts to find it had proven unsuccessful until recently when I found a "Somali
mall," chatted up the guys who run a barbershop there, and had them put me in touch with their
friend who runs one of the teams.
The issue of immigration and soccer is bouncing around the internet recently; several articles have
come out on the issue in regards to the US National Team. I haven't completely wrapped my head...
