|
Posted 06/21/2008 at 06:34 PM
Being an American, I'm pretty much a mutt when it comes to nationality. I remember traveling to Croatia a couple of summers ago and how proud that entire country was to be 100 percent Croat. They just got out of a bitter civil war against Serbia, splitting up the former Yugoslavia.
When they would ask me what I was, it usually took a few minutes. I'm a 1/4 this, an 1/8th that, etc. which makes it easy to cheer for about five different European teams. My mom always grasped on the small sliver of Italian ancestory, but I've never been a fan of the Azzurri. The worst soccer games in the world happen when Italy grabs a 1-0 lead and packs it in, keeping most of their players in a defensive role. Plus watching players fall in overly dramatic fashion, hands on the face pleading to the gods gets pretty old after 90 minutes of flopping.
The World Cup final in 1994 was especially boring, ending in a 0-0 tie before Brazil ultimately won on penalty kicks. This boring, defensive style has given Italy four World Cup titles, second only to Brazil's five. So in the grand scheme of things, Italy can rack up win after win but I will never be a fan and will always cheer for other countries like the Netherlands. The Dutch are widely considered to be the best country to never have won the World Cup.
So what is more important in the grand scheme of things? I guess it depends on who you root for.
|
