How Soccer Explains The World Essay

How Soccer Explains the World by Franklin Foer
Like many other individuals, Franklin Foer titles himself to be a soccer expert and enthusiast. Moreover, he is also acclaimed for his work in the field of globalization. In his book, he uses the game of soccer as his universal device. In How Soccer Explains the World: An Unlikely Theory of Globalization, Foer recorded his travels throughout the globe to explore all the different cultures, beliefs and agendas that make a habit of using the beautiful game of soccer.
Foer vowed to show us how the game of soccer can impact different regions and cultures. He indicated us how these relationships (between different nations and beliefs), while there, are hard to apprehend on the global scale. But trough soccer, these relationships reveal themselves in a hesitant fashion.
As Foer explored the world, he unraveled the mysteries of how a sport can unite people, whom wouldn’t otherwise be, over a common cause. His adventure began in the former Yugoslavian state of Serbia. There, he reconnoitered “hooliganism” and its impact on the general population of the former Yugoslavia and on the world of soccer. That impact was felt

by the region, as well as the hooligans, as they were unknowingly manipulated by Arkan, who was a modern-day Hitler who sought to replicate his work by ethnically cleansing Serbia of all non-Serbs. These said hooligans used soccer as a mean to carry out their hatred for non-Serbian.
Additionally, he explored the deeper roots behind some of the world’s most famous rivalries. He examined the religious battle of the old Firm and the Anti-Semitism of one of the various London Derbies and in the rest of Europe, most notably Hungary and Austria. Furthermore, he surveyed the overall history of the game with a rivalry focus in order to explore the sides that divide them.
While every story and report recounted by Foer were as intriguing as the next one, there were definitely some mixed results. When he was relating back to his thesis, at times, he would forget to relate back to the message of globalization. In fact, Foer did not even mention what globalization was, something most reader would expect. The closest Foer got to mention the topic was when he was recounting the World Cup on his travels to the homeland of the Selecao, Brazil.
Moreover, outside the mention of Brazil, Foer failed to analyze the playing styles of the regions talked about and how that affect the rules of the games.

As he stated, Brazil is known culturally as a footballing (soccer) nation and as a nation of fun, the lifestyle of the Brazilian people is one of leisure and pleasure, which was intergraded into the way they play soccer. This showed how the game can be impacted by the culture of the people and how that might the global scale of the sport. If you take a look, at the United States, you will see that soccer has long struggled to be relevant. We can argue that soccer irrelevance in the United States is not just due to the popularity of other sports, such as football (American) and Basketball, but it is also due to the different cultural that lies in the

country.
Furthermore, it is evident that Foer had many first-hand experiences in his book. With this, of course, being a memoir of his travels, he did not only came to see soccer and its artistic details, he also felt the rowdiness of the crowds. Crowds such as the ones of renowned matches like the “El Clasico” between FC Barcelona and Real Madrid CF, and of course the World Cup (the most watched sports event on the planet). These matches produce captivating atmospheres of admiration (for the game and the players), and of cultural convergence. It blatantly shows us how people from different cultures can indeed come together under one common cause for the greater good. In the case, they simply want to enjoy each together through the beautiful game of soccer. But on the global scale, they want to come together and make the world a better; and that is nothing but globalization.