Footballers Come Home

Amigos, este bom texto saiu hoje (28/6/2010) no jornal inglês 'The Times' com chamada de primeira página, procurando analisar a campanha da Inglaterra na Copa do Mundo deste ano. Acho muito interessante sua leitura porque aqui estão bem juntados temas da espacialidade e da identidade com um objeto de pesquisa, o Futebol, que já tem sido trabalhado por meio da aproximação História e Espaço.

 

Footballers Come Home: As England's players trudge back, the choice is becoming clearer: club or country?

The rhythm of an England football campaign is painfully familiar: first inappropriate expectation, then disproportionate blame, directed at the wrong target. It is only natural that dejected England fans — 17 million of whom watched Sunday's humiliation on television — want to see heads roll. But the angry mood should not obscure rational analysis. England is one of the richest and passionate footballing powers. But it has failed to reach the final of any major competition since 1966. Long-term underperformance cannot be solved simply by sacking yet another manager.

It is time to confront uncomfortable truths about the structure of English football, about national expectations, and about the balance of power between club and country. For all the acres of media analysis, the most revealing back page of the whole World Cup was a simple piece of factual reporting: "Chelsea to play West Brom in Premier League opener." It is significant that the publication of the Premier League fixture list, a yearly domestic competition, could compete with, let alone trump, the combined attractions of the quadrennial World Cup. No wonder England players long to be in their comfortable club colours.

For too long the club versus country debate has been treated as an abstraction, something that Sir Alex Ferguson and Fabio Capello must sort out between themselves. In truth, the choice may be ours: is it to be club or country? The Premier League has been a huge commercial success, watched and loved across the globe. It is a great sporting product, and the British public both cherish the entertainment and revel in the reflected glory of having the best league in the world.

Yet this comes at a price. Capello's argument that the England World Cup players were tired sounds like an excuse. But he is right. The English fixture list, with the better teams playing in four competitions, is not only physically draining but psychologically exhausting. Playing for England is no longer the pinnacle. When Jamie Carragher missed an England penalty in 2006, he responded: "At least it wasn't for Liverpool." Club dominates country mentally as well as financially.

The free market has shifted the balance away from international competition. The Champions League, not the World Cup, shows off the best football in the world. The same trend exists in other sports. The Indian Premier League will soon rival the quality of international cricket. World sports are drifting towards the kind of franchise-based system of American sport.

There is one dimension, however, where club sport cannot match international. The fraught atmosphere in English towns and cities on Sunday night proved how much the World Cup matters to the English. There is a common thread, a shared bond, that draws those 17 million viewers to their televisions: they want to see their country win. German football clearly serves that desire more effectively, developing young players through its academies to furnish future German teams. In market value, the England team are worth twice as much as the German side. But Germany won 4-1, playing with joy where England were weighed by fear.

Changing England's domestic structure will not be easy. But the 17 million who watched on Sunday placed their votes clearly. They want a strong England team — and crave a system to support that.