The Adventures of German Boy and Boca Girl

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For some time last year my desktop background consisted of a popular soccer picture in which a three year old German boy is flipping off an opposing soccer team with such vehement rage that it seemed impossible that a child could actually even feel the hatred he was demonstrating. The concept of a kid being placed in such a volatile environment seemed outrageous to me, and I also just thought the boy was really cute. It is ironic that I would be studying precisely that concept one year later.
That being said, soccer is a relatively new concept to me. Obviously not new in the “Wow, I’ve never heard of this sport before” sense, but I have not ever had any close ties to it in the past. I will blame it on living in a minuscule town without a soccer league and leave it at that. I am trying to catch up though. I’ve got down the basic teams of Argentina (Boca Juniors and River Plate are Argentina’s foremost teams for you laypersons) and I know that if you pass the ball when no defenders are in between you and the goal keeper that it’s illegal. I think. Well I have a while to go in learning how the sport itself is played, but I have been utterly fascinated by the social and individual significance that this game takes on within Latin America.

Going back to the German boy on my desktop. I went to a soccer game the other day, and I witnessed essentially that same scenario. The home team was unsatisfied with a call the ref had made and they were chanting some phrases that I won’t repeat, but I will say that they firmly insulted the referee’s mother. Sitting near me was a father and his child, and low and behold the dad was teaching his son how to properly gesture that you are pissed off (Essentially by flinging your hands up and down above your head) and also the insults that all of the other Ferro Carril fans were hurling at the referee. The age at which children are indoctrinated into the ‘religion’ that is soccer is shockingly young. They are playing soccer by the time they can walk, and some children go to soccer schools rather than a regular academic institution. Do I denounce that, or think it is wrong? Not really. Some of that ‘indoctrination’ can be seen within the United States (Tiger Woods, anyone?). Essentially, those values with which a parent finds important are what their children are stuffed with before they can fully understand what those values mean. I definitely recited the Lord’s Prayer way before I understood what that meant. The more I learn about how Argentines identify themselves, the more I can see how important soccer is in expressing their feelings about the society in which they live, as well as to have a system with which they can trust to always be there for them. It is kind of like a religion. Do I fully understand the significance of soccer in regards to the identity of this nation? I definitely do not. But hopefully going to another soccer game will help me out, and I think there is none better than a Boca Juniors game this Thursday.

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