Vol. 27 No. 295 (2022)
Why is a Soccer World Cup so attractive?
Soccer’s regulations originated almost 160 years ago and spread throughout the planet, producing a symbiosis with the traditions of each region, making us imagine that soccer was always played in every place. In this way, and in a relatively short time, it has constituted a universal language, of which and especially during world championships, the entire world is a participant. It has its own rules and codes, many times related and sometimes contradictory, with which we deal on a daily basis and where ethics, epic, art and science are present. The calculated and the uncertain, the obvious and the unpredictable, hope and pessimism, pride and shame, drama and celebration coexist within it.
The application of the regulation always leaves a margin for doubt, which the introduction of technology cannot resolve. That makes place for opinions, debates, discussions and questioning. In this scenario, we celebrate the triumphs and lament the defeats, knowing that sooner or later there will be revenge and we blame bad luck and curses. And although it rarely happens, the poor can beat the rich, the marginal can beat the champion, and in these circumstances incomparable emotions, and intense, legitimate and unforgettable joys emerge.
Thus, soccer affirms identities in a globalized world. People embrace their flag, their colors, in many cases, almost exclusively when the team of the country with which each one feels identified plays. It is an encounter, which at a symbolic level stimulates an intense illusion that expresses the differences, and at the same time the similarities.
Tulio Guterman, Director, December 2022
Published:
2022-12-02
