What stood out to me in the readings for this week was the intensity of fandom and how much soccer/football means to many people as a spectacle. The intensity of fandom results in star players that have become famous along with star villains that are infamous. For instance, one of the articles depicted 25 of the World Cups biggest villains, Dobromir Zhechev of Bulgaria who performed “the most legal form of assault on one of football’s most esteemed icons,” which refers to a physical move on Pele who was forced to miss the second group fixture through injury. This earned him a spot at number eighteen on the list. The “Working-Class Ballet” article describes an intense love of Liverpool from an English man, Simon Critchley, a philosopher who felt Liverpool best represented him with a desire to make Liverpool a bastion of invincibility in the world of football. The intensity of his love for Liverpool even went as far to quote Prometheus in the article itself, weaving in philosophical elements to his introspection depicted in the article. The undying loyalty of fans and the creation of both heroes and villains alike in the grand spectacle of football reverberates the passion that ultimately fuels the sport in both the player and the spectator. The spectacle of football is not lost on the player either, with Maradona reflecting on the “hand of god” incident in 1986 playing for Argentina against England. Maradona had said that it was as if they had beaten the country of England, rather than just beating their national soccer team, avenging the Argentines that had been killed as result of the Malvinas war. These sorts of anecdotes give life to the spectacle of the international game of football, creating an atmosphere that is more than just the sport itself, involving aspects of personal life, political events and meaning that imbues the game with a repertoire of moments that remain memorable long after the heat of said moments passes. The video that was linked with the Ballet article showcases the elegance of play from Zinedine Zidane which highlights another aspect of the spectacle of football which is the footwork that goes into some of the greatest moments in football history, creating opportunities for stunning plays that make the stadium echo with the roar of passionate fans.
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