Editorial by Claudio Brachino for ilNewyorkese
There had never been a Round of 32 before, and never had two European giants gone home like this, on the same day, both on penalties. Poorly taken penalties, struck by highly paid stars. We are talking about Germany and the Netherlands, eliminated by Paraguay and Morocco.
And Morocco, make no mistake, is a real candidate to win the whole thing. This is a team that has been strong for years, with players starring for major European clubs and a new generation of extremely interesting young talents already valued at more than €100 million.
It would be Africa’s first World Cup title: the ancient continent, yet also a laboratory for so many of the themes that define the future, triumphing in a tournament that is American in the broadest sense — the United States, Canada and Mexico.
If we move soccer away from tactics and into culture, we can see that just as the West is rewriting its own rules — from NATO to America’s weight in the world to the role of the European Union — soccer is also rewriting its geopolitics. The historic schools are struggling.
Brazil, the great South American power, the homeland of aesthetic, glorious and joyful soccer, won in the 90th minute against a well-organized Japan thanks to a goal from a player with an Italian surname: Martinelli.
Japan may not have many individual stars, but it has perfect movement, structure and patterns. A team in the deepest sense — perhaps even in a philosophical, almost ideological sense. And also a team of great form, education and style.
Our Ancelotti, the last Italian still standing, no longer singing Mameli’s anthem but Brazil’s, eventually put on his glasses and, with the calm stride of a bank manager, went to pay tribute to his opponents. No screaming at the top of his lungs.
No shirt hanging out of his pants. No eyes popping out of his head. Just respect for Asia.
And Paraguay, which is certainly part of South America, remains a small soccer school of its own, with one clear format — an alternative model, born from its poverty, to the giants of its own continent.
In short, the globalization and spectacularization of soccer pushed by FIFA may be marking the death knell of our old certainties. Yesterday, the Italian transfer market also opened. What stood out most was the backdrop of Rimini in this heat. As for us — once masters, now mere spectators — very little of this new world that is advancing will arrive here.
