Culture Society, Identity and Belonging
The European football championships, full of early surprises, have reached unsurprising semi-finals, bringing together four familiar giants: France will play Spain and England will take on the Netherlands. The only notable absentees are the hosts, Germany, and the previous champions, Italy. But South America’s equivalent championships, the Copa America – taking place in the United States as so many non-native sports competitions seem to these days – have produced a mighty shock: Brazil, the biggest football beast of all, are out, beaten on penalties in Las Vegas by Uruguay, after a match featuring 41 fouls and a red card. This has produced much breast-beating back in Brazil but for Uruguay, led by former Leeds United coach, Marcelo Bielsa, it was an unexpected return to the heights. And in a nice touch, their fans sang of football coming home: Uruguay won the very first World Cup in 1930.
