Fußball, Deutschland, and the US

It is fairly obvious that Fußball plays an important role in Deutschland. My Gästvater watches all the Europa Meisterschaft games, and for the big Deutschland games the Gästefamilie gets together with the neighbors to drink, eat, and cheer the team along, celebrating each goal with a shot of Schnapps. The little girls of both families trade player cards and quiz the family on various pieces of sport trivia. Sport also has this positive social side in the US, where people get together to watch the big games and do the exact same sorts of things. But for Europe and South America, sport is a little bit more than the enjoyment of competition and the society of our friends. For Deuschland, Fußball has a definitive national character. My Gästemutter told me once that really and truly, people aren’t soccer crazy all the time, and that people do play other sports in Germany that vary based on region (for instance, Munster has a lot of horse-riding, the south skiis, and so forth). But then she admitted that soccer is definitely the most important in terms of national popularity and the political weight behind the games, evidenced by the attendance of the Bundespräsident or the Kanzler to the most important games in the Meisterschaften. Now, I am sure that our Presidents do watch games, but I’m not aware that the man in the office must attend any particular game at any particular time. Perhaps the difference comes from the fact that the most quintessentially American games–football, basebal, and basketball– are national sports. That is, the fierce compettion occurs not between US and the world, but between the various states. On account of this domestic character, sports do not carry the connotation of upholding the honor of the country against other nations. On the other hand, soccer is definitely an international sport, which in the soccer-fanatic world adds the weight of upholding the nation versus everyone else, giving games a lot more weight. So the Iceland commentator went crazy in Iceland vs Austria when Iceland unexpectedly won, allowing Iceland into the last 16 and providing the country their first definitive win in the great Europa Meisterschaft or Germans watch games with the German flag painted on their face.
So while the Super Bowl happens every year without leaving a mark on daily life, or losing disgracefully in the Copa America also seems to go by without comment, winning this means a national holiday for the Chilenos, who are spending today celebrating their epic win over Argentina.