Who Should I Support in the World Cup? (When England Get Knocked Out)

As a liberal lefty I have always struggled with the notion of patriotism, which has traditionally left me with an uneasy relationship with the English national team. However, as I edge ever closer to my thirties, this relationship has become a lot easier. In fact I have come to positively embrace the English national team whilst keeping to my liberal and left wing beliefs.  As Blackburn Rovers (my team) for the first time in my memory do not have any players in any of the squads I have been frantically trying to decide which teams I should get behind if England were to go out. I have based my choices around my political beliefs so even though I have a soft spot for Brazil they do not make the list. Please let me know what you think.

Uruguay

Group: D

Key Player: Luis Suarez (Liverpool)

Reason for support: Possibly the most controversial inclusion in this list due to the fact they are in the same group as England and due to the ‘unsporting’ way they defeated Ghana in the last World Cup. However, there are many reasons to support them including the incredible Luis Suarez and the gentlemanly Diego Forlan. Another reason to include them is due to the countries politics and in particularly their President which particularly draws me to the national team. José Mujica has been President of Uruguay since 2010 which he has led in a left wing and progressive direction. The former left wing guerrilla fighter has been described as "the world's 'poorest' president", due to his austere lifestyle and his donation of around 90 percent of his $12,000 (£7,500) monthly salary to charities that benefit poor people and small entrepreneurs.

Ghana

Group: G

Key Player: Majeed Waris (Spartak Moscow)

Reason for support:  If Ghana’s pride and passion shown in the 2010 World Cup was not enough to lend your support there are several other reasons to support Ghana. The country has very low carbon emissions (Carbon emissions 2010 (metric tons per capita) – 0.4) as well as low military expenditure (Military expenditure 2012 (% of GDP) – 0.3). They were also the first sub-Saharan African nation to gain independence from Britain in 1957. The newly self-governing nation changed its name from Gold Coast and adopted a flag that featured the tri-colour banner of Ethiopia and a black star that recalled Marcus Garvey’s philosophy of black self-sufficiency, race pride and pan-African unity. Playing for Ghana and wearing the black star was seen by many of the players as a sign of resistance to imperialism and African pride.

Cote D’Ivoire

Group: C

Key Player: Yaya Toure (Manchester City)

Reason for support: Ivory Coast have many of my favourite players in world football, including Yaya Toure and Didier Drogba, and I am excited to see them play together. There is also the story of how the national team led by Drogba played a vital role in bringing peace to their country. After the Ivory Coast qualified for the 2006 World Cup the team made a desperate plea to the combatants, asking them to lay down their arms, a plea which was answered with a cease fire after five years of civil war. Drogba later helped move an African Cup of Nations qualifier to the rebel and separatist stronghold of Bouake; a move that helped confirm the peace process by bringing the country together as the area rallied around the national team which they had previously felt isolated from. Ivory Coast also have the lowest carbon emissions of all the countries in the World Cup (Carbon emissions 2010 (metric tons per capita) – 0.3).

Ecuador

Group: E

Key Player: Antonio Valencia (Manchester United)

Reason for support: Of all the teams in my five, this is the team I know the least about (apart from what I have recently read and I am currently watching the England Vs Ecuador team as I type). So why have I included Ecuador in my list?  Well, it is mainly due to my admiration of their President Rafael Correa. In his previous Presidential term (he was re-elected in 2013) his administration saw unemployment fall to 4.1% – a record low for at least 25 years. Poverty fell by 27% since 2006. Public spending on education has more than doubled, in real (inflation-adjusted) terms. Increased healthcare spending has expanded access to medical care, and other social spending has also increased substantially, including a vast expansion of government-subsidised housing credit.

Bosnia & Herzegovina

Group: F

Key Players: Edin Dzeko (Manchester City)

Reason for support: Bosnia & Herzegovina is definitely one of the most beautiful places I have had the joys to visit. This will be Bosnia’s first World Cup finals since Bosnia became an independent nation. Bosnia’s first XI would not be disgraced at any World Cup finals either. Up front they have Manchester City’s Edin Džeko and Stuttgart’s Vedad Ibišević to score the goals, Roma’s Miralem Pjanić provides the midfield guile and, in defence, captain Emir Spahić and goalkeeper Asmir Begović have raised a formidable barrier. 

Bosnia is a country which has been divided by war but is now being reunited by football.  Back in 1992 Bosnia declared independence. Bosnia was always a multi-ethnic nation within the Yugoslav republic; half-Bosnian Muslim and the rest largely Serb and Croat. But during the subsequent war it tore itself apart from the inside as communities turned on each other.

As many as 100,000 people died in two-and-a-half years, leaving behind familiar names for ever associated with bloodshed. There was, of course, the siege of Sarajevo, the longest in modern European warfare, and the massacre of Srebrenica, where 8,000 Bosnian men, from boys to pensioners, were murdered by a Serb militia.  The team is a true representative of the country as a whole with Asmir Begović’s family escaping whilst Džeko stayed and lived through the tragedy. The team have come on leaps and bounds as only fifteen years ago the players had to buy their own shirts. The new found uniting positivity brought to the country by the football team, which has had such a troubled past, is well worth supporting in my opinion.

AFC Challenge Cup final - Palestine 1-0 Philippines Azkals

When people think of Palestine, many things will come to mind. Despite the many wonderful things coming out of Palestine, such as its wonderful Dates and Olive Oil produced by the Fair Trade Cop-operative Zaytoun, it is impossible to ignore the ongoing occupation by Israel. The occupation makes life for the Palestinian people almost unbearable with targeted violence, food shortages and harassment being part of everyday life. This life has been made even more difficult due to the building of the apartheid separation wall in the West Bank and the blockades of Gaza by Israel, and more recently by Egypt since the coup overthrowing the democratically elected Muslim Brotherhood by the army led by General Sisi. 

The Palestinians however have something they can use as flag bearer for their resistance to occupation, which is the success of their football team against the odds. The Palestinian football team have become a reflection of the experiences of the Palestinian people. One key difference being that FIFA recognised a team for a future Arab state to be called Palestine in 1998, whilst the United Nations is yet to make such a bold move. This week the team made history by qualifying for the Asian Cup, their first major tournament, after beating Philippines Azkals 1-0 in the AFC Challenge Cup final. (Highlights form the game can be found here: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3H_IKkf7f6U). 

This victory has thrusted the Palestinian national team in front of the world’s gaze. Palestine have found themselves drawn in group D and will face two former champions, Japan and Iraq, as well as Jordan. This will be an incredibly difficult group to get out of but it will be an experience to savour for a team that has been through so much. 

Not many national teams have had their facilities damaged, including their national stadium being destroyed by military conflicts; however this is just the start of the difficulties faced by the team.  Even training and playing games has become very difficult for the Palestinian national team due to travel restrictions placed on them by Israel. Recently, Israel's refusal to issue exit visas has resulted in players, or in some cases the entire team, being unable to represent the country leading to cancelled matches including the World Cup qualifiers. Reflecting the Palestinian population as a whole many players now live outside of the Palestinian territories (they are ancestors of refugees created by the many wars the country has faced since Israel was founded in 1948).  Players come from as far away as Chile and the United States and often find it difficult to enter the Palestinian territories. 

Many players have also suffered the same hardships as their fellow Palestinian brothers and sisters. Striker Ziyad Al-Kord was banned from traveling and had his house destroyed. Tariq al Quto was killed by the Israel Defense Forces, and during the Operation Cast Lead three Palestinian footballers, Ayman Alkurd, Shadi Sbakhe and Wajeh Moshtahe, were among the Palestinian casualties.  Famously, Mahmoud Sarsak was detained by Israel in July 2009 for being a member of Islamic Jihad; following a hunger strike and international pressure on his behalf from FIFA President Sepp Blatter, he was released in July 2012.

The experience of the football team show they are true representatives of the Palestinian people be it as diaspora or those living in the occupied terrorities. This truly is a David vs Goliath success story and I for one will be cheering on Palestine in Australia and The Asia Cup in 2015.