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African History 7.6 Soccer 9 Views


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Description:

To Americans, "football" is a giant, commercial, Gatorade-fueled war metaphor. Pretty much everywhere else in the world, though, it’s a powerful peacemaker.

Language:
English Language

Transcript

00:03

Soccer, or, as pretty much everyone but Americans call

00:06

it, football, is the most democratic sport out there. Why do we say that? Well, it's [American and Non-American argue in front of TV.]

00:11

not because the refs are elected. Actually, the whole reffing process is more

00:15

like a corrupt dictatorship. Flag on the play here, flag on the play there. The

00:19

power always goes to their heads. The actual reason we're saying Soccer is

00:23

democratic is because the equipment and playing areas are cheap enough for

00:27

everyone. No court, no rinks, no rackets, no clubs, no pads. All you need to play

00:33

soccer is four posts, a patch of dirt, and two to 22 people who are willing to beat

00:38

each other senseless fighting over an inflatable ball. Around the world, soccer [Crowd of football players run around.]

00:42

gets people going like no other sport. American football fans might get rowdy

00:46

at times, but many soccer stadiums have to physically separate fans to prevent

00:51

bloodshed from breaking out. But for such a violent sport, soccer has actually led to

00:55

peace. Take for example the Mozambican child soldiers who use soccer to help [Children with guns playing football.]

01:00

deal with PTSD... and that's just the start of the good soccer has brought to Africa.

01:04

In 1969, a soccer game including the legendary Pelé in Nigeria led to a

01:10

ceasefire with Igbo rebels. The rebels were like, "screw regional divisions, let's

01:15

go watch game." And, in 2005, peace was achieved in the Ivory Coast after an

01:20

emotional plea by their World Cup- contending soccer team. You know how [Ivory coast players release white doves from their hands.]

01:24

every sports movie has that moment where the team captain gives a big

01:27

inspirational speech and then the team miraculously does better? Well, in 2006, a

01:32

team captain of the Ivory Coast team gave that kind of speech to the whole

01:35

country, and it helped end a civil war. How is this not a movie yet? People [Men throw guns away and hug.]

01:40

at Disney, are you listening? Are you watching? Let's hope this video starts

01:43

a bidding war. Anyway, then there was the World Cup in South Africa in 2010. No,

01:49

it didn't stop a bunch of pointless bloodshed, but it did attract hordes of

01:52

tourists and investors, sparking a boom in development. Soccer also created a

01:57

sense of national pride in many African countries. Those few Americans who [Fan holds up Brazillian flag in stadium crowd.]

02:02

actually care about the game probably know that the USA got spanked by Ghana

02:05

in the last few World Cups. What they might not know is that this spanking was

02:10

the culmination of a half-century of socialist soccer

02:13

policy. Hardline socialists have always seen Ghanian soccer as a nonviolent way to

02:18

develop a sense of national unity and get Ghana out there on the world stage. [Ghana team cheer in the stadium tunnel.]

02:22

Well luckily, those World Cup players don't have stage fright. In a continent

02:27

still struggling with the horrors of the past and present, any good that comes

02:30

from just playing around with a ball is a miracle. We guess our gym teachers might

02:35

have been right about something: sports actually do matter. Though it felt a

02:40

little wrong when they made us run laps for being late. [Boy runs along athletic track.]

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