you are something Lina!
Thanks Lina , in your article i remembered the sweet moments , and the bad one in my long time wiyh the " magic circled " , although im barazilian , but i agree you in all what you said about your experience and the relation between the politics, economic , and sport generally . many times i tried to explain what is the ambigeous motives that attract me to (X) team NOT TO (Y) team .there is no answer , if you have a one , please dont hesitate to contact me and informed me .
but trust me the cup will be for the poor ( BRAZIL ). WE WILL DANCE SAMBA
Lina in Serie A the fascists are Lazio Roma, the socialists are Livorno, the corrupt Juventus, the wealthy Milan, the culturally passionate are Firentina and the all time jerks are Inter Milan!!
A Catholic support the NoI team? No way, kind of like the same person supporting Glasgow Rangers.
I guess it takes a long time to learn all of these things.
It would be like a Palestinian supporting Israel.
LM referred me to the book "How soccer explains the world"; i have not read it yet but it may be something you will enjoy.
and again, you only like italy because you fancy Maldini il khityar
Italian clubs... well Batir is nearly right, I would go for:
Fascists: Lazio, Inter
Socialists: none actually most of the smallish Italian clubs are capitalist wannabes they just suck at it (Atalanta and Livorno are the closest to the description thou),
Corrupt: pretty much all, applies across other countries as well, it difficult to run a successful club which isn’t, but I guess it depends if you are measuring corruption against morality or legality
Wealthy: none. Actually most of the Italian clubs as businesses are pretty much broke!
Passionate: all, but probably the most passionate are the Fascists! 
Who says being stuck in the mountains is not informative! And by the way you support the wrong Milan club, forza Nerazzurri
Ah and as for Northern Ireland try explaining to people why the Scottish league matters more than the Irish one
In the end of the day this is part of the power of football, it gets people form all aspects of life being able to comprehend the emotions of others and often gets them under one roof…and ignoring the few bruises caused on the way in the long run it’s a step on the way to mutual understanding.
And in the end of the day none of it matters. Its football great to play and to watch…so sod politics 
,
Very nice Lina.
I think that sometimes football is another war field.
Football is more than a game, it is about nations' dignity.
I remember when Iran defeated USA, that was something.
I still remember something from 6th or 7th grade, about how football used to be played between what used to be treated as slaves and the stupid white men then, and what did that game meant to each of them,
just like Southafrica.
So you've been practicing to blog since fifth grade?
No wonder you're this good at it
Please please please post something from your fifth grade journal.
Hi Lina I came back to your post and read it with more depth.
My own explanation for Italy's defeat against Brazil in 1994 was that Arrigo Sacchi was a bad and caward coach. In the final he left the remarkable striker Signori on the bench. This player could have opened the brazilian defence if he was introduced after 60 minutes. He waited for the penalties and relied on luck. Italy was always not blessed with coaches, remeber Trappatoni in 2002 scoring against South Korea and then going back to defend the only goal?
You have asked about the division between Ahli and zamalek. Historically Al Ahli used to be the club of the poor class while Zamalek was more of the rich elite in Cairo. However this is not true anymore since Al Ahli is now the richest club and Zamalek is enjoying support from many poor egyptian. This distinction is still in Buenos Aires in Argentina between River Plate (the club of the elites) and Boca Juniors (the club of the struglers). In spain it is more about the history between Real Madrid (capital dominance in the Franco era) and Barcelona (independence-seeking catalonia). Athletico Bilbao the basque team do not accept any player who is not from the Basque area.
When I was visiting relatives in Limerick, Eire, Chris,my cousin's husband told of time when he got a short-term job laying drain pipe in Northern Ireland.
He had a big pipe over his shoulder when a milkman's truck turned the corner. Chris said the man's face turned white as a sheet. Only afterwards did Chris realize that the milkman thought he was facing a grenade launcher. Such was life once in the tragic North...
nice artilce, i associate every moment of my life with a soccer match or competition. L'azzori will lose so bad this world cup to the czecks and the US, i hope i'm wrong but they won't do well.
Well, I dont know much about Football. I honestly know nothing about it, but i agree it has a lot to do with politics.
What is more important to me now is that I agree with Ziad, Lina you have to post something from the old days!!!
YAY, another Azzurri fan!! Check out my blog for regular Azzurri ramblings (Well, one so far, more to come as the WC draws closer
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