FC Barcelona stadium
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Passion
in Barcelona
By Preston Price
Pertaining to soccer, Spain was my premier
destination of the entire voyage. I went to a professional soccer
game in Barcelona. It was the ultimate ending to a spectacular
voyage that consisted of an abundance of soccer crazed nations.
Spain tops the list in being a fanatical nation for the game of
soccer. It wasn’t that I saw proof of soccer being played by
locals more so than in any other port. However, Spain is known as
having a well established culture of the sport. They also have arguably
the best league in the world, being highly competitive and financially
wealthy.
The soccer game in Barcelona was no ordinary soccer
game. Futbol Club de Barcelona, as they are called, are amongst
one of the greatest teams in the world. They are known to be the
best team in Spain and within one of the greatest leagues in the
world. Because they are such a highly respectable and financially
capable franchise, they have acquired world renowned players from
countries all across the globe. This distinctly relates to the Global Issues
article by Franklin Foer titled, “Soccer vs. McWorld.” The
article
has to do with soccer being a marker for globalization’s limits.
Major teams throughout the world have now been buying up players from
multiple countries using various currencies on the foreign
exchange market. This in turn creates a less homogenous make up
of fans
with people speaking different languages and cheering for individual
players rather than the team as a whole. Ultimately, it takes
away from the idealistic progress of nationalism and denotes the fact
that our global
economy has reached certain limits, particularly in the world of soccer.
My experience being a participant observer as a fan
at the
Barcelona vs. Villareal soccer match in Barcelona, gave me a true
understanding of the global limitations of soccer. The star of
Barcelona is a player from Brazil by the name of Ronaldhino. It
seemed that if fans didn’t come to watch Barcelona, they just came
to watch him play. It made me realize how one player can really affect
the fan base. Who knows, many of the fans may now be
Brazilians. Although he plays his in the Spanish domestic league,
he is also the star of the Brazilian national team during tournaments
like the World Cup,
and it is argued that he may be the very best player worldwide
today. He has been playing for Barcelona for a few years and he
has become the face of Barcelona. This only hurts the productive
aspect of Brazil in a national sense. Brazil is a soccer crazed
nation that could especially use a home town hero like Ronaldhino to
help boost the economy and sense of nationalism. Regardless, he
has done so in Spain by making a home in Barcelona. The fans
appeared to display intense passion for him and the game of
soccer. At the end of the game he scored a sensational goal and
the entire stadium erupted in cheers directed specifically towards
Ronaldhino. I can only imagine what it would be like to have
100,000 fans chanting my name.
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