Doomed To Disappointment

by hilzoy

I was looking at the BBC News home page a few days ago, and glanced at some of the World Cup coverage. I think it's wonderful that the US made it, and I hope they do well, but what really captivated me was the discovery that tiny Togo had qualified. I am a sucker for underdogs, and so naturally I began rooting for Togo to win. I mean: Togo is a very poor country (per capita income $310 in 2005; it has about 6 million people, nearly half of whom are below 15; since (presumably) around half of those over 15 are women, who are ( I assume) not eligible for the team, Togo has to find its players among a mere 1.5 million men over 15. And yet, somehow, it has qualified for the World Cup! Yay for Togo!

(It's the same streak in me that led me to get a license plate holder that says: 'The starry skies above; the moral law within': I thought: if anyone sees this and knows where it comes from, they will get such a kick out of it! Very unlikely, but such a big payoff. Likewise, if Togo wins the World Cup, it will presumably mean a lot more to the Togolese than, say, Italy's victory would mean to the Italians.)

Alas, they were defeated 2-1 by South Korea yesterday. The BBC account makes it sound as though they could have won, but no. They play Switzerland on Monday, and then France on the following Friday, after which the matches depend on who wins in the various groups. I hope Togo will sweep to victory, leaving Argentina, Brazil and even David Beckham in the dust. But somehow I doubt it.

***

OMG! In doing the research for this, I just noticed that Angola has qualified! Now my loyalties are well and truly divided: tiny scrappy Togo versus war-ravaged Angola. If either of them win, I will be a very happy person. Alas, Angola has not only lost; it lost to Portugal, its former colonial ruler. That has to hurt.

Comments

[Slartibartfast]

Open italics tag. AggggggghhhhhH!

[spartikus]

Togo and no mention of the Soca-Warriors? They actually tied the Swedes.

[Sebastian Holsclaw]

I killed the italics where it made sense to me. Hilzoy, if that wasn't the right place please feel free to recorrect. :)

[hilzoy]

Sorry about italicizing the entire site ;(

[hilzoy]

Seb: we crossed paths. I think I've got it right now -- the de-ital. tag should be after 'where it comes from'.

[Dantheman]

"leaving Argentina, Brazil and even David Beckham in the dust."

Isn't the last Posh Spice's job?

[vanessa]

I was SO rooting for Angola to beat Portugal. It would have been even more satisfying on an anti-colonial level than Senegal's rout of France in the first round of the 2002 World Cup, and THAT was pretty satisfying.

spartikus is right; Togo isn't even the smallest nation to qualify. Trinidad & Tobago has a population of only 1M!

[Nous]

Realistically, Angola could make it out of the group round if they can beat Mexico. I think they can legitmately count this a successful World Cup run if they make it into the second round. They already acquitted themselves well against a very strong Portuguese team.

One win for Togo would be a good showing. Making it to the next round would be the relative equivalent of Germany winning the Cup.

T&T are in a tough group and a big part of their chances at a later round rests on Sweden's performance. Unlike Angola and Togo, T&T has some legitimate stars on their team, especially on the attack (with both Dwight Yorke and Stern John). I think they could put together a decent run under the right circumstances, but even then the odds are not good.

[spartikus]

Angola could make it out of the group round if they can beat Mexico.

That's a tall order, I'm afraid.

[toby]

you can add the Ivory Coast to the mix of underdogs worth pulling for.

[hilzoy]

toby: The Ivory Coast??? My cup runneth over. A pity it will be drained by the end of round 1...

[matttbastard]

rabble.ca: A socialists guide to the World Cup

SPIEGEL International: Naming the Beautiful Game: It's Called 'Soccer'

Foreign Policy: Soccer's Sex Slaves

[Jackmormon]

I watched the Ivory Coast-Argentina match. Ivory Coast lost, but they looked pretty good. Their striker Drogba, who plays for one of the big English teams (ManU?), was great, but I think he was singlehandedly carrying the offense, and that only goes so far against a good team like Argentina.

The ESPN2 commentators were insufferable, though. Yes, I know there's a civil war going on in the Ivory Coast, and I knew that before you told me the first time; now stop being so fricking condescending towards these athletes.

[Nous]

Jackmormon- Their striker Drogba, who plays for one of the big English teams (ManU?), was great...

He was, and he plays for Chelsea.

Spartikus- Mexico is a tall order for Angola, but the Tricos have struggled in past Cups against physical opponents, in part, I think, because their teams are so heavily drawn from the Mexican League and they are not used to the physicality of European and African soccer. I don't expect Angola to beat Mexico, but neither would I be astounded if they did.

[hilzoy]

Completely OT: seeing so much of Jeff Goldstein's truly crazy stuff in one place is pretty scary. And this is supposed to be Part 1...

[Dianne]

Serious bummer that Angola didn't beat Portugal. I suppose it's just wrong of me to be happy that the Czech Republic trounced the US too? I can't help it, though...poorish ex-communist country of 10 million beats up on superpower of 270 million...what's not to like?

[Randy Paul]

The best match today was Saudi Arabia v Tunisia. Charles Johnson and the LGF crowd must have their heads explode.

[Gary Farber]

"Completely OT: seeing so much of Jeff Goldstein's truly crazy stuff in one place is pretty scary."

I have strong reason to believe a lot of people are reading that, because I've been getting a significant number of hits on my blog counter off of that post just from the one tiny glancing link to me thrown in.

And then I've been getting hits from people linked to in that post of mine, who clearly want to find out why a several-year-old post is generating hits today.

So judging by the fallout, and viewing a blog counter as a simulacrum as a Geiger counter....

[hilzoy]

Gary: Atrios linked to it. So you're feeling an Atriolanche several steps removed. It's an awesome thing.

[GreginOz]

The Soccer-whos??? THE SOCCEROOS!!!!! Aussie, Aussie, Aussie, Oi!, Oi!, Oi! Check out the great Nike ads playing in Australia at wwww.nikefootball.com.au (don't forget the AU!). It's a guy that looks like someone outta 'Interview with a Vampire', called 'History', who bags the Soccerwhos!
"Brazil, 191 goals, Australia ZERO". Heh Heh, not anymore, 3-1 against Japan. !Nos Vamos a chingar los Brasilenos!

[dutchmarbel]

I'm shamelessly partisan in this :)

Ivory Coast has to be beat tomorrow evening. But they are bigger than we are (17m vs 16m), so the small country supporters should follow my lead :)

All countries with Dutch coaches have a slightly preference too, so I do rejoice a bit at the Succarros beating Japan :)

[Randy Paul]

Greg,

They speak Portuguese in Brazil, not Spanish. You want to say, “Nós vamos fodir os Brasileiros,” to which the only sensible response is “Figue sonhando, besta!”

[Randy Paul]

That should say "Fique sonhando, besta!"

[GreginOz]

Alas, I only speak English and Spanish! I lived in Mexico way back when, Randy. What does "Fique sonhando, besta" mean? I LOVE a good curse!

[Jesurgislac]

According to BabelFish, it means "It is dreaming, crossbow!" :-)

[Randy Paul]

Keep dreaming, oaf!

[Dianne]

Ghana's in, after beating the US. It's not Cote d'Ivoire or Togo, but it's right in between the two. Will that do for a team to root for in the Achtelfinale?