The small number of people who, last night, came to a
lecture, held at a university in Berlin, were upset. Germany had just lost to
South Korea and was thus out of the world cup. What worried those I spoke with
was not having lost, but rather what they expect this loss will do to the
national mood.
According to my interlocutors, losing at football,
will increase the popularity of Germany’s extreme right, the AfD. The theory
being that the football team’s weakness would be considered to reflect the
country’s weakness. One more proof, for those who seek it, that Mrs. Merkel
must go.
Sounds like a lose-lose situation: if you win at
football, you increase nationalistic fervour and if you lose at ball, you
increase it too.
I can but hope that they are wrong.
die Deutschen haben miserabeligen, langweiligen Fußball gespielt, zu recht verloren, Spiel ist Spiel, man muss verlieren können. Ich glaube kaum,dass es großen Einfluss auf die Politik hat, denn es war allgemein bekannt, dass das Team große Schwächen habe.....
ReplyDeleteI don't think football matters much as far as politics are concerned.
ReplyDeleteThe AFD will thrive as long as Merkel rules, no matter what the soccer players do.