World Cup and its sociopolitical thingumabobs

Alright, so the fifth word in the title is a little bit wanky but it's important to recognise that the World Cup emphasises its mishmash of cultures and the joinage of these into a global celebration of footy.

(Sorry, did I mean footy? -I really meant soccer - or even better, association football).

Anywho, what I'm trying to say is that when global events like the World Cup and the Olympics happen, the cosmopolitanism of any given nation is seen naked - where people of mixed heritage make the decision of choosing which of thier parent nations means more to them.

Now, that's not neccessarily a bad thing but...
Some nationalities have more of a rep for...unbridled passion...than others.
Here, when the two teams of a person's heritage face off, (eg. Serbia v. Australia for a Serbian-Australian), racial clashes can ignite and it makes quite a splash in conservative media - the argument being that patriotism should be accepted first and foremost.

Obviously, decreeing which team someone can go for is just idiotic and pointless - sport is the enjoyment of seeing one's chosen team win and win well.

There is no immediate solution to this rampant nationalism that manifests itself in the realms of any sport - the only way forward will be when that old and ancient way of thinking brought over from Europe by migrants ceases to exist and that will only happen when - perhaps I'm being a bit morbid here - the old guard - i.e. first generation migrants but not their descendants - die out.

A footnote: You may not know this but I am of European heritage so I know what I'm talking about. In this matter, my grandparents can actually be quite docile when it comes to this sort of thing - but get them started on Serbia and...

Another footnote: Globalisation has meant that some of my schoolmates actively follow the English Premier League. That's fine, whatever. At the end of the day, one can go for Ghana, even if there is no semi-logical reason why. But, where perception is key, that person is just going to look like a fool.