A triumph for German diversity
Football teaches us a fundamental lesson. Belonging to a nation nowadays has more to do with inclusive citizenship than with blood.
I grew up associating the German football team with the likes of Jurgen Klinsmann, Karl Heinz Rummenige, Lothar Matthaus...Unlike the Brits and the Dutch, they were ethnically homogeneous.
But times have changed. Now we have players with names like Özil, Boateng, Khedira, Podolski and Cacau. For more than 80 years, the rules about who could represent Germany were clear and strict. Players had to be German born, of parents born in Germany.
That law was scrapped in 1999 laying the foundation for the current squad. This change coincided by a general relaxation of citizenship laws which offered the prospect of real integration for “guest workers” who created much of Germany’s wealth in the post war days. Half the current squad were either born outside Germany, are the sons of immigrants, or have one non-German parents.
Surely football has on occasions been abused by neo nazi hooligans who see a chance to vent their aggressive nationalism. These types must be disoriented by the success of a multicultural team representing the nation.... Perhaps football is more successful than politics in evoking a new sense of inclusive and playful patriotism. For what does belonging to a nation mean today? What has blood to do with it?
Football shows us that it has a lot to do with shared success, a common venture and a sense of pride which comes from being a citizen of a particular country.
my point was not that Germany is a better team cause it includes foreigners but simply that belonging to a nation does not depend on blood or ethnicity ..and that patriotism is not alien to an inclusive society.
It was Former German great Franz Beckenbauer who on Monday said one reason this year's World Cup team has played so well is because it has benefited from a blend of players from different cultures. But that was not the point of my article.
It was pure and simple celebration of patriotism based on an inclusive identity... Spain yesterday won because they played better football.
I am sure that Spanish football will still generate the same enthusiasm if in a couple of years time their squads includes foreign born players or children of immigrants who now form part of the social fabric.