World Cup Ignorance

ESPN did a report right before the beginning of the World Cup on neo-nazism and very explicit racism among European fans. But ESPN's World Cup announcers have continuously made ignorant remarks throughout their coverage.

Julie Foudy decided that Costa Rica was "not a real team." She quickly attempted to correct herself, stumbling over her words. Paulo Wanchope looked like a "real" person to me. I saw him on tv!

After Ecuador's Ivan Kaviedes scored a goal, he pulled a mask from his shorts and put it on in celebration. Eric Wynalda called this celebration "ridiculous." Reece Davis then eloquently explained that Kaviedes was honoring his former teammate who had died in a car accident. You're a fucker Eric Wynalda.

American Eddie Johnson was describing the team's visit to an American military base in Germany at a press conference. He said that soldiers and soccer players have a similar responsibility when representing their country abroad. Eric Wynalda first said that anyone who would be upset by that must have misunderstood Eddie Johnson. Later Eric Wynalda said that Eddie Johnson shouldn't have said that, but he was just a young kid who got excited.

This doesn't seem like a racist remark on the surface (Johnson is black, Wynalda is white), until you realize that Wynalda made virtually the same analogy earlier. An audio tape of USA coach Bruce Arena's phone conversation with George W. Bush was played on air. Afterwards, Wynalda said that there' s no better man than Bush to lead you into battle (Wynalda must be watching a lot of Fox News lately). That's a clear war analogy from Wynalda (and it's inaccurate, there are plenty of people that I'd rather have: eg. Gandhi). But Wynalda still had the gall to dismiss Johnson's comment as coming from an ignorant kid. Eric Wynalda, you’re a hypocritical racist.

This is my weakest example. Rob Stone said that Angola's Loco had the tournament's worst hairstyle (Zindane anyone?). He described Loco's haircut as a front mullet. I wondered if the hairstyle has any cultural significance, a la Kaviedes and his masked celebration. I don't know, just wondering.

Anyone know if there are any Jewish players on a World Cup roster this time around?