The World Cup in Brazil did not start well for Europe. Spain, England, Portugal, Italy – one after the other, supposed European powerhouses were kicked out in a first round, usually overwhelmed by Latin American talent.
There were some exceptions of course – Germany and the Netherlands carried European hopes into the semi-finals. Belgium, Switzerland and Greece punched above their weight.
For European fans disappointed with the departure of their national team, where do you channel your football fervour? Do you show European solidarity and cheer on those still carrying forward the continent’s hopes? Or are you more likely to want Brazilian flair or Argentina’s tight teamwork to prevail over your country’s traditional European rivals?
Even ahead of the quarterfinal clash between France and Germany the France24 TV network suggested French fans might put national pride behind them and support their “favourite enemy.” The Germans after all were playing a much cleaner game, they are amusing, talented and it’s always fun to watch Chancellor Angela Merkel’s celebrations, argued journalist Sébastian Seibt. He added one more reason to cheer for Germany: “It’s always nice…to support the winning team when the final whistle blows.”
Some have gone even further and suggested pan-European teams – like the one that frequently beats the United States in golf’s Ryder Cup – could be adopted for other major events. They point out that combined EU medal tallies at the Olympics would leave the opposition languishing in Europe’s wake – competitors from EU countries picked up 37 golds at this year’s Sochi Winter Olympics, ahead of Russia on 13 and Norway on 11.
Will you be rooting for a European victory in Brazil regardless which country brings the trophy back across the Atlantic? Does European success in sports make people feel more European? Or is football one arena where even convinced pro-Europeans can let their national feelings run free and cheer for whoever manages to humiliate the old foes from next door? Let us know your thoughts and comments in the form below, and we’ll take them to policy-makers and experts for their reactions.
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#teamholland
team Germany
G
E
R
M
A
N
Y
Brazil we seh
Uuuuhhh no .. What does a sport, kicking a ball around for 90 minutes have to do with a never ending financial crisis, endless austerity, growing division, abloodbath in Ukraine etc etc have to do with feeling “more European” since when did Europeans stop being or feeling European ???
Bravo! I was thinking the same.
i wish the germans all the best
Would be a great achievement but with nonsense for whole Europe:
i love holand
Yes, I’m from Ireland and have been cheering the Netherlands on from the beginning.
wish Brazil gets beaten
Its just nonse
Don’t think so!
Na
I love Brazil
Give it to holand
Nope – not in the slightest.
I wish
Brasile win to tonitht no naymar two one
stupid questions like this make me feel more european… I thought this happened just in Spain!… thank you!… now I belive Spainish people are very well prepared to be integrated in Europe!.
Up holland
That’s a load of waffle mate. Also the Netherlands don’t deserve to win it. If it’s gonna be a European win I’d rather Germany tbh.
Portugal made wrong choice of players. They to the Copa not with the best but with friends. The Copa was not a Weekend friendship match. Out!!!
Teams at the Worldcup are first and foremost a national identification for people. So I guess it will mostly spark national pride if a European team would win. I believe that most people wouldn’t even mention ‘a victory for Europe’. It would be interesting to see what happens at a continental football cup.
NO! definitely nonsense, and this question and so-called debate are nonsense as well.
Germany vs Netherlands in Final
one of the most stupid questions ever.
I think it will brazil
Do you think a war between Rusia and USA will make people feel more european?… what side does the European Comission Suport? …ou dont answer.. we know is USA!
No. It is national teams competing. There is not a European Team. So, why and how should this feeling be created?
Europpean team will be the best
Nonsense!! I am spanish and I am supporting to Argentina.
German
Feel more european? Like really? Thats total garbage. Anyways a european side wont win. It will be mighty argentina.
Good our fans
yes….if we look to the world cup of 1998 ownwards only one team played from south america and four team from urope played finalzzz…..from 98 own wards 3 times europe won cup …..so definitely the game will be europian if any country from there won:::::::::::but arg and messi wont allow to happen that
Politics make people more europian or not. For now make not europians
Just bt nonsense
Give it 2 Argentina 4 real
There is no such thing.I am 100% European and there is nothing that can make me less European or more European.
If American or European will win the world,nothing will happen bcause,we,all, are one,in one globe….we’ll clap for those who will win and we’ll clap again for those who are lost bcause they’ve tried their best…..nothing change bcause they remain as a good human person….
No, that is NOT meaning of EU! Interest is meaning of EU! Common interest!
Ofcouse European country will win like Germans
All the way African,
Amrican will win.
i think nonense…we think only in our nationalities. if we would think at an “european level” we would have much more respect of other world regions!! and we would go to vote as well for the eu pairlament!!
I guess that Europer will feel the great & better than America.
Go Netherlands!! :-D Seriously, I don’t care if a European or any team wins. It won’t make me feel any more (or less) European. If anything, seeing everybody play in the World Cup makes me feel more a “Citizen of the World”! :-D
But Europe has d highest countries so why r they complianing???
Argentina wil win
Brazil is going to win
Nonesence
Oh yes!
Ave you ever gone to any of European country? Me no.
exaclly the coutrary wich such teams, sorry
Qua nay brasil tkang nha
Europeans they have old people
nonsense
Europe is a failure,better by my own.My country isnt a garbage can!
NOOO
I wil congratulate them coz they never won a world cup e.g holland.
not at all! de winning country will not share de glory with other european countries! esply dat spain lost terrably 2de dutch!its enemity till revenge!
#germany prove dhem wrog ad #neymar shall b beaten at his vineyard.anyway germany go!go!go!
Netherland
netherlands
Alo
Nope. I don’t think so. It’s national pride rather than European.
Dutch is my team
Very nonsense since most European teams were highly favoured by the refferees-i pray that brazil wont make it 2day
the trophy will go to europe either Germany nor Netherlands
We should play an Intercontinental cup made by selected European players against Latin american, North american, Asian and African selected players. I think this would work.
I hve gne 2 many european n amerian countries i love both of them. We r all the same no matter who win. Love u the world
Oww…..
The trophy goes to argentina…
All the best #Germany INSHA ALLAH
Non sense
World cup wil b in the home groundded team
Germany go go fight fight..
No, not really!!! We still value our nationality more than our Europeaness!! But I will be delighted if a European team wins.
4 me european country go win am of cos and netherland
That’s a possibility, although it has happened plenty of times before and it has never given rise to more Europeanness! If anything, the winning team has witnessed a massive surge in national pride….
D wordcup wil surely goes 2 germany becuse dey rily worked 4 it.
I wish Netherlands win this one,since they’ve been to 3 finals before,I think 1974,1978 and 2010.So its only fair if this generaion should take this one.
Holland all the way …
May Be, depends on how they play…
Netherlands were favourites in 2010,this was postponed to this yrs tournament.
World cup is not boys game but mens game
I suppose there is also an explanation relating the economic status of the two european countries in the semi finals of the world cup, Germany and Nederlands… But wait, thats the point, cleaning slates for EU, with the world cup… Sorry, no way! Dont like the colosseum phenomena of modern times…
Yes, of course !
I like it
We don’t care abt Europe! :P
I wi be hapy 4 dem
Jst champion.
I would feel more European If Italy had sovereign power to issue its own currency again
Italy was doing pretty damn good in this worldcup. Until hannibal cannibal felt like it was time to attack ppl. Portugal should b a shamed they did nt play as good as i expected them too nd so should Spain. Kmt
Yes! now I feel European… it seems you guys are more stupid than my colleges of spain… 100 coments on this bullshit question when typically there are just 3 or 4…. We say in spain that if people is more interested in football than politics we have no future… but today I see spanish people is much more clever than europeans as we typically discuss on politics and not football on political webpages…
If european country should win this world cup it’s because there worked hard,other continents are hungry for the world cup but no hard work towards it.
Do you think the bombing of Israel on Gaza is jusrified?… shut up and speack on football!
It did not also go wel wit Africa. We care less about d Europeans.
Germany will win dey playing dan Brazil
among the stupid questions you ask this one takes the cake
so this is d reason why the officiating against African teams in the wc is often biased.
Real march between Brazil and Germany tonight
It is two good team but i go more for Brazil because das my favorite team
europe is not a country
In my view none of team can play better than european..so,i would like to watching european vs indo american…my predection for brazil vs germany is brazil will win over germany n dutch team will win over argeintina…so, in final brazil vs dutch team …dutchteam going to lift the worldcup…dutch team are like a hungry tiger..!
If that works, I hope some European team works, but also EU has to help people to feel more Europeans, and less bank + transnational slaves
Let the best side win & we’ill be happy with them
I would definitely! Yes all the way :-)
Europe is nonsense today, sorry
http://www.losio.com
I personally do not like football however, i think it is starting to be noticed that the european fans, are closer to each other, that is indeed a fact. Although just like Breogn Costa said, the EU needs to make a lot to make people feel more europeans, Socially and economically speaking.
Since my team (Spain) is not in the competition, I support the rest of the European teams, I’d be glad if, at least, a European team wins
The world cup is designed to bring out nationalism, not pan europeanism. If the Germans lose to the Dutch in the final, I am quite sure they will not be celebrating.
yes, but it’s a very slow process. The making of a solid european identity will take much time.
It will mean opening a beer bottle and drinking to that. Go Netherlands and Germany.
no
i do :D go Europe!!!!! :D
The only sport event that makes me feel more “European” is when team Europe beats team USA at the Ryder Cup (golf tournament).
It mean that sport is know by everybody if countries who didn’t partipate in world cup.
Europei lo siamo non serve una squadra per farcisi sentire .
Better Netherlands Champion,than Germany.But Argentina will win,i guess! Messi is awesome!
Actually no, the people will feel more German :)
no. if no european team wins – maybe
NO
It function like this. I am from kozani greece, if had gone peloponese Greece i would be macedonia greece, if i had gone england i would be greek, if i had gone usa i would be european and so on thats the way function and that the way i feel so….if european team wins what would i felt?
germany will win i think but i want win who play better
just nonsense…people feel more european when the current trend of national egoism goes away…by politics that restore the truth about european policy’s…back to the basics…a union that prevents wars and promotes free comerce….when the politics stop being in response to a particular cause/problem in the headlines…and starts being a union of country’s that know the reason of their existence and were they wanna go for the future … what place in the world europe want’s for himself …and the model …union of nations or federalism is a false question that can be debated…but bring back polititions that restore a sense of direction of meaning…not this stupid “WAR” of north /south or germany want’s this france want’s that…uk another thing…like this there’s no future…but reality will force us…in globalization a european country isolated is a dwarf…peace
Nothing wrong about beeing a dwarf.Switzerland was always a dwarf,right in the middle of some great powers for all of its history.Yet they still have the best quality of life in europe
nonsense. Germans will feel more german or Brasilians more brasilian….and so on….
Europeans will only feel more connected to their continent when that continent returns to its heritage! And only then. Never forget this speech and it’s directive.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=DWjrhCewhCg
And part 2
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=NfkX_aE_5h4
Ok we all understand the poll : Would you feel proud if europe would be a country???Thats the real question.And why should i feel happy ????Its a game…and the one who is better should win….Why should i care if the winning team is from europe????
no. how else would people in Europe feel anyway!? We are Europeans. The question shoul be: If a European team wins the WC, will people feel more pro Eurpean Union? In that case, the answer is NO:
Not at all. Actually I am hopping the south america wins the world cup so the germanic peoplezzz can get depressed at least for a while instead of being full of themselves for holding the political, economical and simbolic dominance and hegemony in Europe.
Hey, Nakamura, why is all that hate??? What exactly “german people” did to you??
Of course the people will feel no more or less EU if DE/NE wins…. To be an European is a state of mind!!!!
@Kali Serpe
LOL!!!!
Your sentence:
What exactly “german people” did to you??
reminded me of the apparent last words of Colonel Gaddafi.
What?! Who comes up with these silly questions?
What a stupid question
Definitely not… I personally feel much more Brazilian or Argentinian than German or Dutch…
I hope Brasil wins. Brasil is my civilization; Germany is NOT.
No ,I will never feel European , I am English . .
sure why not i support Holland
Nope, they’ll just be happier since no European team has won it when played in the Americas..
what a stupid question. by “european” you mean germany ????
No….no reason to feel more europe….on the contrary
Hahaha. Seriously? And soon we’ll have to go to the world cup with one EU team? non sens.
Silly question. Most Portuguese supported Brasil against Germany. Lots of British would support US against any other European team. Most spaniards would do the same, supporting Latin American teams. And so on…
Europe is a failed invention that will never succeed with the current European politics.
Go Europe!
Go Adler! Go Oranje!… Europeans, do your best <3
Yes
Would love to see another all-European final.
As far as sport is concerned, I do agree with those who think that the best team should win… to be European maybe means that eventhough we are all different from each other, I recognize you, I meet you, I welcome you, I respect you… I accept you. It means that eventhough you have a different opinion from mine, your ideas and your opinion count as much as mine. Peace & love everybody! <3 ;-)
Only if this will be presented like a european gain and the winner team will want to share this with all european. :)
Don’t be ridiculous!
Non sense. Viva Amrica Latina. We don’t care about Merkeland or Merkeland’s colony.
Short answer: No.
Long answer:
On a first note I would say that football has far bigger adoption/history in European countries which lead people to have it more present in their lives and as a result they tend to cheer for their country. Notice that sports are often seen differently in Europe with lets say USA, so even though people cheer for their team, they tend to cheer for other communities that might surround them which ends defining their second and third choices.
On a second note, people commenting in this website tend to be already less nationalists, I mean if that wasn’t the case, I don’t think they would care commenting about Europe as a whole in something like football.
Third note, a huge chuck of football are european teams, if one would join them in the same bucket I don’t think it would be as fun as it is.
PS: Yes, I am aware Europe is bigger then European Union, however I do think the question was made talking of European Union through the label of Europe.
cheers
I’d feel more European.
100% false dillemma, sorry guys! Why shall I feel more European, when Merkel’s “europe” wants us to be her slaves? We can never cheer up for such a Europe!sorry! I prefer Argentina!!!
Maybe one day.
But then where is the balance when playing teams from smaller populations. I’ve thought for a long time, federations such as the USA should enter state teams into international events. It gives more athletes from the USA the opportunity to compete professionally. Currently their situation is the very best of the best enter their team, but many athletes that could also do very well internationally don’t even get a chance to compete. Sport is about participation at the end of the day.
Perhaps both a federation team and a state team, perhaps different games at different times of the year to accommodate this?
Wrong topic, absurd question. In the meantime, Israel bombards Gaza killing innocent people, where is Europe when it is needed, watching football?
Those that voted for Hamas voted for the agression Hamas does with its rocket launching ‘programme’.
Palestinean agresion comes first, Israels response always follows after. Not Israels fault that Palestinean fighters are such cowards they hide in hospitals and have ammo dumps in mosques. Israeli soldiers protect women and children, Hamas fighters hide behind women and children.
Since 1948 it has been nothing but Palestinean and Arab agression against Israel, and whenever they lose (which they generally always do) they go cry to their sympathetic (usually leftist) friends in European countries.
The fact of the matter is simple, there wouldn’t be any Israeli response if it wasn’t for everlasting Palestinean/Arab provocations.
Godwin may be upon me but I always detect a strong hint of anti-Israeli bias in those that are quiet when the agressor Hamas launches rockets and hides behind and amongst women and children, but cry foul when Israel defends itself.
The problem today is that they have managed to politicize football on one hand, and to footballize politics on the other.
Well said!
It would not surprise me if in the past some EU fanatic has raised a motion to scrap the European Cup competition on the grounds that it stirs up nationalistic feelings between European countries…that seems to be their desire in every other aspect of our lives
Yeah we have that kind of people over here in Germany too.They have a facebook-page called schland-watch…
basically they 24/7 controll the 5 nazis left in Germany taking pictures during the world cup and the keep telling everyone”ha there thats what we ment to say!it causes nationalism”^^
mnjaaaaaa …
Yes, yes, yes
I want a national team for EU.
I can’t believe all the other countries don’t complain about the EU having several teams in the world cup!
Cheering Argentina from Barcelona. And hey, take a look at whats happening in Gaza right now. Is the EU going to do something about it?
Of course not. In a world championship predominate national identities, according to the teams playing. There was no team on the world championship called “Europe”.
Germany!
Nope. Worldcup is something for individual countries not for continents.
There are no team called “Europe”, but there is an Idea, called “Europe”, and a common culture (also in sport).
I wonder, while the national team of Brazil, is composed from almost 80% of Blacks, Indians, or Cariocas, why on the grandstands are 95% whites Brazilians?
Why the whites, are the only ones who can afford to pay the ticket?
What happened to the favelas, near the stadiums?
How many people have been stayed homeless, or even murdered the last two months, so that the tourists shall not see any shanty on their way to the football matches?
Who is gonna pay all these media show? All these gigantic constructions, in a poor country?
But FIFA doesn’t care! They just urge us to… “say no to racism”! Brilliant!!!
Even worse, Europeans don’t give a damn, as long as they are happy to win the cup for the first time in the american stadiums! WHO CARES?
@Nikolaos Sotirelis
I agree with your observations regarding racism in the Brazilian football team cohort.
I also believe that the over-representation of German and French businesses in the grand construction projects accompanying the 2014 world cup exhibited another form of subtle commercial ‘bias’ at the least and ‘racism’ at the worst.
I believe people in European countries that are for ‘more integration’ etcetera should be told they will have to give up their national team and identity in order to make way for a ‘European’ team next time.
The problem with those opposed to democracy (or to be precise: pro-EU) is that they want the benefits of both positions (for Europe when it suits them and for their own country when it suits them) but the drawbacks of neither.
No , not at all….I support my National team then Non European teams (except Argentina)…so i don`t care who wins and will not bother to watch it.
Here i am.just returned from celebratin…
The UK also field 4 teams,from scotland,england,wales and northern ireland.So EU doens t mean that there would be a european national team,since the fifa is a private institution and is about football associations and not countries.
To promote europe in football they cauld just make 1 or 2 exhibition games.One in europe and one somewhere else.europe vs the rest.(europe would actually mean spain+germany with a little bale,christiano and robben)
since european would keep winning it for the next 100 years ,it would definetly promote a european kind of patriotism…
a super-event that everyone watches,just like the superbowl in the us
Sport does not make a nation, it may make some people happy for a short time. When its all over, we the European citizens get back to life and the complexity of 28 nations trying to live as one.
No, will make no difference.
I support the USA in the Ryder cup just because it’s a European team. If it was a uk or English team, I’d be behind the. European/eu could careless
European football team? You mean one that includes players from all over Europe; namely from the 48 member states of the Council of Europe! What a great idea!
(a “EU” football team is not a European team!)
Yes indeed have waited long to send eu teams on other sorts than sailing