Colombia Rising

A Healthy Dose of Starry-Eyed Nationalism

By David Noriega

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Illustration by author
Soccer Stick Figure

February 6, 2005, as I have very little need to point out, was packaged and sold to millions of eager Americans as Superbowl Sunday XXXIX. On that same day, however, another (perhaps bigger) group of Americans, one not limited to that big swath of land between Canada and Mexico, had its TVs and radios tuned to an entirely different sporting event. This one had no buxom cheerleaders, depressing ex-Beatles, twelve-dollar cups of beer, bajillion-dollar tickets, or gazillion-dollar commercials. It involved, rather, 22 brave, honest souls, all under the age of 20, with shin-guards as their only protection and the glory of the game as their only motivation. I am referring to the final match of the South American under-20 soccer championship, officially called the "Youth of America", in which the Colombian team defeated the Venezuelans, 2-0.

A foreseeable renaissance

Allow me to confess something: mediocre Colombian that I am, I did not watch this game-I learned of its result through a phone call after it was already over. I did, on the other hand, watch the Superbowl (with the obligatory beer and nachos). In my defense, however, it is hard enough to find a channel that broadcasts international soccer at the adult level, not to mention a TV on which to watch it. The chances of finding one that broadcasts a South American junior soccer championship are not worth entertaining.

But absence makes the heart grow fonder, and my interest in soccer is much greater now that I am almost completely separated from it than when it was inescapable. This was made especially evident to me by the coincidence in dates between the Superbowl and the Youth of America final, especially since this year's was the first Superbowl I watched in its entirety. Every time I whispered a foolish football question to the person sitting next to me or felt a small pang of indignation at the sight of multiple, hyper-specialized coaches with microphone headsets, I longingly added an item to the list of reasons why the junior Colombian team's victory this year is especially significant.

The most obvious and compelling of these is the potential for an oncoming golden age in Colombian soccer. The logic is clear enough: if we Colombians have managed to pull together a team of young players that is capable of defeating the South American talent powerhouses that have always dwarfed us, it is easy to assume that we have the raw material for a team capable of the same in the adult league. This hope is something the country is badly in need of, both in the soccer stadium and in the culture beyond.

For one, Colombia did not make it to the 2002 World Cup in Korea and Japan, and the joke (which, actually, may or may not be true) goes that the president launched an official government investigation into the matter. Though Colombia has never been a star player in the World Cup, its citizens can usually find pride in getting there, at the very least. But on March 10, Colombia proved it couldn't even score a point against America, losing 3-0 an exhibition match. There are few things more humiliating than losing to the USA in soccer.

Cocky players roll large

It is, therefore, impossible to resist the thought that maybe, in the near future, Colombian soccer will pull itself up by the bootstraps and show the world what's what. This hope has a face: a 19-year-old from the tiny coastal municipality of Candelaria by the name of Hugo Rodallega, who shows all signs of having not only the talent but also the charisma necessary to become a superstar. He was the top scorer of the tournament, with 11 goals, breaking the record for the under-20 championship. The previous record of nine goals was established in 1999 by the Argentinean player Luciano Galletti. Even the most mediocre Colombian must feel an unstoppable surge of pride whenever their team beats the ever-cocky (and, though I shouldn't admit it, ever-better) Argentineans in anything soccer-related. Rodallega took this lopsided rivalry to a childishly enjoyable level when he tried unsuccessfully to instigate an all-out dis war with Lionel Messi, a 17-year-old soccer prodigy and Argentina's newest prize possession. Rodallega was reputed to have recently said, "I am better than Messi. I showed in the tournament that I am more than him." And, at least in Latin American soccer, there is nothing better than a cocky player with the talent to back it up.

One must exercise caution, however, in prophesizing the arrival of any golden age, and this particular one runs an especially high risk of becoming a disappointment. If the under-20 team in its current configuration were to simply move forward to become the adult team in a few years, we could assume with some degree of safety that its success would continue-but this is obviously not the case.

Instead, a few players will gradually and individually move up, where they will play with different teammates and under a different technical director. The many different factors that have contributed simultaneously to the success of the team will not remain constant for long, and the star potential of individual players might decrease significantly in this shift. Furthermore, for the past several years the Colombian national team has acted as a disjointed, dysfunctional group of highly talented individuals; many Colombian players, for instance, are remarkably successful in international club teams, but disappoint when they play for Colombia. The mere presence, then, of a new batch of talented players does not necessarily imply a good national team in the future.

Guerilla warfare versus loyalty and pride

Despite such obstacles, the hope for a Colombian rebirth is not so far-fetched, and stretches well beyond the realm of athletics: in a sport as internationally relevant as soccer, a strong team symbolizes a stable country, a weak team a country in shambles. Argentina has traditionally been both the economic and soccer powerhouse of South America.

Colombia's national plight, as well as its position in Latin America and the world, coincides with its status as a soccer country: it is a nation overflowing with resources, talent, and enthusiasm, but one that manages to continually cave in on itself just before achieving any unmitigated success. Watching Colombia be deprived of its place in an event as culturally significant and symbolically powerful as the World Cup has grim undertones. The Colombian nation's inability to pull together a soccer team that can at least qualify for the World Cup reminds us of its inability to deal with a seemingly endless civil war that has lost all semblance of meaning.

If soccer is capable of anything, it is the creation of loyalty and pride: not the double-edged, treacherous kind that a country can feel for its political ideals, but the universal and impartial kind that it can feel for its people. Colombia's victory in the Youth of America may not amount to anything at all. But if it does, it seems worthwhile to consider the value of the loyalty and pride it will engender. The Colombian junior team's victory may only mean that a bunch of kids kicked a ball the right way, but it may also mean that a country badly in need of a turnaround is slowly but surely pulling itself together.

David Noriega B'08 holds the record for fewest goals scored during recess

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