tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-15545356.post115131414002196631..comments2024-02-14T16:57:45.608+00:00Comments on The Vol Abroad: Geopolitics and footballVol Abroadhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07083054947673242940noreply@blogger.comBlogger4125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-15545356.post-1151396751963189592006-06-27T09:25:00.000+01:002006-06-27T09:25:00.000+01:00I agree about the cheating, the Latin countries ce...I agree about the cheating, the Latin countries certainly cheat a lot. My impression is that footballers from the northern European rule-of-law democracies expect life to be fair and get upset at cheating & bad refereeing, whereas those from the Latin ex-fascist states seem to see cheating and fooling the ref as just part of the game.Vol-in-Lawhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/10547275023499511000noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-15545356.post-1151343205651182562006-06-26T18:33:00.000+01:002006-06-26T18:33:00.000+01:00I think a demonstrable corollary is that ex-fascis...I think a demonstrable corollary is that ex-fascist countries cheat more often and successfully than representative democracies (see Netherlands v. Portugal, and today's match). Disgusting.Danhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/18357646598411523462noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-15545356.post-1151319514826276282006-06-26T11:58:00.000+01:002006-06-26T11:58:00.000+01:00Perhaps the most interesting thing is how resistan...Perhaps the most interesting thing is how resistant Protestant countries have been to both totalitarian ideologies, Fascism and Communism - the only mostly-Protestant totalitarian state I can think of is East Germany, which was an occupied subject-state of the USSR. Nazism had its foundation in Catholic Bavaria (and Austria), although it's the Protestant north Germans who seem to feel most guilt about it. Likewise Protestant Finland successfully fought off the USSR.Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-15545356.post-1151319254340131412006-06-26T11:54:00.000+01:002006-06-26T11:54:00.000+01:00The result bore out my hypothesis, since ex-fascis...The result bore out my hypothesis, since ex-fascist Portugal defeated never-been-fascist Netherlands. Most of the best footballing countries have been fascist or Nazi - Argentina and Germany, for instance. Portugal and Spain are quite impressive, admittedly Greece isn't. No ex-Communist country has made much of a show yet. Of course it could be religion - fascism and Catholicism correlate closely, whereas most ex-Communist countries are eastern-Orthodox, and the Czech Republic are pretty good. That implies Poland ought to be good too.Anonymousnoreply@blogger.com